Chapter 9 - The haunted mines

- Start of the Report of the haunted mines -

- Written by Stella, the leader of the ten swords Adventurer group -

We stood before the mine's entrance. The flow of mana out of the depths was even sensible by our weakest members.

The mana was attributed to death and suffering. The telltale smell of a rogue dungeon, even one of the worse kind.

My assumptions to its true being were proven right the further we went in. The light of the sun fled faster than normal. Our torches cowardly flickered in the deep shadows.

Further in the smell of rotten bodies and death filled the stale air. The still shafts were filled with the faraway screams of suffering and torture. Howls and grunts broke through the everlasting silence.

The distance between the frontline fighters and me widened. I had to call for them more often. They would stumble at every howl, like some novice adventurer on his first mission.

Eyes wide open they looked around, their swords and spears held with wide knuckles. Swordsman: “Stella, havn't we seen enough, the mines are clearly just haunted nothing more” “This should be enough to report to the mayor”

I just ignored the relatively young boys' bickering. He was the youngest one in the Team and had to learn to follow the leader’s orders.

Though even I could feel the hairs on my back stand up. A cribble made its way through my body. Adrenalin boosted my heart rate and my eyes strained to see in the dark. My ears were wide open listening for every sound.

The mineshaft split up, one part going on further into the mountain. According to the mayor's plans, the other would lead to a lift, further down in the depths.

I wanted to make the report as accurate and vast as possible. The mayor paid good money and looked like a good noble. Someone who could help out of more sticky situations later down the road.

We took the right tunnel into the mountainside. The grunts got louder but the howls went silent the further we got away from the Y-Cross section.

Not long after we went down the tunnel I saw a silhouette in the torches' shadow. They slowly made their way towards us, turning out as 4 humanoid creatures.

Stella: “What are you doing down here” “This mine is closed and assumed to be haunted, you should not be here”

The guys didn’t react to my shouts and continued their limply walks. Once they got closer I found out why they didn’t respond.

The sweet smell of the dead was intense. Rotten flesh hung down the humans' bodies. Their eyes were glassy and their hair had fallen out. Multicolored, but bad-looking skin covered their spindly bodies. They were zombies, minions of the dead, awoken by mana or a grieving soul.

My thought of the mines being a dungeon was now answered. There couldn't really be another thing that fit the descriptions this perfectly.

The tragic death of a soul. Nutrients to let It grow. An underground area housing the core. Minions protecting their new master. And mana flowing out of the depths.

The zombies were now upon us. They tried to hit the frontline, slashing with their long nails.

Though my men and women were trained well. They quickly build a shield wall, blocking off the mine shaft. The archers in the back put holes through their heads and they fell.

My party continued on. We were not here to delve a dungeon, how rare they may be. We left the dead-dead behind us and continued on.

Until we reached the mine's first floor's end we massacred 25 zombies. Some smaller or large than others. But all were the same, dead.

At the end of the mineshaft, a row of iron carts blocked the way further. We had already explored all the side tunnels and were ready for what was to come.

In my long experience as an adventurer, I have once before been inside a dungeon. Though it was not a pure one. The mission was to kill the rogue dungeon pestering the surroundings.

At the end of every floor, a dungeon would have a boss, guarding the way further in. Though I was still curious as to why we couldn’t just take the lift further down.

We went through the small gaps between the minecarts. Quickly forming up on the other side to not get jumped by any surprise enemy.

Once in formation, I had a look around. A large zombie stood amongst the strewn-around mining equipment. Discarded ores, picks, lamps, and shovels lay around the monster.

It was larger than your average zombie. Quite normal for the boss of a dungeon.

At about 2,30 meters, together with its bulk, it was a giant. In its muscular arms, it held two pickaxes. Protecting its head and body was a mining helmet and a rough mining armor. Protecting the miner against various cuts from sharp rocks.

The zombie let out a below. Dust falling down from the ceiling. The air was filled with a vile stench.

Our youngest member, Robert, had a piece of dead flesh in his mouth. Blown-in from the monsters shout.

After a call from me, the party split up into three groups. This would hinder the monster in getting a collateral kill in a large attack.

The crossbow women start to decorate the miner with some beautiful bolts. The swordsmen tried to protect those behind them. Grouping up to take hits aimed at the ranged fighters.

Those with a spear put some holes in the dead monster. So it could air out the horrid stench. I myself was busy setting up a trap. Thin, but sturdy, steel wires were bound around the carts as leverage.

After enough were mounted, I called the plan into action. We lured the dead miner into the trap and it quickly fell. The wire cutting into its boots and entangling its feet.

With the monster down low it wasn’t able to use its large size to swing the pickaxe. The shieldbearers held down its arms and a few chops cut of its bulky head.

We looted the body. Searching for something to go in further.

Having found two keys on the corpse we made our way towards the lift.

There we continued on to the second floor. The lift was only large enough to take us down in pairs. And the key look worse for wear after heavy use. Probably only usable some more time.

When we arrived at the second floor we also saw that the lift could continue on further into the earth’s depths. Even though the mayor's plans only reported the miners digging down one layer, not more.

This surely was the dungeons doing and we continued our exploration. The second floor, similar to the first was filled with zombies.

Though their numbers were larger and stronger. Dotted amongst the normal zombies were more miners. Similar to the boss on the first floor, but weaker at least.

Halfway through the tunnels, a tragic mistake happened. In a moment of low attention, I missed a trap.

A pitfall was sprung, transporting our whole group further into the dungeon. After a while, we fell down amongst the rubble.

I didn’t know how far we fell but there was no way back up from where we came. Our only way would be to find the lift and take it up to safety.

The grunts from above now were silent. Though loud howls were sure to take their place.

To our luck, we were able to evade most of the monsters. Maneuvering the party around the enemies with a good sense of hearing.

Blocking the way to the lift was a pair of monsters. Two ghosts were guarding the way further. No all too much stronger than a zombie they would pose no danger. If it wasn’t for a nasty little attribute they had.

Physical objects would hardly hurt them. Only ones enchanted or infused with mana were able to banish the lost soul. None of my men had yet reached a stage where they could infuse their weapons. And enchantments were too expensive for even a high noble.

I ordered my men to continue on. We would rush past the ghost and try to defend against them.

To our luck, two lifts were positioned down here. They would allow us to get more men up. While I defended our position with 5 of our members the rest took the lifts up.

Pulling on the rope as fast as they could. They came down a while later. But I and our youngest member were the last to take the elevator up towards the surface.

Some way up we saw the reason why the lift was down this fast. On the fifth floor, a small resting place provided safety.

I reported the death of our member and we took the single lift up to the surface. This day 4 of our members were left down in the depths of the seventh floor.

- End of the Report of the haunted mine Dungeon -

- Written by Stella, the leader of the six swords Adventurer group -