Into the Dungeon

The party found the crypt hidden deep in the woods, the long roots of an elder tree undulating from underneath the ground hiding it, as if the tree was tasked with the sole mission of keeping any from entering. Hacking away at the predominant root, it felt as though the tree was letting out cry after cry, as if begging the party to go away.

Nile slinked past the large suit of armor which did the hacking, ignoring objections of how it should surely be the first to enter, considering it did all the work. But how could he? A new trove of great treasure awaited him, how could he hold himself back from running in before the rest?

The crypt instilled an eerie emptiness as soon as his boots hit the floor. The action being echoed by his party was the only noise in this wide, open hallway. A gust of wind rustled his hair as if challenging him to come in deeper.

“Nile!” Called a nagging voice behind him, rife with anger from an earlier day. “Can you ever slow down?”

“Not a chance!” He replied, a smug grin on his face. His confidence filled the room. And as if pushed away by it, the monsters and beasts hid in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike, if ever they sensed a chink in his armor.

Nile glided through the dungeon, his bones rattling with excitement about the possibility of a fight. His prancing about came to a sudden halt in the middle of a seemingly empty corridor.

“Nile, did you spot something?” A calm voice called out.

No response. Something Nile was prone to doing.

“Of course he did. And now it’s only a matter of time until he starts running past us again, just when we caught up.”

“Sorry, Elena. What if I slowed down to match your pace? It’s hard to keep up with him with this body anyways.”

An excuse and she knew it. A gesture full of heart, for a being that didn’t have one.

“That would be nice. Thank you, Soot.” She replied. “At least one of you has a little bit of compassion.” She tacked on, with a twinge of anger in her voice.

Nile jolted down to all fours. He felt his surroundings in any way he could. A light breeze raked against his exposed skin, and his eyes darted to his left side. Crawling like a common Mudroach, he made his way through a crevice near the floor just large enough for a man to fit through.

“Elena?”

“Yes, Soot?”

“Sometimes I think I get your frustration with him.”

“I know, Soot.”

“I’m much too large to fit in a hole even twice that size.”

“I know, Soot.”

Rising to his natural bipedal nature again, Nile scoured this newfound room. A land of incredible opportunities. A spectacle to him, he was unsure why others did not share this same intense sense of fervor he had when finding a hidden passageway. Overgrown vines covered the walls, and pale, lifeless cracked dirt did the same for the ground. Light bespeckled the floor, with small clovers growing at these hotspots. To his disappointment, it seemed nothing else was in here. Or if it was, it was gone. He wasn’t the first in this room, he realized, an intense sense of dread immediately dampening his mood.

But as if being rescued from this strife, a spark of inspiration hit him. Reaching at vine after vine, Nile made his way to the top of the room, being gifted with respite as he heaved himself over the edge and through a small hole in the wall.

Nile stood up, and gave a brief effort to dust off his pants before a skeleton caught his eye. Leaning back against the far wall, at his foot lay a small array of bones. What must have been a pet, Nile guess. But now, both are lost to the beyond.

Nile was not above many things. He had left many taverns he knew he would not return to for many years, leaving not even a single coin for his food and drink. He pickpocketed in his youth, targeting a specific son of a baron for his own personal grudges. He laughed and sneered at this same child when he took his lunch money. And until recently, Nile had not felt a shred of guilt until Elena, who suspiciously looked much like this youth chided him for it. But one thing Nile was above was theft from the dead, and so it pained him to walk away from a very sparkly red jewelled ring on the skeleton’s hand.

On a table in the center of the room appeared to be a map of this dungeon. It was small. Down the stairs he would likely meet the others in the central corridor, and traveling just a bit further down would bring him to the large square on the map, marked very clearly as “STAY AWAY”. A clear invitation for fun, if one lacked common mental stability like Nile.

Heaving a block of wood, he could swear was as heavy as him barricading the door, he descended the stairs with just a single, longing glance back at what could have been his.

“And he just runs off! No concern for others at all! How have you travelled with him for so long?”

“If I tag along for enough time, I think I have a real shot at finding the wizard Risded. And I can get back my body. My skin, legs, head. Everything. I can’t imagine how good it’ll feel to walk around like you guys do.”

“But what if you aren’t human? What if you’re a pet? A rodent? What then?”

“I try not to think those thoughts too much. Hold on a second, I think I hear steps.”

Rounding the corner, Nile found Elena and Soot, just as aggravated as he left them.

“So, did you find where the Chimera is?”

