Wizwort [86]
~ Andy, Wildwood ~
Will is losing an alarming amount of blood. His forearm is split in twain, the half with his hand barely attached by a few bits of sinew and skin. Teddy is puking his guts out in the corner again. Will is pale, and too weak to stand at this point. Fixing this falls on me.
I crouch beside Will with a healing potion in my hand. It is one we acquired during our trip through this temple, and it should fix things... I hope. The only concern I have is what happens if I feed it to him while his arm is nearly missing.
With shaking hands, I carefully lift Will's nearly severed forearm and hold it in where it should be. Will lets out a low groan of agony. I think he's in shock from the pain and blood loss, but I can't say for sure. I use one hand to hold his arm still while bringing the uncorked healing potion to his lips. He's breathing is unusually shallow as I put the bottle to his lips.
He coughs the potion down as I feed it to him. I watch with sweat dripping down my brow. Sure enough, the potion is working. His arm stitches itself back together like an invisible seamstress is working his skin together. His hand twitches wildly as things fix themselves, his bloodstained arm trembling even after being fully repaired. I notice his foot is mended as well. It was a smashed mess, but no longer. Blood still covers him and is soaked into his clothes.
"Thank god..."
I collapse to the ground beside Will with sweat beading on my skin. The heat from the smoldering wood and that harrowing incident combine to make me feel exhausted. Teddy is recovering from losing his lunch. He starts crying upon seeing Will in one piece, slumping down and lying flat on his back as he sniffles. Neither Will nor I tease him over it.
We spend some time recovering from the ordeal. Nothing comes into the room, no merul nor biglete. We eat, and talk, resting until we feel well enough to move from the chamber. We've decided to call the big mushroom monsters biglete--the idea came from a dumb joke Teddy made about mushroom stew--and the idea of continuing is lingering in our minds.
"We should probably turn back, right?" Teddy asks.
"No. We're close."
Will's reply confuses both Teddy and I. He doesn't bother explaining, he just shrugs as if to say it's nothing but a hunch. While I can't say we're close to the end I can say our supplies are holding up. As long as we don't have another disaster like the last one we should be fine, and we still have healing potions to use in the worst case scenario.
"We're going down."
Teddy must be thinking the same as me. While we've just been through hell, we can keep going. We tidy up our things and finally move over to the somehow intact treasure chest. It's only got a few blackened sections rather than having been burnt to charcoal like the tables. Teddy opens it, revealing a pile of coins and a strange round pointed thing. It looks a bit like a big seed, or a piece of wood.
"What is that?"
"No clue... Maybe someone in town will have an idea."
We stash the strange oblong object before moving on to the door leading deeper into the temple. The corridor here is oddly quiet. We walk carefully, spotting a tripwire and safely triggering it. We come to a cross road. Like all the others, we decide to turn and take the branching path before moving deeper.
At the end of this path there's a storage room. Not a single merul lies in wait, only shelves of mundane items. Clothing, dishes, linens, it is all here. Will pauses at a particular shelf. He reaches out and takes hold of an item I hadn't noticed.
"Isn't this what some of those biglete were using?"
Will is right. The mace looks almost exactly like the weapon most of the biglete wield--minus the standout with the axe. This mace is a bit different though, as it has a green tinted metal head. Will gives it an experimental swing before nodding. He stashes his axe in favor of the new blunt weapon. It looks fancy.
"There's plenty of gear here."
Teddy is right. There are dungeon lanterns tucked amongst the mundane items. More of those spark stones, and a few healing potions. This room is a treasure trove of supplies!
Once we've gathered up everything we can, our delve continues. We make our way back to the crossroad and take the direct path, marching to an ominous spiral staircase. Something about the air here is giving me goosebumps.
"Everyone ready? Oil flasks?" I ask.
"Of course. We got this!"
Teddy's encouraging words put a slight smile on my face. I double check I've got one of the last three bottles of oil in my pouch. With the spark stones using these should prove trivial. Maybe if we're lucky we won't even need to light any fires.
We start our descent. Will is in the front again, protecting us with his reliable stature and newly acquired weapon. If I hadn't seen it myself I'd scarcely believe he'd been on death's door less than an hour ago. He looks imposing and fierce now.
"There's a room..."
Will's whispered warning is followed by a worrying sight. deep at the base of this temple is a spacious chamber filled with strange sunlight and greenery. There's a tree shaped into a structure dominating the room, while unfamiliar pink flowers bloom. The room is blanketed by an eerie silence as the three of us gather at the threshold to the chamber. Standing at the peak of the tree root steps is a strange mushroom monster. It's thin and tall, with a sharp pointed cap. In one hand it holds a staff bearing a green softly glowing gem. What could that be?
Contemplating the staff's purpose falls aside as the creature turns to face us. Its faintly glowing green tinged eyes look fierce. Full of hostility. The monster isn't alone. Two biglete armed with stone maces flank the tall mushroom. Six merul stand between us and them, each one armed with a small spear suited to their stature.
