Chapter 39 : Dungeon war III
Tolu looked around. There was a corpse.
Several, actually. He looked at the bodies scattered around them.
The dead hyenas still had arrows sticking out of them.
He grinned. "Actually..." He rushed toward the nearest corpse.
Ore understood. She moved with him.
Tolu ripped an arrow from a dead hyena’s body. The shaft was bent. He threw it aside.
Another.
Still usable.
He pulled it free.
Ore did the same.
"How many?"
"Five."
"Good enough."
A hyena charged.
Ore fired from point-blank range.
The arrow struck its mouth.
The creature stumbled backward.
Tolu grabbed a second arrow from the ground and drove it into the creature’s neck.
It collapsed.
Another hyena jumped over its body.
Tolu ducked.
Its claws scraped across the top of his head.
Ore stabbed it with the broken end of an arrow.
The creature screamed.
Tolu finished it with his sword.
Then another came.
He barely blocked the attack.
The impact forced him backward.
His boots slid across blood-covered stone.
The hyena snapped at his sword arm.
Tolu kicked its chest.
It staggered.
Ore fired.
The arrow struck its eye.
The creature fell.
Tolu looked toward her. "How many arrows?"
"None."
Tolu’s stomach tightened.
Ore dropped the empty bowstring. "I used the last one."
For the first time, Tolu realized just how little they had left.
No arrows.
Almost no traps.
The Razor Leaches had been mostly spent.
Their Mirefangs were exhausted.
The enemy pack had been reduced to only a handful.
And standing behind them was the Gravehide Hyena.
Tolu looked toward the remaining Mirefangs.
Only a few were still standing.
Blood covered their scales.
One limped heavily.
Another had a deep wound across its chest.
But they were still alive.
Tolu raised his sword.
"Come on."
The Mirefangs growled.
The Gravehide answered.
Its growl was deeper.
The surviving hyenas charged.
The Mirefangs met them.
The chamber became chaos.
A Mirefang jumped onto one hyena and tore into its neck.
Another hyena attacked from the side.
The Mirefang was thrown against the wall.
Tolu rushed forward.
He stabbed the hyena.
It twisted.
Its claws caught his forearm.
Tolu screamed.
He refused to let go.
He pushed harder.
The blade finally pierced deep.
The creature collapsed.
Tolu pulled his sword free.
He was breathing heavily now.
His legs were shaking.
Ore stood beside him.
She was exhausted too.
There was blood on her clothes.
Some of it wasn’t hers.
She looked at Tolu.
"We’re almost out."
"I know."
The Gravehide Hyena growled.
The remaining creatures stopped fighting.
Then, as if responding to an order, they all charged again.
Tolu stared.
"They’re not even afraid of dying."
"They’re obeying it."
"Then we kill the ones we can."
A hyena rushed them.
Ore grabbed a broken spear shaft from the floor.
She thrust it forward.
The creature dodged.
Tolu struck it across the jaw.
It stumbled.
Ore drove the broken shaft into its side.
The hyena collapsed.
Another attacked.
Tolu couldn’t raise his sword in time.
A Mirefang intercepted it.
The two creatures crashed into each other.
The Mirefang bit down on the hyena’s neck.
The hyena tore into its stomach.
Both collapsed.
Tolu stared.
The Mirefang tried to rise.
It couldn’t.
Tolu ran toward it.
"No."
He crouched beside the creature.
Its breathing was shallow.
Its eyes looked at him.
For a moment, Tolu remembered the first time he’d seen a Mirefang.
He remembered thinking they were just creatures.
Something to put inside his dungeon.
Something useful.
Now he watched one dying to protect him.
His jaw tightened. "Thank you."
The Mirefang’s eyes slowly closed.
Tolu stood.
Something inside him had changed.
He looked at the Gravehide.
The creature stared back.
Neither moved.
Ore stepped beside him. "What now?"
Tolu looked around.
There was almost nothing left.
No prepared traps.
No arrows.
Few surviving Mirefangs.
No barricades.
No easy escape.
Just blood, broken stone, corpses, and the two of them.
Tolu slowly reached down and picked up a broken wooden stake.
He tested its weight.
It wasn’t much.
But it was something.
Ore picked up a piece of broken wood as well.
She looked at him. "We’re really fighting with scraps now."
Tolu gave a tired smile. "Apparently."
The Gravehide Hyena growled again.
The remaining creatures began advancing.
Tolu tightened his grip. "Then we’ll use scraps."
The next wave came.
Tolu and Ore moved together.
They didn’t fight beautifully.
They didn’t fight like heroes.
They stumbled.
They slipped on blood.
They missed attacks.
They screamed when claws found flesh.