Nile stared blankly at Soot. His helmet was shiny for how often they went to locations like this. Did he shine it himself? It wouldn’t be surprising if Elena helped him. He did find them shopping the other day together, notably leaving him out of it.

“No.” Nile ended up responding. “I think our best course of action right now is to take the branching path to the left. You know what they say.”

“What who says? What’re you talking about? Nile? Stop walking away!”

The cries of those who didn’t understand glided past Niles’ ears, as if some sort of heavenly protection kept him safe from opinions he did not care for. He kept pacing forward, decidedly in the path he wanted to take. Stumbling, Nile felt his feet falter. In just a split second, he was face flat on the floor.

“He deserves that.”

“I think I would have to agree with you.”

Nile lifted himself back up off the ground, turning over to Elena, making sly comments once again. And Soot. Why did he agree with her? As he looked, he saw Elena with a bipedal furry creature Nile was unfamiliar with, waving its lanky arms around, looking desperately for something. He recovered very quickly from being tripped over, Nile thought. He could make a good addition to the party.

“Is this what you need?” Elena held out a small pouch, which it eagerly took. Trotting off, it made no effort to look back, single mindedly going deeper into the dungeon.

Suddenly, Nile’s hand jolted to his knife, moving to impale a vampiric bat that had burst from the shadow’s. He noticed more pairs of bright yellow eyes he had not before, looking down on him from the shadows. A lesson had been learned it seemed.

Soot solemnly crouched next to the now deceased bat, clasping his hands together in a prayer. An odd habit he had after something had tried to kill them, but it had been unanswered all the time Nile had known him. Something he would not question today.

He continued his one-minded adventure, journeying in the opposite direction of where that little creature was carrying his pouch, to make the most out of his time here. Nile had a talent for tuning people out. He was confident Elena was complaining about this while following and Soot was close behind comforting her. But in the end, he was confident they would follow.

Twisting and turning, they found themselves at the end of the corridor. A crack in the ceiling illuminating this hallway led his eyes to a treasure chest at the far corner. His feet glided towards it almost instinctively. Elena voiced a complaint, but it fell on deaf ears. And as he leaned in to open it, Nile’s world was cast into darkness. It turned out to be a mimic that ate him.

There was only one thing he could do right now. Kick his feet as much as possible and hope Soot would bail him out of this situation. He couldn’t count on Elena when she was mad at him. And so, he screamed into the void that the inside of the mimic went into. At one point, he felt his feet rise off the ground, not returning until he was freed by a light enveloping the darkness in which he resided. An unusual way to be freed. To his memory, Soot could not cast light magic.

“Thank you,” Nile said, finally free.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me.” Replied Soot.

“Yeah, yeah. I shouldn’t be in the situation to thank you to begin with. It was too obvious of a mimic. But I had to be sure about it. You get that, don’t you?”

“That isn’t what I mean. At least right now. Elena saved you.”

Nile turned to face Elena, who did not meet his glance. “No, that can’t be right. She never saves me. She always tells you that you should just let the mimic take me.”

“This time I was preoccupied.” Soot gestured to a hulking stone Golem, laying on the floor immobile.

Nile looked over to Elena, still avoiding his gaze. He fidgeted with his hands, hoping it would summon the words or the strength to say them. But he felt awkward. “Thank you.” He stammered out. “We can go to the bosses’ room now.”

Spinning on his feet back towards where they came, he quickly shuffled out of the air of uncomfortably he felt. He never was good at saying genuine things.

“You’re welcome, Nile.” Elena’s voice echoed through the hall.

He paused. Walking past him, Elena glanced back and finally met his eyes. “Aren’t we going to go towards that hall you’ve steered us away from? What’s the hold up?”

The grand doors leading to the boss’s room were as daunting as ever. The size never failed to leave Nile in a daze. Taking the left, Nile began to push one side open as Soot took the other. Experiences led them to the idea that it was never worth one person trying to open these doors. Nile had never succeeded even once doing it alone. And so, with all his might he heaved part of the door open, combining strength with Soot.

A golden throne sat at the far end of this grand room, illuminated by large torch bowls on either side. At the foot of the throne that seemed too large to fit a man rested a beast. Light blonde fur with a luscious mane of crimson making a portrait of the harsh features on its face. Rising on its four legs, the beast simply stared down at the party as if not feeling the need to make a move. A pair of wings on its side ruffled, but it did not take flight.

“This is always the worst part.” Elena said.

“But we still have to do it. Shoot it.” Nile ordered.