"Throw the oil!" Teddy shouts.
The quiet standoff ends with the rank of merul rushing at us with their spears pointed toward our hearts. We throw our oil flasks, mine arcing neatly straight toward the strange staff wielding monster. Unfortunately one of the biglete blocks the projectile for the creature, so it isn't doused in oil. Teddy's flask hits a couple of the charging merul. Will casually throws his at the other biglete, ensuring both of the hulking mushroom beasts are extra flammable.
"Spark stones!" Teddy urges.
We toss our spark stones at our respective targets. The merul are nearly upon us, yet Will does his best to throw a spark stone at them. The resulting blaze is hot enough to make me cringe as sweat drips from my brow. Teddy and I throw our spark stones up toward the back line of the enemy forces. The two biglete are lit on fire, their flailing doing little against the persistent fire.
Will wastes no time in attacking our enemies after throwing his spark stone. He smashes a spear into splinters using his mace whilst another spear is driven deep into his side. He cringes, grunting at the pain, but doesn't slow his momentum. He smashes the heads off two merul in one swipe. I offer support by firing an arrow at a merul near the edge of the group. It falls to the ground limply. Teddy pitches in, his spear putting pressure on the merul so they can't collapse onto Will.
"The big guys are on their way!" I warn Will.
Teddy manages to stab a merul in the arm. The creature drops its spear, and Will promptly crushes it down the middle with a blow from his mace. I fire another arrow and it results in the death of another merul. One single merul is facing off against Will while two flaming biglete charge at us from the raised tree platform.
My next arrow slips between the eyes of a biglete. It keeps charging, but it is stumbling now. The merul facing Will stabs, lunging forward, piercing Will's thigh. Will smashes it to death with his jaw clenched. He's definitely going to need another healing potion after this.
"Move, Will!"
Teddy's warning comes just in time. Will stumbles backwards, narrowly avoiding a stone mace strike to the face. The smoldering biglete responsible for the strike is already winding up for another attack. Teddy is the one to meet its strike--his spear plunging into the beast's chest. Chunks of charred fungus litter the ground behind the monster as it stumbles. Will takes advantage of the opening and lops its head off with his mace, leaving a mangled stump.
One injured biglete and the tall mushroom stand in our way. I've been watching the strange mushroom this whole time, but I can't figure out what it is supposed to be doing. It hasn't helped any of its companions this whole time. It's just been watching us fight.
Will chews his lip to stay focused despite the intense pain he's experiencing. He swings his weapon and manages to wreck the biglete's arm, but it is still standing. I reach back to pull an arrow from my quiver, planning on killing the tall mushroom before it can get close.
But there are no arrows in my quiver. I fumble around, feeling for the ammunition with furrowed brows. I finally look over my shoulder to confirm I'm out of arrows only to see a strange thorny vine reaching right for me. Thin and green, the plant moves in strange ways as it suddenly tries to grab my neck. I reach up to stop it. The thorns scratch and cut my skin, making me bleed, but I don't let go. I can see my arrows are on the ground in a mess of snapped wood and discarded arrow heads. What is this plant?!
"Shit, guys! Help!"
My plea for aid grabs Teddy's attention, but Will is too busy fighting. Teddy stabs the strange thorny plant at its base. The thing goes limp once severed.
"What the hell was that? Why are your arrows all broken?"
"I don't know! That plant must have snapped them while I wasn't looking-"
Will lets out a grunt of pain that catches both Teddy and I's attention. He's still locked in combat with the biglete, but something is wrong. The thing isn't going down. The arrow I shot it with is still firmly planted in its head, yet it moves as if fine. The arm that Will squashed looks perfectly healthy as well.
Teddy has to lunge forward to stab the biglete in order to help Teddy escape getting clubbed in the gut again. Will is running out of steam, and the monster only looks to be growing in strength. How is that even possible?
Glowing brightly, the green gem atop the mushroom monster's staff waves in the air. The monster is swirling his staff in circles like he's stirring an invisible pot. Each time he moves the gem atop it glows brightly. Each time he waves the weapon the biglete stands up straighter.
"That monster is doing something! It's helping the biglete!"
My discovery doesn't help Will or Teddy much. They're both trying to kill the seemingly invincible monster. Will is weakened, so his strikes aren't very effective. Teddy just doesn't have the attack power to bring the thing down before it regenerates.
"Little busy here!" Teddy gripes.
"I-I'll handle it!"
With my task decided I charge past the fighting and toward the structure shaped tree. I manage to walk up two steps before the stairs suddenly shift. The monster waves its staff, and with a shining gleam the tree moves like water. Stairs turn smooth, forming a ramp. While that doesn't stop me from climbing up, the next change does. Huge wooden spikes shoot up at me like spears. I stumble backwards with a yelp.
One of those wooden spikes nearly stuck me through the neck.
My blood runs cold as I realize this monster is far more powerful than I am.