Slervants [85]
~ Billy, Kagami Sea ~
My chest burns slightly as I cough up a lungful of water. The door led us not into a deeper chamber, but an eerie wide open space. Above us there is no sky nor ceiling. There is only water. Below us there is water as well, and the strange mirrored oceans put me on edge. It feels as if the water could cascade down at any moment. It never does.
"W-We have to turn back!"
One of Kingsley's followers, a particularly nervous man, is begging us to turn back. He's terrified of the giant monsters in the sky. Frankly I am scared too. While there have been large things in the dungeon, this is by far the biggest monster I've seen. Its eye looks larger than I am. Why it doesn't attack us, I cannot say. It is clear in how it stares down at us that it knows we're here.
"Shut your trap, Davis! We've already used the key!"
"Who cares about the key?! Those things are nothing like the animals you described! That's a real monster, and it could gobble us up at any moment!"
"Calm down, everyone. These monsters aren't going to attack us," Miss Hawthorne speaks up.
She's got a confident glint in her eyes despite her stoic expression. Her time running the guild in Daywark probably exposed her to plenty more than I've seen. What could she be thinking, promising the monster won't attack us?
"How can you be so sure?" Davis questions.
"Simple. If it was going to attack us we would already be dead."
Davis' posture slumps in despair. His face looks paler than usual, and it is clear Miss Hawthorne has done little to dissuade him from his intense fear. She continues speaking without bothering to mince her words.
"There were monsters of great size in Daywark's dungeon. They appeared terrifying, but truthfully if you simply avoided them they wouldn't try to attack you."
Her words change the mood of the conversation. The others aren't looking so nervous anymore, and even Davis regains some of his complexion. He clears his throat, glancing up at the strange monstrous serpents.
"Were these monsters of yours as big as those sea serpents?"
Miss Hawthorne laughs dryly "Hah, no. They were not quite that large."
Whatever hope Davis had is gone in an instant. He sits down on the stone floor with a dejected look on his face. No one tries to cheer him up further, seeing as there's no point. I'm keeping an eye on the monsters above us even as I start to take stock of our surroundings.
We're situated at one end of a large stone pavilion--not unlike the one this level began with--and a towering structure looms ahead of us. The problem is there is a very large gap between us and the structure. While we could swim across I don't like the idea of getting in the water with those giant sea serpents.
I finally tear my gaze away from the serpents above us to look at the pavilion with a careful eye. There's got to be something here to help us bridge the gap. Thus far the dungeon hasn't given us an impassable obstacle, and most problems have solutions nearby. Unfortunately the only thing I find in the pavilion are a few pieces of stonework, some arches, and odd looking unlit braziers.
"Any ideas on how we cross that gap?" I ask aloud.
No one offers a solution. Swimming is out of the question with the monsters, but there's no other alternative. I don't press the others for an answer. Instead I take a seat on a low stone wall. The others mill about, talking or observing. Henry in particular is shivering like a leaf. The cold water really affected the boy.
"Quit chattering, Henry!" Leah scolds.
"C-Can't help it. I'm f-freezing, you know?"
"Ugh... Will you be quiet if I light you a fire?"
"Y-Yes! Please!"
I watch the two youngest of the group set to work. Leah produces a worn chunk of steel and a matching piece of flint from a tightly wrapped bundle. How the items survived the swim, I've not a clue. The pair move to an unlit brazier and Henry protects the wood from any interference as Leah lights it. Henry's cupped hands probably aren't helping, but the boy is shaking like a leaf, so I doubt Leah minds doing all the work.
"There. Better?"
Leah has managed to ignite the brazier. What's strange is how fast it happened, and how quickly the flames grew into a proper fire. Henry grins sheepishly as he warms himself on the fire. The strange looking brazier is roaring with flames now.
Now that I think of it, isn't it strange the lanterns are all unlit? Usually the dungeon illuminates spaces as if to guide us forward. Here there is an eerie light that permeates everything like it's coming from the air itself. Despite that it is quite dark, so leaving the lanterns unlit is a strange choice. Lanterns? Is that what they are?
"How'd you get that to light so fast?" Miss Hawthorne asks.
"Dunno. Just struck the steel like usual, but it caught right away."
"That's strange. Maybe these are meant to be lit?"
The pieces of the puzzle click together. The dungeon is presenting us with a challenge of perception. These lanterns need to be lit, and only then will it present us with a way to progress. I share my findings with the others as I watch the fire roar in the already blazing lantern.
"These lanterns are part of a puzzle. I believe if we light them all, the way forward will become clear. Do you mind lending me your flint, Leah?"
Understanding and skepticism war on the faces of those gathered. Kingsley's group are more reluctant, though they quickly change their tune when their scout--Geoff--agrees with me. Henry and Leah have full faith in what I'm saying. Miss Hawthorne looks skeptical. I can never tell what Drist is really thinking, but I assume he's on board.
