We weren’t surprised to encounter more skeletons in the first few rooms, but we were a little surprised to find what appeared to be lost goblin miners. We didn’t get a chance to interrogate them before they launched themselves at us, swinging their small picks, but the rest of their gear looked like typical mining equipment instead of swords and javelins.

“Are there any mines nearby?” I asked our Militia counterparts after we searched the bodies.

“There’s a copper mine to the north of Springbrook.” one answered. “It would be a fair tunnel that would bring them all the way here, but I don’t know how far this dungeon goes in that direction.”

I nodded. Something for another time then.

“Let’s keep an eye out for more of them, and try to take at least one alive in case we can get information out of them.” Saelyn suggested.

***

I noticed Saelyn trailing her fingers along the walls as we walked.

“I think I’d be afraid to touch most things down here.” I said, nodding at her hands.

“It keeps me in touch with the earth.” she answered. “Even down here I have some connection with the Sylvan Realm. I noticed that my Mana replenishes faster the closer I am to nature, so I keep that connection strong and vibrant whenever I can. The raw earth is part of it, and I can feel the roots of many growing things reaching down to us. Even underground rivers carry the essence of Sylvan power. You’ll probably notice it more when you advance farther.”

***

The skittering was getting louder. It came from the other side of the webs choking the hallway.

“Crap, not spiders.” muttered one of our Shield Fighters. “I hate spiders.”

Saelyn reached for the torch closest to her, putting her hands into the flame whispering, “Ignis Tangere.” Pulling her hands away from the torch, they were alight with blue flame. She brought her fingertips to her mouth and blew. A fan of flame whooshed down the hall. We could see outlines of the spiders as the flames approached, we could hear them sizzle as it passed through.

The webs melted away as flames ran up them, flickering and smoking.

The ceiling disappeared into the darkness as the corridor widened into a rough chamber. Hundreds of eyes glittered back at us, reflecting the torchlight.

“As long as they stay up there...” Saelyn muttered, readying to grab more fire.

“What the…” I gasped as I was shoved to the side by one of our Battle Clerics.

A rush of air and something slammed into the ground where I was standing seconds before.

While I recovered my footing, the Shield Fighters charged in and attacked with great enthusiasm. It looked like they were hacking at a lump of rock, but it certainly didn’t sound like rock as yellow numbers flickered above it.

“Best keep an eye out for these Droppers, sir.” one of them said between swings. “One of these through the head will ruin your whole day.”

I eyed the ‘body’ suspiciously as we passed onward. He was certainly right about that.

The chamber narrowed back down into another corridor. This one was still roughly hewn, but was obvious it was made by someone’s hand, rather than a natural process.

***

The radiant glow from the crystal atop the monument reflected off the treasures at its base and lit the whole room. Contrasting the entire dungeon so far, this room was conspicuously clean and most surfaces were polished and shining.

“This can’t be good.” one of the Battle Clerics muttered.

“This whole place feels evil,” the other answered. “Like it’s waiting for something...or someone.”

We hurried along without stopping to investigate. Maybe later, with reinforcements. Lots of them.

***

***

Wave after wave of shrieking Goblins crashed against the shields of our wall, trying to push it back. Our Shield Fighters fought to hold their line with one of the Battle Clerics, their shields anchored to the floor and door frame with a continuous block of ice. The Clerics alternated between healing the front line fighters and swapping out with them so we always had three on the shield wall. The light from the yellow numbers flickering above their shields was so bright we didn’t need torches here.

The Rangers and I kept up our volume of fire past our fighters and winnowed down the ranks of Goblins to relieve the pressure. Red and black numbers flickered constantly as we poured arrows through the doorway into the room beyond.

“Morari! Fiasos Vitis! Parvus Cataracta! Glacio!” Saelyn was casting spells as fast as she and the Clerics could replenish her Mana. She was taking a terrible toll on the Goblins, but they just kept coming.

We had made it all the way to the Boss Room, so we expected a fight, but not like this. It seemed like a never ending flood.

Suddenly Saelyn switched to pouring water over the Goblins as fast as she could. The determination in her eyes told me she was up to something.

“Lightning Arrow! Get down!” she hollered.

I activated a lightning Arrow and held it out for her. Everyone else flattened themselves against the walls and floor as she grasped the sparking arrow.

“Alvoki Fulmo!” she cried.

The world went white and exploded.

***

“We are not doing that again. Ever.” I muttered. The ringing in my ears had subsided, but my head still ached and there were still spots dancing in my vision.

The Goblins were dead. All of them. They were heaped in piles on the other side of our shield wall. Saelyn’s lightning storm had followed the water she had poured in and it had arced...everywhere.

The rest of our party was picking themselves up off the floor and shaking their heads. None of us seemed to have been damaged by the blast, but we were all feeling the effects.

“Good thing there weren’t more of them further back.” I said to Saelyn.

She shot me a look. “No risk…” she trailed off.

***

The tunnel opened into a large vaulted chamber. It rose several stories above us over its length and was almost a hundred feet long and about half that wide.

From the back of the cavernous chamber, we could hear deep booming laughter. The hideous noise rolled across the room, taking great pleasure in its amusement at our plight.

It knew we were here, and it was amused.

We were in it deep.

***

The Arcane Ogre sent its minions forward, if the three Ogres could be thought of as minions after fighting off all those Goblins.

“Parvus Cataracta! Glacio!” Saelyn called out, soaking the floor in front of the Ogres and freezing their feet to it. I launched a Lightning Arrow at the lead Ogre just as Saelyn cast another Cataracta on its head. The splashing water served as an excellent conductor, lighting up the Ogres for our follow up arrows. Red spilled out of them as I activated Rapid Fire and Multi-Shot followed up with Phantom Strike.

Between reinforcing our Shield Wall with Divine protections and bolstering our Mana reserves, our Clerics were having a hard time keeping up with the Ogres’ attacks. Our health was inching downwards as spells from the Arcane Ogre washed over us between attacks from the Ogre’s clubs.

If we survived this, our Militia friends were going to deserve a mighty bonus.

If we survived.

I kept firing.

***

“What is it?” I asked. It seemed out of place in a fantasy dungeon. It didn’t appear to be made of wood or leather or metal.

“I’m not sure, but it’s throbbing with Arcane power.” Saelyn answered, turning it over in her hands. “It seems to be locked, but these aren’t the sort of locks I think they’ll be able to deal with in Springbrook.”

“What do you think of this?” I waved it towards Tehlmar and Azrael.

They both looked at it closely, and at each other. “It doesn’t look like much of anything to me.” Tehlmar answered, as Azrael nodded in agreement.

“It has a handprint on the cover.” I pointed out. “Maybe try placing your hand there?”

“Yes,” she said sounding displeased with my suggestion, “That’s exactly what I should do with unfamiliar magic.”

“Someone placed it here. Someone placed everything here.” I said, waving to indicate the treasure around the room. “Whoever did that had to know or plan that we...or someone like us...would end up here.”

“Fine!” She said, more annoyed with my perseverance than convinced by my logic, as she placed her hand on the cover of the book.

A soft light emitted from the interior of the book, and it split open, unfolding in front of us.

On one half we could see a sheet of glass, and on the sheet of glass there were glowing letters.

[Hello Ixion and Saelyn. We need to talk. You are in grave danger. ]