Jano had been given the narrow path straight on which spiraled upwards leading back on themselves. It seemed the least likely to be an issue as it was agreed that it was somewhat counter intuitive that the path forward would lead so far backward. That fact didn’t make him feel much better as he finished climbing the steps. There had been many more than he thought at first and though his body was much fitter than it ever had been from the constant training, he was still out of breath.

He stopped, bent over double and placed his hands on his knees as he looked ahead at the path which lay ahead of him. It was in a tunnel above where they had been standing. He wouldn’t be able to stand up fully, as it was a bit more snug than the tunnels he had passed through so far. He tucked his head down and bent a little awkwardly, if he was honest he was just glad that he faced no more steps.

He gathered his breath and started down the path. There was much more of the eldritch orange moss growing on either side of the walls and there was more sand underfoot. Not a huge amount, but a light dusting which shuffled as he disturbed it. It stifled his footsteps a little, with the echoes dulled. An eerie silence seemed to weigh on the air.

The walls began to close in on him. They seemed to grow narrower and twist as some form of physical challenge to overcome. The tunnel was fairly straight but the only light was the strange orange glow. He headed down the tunnel and started counting his steps. One, two, three. He heard a small sharp noise, like an animal scurrying which stopped him in his tracks. His hairs stood on end. Looking around him he held his breath, listening for any follow up noise.

There seemed to be nothing, so he carried on. The tunnel wound left, where much more orange light was given off by the moss. The further he walked, the narrower the tunnel became. At one point he had to squeeze through on his side and drag his weapons behind him.

He was glad that Dariea had brought some weapons with her. As happy as he was with his progress with chaos and stone essence, he felt that having his scythes to hack and slash any attackers with couldn’t be a bad thing. He held one in each hand and headed on. Driven by the idea that however small his contribution was, he was needed in another one of Dariea’s plans.

He reached a fork in the path and thought little about the matter. He had no information to base any decision off, so why think on it. Pick one and go he told himself; so he did. He chose the left path, as it seemed just as good of an idea as choosing the one on the right.

The tunnels were vast and seemed to lead to others which slithered away, opening up vast realms of possible travel. Jano touched the cool, slightly damp walls. He hoped they would give him some inkling as to whether he was traveling in the right direction or not. Small drops of condensation began to gather on his knuckles and run down his clammy skin.

The faint smell of rain gathered in his nostrils. He paused and drew as much stone essence into his spirit as possible. It didn’t take long, on account of it being all around him. He knew the cave better then, he had a sense of its history and it was truly ancient. Formed long ago when the world was quite different. It didn’t betray those things to him reluctantly. Rather it was plain to see for someone as acquainted with stone as he was. Something moved in the distance and the faint echo of loose rock chimed in the darkness. The glow of the moss began to ebb further. He paused for a moment.

There was a faint nagging feeling in his spirit. A warning? A demand? He couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t experienced enough in himself to know. He waited for his eyes to adjust further to the darkness. They did so and he could see more around him. The passage narrowed further ahead. It would require him to stoop in order to pass through and he would only be able to walk unhindered for a short while before he would have to make himself smaller, where the tunnel seemed to carve to the side. Make himself further vulnerable. And he had heard something move.

He decided to proceed a little further and assess the situation at the turn. He grasped his scythe and readied himself. He would be able to call his shield immediately should he need to, and something told him he would need to sooner or later. He crept forward. He bent his neck and the top of his back and moulded himself to the gap. He strained his ears. There was nothing more.

He reached the turn and waited for his eyes to adjust. He felt the stone move before he heard it crash to the ground. His shield gathered around him, he just wish there was more of it. A rodent looking creature stuck to his torso and dug its claws into his flesh. He tried to stifle his scream but without much success. It had taken him by surprise and his scythe was too low for an effective blow.

He didn’t have much time to think as the creature began to gnaw at him. He butted the blunt top of the scythe against it as hard as he could, knocking it up slightly. It moved higher but dug its claws in further. He pictured the runes for the Stone Spear technique and tried another strong bump. This time, he dislodged the creature toward his face. It clawed and swiped, making contact at least twice before his face became numb. Third time lucky he thought. He bashed the creature as hard as he could and released the spears while it hung in the air.

Two spears pierced it. One in its lower abdomen and another through the neck. It was pinned to the cave wall ahead as it twitched and twisted. He struck it with the scythe and it let out a mighty shriek. He felt the rush of power in his spirit. Finally it stopped and it was over. He took several breaths and touched his face. It seemed fine. There wasn’t too much blood or too many places which hurt too badly. His eyes were adjusted now and the tunnel kept spiralling, becoming drastically smaller and smaller. Before he reached the next turn he would have to almost start crawling.

This has to be the wrong way he muttered to himself. He decided to turn back and take the other path. If he faced a similar problem he would make a final decision. Hopefully there would be less creatures the other way he thought as he started back on himself.

He heard nothing further as he walked but there was still a nagging feeling within him. As though he was being observed. Perhaps he was. But he would prefer to be watched while standing at his full height. He reached the fork after a while of walking, he had progressed further than he thought. He began to wonder if either of the others had found a path. Whether this was entirely wasted. He put it out of his mind and carried on. He had another path to follow until he heard otherwise and the Great Cave of the Freelands was silent.

