Boring stuff, no one wanted to hear about that.
When he was finished and commented that he could still taste the Ancient Desiccant, Stan made a face.
“Why didn’t ya rinse it out with some water or whiskey?” Stan asked.
Harry ran his tongue around inside his mouth, grimacing. “I would if I had some.”
Stan blinked. “Master Zinkle didn’t give ya none?”
Harry looked from face to face. Toby gave a small nod. Jo’s expression sharpened.
“He did,” she said. “You didn’t look in your pack?”
Harry’s shoulders slumped. “Apparently not.” He retrieved his pack and dug through it. At the bottom he found a waterskin and a medium sized flask. One whiff of the flask and Harry jerked it away from his nose.
No gunpowder but you have gasoline?
Stan held out his hand and Harry passed it over. Stan took a long, loud sniff, nodded in clear approval, and handed it back. “Good stuff,” he said. “Better’n they serve at the Lantern.”
Jo cut in. “It’s part of the medical kit.”
Harry took the waterskin to the far corner and rinsed his mouth. It helped a little, not enough. He went back for the whiskey, uncorked it, swished a mouthful, and spat it out on the stone.
Behind him, he heard a loud gasp from Stan.
System, it counts as medicine if I’m not sick to my stomach anymore.
:: System: Duly noted.
Harry turned to look back at the group, for the first time thinking about what Stan was wearing, a sweat-stained tunic, tight at the shoulders, patched trousers and work boots.
Dammit Zinkle. Stan’s not getting far like that.
He picked up Garrett’s pack and crossed to where Stan and Cedric sat. Cedric started to flinch away but seemed to catch himself and stayed put. Harry handed the pack to Stan. “I should’ve taken his armor before sending him through,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Stan swallowed hard and clutched the gear, looking from face to face. “This lot’s all for me?”
Jo snorted under her breath. Toby gave a nervous half-smile. Stan only hugged the pack tighter.
Harry sat back down. Curious what else he might have missed, he checked the rest of his supplies. He opened the small medical kit and frowned. Bandages, a bent needle and thread, crude scissors, a jar of honey, and a few little cloth bags Toby explained were to make poultices.
This looks like something you’d give kids playing doctor.
Jo looked at Harry. “So we know what’s down there. What do we do?”
Harry turned to Cedric. “What do you think?”
Cedric blinked, caught off guard. “Oh… well, you see…” His voice faded.
“You’re the fighting expert,” Harry said.
Cedric looked from face to face, jaw tightening. “We don’t know enough.”
“Like what?” Jo asked.
Harry gave her a quick nod.
Cedric straightened a little. “They didn’t move until Harry got close, but as soon as we stepped a few paces into the room one started to rise. Was it only that one? Were others starting too? If it was just that one, would more have risen over time while we fought it?” He drifted off, thinking.
“Go on,” Harry said.
“You said it looked like the bodies of the failed parties were in the rooms,” Cedric continued. “If the undead rose one at a time… unless one is very high level, some group should have cleared the floor. At some point, they must come in numbers.”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t know if it was all of them. Looking at the bodies, my mind froze.”
System, you see what I see. How many would you guess there were?
:: System: There are many unknown factors, individual sizes, rate of decay, collapse and compression of bodies. Estimate cannot be made with accuracy. If forced to make an approximation, between twelve to fifteen bodies in each room.
Harry shrugged, “System… my user interface, thinks between thirty-six and forty-five in the three I checked. I didn’t check the rooms on the other side.”
Toby shifted. “But what if…”
Jo turned toward him. “What is it, Toby?”
“If a party cleared the level,” he said softly, “wouldn’t it reset when they failed later?”
Cedric nodded. “True. And for all we know, even if you fall on another level, your body ends up here.”
Stan grunted. “Don’t fancy that, do I? Endin’ atop a pile of corpses.”
Jo looked around the group. “Any suggestions?”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Cedric’s shoulders tightened. “One of us… not Harry… needs to step in a few feet. See what happens.”
Stan frowned. “Why do that? Let Harry go tag ’em and run back to us waitin’ for ’em.”
Everyone stared at him.
Harry barked a short laugh. “Stan, you’re beautiful.”
Stan blinked at him, confused, and the others burst out laughing.
Jo let the moment settle, then said, “So we have a plan?”
Harry looked around the group. “I think it’ll work for the Desiccants. But System says the Shamblers are fast, and they’re down the passages. They might be on top of me before I get back.”
Cedric tapped a knuckle against his knee. “We could empty a pack and fill it with rocks. Drop it on them before you wake them.”
Harry nodded, “Worth a try.”
Toby shifted. “But are we missing…”
Jo urged him on. “Go on, Toby. You’ve heard every song and story ever told about dungeons.”
“I wouldn’t say all of them.” He shook his head. “But I tell them to Agnes and Constance and they always want new ones. They’re my sisters.”
“Toby.” Jo waited until he met her eyes. “What are we missing?”
“Oh. Right.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “In all the stories, the more dangerous a dungeon is, especially right at the start, there’s a trick.”
“A trick?” Harry asked.
Cedric nodded. “I have heard similar tales. A hidden feature, a key, a device. Something that makes the challenge trivial.”
Stan brightened. “Ah… like the Dungeon of a Thousand Harlots and the Maiden’s Key!”
Toby went red but nodded. “Yeah… but I’m not sure that one was real though.”