It doesn't take long to locate and ignite every lantern. The wood in each lantern is oddly quick to catch fire, and it burns brightly despite the small amount of fuel. It is as I light the last lantern that a rumbling shakes the pavilion.
"Look!" Leah points to the structure.
There's now a bridge connecting us to the towering structure. It's a simple slab of stone, but it feels infinitely safer than swimming. We approach the bridge with renewed vigor. Even Davis looks ready to explore, his earlier fear forgotten.
I lead the way into the structure. Marching up the front steps, I come to an odd door. It's made of thin wood and paper. I find it unmoving when I attempt to push it inward. The way to proceed only becomes clear when I accidentally shove the door sideways, making it slide along a track set into the wood of the frame.
What waits for me inside is eerie, to say the least. The whole chamber is muddled by darkness. Candlelight illuminates small corners of the room. An unfamiliar scent fills my nostrils--a medicinal stench that burns slightly--and the faint creak of wood has me on edge.
"It smells like a church..."
Miss Hawthorne's observation breaks the silence. I don't have a chance to inquire about what she means, as something lurches out of the darkness. Dressed in cloth robes and with no face, a monster shuffles toward us. The thing is made of transparent goo!
"Monsters!" I warn, drawing my weapon.
Luckily this strange slimy creature is easily dispatched. It is so slow and lumbering that I am able to make quick work of it, slicing apart its soft body and clothing like paper. I calmly return my sword to its sheathe before glancing around the dark interior of the room.
Kingsley snorts "That was underwhelming..."
"Don't let your guard down just yet, there may be more."
Kingsley listens to me as he continues to probe our surroundings for threats. There are no obvious ones. We proceed with caution, each group using their own respective dungeon light source--Kingsley a dungeon lantern, Miss Hawthorne a lantern stone. We make it to the center of this large chamber before more monsters emerge from the darkened corners.
"There's more of them. Cut them down, everyone!"
My rallying cry is largely unnecessary. The creatures lurch forward clumsily before being torn apart by our blades. It's unnerving how easily dispatched these creatures are. If I didn't know any better I'd say something was wrong-
"Ah! Help!" Henry cries.
I whirl around to see Henry grappling with one of the slimy creatures, except its clothing has largely fallen away. The gooey monster is binding Henry in an effort to strangle him. Drist is quick to act, lunging forward and cutting apart the monster in a flash. The gooey fiend falls to the ground in a collection of gooey clumps. Henry breathes a sigh of relief.
"Damn. These things are hardier than we thought."
Drist's comment is backed up by the way his foe rises from its fallen form. The chunks of goo coalesce back into a whole before lurching forward in an attempt to attack Drist. His blades flash in a bid to cut it apart, but the attack hardly phases the irritatingly resilient thing. While this is happening Kingsley's men take up arms. The other two monsters have risen again, and are now trying to attack.
"They won't die, damn it!"
Kingsley swipes his weapon through a slimy monster. The thing's facsimile of a head falls off, but it doesn't stop attacking. The man's throat is constricted by the gooey fiend. An especially shrill shriek from Henry tells me things have worsened on that side. Drist is actually being beaten. His throat is tightly held in the grip of the slimy monster.
"Fuck! This isn't working, they're not dying!"
I move to help Drist. He's given up on using his daggers, instead pawing at the beast with his hands as it strangles him. I do the same with my own hands. My fingers keep slipping through the beast uselessly. Eventually I manage to tear a piece of the beast off by cupping my hands. This monster behaves almost like water, resisting thin implements while being vulnerable to larger flatter objects--like a paddle.
"Blades won't work! They have to be scooped and crushed!"
It is as I say this that I stomp a glob of the monster after ripping it away from Drist. The creature's crushed membrane leaves a wet stain on the floor mat. It doesn't rise from that piece, and it squeezes harder as it realizes we can harm it. Drist is turning a bright red hue as he struggles. I scoop chunks of the slimy monster off him with my hands, frantically crushing each glob beneath my boot when it lands.
Drist's expression shifts from one of awestruck fear to determination. He turns and without missing a beat he throws himself to the ground. The impact crushes nearly half the monster that's clinging to him, leaving it splattered violently across the floor. The creature's grip weakens from the sudden injury.
The creature dies quickly after that. Our combined efforts to crush and pull apart the jelly monster render it a puddle of unmoving fluid.
"Thank you, Billy."
Drist gives me a look full of respect. I feel my chest swell with pride at the way he regards me. Kingsley and his men are looking quite irritated after getting attacked by enemies we thought had been dispatched. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, just a few bruises from getting grappled by the monsters.
"You promised us protection, boy."
Kingsley doesn't look happy. Two of his number were attacked--including himself--so naturally he wants some kind of apology. I have to admit we failed to give him the protection we promised. I bow my head as I speak.
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again. We'll honor our end of the agreement."
"You had better, if you care about your good name."