He turned abruptly and headed down the second path. The eldritch orange light was even stronger than before and for some reason, he thought it was a good sign. He knew that such omens were folly, but he allowed himself a hope. Perhaps he would be the one to find the way through, without any further disruptions. Perhaps he could help the others as they so often did him.

The good sign ended rather quickly. Jano stopped and strained his ears a little further down the path at the sound of scurrying. His mind jumped back to the creature which attacked him. The small rodent thing. There were likely much greater horrors lingering in this place. This time the noise continued even when he stopped. A gentle scratching noise joined the cry of a small creature echoed from behind him. One followed by another. And then another. He hoped it was just the echo.

Something else is coming, he panicked, just perfect.

The noises were coming from behind him he thought, but the way noise worked in the cave made it difficult to tell. He ran anyway, gripping his twin scythes which were now cutting their way through the air either side of him. He felt a small burst of energy shudder through his spirit and he realised his left hand had met with some resistance. A small looking creature hung limply on the end of the Emperor’s old scythe. He shook it off as best he could and continued running down the narrow corridor. The surrounding noise was louder now, bearing down on him.

He was running toward a small orange light which became bigger and brighter with every step. The noise was incredibly loud as he felt at any moment he would be caught by whatever was chasing him.

He burst out into a large clearing. A hole above let in daylight from the desert above, but it was cooler and several types of plant grew in the centre. He rushed into the middle and turned to face his pursuers: scythes at the ready.

Silence. Even the scurrying sound had died away. Jano looked about him and for a second, took a deep breath. Perhaps he was being paranoid. Then something hit him square in the face. He felt it scratch at his cheeks as he fell backwards. He turned and jutted upwards with the top of his scythe. He felt a jolt in his spirit which alerted him to the connection. It wasn’t a clean strike but it was enough to dislodge whatever was on his face.

He stumbled back and looked ahead, to see a swarm of small rodent looking creatures with small wings and standing on their hind legs. For a moment they stood staring at each other and waited for each other to make their first move.

Then with a wail, the first creature attacked. Jano swung at it with his scythe and it fell at his feet. Another sharp feeling shot into his spirit, driving him on. More cries rang through the air. Jano quickly thought of the rune for his shield, which barely covered him. He raised a series of stone blocks instinctively, hoping to put something between him and the assailants. He forced the creatures into a narrow channel to his right and waited.

He was in for a fight. It seemed he had picked the wrong path. Or the right one. It didn’t matter at that moment. He was on his own.

He jerked his body around now that he was relatively protected. It didn’t take long before some of the rodents found the way through his shield. Jano backed away as far as he could and braced himself. Slowly but surely, the swarm of the creatures came toward him. Then he started to hack at his attackers. He wanted to try and strike with Eradin’s old scythe as much as possible, to fill his spirit as much as he could. That plan lasted all of two seconds as the attackers began to stream in.

They bit and gnashed at him. Small blots of fizzing liquid were spat in his direction. One landed on his shielded forearm and disappeared harmlessly. They were small, but they weren’t as fast as he thought. He was able to turn his body to deflect their attacks quite easily as they were relying on their numbers rather than attempting to do anything tactically.

Orange blood streamed out of the creatures as his scythes pierced them. It began to pool on the floor as the knee high creatures began to pile up. He kicked through in an attempt to make some room. That was his first mistake. He felt one bite his upper arm and latch, its teeth trying to meet in the middle of his flesh. He writhed and the attackers sensed the opening as he did so, and they began to scratch and claw at his side.

He dropped the weapon in his opposite hand and jabbed at the creature now hanging from his arm with the blade, trying desperately not to cut himself. More rodents flew to the entryway to his shield. Jano managed to knock the creature down the floor with a slash across its belly. He instinctively pictured the stone spear rune and fired two spears at the oncoming creatures.

More came. Shrieks rang clear as a bell in the night sky. Surely the others could hear it? He danced around avoiding more creatures and violently slashing with his scythes. They were becoming more familiar with every strike. He hoped Dariea could feel his spirit growing weaker. He hoped she knew he was under attack. He hoped she would come and save him.

His shield began to degenerate, his focus elsewhere caused cracks in the stone. It crumbled and crunched as the rodents came at it, sensing their opportunity. He span to the back and reinforced what he could while batting off an eager assailant. It slashed at his arm repeatedly, drawing blood and burying into his skin until he managed to grab it and met its blows with one of his own and split the creature from bottom to top.

More gathered at the entrance but at least his back seemed safe for now. He saw a small pool of blood running down the sturdy handle of his weapon. He looked at his arm and for the first time felt the hot turgid liquid dripping down. It didn’t look good. He pulled on his spirit again, raising more walls before him to grant a temporary reprieve. They were only small; a temporary distraction. But a necessary one for Jano. They were too many of them. He tried to picture the runes of the attack Dariea had given him earlier. Chaos essence was thin. Even his limited perception could tell that. The walls would not hold long, he was tired and his spirit only received some help from the creatures he had slain. He thought he remembered the runes right. He hoped. He sighed, took a deep breath and then tried to begin.