He crossed to the far side of the cavern, opposite where the fight had taken place, and slipped down a narrow passage he knew ended in a dead end. When the tunnel stopped, Harry eased Jeffrey off his shoulder and lowered him to the stone. He crouched beside him and checked his pulse. Steady. Breathing shallow but regular.
Harry turned. “Page, sit down.”
Page lowered himself uncertainly, hands brushing the ground as he tried to orient himself. He turned his head each way, listening to the faint settling groans of the cavern. In the dark his night vision caught the silver shine of the young man’s eyes.
Harry pulled his only rope from inventory, about twenty-five feet, and drew his dagger. The scrape of steel sounded loud in the confined space. He cut the rope in half and worked quickly, tying Jeffrey’s wrists and ankles, then Page’s. The knots weren’t pretty.
I should have paid more attention when Stan was showing me knots. And I should have taken more rope. There’s got to be a thousand feet of it from the cache up in the crypt. System, why didn’t you tell me to get more rope.
:: System: I apologize if my performance has been suboptimal. Your feedback is appreciated.
Oh, shut up.
Harry finished tying the last knot and straightened. “Page, I want you to count to one hundred and start screaming. Can you do that?”
Page blinked toward the sound of his voice. “Not to a hundred. I can count to twenty well ‘nough.”
“That’s fine. Count to twenty slowly. Wait. Do it again, and then start screaming as loud as you can.”
“You’re gonna leave us ‘ere?”
“Yes. But I’ll be back soon. Just relax. Everything will be fine. Now can you do it.”
Page swallowed, his breath shaky. “Yes, sir. Count t’ twenty… wait... do it again an’ scream.”
“Perfect. Just scream once or twice and you can stop.”
Page nodded, and Harry slipped out of the dead-end tunnel, moving quickly back toward the main cavern. Nine soldiers were spilling out of the opposite side, clustered in tight groups of two or three, each huddled around a single torch. Their shadows jittered and stretched against the cavern walls as they stumbled along.
Harry crept close enough to listen. Panic carried easily through the stone.
“Where’s Sergeant Jeffrey?”
“Was that screaming the Warden?”
“Is it dead?”
Another voice cut in, sharp and shaky. “Get that torch, go on.”
One of them hurried to snatch up the torch Page had thrown earlier, lifting it high.
Harry slipped from passage to passage, closing the distance until the threads of their heartbeats brightened in his Blood Sense. Close enough to reach.
He checked his meters.
V: 92 | TM: 16%
Time for some more La Petite Guerre.
He fixed his attention on the nearest soldier.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Successful (Active, cost: 1 vitae)
The man went still, posture loose and easy, his spear tip lowering.
Harry shifted to another target.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (Cost: 1 vitae)
That soldier jerked, eyes wide, spinning in place. “Something just tried… Status says I passed a Willpower check.”
A ripple of fear went through the group. Torches went up high. Shadows kicked across the walls.
Harry aimed at a third.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (Cost: 1 vitae)
“Me too. Something’s attacking!”
The cluster of soldiers tightened fast, forming a ring. A man with a crossbow took each side, soldiers in between bracing spears outward.
Only the one Harry had mesmerized stood loose and calm, unbothered, unmoving.
From the opposite side of the cavern, a scream rang out, sharp and alone, echoing again and again off the stone.
Every soldier snapped toward the noise.
Harry plucked a spear from his inventory. He pushed vitae into strength and speed and rushed them from the dark. Every head was turned toward the echo, not one of them looking his way.
He slammed into the group with the spear held crosswise, the impact jarring up his arms. Three soldiers staggered back. Two went down hard. A torch spun away, clattering across the stone and guttering low.
Harry bellowed, raw and loud, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”
He pivoted and darted into a side passage before they could recover. Crossbow bolts snapped past him, sparking off the stone and skittering deeper into the dark.
Behind him, the mesmerized soldier sprinted for the exit, tripping and stumbling in the dark.
Harry kept moving, circling wide through the tunnels until he slipped out another passage. The soldiers were still bunched together, edging backward toward the cavern entrance, torches trembling in their hands.
Page had stopped screaming.
Harry slid the spear away and pulled a stone from his inventory. He took a breath, aimed low, and hurled. It cracked into a soldier’s lower leg. The man collapsed with a shout, hit the ground hard, and pushed himself back up on shaky feet.
Harry didn’t wait. He sprinted across the cavern, ducked into another set of passages, and looped around until he emerged between the soldiers and the exit. He held still, letting them come closer, then reached for the nearest thread.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (Cost: 1 vitae)
The soldier jerked and shouted, “It’s attacking again!”
