Vraxious—Whispering Grotto

  Vrax looked nervously at the tottering Spriggan as it explored its newfound locomotive ability. Then he shook his head and scampered up a tree, nestling in next to a small cluster of Conductors to survey what was supposed to be the final confrontation of this floor. Last time they had not made it this far, but they needed to go through it to get down to the next floor that held some actual challenges and hopefully to a path to the “real” dungeon they had been invited to.

  Vrax scooped a pair of conductors into his hand and squinted down at the collection of buildings arrayed in front of the unnecessarily dramatic bronze doorway leading to the next floor. It was a roughshod fort. A barracks sat in the center, built from a haphazard mix of stone and wood plastered together with primitive mortar; it looked like it had been rebuilt quickly and repeatedly recently. Two wooden towers rose against the back wall, but one of them was a barely standing smoldering heap, and the other had a noticeable list; one of its support beams was embedded in the fungus just behind it.

  The other buildings looked like single-room cabins, built by laying logs interlocked with each other. They all had a beautiful unearthly blue glow creeping around the base of the buildings. Some of the unique flora here had crept off the walls and was flourishing, drinking deep from the rough-packed dirt around the buildings that was stained an almost solid red-black from dried blood.

  Holy hell, what happened here... I was expecting more goblins and maybe a bit meaner boss, but this looks like it has been attacked and defended nearly innumerable times at this point. Vrax saw the flash of a single figure running from the slight blue glow of one building to the next. The unmistakable flash of green and yellow that flung itself after the figure answered a lot of Vrax’s questions. Oh shit...the boss has been here defending against my daisies. I wonder if it’s the same one or if the daisies keep winning and the dungeon has to “restock” with some more monsters to guard here.

  The daisy made it about halfway across the blackened soil towards the fleeing figure before a spray of what almost looked like sand dusted across its body. Its maddened tendril-flinging sprint slowed with each stride; it covered the ground below, rising in floating chunks before almost magnetically clamping across the daisy piece by piece until it was covered head to toe in soil that was quickly transmuting to stone. A few strides later the entire daisy scattered across the ground in a spatter of green-tinged rock and dirt.

  Oh holy hell, either there is a very competent mage down there, or the boss that had been defending this location this time has survived for quite a while and probably far exceeded what his level is supposed to be. The harder Vrax looked, the more convinced he became that the fort was a final bastion of dungeon monsters that had become far more elite than normal simply by merit of surviving.

  There were many suspicious piles of green- or red-tinged rock, especially in the open spaces between buildings. And the longer he looked, the more often he could see subtle flickers of movement within the buildings and even a figure furtively peeking from the watchtower. The town was solidly garrisoned with someone or something, and whatever was there, they were fighting smart. Vrax quietly slid back to his allies and caught them up before pitching an idea for how to approach it.

  “Alright, Torvald, you have the best chance of surviving getting hit by any kind of magic. Stereos, can you counter effects that transmute someone?” He asked, really unsure exactly what the hell Steroes could do.

  Stereos nodded. “I have a mana-shaping talent, so I could disrupt a spell that takes time and concentration to finish, but there is no guarantee I could stop it. That is not my focus. Realistically I could slow the transformation but not stop Torvald from becoming a scattered pile of rocks if the mage is not dealt with in a timely manner.” Torvald raised his hand.

  “Ehh, I’m game. I really doubt a mage could slow me and old Jeffy here for long enough for it to matter, if I get eyes on them, well.” Torvald stroked the rather grotesque new “Javelin” on his back, and Jeff’s eyestalks nodded in agreement.

  “Alllriighttt… Glad you are that confident you won’t turn to sand... Now Jonathan guards stereos while he watches over Mr. Immortal, who I’m sure will be flying all over the place and through walls and such.” Torvald nodded enthusiastically, his wings disturbingly unfurling in anticipation. “Yikes…” Vrax muttered quietly.

  Jonathan looked contemplative for a moment. “What’s your part in all of this, oh glorious king of the hungry plants? I guard stereos so some random with a sword doesn’t gut his scrawny ass; that makes sense, but you left out what horrors you will be inflicting,” he said with a smirk.

  “Well, I’m going to sneak in and basically drop a bomb of monsters into the middle of them, of course...I’m also going to see if I can get some dandelions floating around the fight, and if I see the boss...well, I can go for a smite or sick duchess on them, but I’d rather...NOT give that particular monster blueprint to the dungeon if possible.” Vrax pulled up his garden list to double-check what he was working with; he had tweaked some of his creations slightly, but other than the constantly changing biohazard that was the Vein Diver dandelions, they were mostly the same.

  [Stigmata Garden 15/16]

  [Sunshine](2 Slots)

  [Mangler Tree](2 Slots)

  [Man Eater Daisy]

  [Man Eater Daisy]

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  [Cascading Vein Diver]

  [Cascading Vein Diver]

  [Razor Retriever Hive]

  [Endless Devourer]

  [Thresher Colony](2 Slots)

  [Endless Devourer]

  [Duchess](2 Slots)

  [Vein Diver Assassin]

  Wow, I've come a long way since I started. I have enough fuzzy friends and plant-adjacent monsters to wage war against a party of adventurers my own level. And that’s not even counting Duchess; if she has the right environment and enough cover at this point, I think she could assassinate most foes that don’t have crazy high resistances without much of any real fight.

  Vrax split off from the group after making sure the Spriggan was safely nestled into his garden. The three of them headed at an angle down the sloping forest; they were going to hit the fort loudly from the front left. Vrax was heading for an overgrown section of the walls that a few fungal trees had oozed over the top of to the far right. For most it would still be a treacherous climb, but he knew it might as well be a ladder with built-in sound dampening for him.

