NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 17.2 Delving
By the time dawn’s first light broke over the mountains, the party already stood before the thick wooden doors that led right into the mines.
Each of them was armed and armored with everything they could need for a protracted campaign. Daniela and Tyr wore the least amount of protective gear, opting to wear boiled leather or simply light clothing so they could be as stealthy as possible. While everyone agreed that the elf knew what she was doing, they still insisted that she at least try to protect the budding life within her.
So, as a compromise, the large woman wore an armored girdle over her usual hide vest and pants. The overly large leather belt had a metal plate sandwiched inside which covered most of her abdomen. Her maneuverability would take a slight hit, but that was a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Rick and Sade both had acquired a matching set of chainmail hauberks and thick cloth gambesons. Neither of the humans needed to be stealthy, so having as much protection as they could get was the number one priority. To help protect their limbs, they also bought shin guards and bracers that had metal inserts similar to Tyr’s girdle. To round things off, Sade also carried a small buckler on her arm for when she ran out of magic or had to switch to her mace.
Lilie’s gear was the least improved of the group. Due to her ever shifting size during intense combat, it was extremely difficult to acquire more solid armor that would fit her properly without some extensive enchantments. While they had a considerable amount of coin still saved up, getting a full suit of armor, let alone one heavily modified by magic, was still far out of their price range. She did however manage to put in an order for a custom helmet that was specially made with her horns in mind. Rick had to admit that their healer cut quite an intimidating figure while striding forward into battle in her full gear.
“Alright everyone, it’s time.” Rick said while looking over his companions. “We all know the route we’re going to take to get to the breach. Daniela will scout ahead for any danger or to let us know if we need to take a detour. Tyr’s in the back in case anything tries to be smart and sneak up on us from behind. Lilie will take point, Sade and I will be in the middle to jump in where needed.”
Everyone gave a quick nod in confirmation and as one, they strolled to the doors.
“Good luck.” One of the miners called out to them as they passed by. The rest of the workers waved to the party before they heaved the massive wooden doors closed behind them. The town couldn’t risk any of the creatures infesting the mine to escape into the wilds outside. If that happened, there would be no telling what kind of damage would ensue.
Rick cast ‘lantern orb’ so they were no longer completely shrouded in darkness. Normally Sade would be the one to throw out cantrips, but they all agreed that Rick could use the practice. Plus if things got serious, they would need every drop of mana Sade could spare.
“Well then, time to do my thing.” Daniela cackled before fading away into the shadows like a wraith.
Rick shook his head in disbelief. “Am I the only one who saw her disappear like that?”
“Nope.” Tyr said with an appreciative whistle. “Fooled even my eyes.”
“Fuck…” Lilie said, summing up everyone’s feelings on the subject quite succinctly.
Sade was the first to recover. “Come. We have no time to waste.” She said while pointing towards the first tunnel they would need to take.
They all readied their weapons and set off into the darkness in the previously agreed formation. The first ten minutes or so was uneventful, just endless stone walls, cart tracks, and the soft echo of their steps to keep the hunters company.
“On your left.”
Rick and the others nearly jumped when they heard the soft voice suddenly call out to them. Sure enough, just off to the left was their wayward scout casually leaning against the wall. She looked like she had been there the entire time, but Rick was doubly sure that he or anyone else would have spotted her if that were the case. There wasn’t even another passage for her to hide in, it was all just a straight tunnel for as far as the eye could see.
“Is there an issue ahead?” Sade asked.
“If by ‘issue’, you mean a pack of giant ratas coming this way? Then yes.”
“How much time do we have and what can you tell us about them?” Rick asked.
Daniela’s ever-present smirk dropped and she adopted a more professional aura. “Not long, so I’ll sum up as best I can. Eleven of them, nearly all as tall as my hip, are muy fea, with these mushrooms growing out of their backs. They are also moving really strange, almost like marionetas.”
“Right… That sounds exactly like zombie-shrooms to me.” Rick grumbled sarcastically.
“What is a ‘zombie’?” Sade asked, her head slightly cocked in confusion.
Rick internally smacked himself. “Fuck, forgot you guys whouldn’t know that one. Important bit is that the rats are probably dead or dying and the mushrooms are controlling them.”
“Ya fought these things before?” Tyr asked.
He shook his head in the negative. “Not exactly, but I’ve heard of something similar from back home. We should hit them at range and be careful about breathing in any lingering spores. No telling what something that nasty could do to us if we let that happen.”
“Yeah, I’d rather not deal with that shit, thank you very much.” Lilie chuckled.
“Agreed.” Sade added. “Rick, Tyr, and I will pick them off from here. The question is how to deal with the spores. I am hesitant to use fire in such an enclosed space.”
“Aye, too little air to breathe down here. Best not let the fire eat it all and replace it with smoke.” Tyr laughed. “Why don’t we just hold our breath or cover our mouths?”
Their resident medical expert raised a finger, ready to say something that would counter the elf’s argument, but stopped. “Actually… That might just fucking work.”