Harry targeted another.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Successful (Cost: 1 vitae)
This one held a torch. He froze mid-step, shoulders dropping as he stood in place.
Voices rose immediately as the group kept moving, leaving him behind.
“Kenwood, come on!”
“What are you doing?”
“It has him, let’s go!”
The group tightened again and shuffled backward.
Harry reached for another heartbeat.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (Cost: 1 vitae)
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“It tried to get me!” someone yelled.
“Let’s get out of here!”
They picked up speed, fear taking over. The closer they got to the entrance, the faster they moved, until at last they broke and ran outright, boots pounding on the cavern floor toward daylight.
Harry followed at a distance to see what they would do. Once the soldiers burst out of the cavern, they didn’t slow. The two left at the entrance saw the panic, joined them, and all of them sprinted back toward the camp.
Harry turned and ran to the soldier with the torch, the one still standing slack-shouldered under the mesmerize.
“What’s your name?” Harry asked.
“Kenwood.”
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Harry slipped away and headed toward the site of the Dead Warden fight. The smell reached him first, thick and sour. As he got closer, the sounds came. Movement scraping against stone, low grunts, the steady wet rhythm of gnawing and chewing.
The stench hit harder as he stepped into the corridor. Death and rot, heavy enough to taste.
The Dead Warden lay motionless, collapsed in a heap of twisted bodies. Several giant rats tore chunks from the ruined flesh. Others lounged around them in a daze, bloated and sluggish.
Harry walked through them. A few rats had claw marks or bites, nothing too serious. His Blood Sense picked up another heartbeat nearby, faint and fading.
He followed it into a side passage to a small shape slumped against the wall. A rat barely clinging on, its body torn up.
“I’m sorry, buddy.”
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Successful (Cost: 1 vitae)
V: 85 | TM: 23%
Harry knelt beside it, spoke softly. “Relax…” He brushed his hand gently over its fur, checking the wound.
He drew the rat into his lap, bent over it, used Drain. Even now, with guilt crawling under his skin and the stink of the fight all around him, the ecstasy slammed through him. For a few minutes nothing else existed.
H 170 .. 169 .. | V: 145 .. 144 .. | TM: 0%
Harry eased the rat’s body back to the ground, straightened, and headed back to the waiting soldier.
“Kenwood, come with me.” Harry took the torch from him and headed back through the tunnels to where he’d left Page and Jeffrey.
Page lifted his head at the flare of light, relief written across his face. Jeffrey hadn’t moved. Still unconscious.
That’s not good. Might have done some real damage.
Harry knelt and loosened Page’s bindings, then helped him stand. He coiled the rope and slipped it back into his inventory.
“Page, pick up Jeffrey. Tell me when he gets too heavy. Kenwood, help him.”
Page got an arm under Jeffrey and lifted him awkwardly onto his shoulder. Kenwood steadied the weight from the other side. Harry waited until they were balanced, then led them out into the center cavern and toward the crypt.
System, you said you’re not sure if the people in here are real or not?
:: System: Affirmative. There is some debate but accepted theory is that they are magical constructs.
Harry scratched his chin.
Well, this should be interesting.
It took about an hour to reach the crypt, Page and Kenwood trading off when Jeffrey’s weight became too much for one man. Once inside, Harry led them up through the levels to the top and into the portal room.
He had them lower Jeffrey onto the floor. The torchlight flared across the chamber, catching the shimmer ahead.
“What do you see?” Harry asked.
Both men stared at the archway and nodded slowly. A glowing purple portal.
Harry motioned Page forward. “Go on and test it. Just wave your hand through it.”
Page hesitated at the edge, the glow washing over his face. To Harry’s eyes it was still the same dull gray. Harry felt a brief flicker of resistance to the mesmerize, a moment where Page held back. But slowly, Page lifted his arm. His fingertips touched the surface, passed through, and disappeared. He jerked them back, stared, then tried again. His hand, then forearm sliding into the light.
Harry nodded. “Well… this means if you like, you can leave this dungeon.”
Page and Kenwood traded uncertain looks.
“Leave, sir?” Page asked.
Kenwood frowned. “What’s out there?”
“The rest of the world,” Harry said.
Kenwood stepped closer and pushed his hand through the portal, pulling it back with wide eyes.
Harry continued, “Right now there are soldiers outside. Their leader is a sorcerer named Zinkle. I don’t care for him, but he’s got to be better than Korven, and I’m sure he’d be interested in anything you can tell him.”