Lifting her staff, Elena stared at the chimera. She felt sorrow at having to kill this creature. It had no wish to become this. Experiments were performed on it, with no hope of its own to be part. The least she could do was put it out of its misery. Manipulating the water in the air around them, it coagulated into a pointed mass, then freezing into Ice. Shooting with as much force as she could muster, she aimed for its head.

The chimera twisted, challenging the icicle with the scorpion-like tail. Misjudging the power though, it cried in pain as a section of the exoskeleton broke off, leaving the flesh vulnerable. Nile and Soot rushed to the front lines, creating a wall between the chimera and Elena.

The chimera extended its wings, making the space it occupied nearly double. Beating its wings, it seemed ready to take off towards the ceiling in this grand hall, unable to be attacked by anyone besides Elena. But then, it came to a halt. Its facial features contorted in pain, and Nile took his opportunity to slash at its front legs, crippling the majestic creature.

Soot dashed ahead, blocking Nile from the chimera lashing out with its tail. As it came down with an injured claw, its full weight on Soot, Nile attacked once more. Soot could be crippled, but to his knowledge could not be killed.

Nile circled around to the chimera’s back legs, aiming to cripple it further. Another icicle from Elena, however, is what made it retreat from its relentless assault on Soot. Helping Soot back to his legs, Nile did not for a moment take his eyes off the creature despite its now defensive option.

Once again in front of the throne, it bellowed an ear-piercing screech, dazing the party. However, it did not move. The creature climbed onto the throne, once again screeching with all the might it could muster. Nile fell to his legs, a faint ringing sensation remaining was all his mind could focus on. His vision blurred, and he hastily looked around to see what the state of Soot and Elena was, but to no avail. Soon, the pain was too much. He believed he heard another shriek, and as he finally had the sense to lift his hands to cover his ears, he felt a wet liquid trickling down his face.

Thunk.

The noise broke him out of his trance, and his vision began to clear. He still could not hear, but he now saw the chimera on the floor, fallen from its perch. He watched Soot solemnly stride towards it. He tried for a moment to call out a warning, but his words could not be heard. Soot, great sword in hand, slayed the beast haunting this dungeon, freeing it from its destructive influence.

…

Thank you, was a common phrase to Soots ears. Or rather, whatever magic instilled in him let him hear. I never wanted to become this; the chimera spoke to him.

“I know.” Soot replied.

I wanted to protect my king. I wanted to serve him.

Soot nodded his head once again at this. This was not new to him, nor unexpected. Animals, in his experience, typically operated on more primal instincts like this. Humans too, for that matter. Thinking of a loved one, one who you followed out of respect, or one you had lost. Variations of all of these were what Soot heard as he prayed for these souls, drifting into the beyond.

“I am sorry it turned out like this. None should go through the body modifications you have. It brings a deep pain to you, knowing that the very host your mind resides in is not your own, or is foreign to you. Like something is lost and can never be regained. Creature, what were you initially?”

A lion, it replied.

I was a lion. My king took me in as a cub. Raised me as a human might his own. My life was his, and his mine. Men in dark cloaks took me away, but I came back. I found my way. But he was…

“I suspect we harbor hatred towards the same man, in the end. Proud lion, I promise you this. The youth I follow will bring him to justice.”

Him? The one unconscious on the floor?

“The very same. He cares. More than most can say. And the woman bandaging the wounds is in large the same. I am only sorry it could not have come sooner.”

I would have liked to come with you, would fate have been so kind.

“And he gladly would have taken you, I believe. A chimera is not a far step beyond a suit of armor with none in it.”

The lion, finally at peace, passed away, his connection with Soot fading away as surely as his life did just the same. Standing up, Soot paced over to Nile, still breathing it seemed. He was not sure if anything could kill him.

“I’ll carry him out.” Soot offered, leaning down beside Elena.

“Wouldn’t have to if he didn’t pass out.” she said bitterly. But Soot could tell the look in her eyes clear as day. The softness in them betrayed the sharp edge of what her mouth spewed out. And so, he elected to not respond. She would organize her feelings in due time. As long as Nile made progress in himself, as well.

“Soot, what are you mumbling when you pray? I can never make it out.”

He stood, slinging Nile over his back with as much grace as he could muster. “In due time, you will know.”
“That’s cryptic.”

He chuckled. Maybe it was. But that would be a journey for another day. For now, it was back to town. And he had the luxury of not being forced to behold Nile wolfing down food he could only imagine the taste of.