Chapter 18: Choices

The dungeon’s third leg was nearly identical to the first, except this time the rooms were all populated with warriors and not workers. But to my relief, the number of goblins in each room had reduced again to three, a more manageable group for me to square off against on my own.

I made my way through the third leg in silence. Once more, I spotted no one else. It made me wonder how far ahead the other candidates were and how quickly they had cleared this section of the dungeon. I wondered too at the dungeon’s design. Would it remain this repetitive throughout the sector?

It was only as I reached the entered the final chamber of the third leg that I noted a significant change in the dungeon’s configuration: there were three exits leading away from the room. The corridors beyond were all similarly sized and dimly lit.

My brows drew down. So which one led to the fourth leg and which two were mere side passages? Thus far I hadn’t encountered any true branches in the dungeon. There had only been one path to follow. Was that about to change?

I walked to the mouth of one of the tunnels and peered within. Right away, I noticed another difference. Unlike the other passages I had ventured through so far, the one stretching away from chamber’s exit had an unpaved gravel floor and rough-cut rock walls. More correctly speaking, it was a tunnel. I inspected the other two exits and found the tunnels leading from them to be identical.

“Gnat,” I asked, turning to my familiar, “any explanation for the sudden change in the dungeon’s demeanor?”

The bat chuckled. “It must mean the training phase is over.”

I stared at him blankly. “What?”

“It seems that the Master chose to keep the first phase of his trial relatively… tame and uniform,” Gnat said. “You’d be wise to assume that is no longer the case.” The familiar gestured to the dark tunnel. “Expect things to be more difficult and varied through there.”

That’s just great, I thought, my lips turning down. If I understood Gnat correctly, the encounters beyond this point would be more random in nature. Which could be both good or bad. Still, weak as I was, I much preferred predictable challenges. Those at least, I could prepare for.

Well, there is no help for it. Picking the left tunnel at random, I ducked through it.

~~~

The tunnel meandered left and right, narrowing in places and widening at other times. I tiptoed through it, treading as stealthy as I could on the hardpacked gravel surface. The tunnel’s lack of lighting served me well in that respect. Not once, did I lose my concealment.

The tunnel, though, was not truly pitch black. In places, luminous crystals relieved the darkness, and in patches glowing mushrooms grew. They provided me with enough light to see by, while still leaving me enough shadows to slip through unseen.

I had tried picking a few of the mushrooms, thinking they would make a good portable source of light, but after only a few minutes of being unearthed the mushrooms lost their glow and shriveled up into dry husks. Abandoning the idea, I continued my journey.

After ten minutes, I came across the first sign that others had also been this way. A dwarven corpse lay in the middle of the tunnel. His white cotton clothes were cut to ribbons and deep gouges had been carved through his skin.

Studying the body from the shadows, I scanned the surroundings. There was no sign of what had slain the candidate. When nothing jumped out at me after a few moments, I slipped passed the body and continued my journey.

But only a few dozen yards later, I came across another dead candidate. This one was a gnome who had likewise been ripped to shreds. Feeling my trepidation grow, I kept going down the tunnel.

A little later, I stopped once more. The tunnel had widened into a small cave full with large rocks. Strewn amongst the boulders, were three more bodies. Again, they were all candidates.

This time I ground to a halt. My instincts were screaming at me to turn back. Narrowing my eyes, I scanned every inch of the cavern. There was still no sign of whatever foe—or foes—had killed the candidates. “Any idea what did this?” I asked Gnat.

“No,” my familiar replied, sounding unwontedly serious. “But I’d advise turning back.”

I closed my eyes for a second and pondered my options. Turning back did seem the wiser course, but I had already gained greatly by venturing where other candidates had feared to tread.

Why not go on? I wondered. As long as I remain concealed, I should have little to worry about.

I wavered for a moment, weighing the potential rewards against the risks. But the thought of exploring virgin territory was too tempting to ignore. I press on, I decided. Slowing my advance to a near crawl, I crossed the cavern and continued into the tunnel beyond.

I had ventured only a little way farther when an unnatural noise caught my attention. I stilled instantly. Straining my ears, I waited to catch the sound again.

Grrrr… nnnch... aarrgh.

My breath caught. This time there was no mistaking the noise. It was coming from farther down the tunnel. Somewhere ahead a creature waited. And it sounded close by.

I studied the darkness in front of me again, but found no answers there. Only a few feet away, the tunnel curved sharply to the right, hiding the source of the sounds.

Unconsciously, my hand dropped to the hilt of my sword. To go on or not? But I’ve already come this far. What’s a few more paces?

Mustering my courage, I padded forward and braced my back against the tunnel wall. I inched around the bend, double and triple checking my footing before each step.

I don’t know how long it took me to navigate those few yards, but eventually I turned the corner and caught sight of what lay beyond.

I stifled my sharp intake of breath. The tunnel had widened into another cavern. This one was covered in a field of glowing mushrooms that bathed the cave’s interior in a gentle blue light. Sitting in the center of the mushrooms were two nine-foot-tall figures.

The creatures looked scrawny and half-starved, with their bones showing sharply beneath their olive-green skin. The pair’s teeth had been filed to points and their filthy black hair fell to their shoulders. Both creatures wore nothing more than a small loincloth.

Yet it was not the sight of the green-skinned pair alone that caused my eyes to widen in horror. No, it was what they were doing. In the clawed hands of each monster was a… limb. A pale, soft-flesh limb that had been clearly torn off the human at the pair’s feet.

I swallowed convulsively. The creatures were eating the candidate. The noise I had heard was the sound of the monster’s teeth grinding down on human bones. As I watched one of the creatures spit out a small bone and blood drip unheeded down the chin of the other, my stomach heaved and I took an involuntary step back.

A pebble shifted under my foot.

The monsters paused in their incessant chewing and as one their gazes swung to the tunnel mouth concealing me.

I froze.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 21.

Idiot! I cursed myself. I kept my eyes glued to the two creatures. They were still watching the tunnel entrance intently and I dared not move an iota. A bead of sweat trickled down my face.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

A heartbeat passed, then another. I was petrified, but poised to flee too. If either of the creatures made any move to rise, I would break cover and run. In my scan of the cavern, I hadn’t failed to notice the other dead amongst the cavern. At least a score of candidates had died here.

If that many of my fellows had failed to kill the two monsters, there was no way I was going to risk entangling with the creatures unprepared. But to my intense relief, as the seconds ticked by and no enemy revealed itself, the creatures’ suspicions abated and first one, then the other returned to its feeding.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 22.

Not letting my shoulders sag, or allowing myself another betraying slip, I edged away with carefully controlled movements.