They used broken weapons, discarded arrows, shattered stakes, and anything else their hands could find.
Ore kicked a dead hyena’s body into the path of another.
Tolu stepped onto the corpse and used the height to drive his sword downward.
The blade pierced the creature.
Ore grabbed another arrow from a dead body and drove it into a hyena that had tackled Tolu to the ground.
Tolu rolled away.
The creature chased him.
He threw dirt into its eyes.
It recoiled.
He struck.
The hyena fell.
Another came.
Ore smashed the bow against its face.
The creature snapped at her.
Tolu stabbed it from behind.
They were no longer fighting with plans.
They were fighting with instinct.
With desperation.
With whatever remained.
One by one, the remaining hyenas fell.
But so did the Mirefangs.
Another collapsed.
Then another.
Finally, only one Mirefang remained.
It stood between Tolu, Ore, and the Gravehide.
Its body was covered in wounds.
It was barely standing.
Tolu stared at it. "No..."
The Mirefang growled. It didn’t retreat.
The Gravehide lowered its head.
The two creatures stared at each other.
Then the Gravehide gave a low command.
The Mirefang charged.
Tolu’s heart clenched. "Wait!"
But it was already too late.
The two creatures collided.
The Mirefang fought with everything it had left.
For several seconds, it actually held the larger creature back.
Its claws tore through the Gravehide’s fur.
The Level Two creature snapped at its neck.
The Mirefang twisted.
It bit into the Gravehide’s shoulder.
The Gravehide roared.
Then it slammed the Mirefang into the ground.
The Mirefang struggled.
Tolu moved forward.
Ore grabbed his arm. "Tolu."
He looked at her.
"We can’t fight that thing. Going there won’t make a difference."
Tolu’s eyes remained fixed on the Mirefang.
"I know."
The Gravehide raised one paw. The Mirefang struggled to stand.
Tolu’s fingers tightened around his broken sword.
Then he looked around the chamber.
There had to be something.
Anything.
One final trick.
One final mistake the enemy could make.
Because if there wasn’t...
The dungeon was finished.
The Mirefang tried to stand.
Its front legs trembled beneath it, blood darkening the fur around its wounds. One of its ears was torn, and deep claw marks ran across its side.
Tolu took a step forward. "Come on..."
The Gravehide Hyena watched.
It didn’t rush.
It simply stood there, staring at the wounded Mirefang.
The Mirefang growled and forced itself upright.
For one brief moment, Tolu thought it might actually attack again.
Then the Gravehide moved.
It crossed the distance in an instant.
The Mirefang barely had time to turn before the larger creature slammed into it.
THUD!
The Mirefang was thrown across the stone floor.
It rolled several times before crashing into the wall.
Ore flinched. "Tolu..."
"I know."
The Mirefang struggled to rise.
The Gravehide approached slowly.
It didn’t bite.
It simply stood over the smaller creature.
The Mirefang snapped at its leg.
The Gravehide stepped back.
Then forward.
The Mirefang lunged again.
The larger hyena caught it with one paw and knocked it aside.
The Mirefang hit the ground.
Tolu’s fingers tightened around his sword.
"Get away from it!"
The Gravehide looked toward him.
Tolu froze.
Those eyes.
There was no rage in them.
No panic.
It was simply watching him.
As if it understood that he couldn’t do anything.
The Gravehide turned back toward the Mirefang.
The Mirefang tried to crawl away.
The larger creature followed.
It caught the Mirefang by the scruff and lifted it slightly.
The Mirefang twisted violently, claws scraping against the Gravehide’s face.
The Gravehide released it.
The Mirefang dropped.
For a moment it remained still.
Then it tried to stand again.
Tolu’s chest tightened. "Why won’t it just finish it?"
Ore’s voice was quiet. "I don’t know."
The Gravehide approached again.
The Mirefang growled. It was barely more than a weak rasp now.
The Gravehide lowered its head. Then it suddenly snapped forward.
The Mirefang jumped aside.
The jaws closed on empty air.
The smaller creature stumbled.
The Gravehide didn’t pursue immediately.
It waited.
The Mirefang tried to run.
The Gravehide followed.
It caught the Mirefang’s hind leg and dragged it backward.
The creature screamed.
Tolu stepped forward.
Ore grabbed his arm. "You can’t."
"I know."
"Then don’t." Tolu stared helplessly.
"I can’t just watch."
"What are you going to do?"
He had no answer.
His sword was damaged.
His body was injured.
Ore’s bow was broken.
There were almost no arrows.
Their traps were spent.
Their creatures were dying.
And the thing standing before them was a Level Two monster.
Tolu could barely survive against a Level One creature.
This wasn’t a battle he could win.