  Vrax climbed up and slid forward from the lumpy mushroom-tree cap onto the balls of his feet, carefully testing the integrity of the wooden wall. Vrax silently crept along the top of the wall, going all the way to the back of the cave, where he could leap onto some of the fungal shelves that climbed above the door and watchtowers. Vrax moved from shelf to shelf in smooth, slow motions, letting his talent aid his stealth. From a distance all anyone would see was a shifting shadow and some strange undulations in the eerie flowing fungus’s illumination.

  Vrax nestled himself into an especially large protrusion that had a bowl-like top and dipped down low to survey what he was about to throw himself into. Almost immediately he was able to see shapes moving within the two buildings closest to him and the barracks itself. The two closest had barricaded windows and a bulwark of scrap metal protecting the unsealed rear doorway that held a goblin sentry. The sentries looked surprisingly well armed and armored; both scanned the surroundings fervently.

  The ruined watchtower to his left was empty other than some gruesome chunks of its previous defenders and a few still flickering embers. The one three strides below him, however, had two goblins, both armed with crossbows and short swords. The crossbows looked powerful, with a slight golden shimmer running along the arms and the symbol of a bowing man prominently engraved under the shimmer. Holy hell, they have been looting dead paladins' equipment. There’s no telling how dangerous some of these guys might be if they have a few dead parties’ worth of gear.

  Alright… Kill the tower guards silently, then see if I can drop the new dandelion into one of the two cabins on my side. If I'm somehow still unseen after that, I guess I'll work my way towards the barracks and see if I can get the boss. Torvald should be making a racket by then.

  Vrax didn’t hesitate, quickly identifying the guards in the tower below him, nearly level twenty high for this floor but not a concern. Vrax hung his spear tightly on his back and stepped off his perch. Both hands were extended out and down as he fell. Vrax released a pair of smites from his palms moments before his feet hit the tower. Orbs of concentrated miasma struck the lookouts. Both goblins’ top halves melted free from bone and spattered across the watchtower; Vrax rolled past the pair of corpses as they fell. He slid neatly under the tower railing, arresting his momentum for a moment before kicking off the support pillar.

  [Mana 130/204]

  One hand released life right before he hit the ground, and the luminescent bloom that answered his call cushioned the impact of his leap. Vrax pulled his spear as he dashed straight for the nearest guard, who was starting to squint in his direction in alarm. Vrax unclipped his ever-thirst cape with his free hand, flinging it at the guard before he could shout an alarm. The cape hit him square in the face, tearing him to the ground in a flailing heap as it started sucking him dry.

  Vrax rushed past the still struggling goblin and peeked into the room. Nearly twenty goblins were inside in various states. Some fully armored in gear far beyond their means others nearly naked, eating from scraps near a fire pit. The room had rows of bunks that were mostly covered in filth and rough pelts. All of the goblins were a higher level than they should have been for this floor. Wow, I don’t want to walk in there and catch some stolen “oh no” item an adventurer or paladin bought as a last resort. Man, I feel mean doing this again, but…

  Vrax carefully summoned the new Vein Diver Assassin; it rose from some of the patchy moss on the ground, and he carefully reached down to pick it up. It looked deceptively like a normal dandelion other than a piercing green glow emanating from the core of the whispy seed. “Here goes nothing; please work right and don’t accidentally start an apocalypse.” Vrax leaned in the doorway and blew on the dandelion. The entire wispy seed detached as one piece and floated placidly into the room.

  The dandelion aimlessly swirled in the breeze for a moment before it subtly changed paths, aiming for the nearest goblin. Its top went from merely a bright green to a piercing green-white that blinded everyone in the room and even put stars in Vrax’s squeezed-tight eyes. The dandelion brushed over the goblin's armor, dancing across its breastplate before it touched the exposed skin at the nape of the monster's neck. It latched on and shoved itself into the throat of the goblin in a heartbeat. There was a pained gasp, and the creature clawed at the slight bleeding around its throat in panic for a moment.

  “One, two, three,” Vrax counted off quietly before the goblin shrieked in terror. Gibbering something pleading to the others around it, who were backing away slowly in startled confusion.

  “Five, Six, Seven” The screaming abruptly stopped. “Eight, nine, ten…” Vrax finished in a whisper and peeked back around the corner.

  The goblin exploded; chunks of it rained all around the room, and its armor clattered to the ground wetly. All the goblins turned in gibbering horror to look at what stood in its place. A horrifying humanoid figure in the rough shape of the goblin's entire vascular system gently wavered from side to side as the individual transparent vines composing the veins reached slightly towards the nearest source of life. It pulsed a deep green in synch with every beat of its new prey's heart.

  The Vein Diver assassin surged forwards, propelled by its mockery of legs towards the nearest goblin. The goblin's panicked cleaver swing cleaved half of its brain-like mass off, sending it spiraling into the crowd. The Assassin put its hands together and plunged into the goblin. It entered at its belly and pulled itself all the way inside until the only signs it was ever there were the screaming and the goblin's slightly distended appearance.

  “One...Two...Three...” Vrax muttered darkly. Waiting for the next stage of the new dandelion, another creature in the crowd began screaming incoherently. Ahh, that must be the poor bastard that got hit with the cut-off chunk. Don’t worry; it only hurts for ten seconds.

  Vrax tried to pull back around the corner and let the horrible scene play out; he could stop any runners. Instead, a small, hungry wooden claw jutted out from his armor itself. The Spriggan began somehow clawing itself free from his garden with a creaking cry, “HUNGRY!” Oh, fuck.