He gestured aside. “Look, move over there and talk it over.”
They walked to the far corner of the room, whispering.
Alright, on three.
:: System: On three what, Harry?
That made Harry pause to chuckle. Jerk.
The two soldiers turned to him with raised eyebrows. He shrugged and waved them to go back to what they were doing.
Harry spent vitae on strength, bent down, scooped Jeffrey up, turned, and tossed him cleanly through the portal. The body vanished without a sound.
Harry grinned at the two soldiers. “Just taking out the trash.”
System, what do you think happened to him?
:: System: Unknown. It will be interesting to find out. I do not know of any other instance of a dungeon denizen attempting to exit.
Harry turned to the two soldiers. “You decide what you want to do.”
Kenwood shifted his weight. “If I really can… I’d like to go. Whatever is out there, it’s better than bein’ one of Korven’s lackeys.” He spat on the floor when he said Korven’s name.
Harry looked to Page. “What about you?”
Page’s eyes flicked to the portal. “You’re going to kill Korven?”
“I’m going to try.”
“What’ll happen to the village?”
“The plan is to free them.”
Page nodded once. “I’ll stay. They’ll need lookin’ after.”
Harry studied him. “You remind me of Nick.”
That caught Page off guard. “You had Nick then?”
“We still do. He’s waiting with the rest of my group.”
Page blinked, surprised again, but the hesitation drained out of him. Resolve settled in its place. “I’ll stay.”
Harry turned to Kenwood. “Alright then. If you’re going, step right through.”
Kenwood edged toward the portal. He tested it with one leg, pulled back, then tried again. Finally, he and Page clasped forearms, exchanged a few quiet words, and Kenwood turned and stepped quickly through the portal.
Harry faced Page. “You’re certain?”
Page nodded. “It’s the winters. The beasts come…”
“I’m glad you’re staying. Come on.”
Harry led Page back out of the crypts, stopping by the leftovers from the cache to add several ropes to the one in his inventory. They went into the cavern, circling toward the tunnels where he’d lured the Dead Warden earlier.
“Follow me. Stay close. I want you to see something.”
He guided him into the passage. As the torchlight pushed ahead of them, several rats hissed and skittered back into side cracks. The ones too full to move just lifted their heads and blinked slow and heavy.
Page gagged at the smell but stayed tucked behind Harry. He stood staring at the destroyed bodies. “Maybe you really can beat Korven.”
“Does he have more of these,” Harry asked, “besides the one at the camp?”
“No, not of these.” Page shook his head. “He’s got a dozen Desiccants though. His house guard.”
“Guarding him from what?”
Page shrugged. “From us, maybe. Or it makes him feel important…”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
They backed out, turned, and moved quickly through the tunnels until they reached the main passage again. A few minutes later they were back at the cavern entrance.
They looked down at the camp below. Captain Walls and Larson were getting the men lined up. The remaining Dead Warden stood nearby, twitching in slow, uneven shifts. One soldier stayed close to Walls, holding the large orb. Its glow had dulled to a muted sky blue.
Harry leaned toward Page. “Go on. Tell them everything you saw.”
Page’s nerves showed plain on his face, but he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Tell them they can stay here. Stay out of it. Once Korven is gone, they can go back to their homes. Take care of the village.”
Page swallowed and nodded again. “I’ll tell ’em. And thank you, sir. With Korven gone, life will mean something again. For all of us.”
Harry gave him a small nod. “Good luck, Page. I’m glad there are people like you here.”
With that, Page stepped out of the cavern and started down the slope. After a few paces he broke into a jog, heading straight for the camp.
Harry watched from the shadows. The camp spotted Page almost immediately. Several men pointed. Captain Walls turned as Page approached.
When Page reached them, Walls stepped forward, the rest of the soldiers closing in behind him. Page spoke quickly, gesturing back toward the cavern.
Walls drew his arm back and struck him hard across the face. Page staggered, one hand going to his cheek.
Before he could straighten, Walls stepped in, pulled a dagger, and drove it into Page’s stomach. He paused, watching Page fold, then stabbed him again. Page bent over the blade, knees buckling, and dropped to the ground.
Harry stared, shock freezing him in place. “That son of a bastard…”
Several soldiers rushed in, grabbed Page by the arms, and dragged his body away.
Larson barked sharp orders. The men snapped into formation. Walls took the blue orb, stepped to the front, and lifted it high. A deep blue flash rolled across his face. The Dead Warden shifted, lumbering into place beside him.
The entire line began marching up toward the cavern.
***
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