Everyone else shrugged their shoulders. “If it works, it works. Once we’re done we should definitely warn the miners of the potential danger so they could deal with it later, but otherwise the idea seems simple and effective.” Rick said.
“That’s great and all, but we’re out of time.” The blond woman said while peering down the tunnel.
The party quickly assumed their positions, the three ranged attackers in front, Lilie and Daniela guarding their backs. It wasn’t a moment too soon. A heartbeat after Rick started to channel his mana, several shambling figures came into view from deeper within the darkness.
Daniela wasn’t kidding about the rats being ugly. Whole patches of the monster’s matted fur was missing from their bodies, the skin underneath looked diseased, almost as if parts of it were turning to liquid and sloughing off with each stumbling step. The eyes were milky and lifeless. The sight of those pale orbs made Rick feel quite unnerved.
“Fire!” Tyr shouted.
As one, bolts of arcane power and arrows pummeled the first row of monsters into twitching heaps of gore. “Aim for the skulls, or at least the legs to slow them down!” Rick shouted while doing his best to follow his own advice.
‘Mage missile’ was a fairly straightforward spell. Create several bolts of pure arcane energy in the air, aim, and then send a number of them flying towards the target at great speed. Rinse and repeat as necessary. While not even remotely close to the most complex formula he had memorized in his short tenure as a mage, casting the spell and actually hitting your target were two completely separate things. Much like using a bow, it took actual skill to guide the bolts to where you wanted them to go. Thankfully, Rick had some of the best teachers he could ever ask for.
Both women started adjusting their shots almost immediately. It wasn’t much of a change, truth be told, just a shift from anywhere on the monster’s body to direct center mass. The infected rats didn’t get riled up when their comrades in front fell, nor did they retreat, squeal, or react in any way to the barrage of ranged firepower. They just kept slowly shambling forward, heedless of the death that awaited them.
After a few minutes, not a single enemy remained standing. Rick mentally checked his mana levels, he was still mostly full even after casting ‘mage missile’ several times. It still amazed him more than he would ever admit that he could feel the raw power coursing through his veins, let alone shape it into actual magic like fireballs and lightning.
His elated mood soured when he saw the destruction he and his lovers had wrought. While literal magic was a dream come true for someone like him, he had to remind himself that the power was still a weapon. He would need to treat his abilities with all the respect that the classification deserved. This wasn’t a game.
“Is everyone okay?” He called out.
“Indeed.”
“Aye.”
“Yep!”
“Buena.”
Rick laughed at the colorful set of replies that came his way. “I figured, but it never hurts to be sure.” He jerked his thumb over to the field of gore. “Shall we try and get past all that now?”
They all agreed and Sade fished out a few spare cloth from her pack while Tyr and Daniela instructed the rest on how best to tie them so that there wasn’t any way for the spores to slip past and into their lungs. Once ready, Daniela led the way carefully around the field of corpses while Tyr hastily retrieved as many of her arrows as she could before bounding after them. They had brought plenty, but without knowing how many monsters they would have to fight, they would need as many as they could.
After they had retreated a ways, Sade called a stop. “That should be sufficient. Lilie, could you give us a quick once over?”
The healer nodded and got to work sending quick pulses of magic through each of them to see if anything needed attention. “We’re all clear for now. I’ll try to check back up when possible just in case I missed something.” Everyone nodded in gratitude and resumed their trek.
The next several hours were much the same. Their thief would scout ahead, come back when she spotted something, then the party would deal with the threat. The variety of creatures they encountered was quite impressive. There were insects of all shapes and sizes, more rats but minus the zombie-shrooms on their backs, and even this weird snake thing with four mandibles and an octopus beak instead of a face.
That last encounter came as a complete surprise. The group passing by a seemingly innocuous crack in the wall when suddenly Tyr stopped, her pointed ears twitching. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, the part of the wall where the crack was exploded outward and something flew out towards Sade.
Both the human and monster crashed to the ground. Sade had managed to get her shield up in time to block the thing’s lunge. It had all four of its mandibles clamped over her buckler and was thrashing around like it was trying to tear it off her arm. Her eyes were wide with fear and pain as she desperately tried to hold the monster’s assault back.
Rick had already rushed in to help. He carefully stabbed his spear forward into the snake monster’s body, careful not to aim too close and hit the prone mage with his attacks. He managed to dig his weapon deep into the creature's wriggling body, causing it to shriek in pain but not let go of its prize.
“Rick, duck!” Tyr shouted and he obeyed the command instantly. He saw the elf’s massive boot collide with the monster and sent it, and Sade’s shield, flying over his head and against the nearby wall.
The odd snake wriggled around before lifting its head back off the ground. It thrashed the shield in its pincers one last time before flinging it away with a sudden jerk of its serpentine body. Its eyeless gaze bored into the group before it opened its mandibles wide and let out another screech of fury.
A flash of steel from the side caught in the light of Rick’s lantern spell and passed straight through the monster’s neck, causing the head to fall unceremoniously to the ground with a dull thud.
“Whew! That takes care of that.” Lilie said happily from beside the monster she just decapitated. “Thanks for the assist guys!”