Harry frowned at the nearest torch. “In the descriptions System gave me, there was a big focus on weakness to fire. But when I pulled a torch off the wall, it went out.”
Jo looked at the nearest sconce. “Maybe we have to find the right ones.”
“Maybe.”
They tested the four torches in the entry room. Each fizzled the instant it left the bracket, and relit as soon as it was returned.
Harry let out a slow breath. “Alright. We have a plan. I’ll draw them in and we’ll check every torch we see.”
They gathered their gear, Stan awkwardly carrying Garrett’s pack and spear. Harry started down first, Toby close behind.
Cedric was third in line but froze at the top of the stairs.
Everyone paused. Cedric’s face had gone gray, sweat streaking down his temple. His foot hovered over the first step, refusing to move.
After a long, tight moment, he backed away. “I can’t,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Jo met Harry’s eyes. Harry gave a small shrug.
System, what’s your best estimate for how screwed we are?
:: System: Increased threat correlates strongly with accelerated advancement.
You sound like a motivational poster.
Jo reached out to put a hand on Cedric’s shoulder but pulled back. “Wait here. Maybe only the first level is undead.” She looked at Toby. “Thoughts?”
Toby blinked. “Uh… sometimes a dungeon’s all one type. But… usually not.”
Cedric didn’t look at any of them. He stepped aside, jaw clenched, and the rest moved past him down the stairs. They checked each torch on the descent. Each one died the moment it left its place.
Replacing the last torch in its sconce, Harry sighed. "So much for the easy way."
They reached the bottom and piled their gear at the base of the stairs. Jo and Toby took positions a few feet back from the crypt entrance, spears angled low. Stan had Garrett’s shield strapped to his good arm, the leather buckles tight.
Harry rested his spear against the wall beside them. He dumped out his pack on the stairs, grabbed the empty bag, and slipped into the room. He moved between the broken lids, grabbed fist-size chunks and loaded the pack.
Harry moved toward the first sarcophagus on the right. Shield on his arm, dagger and mace at his belt, the pack held in both hands.
He edged close to the foot of the sarcophagus and stopped when the green thread started to wave.
“Alright,” Harry called out to warn the others. “Here I go.”
Tag! You’re it.
He took a breath, stepped forward, and using a two-handed shot put motion, tossed the sack of stones at its chest and leapt back.
The corpse lurched upright. It clawed at the pack, knocked it aside, and clambered out of the sarcophagus.
Harry had already bolted. He shot back across the floor, snatched up his spear, and fell in with the others, Jo in the center.
The Desiccant charged.
All three braced. Their spears leveled. It slammed into the points, jerking forward anyway, jaws snapping at anything close. Its claws scraped the shafts, reaching for them, teeth clacking when a hand drifted near.
“Careful,” Harry said. “Its bite carries disease. Maybe the claws too.”
The force drove it up Toby’s shaft. Toby’s voice went tight. “Oh no oh no oh no…”
“I got ya,” Stan said, stepping in. He raised the shield and blocked its snapping jaws. The thing clamped onto the shield rim with both hands, trying to wrench it aside.
Harry spun his spear, planted the flat bottom end against the top of its chest, and pushed. He burned vitae into raw strength.
:: Trait [Enhanced Attribute] (+50% Strength) (Active, Cost: 1 vitae, Duration: 30 sec)
It took several seconds to force it back.
H: 95 | V: 92 | TM: 8%
Harry used the butt of his spear to hold it off. When it batted his spear aside, Stan stepped in to slam it with his shield. Jo and Toby stabbed whenever they could, short sharp jabs.
Jo jerked back to dodge a reaching claw. “It’s not slowing!"
A voice echoed loudly from the stairs. “Pin it to the ground!”
Harry glanced back. Cedric crouched at the bottom of the landing, half-hidden behind the corner. “Pin it to the ground!” he yelled again.
Harry swept low, hooking the thing’s leg. It toppled.
Jo drove her spear into its stomach. Toby drove his through its shoulder. Both shafts pinned it flat.
Stan moved quickly and dropped his weight onto the legs, using Garrett’s shield to block its claws.
Harry tossed his spear aside, unstrapped his shield, and flung it clear. He reached for his dagger.
He rocked on the balls of his feet, coiled, ready to swoop down on it. “You have it?”
“Go,” Jo met his eyes, nodding quickly. “Go. Go.”
Harry paused, took a breath. Focus. Movement slowing. He came down. Palm slam to the side of its head. Force it sideways.
Claws dug into his arms but he ignored them, pressing its face hard into the floor. Its jaws snapped wide, teeth clacking. He used his free hand with the dagger to saw through the neck.
The glow in its eyes flickered. The head came free and rolled away, coming to a stop and looking back at Harry, the eyes dark and hollow pits.
H: 93 | V: 94 | TM: 6%
Stan sat up with a grunt, “Not so bad then, was it?”
Harry fell back onto his butt with a chuckle as Jo and Toby worked their spears free.
For a moment they were quiet, breathing heavily and grinning at each other.
“Harry, can you drag the body out of the way?” Jo stepped up to the edge of entrance and looked out. “Just six more of these things, right?”
***
This story is free to read on RoyalRoad.com
If you are reading this on another site it is a pirated copy. If you enjoy the story please read it on RoyalRoad.
You can find the official updated story here: