Chapter 73: Dungeon Dive, part 2

Patting his pockets once more, Alcar steeled himself to descend the slope.

The passageway was closer to vertical than horizontal, and only as wide as a human’s outstretched arms. Alcar knew that it would be more a case of controlled falling than walking. He also wasn’t sure that doing it with a knife held out in front of him was a good idea, despite Ubund’s suggestion.

Carefully, he forced the knife into the coiled tip of the staff, embedding the tip into the wood and ensuring that the knife as a whole was reasonably secure. He then threw his staff down ahead of him, listening as it rattled and bashed against the solid rock. Soon it was out of sight, and it continued to make clattering noises for around ten seconds before falling silent.

Damn. It was going to be a long way down.

Gritting his teeth, and with one last glance at the expressionless Ubund, Alcar pulled the ends of his robes up between his legs, and began to slide down.

At first, the going was simple enough. For once, Alcar felt glad that his robes were relatively shiny, and the stone beneath his ass was smooth enough, too. The slide downwards was almost pleasurable...

Before long, though, he heard a ripping noise, and then another, as his robes and breeches started to give way. The passage was getting rougher, and steeper, too, as he slid into the dark.

And did he hear voices?

Unable to maintain a sitting position, Alcar straightened his legs, then hit a large bump on the slope, causing him to accidentally brace himself and pitch forward. He hit his head hard on the upper surface, and wailed in agony.

Feeling momentarily stunned, Alcar flopped back, skidded downwards for a further few yards on his back, and then curled into a ball, gathering pace as he rolled onward down the now torturously bumpy and rough surface.

After what felt like much longer than he had expected, Alcar thudded hard against a ridged surface below, coming to a sudden and very painful halt. He groaned, and began to straighten out his legs and arms, trying to assess the damage he had sustained, and also taking note of his new surroundings all at once.

It was then that he realised that he was now in a circular dungeon room marked by several stone statues in its center, that he had landed upon his own staff...

...and that he was not alone.

“Who the...” he murmured, beginning to get up, only to recognise Olynka, who stood near the statues with an arrow nocked to her bow.

“Alcar!” she exclaimed, lowering the bow and hurrying over to him.

Groaning again and noticing a persisting throbbing pain in his forehead where he had bumped it, Alcar began to stand... only for Ubund’s booted feet to hit him as the guide reached the bottom of the slope after him. One of the guide’s feet hit Alcar’s shoulder and the other slammed into the side of his head. Alcar screamed, stumbled backwards and flopped over again, then scrambled to his knees with his fists clenched in anger.

“Nice,” murmured Ubund as he now landed on all fours and rapidly stood up with a satisfied nod, straightening his own armor, and looked around.

“You fucking dick!” yelled Alcar. He stepped forward, pulled back one fist and punched the vep-te guide in the nose, causing the man to stagger backwards and thump into the side wall of the round dungeon room.

“Oof!”

“Don’t!” came a yell from one side – Leppie’s voice.

Alcar was ready to punch the guide again, but Ubund was faster than he was. Two rapid-fire blows to the stomach later, Alcar found himself doubled up in pain once more.

Now, though, Olynka was at his side, and she began to help him up. “Are you all right?” she said, with a serious look upon her usually-smiling face. Etienne, came to his other side, also looking concerned.

“That asshole used me as a crash mat,” snarled Alcar, still glaring at Ubund.

The guide merely shrugged, and immediately after he was enfolded in a hug by Leppie, who began kissing his face enthusiastically. “You’re alive! I knew it in my heart, dear Ubund!”

“I am indeed,” growled the guide. Alcar noticed that the vep-te wasn’t returning the healer’s kisses. “I knew that you would have to come through this way, and would most likely get stuck around this point.”

“That’s the truth,” said Etienne, gesturing expansively with both hands and whacking Alcar in the face in the process. “This room is some kind of puzzle, and we’ve been here for hours. So frustrating. And I’m out of weed.”

Ubund looked down at the halfling with a sneer, and then walked across the room.

Alcar picked up his staff, and then looked around, taking in the surroundings more carefully, Alcar now saw that there were five statues in the exact center of a circular room of around ten yards in diameter. Each statue was immediately recognisable as representing one of the pantheon of gods recognised in Dathmir, Varia, and throughout the Empire:

Fanatos – the sun god, and god of life.

Hernvall – the god of the oceans, tides and seasons.

Forox – the god of knowledge, fire, and technology.

Anthema – the goddess of death, pain, darkness and evernight.

Guthram – the outcast god.

In addition to the gap in the ceiling from where Alcar had fallen, there was a single door into the room – presumably the way that the others had come in, he quickly realised. Besides the adventurers, the only other things to be seen in the room were a pair of lanterns that had been placed on the floor, a broken wooden chest on the far side, and a small pile of bones just behind the door.

“We reckon that the statues must conceal a way ahead, but we don’t know how to activate them,” said Etienne, clenching his hands.

Olynka put one hand on Alcar’s shoulder. “Alcar, I’m so sorry that we left you at that valley,” she said. “It sucks, and I’ve regretted it ever since.“

He nodded. “Well... we all do what we must to survive, I guess.”

Perhaps due to his anger at Ubund, Alcar hadn’t immediately reflected on how his friends had left him and Brutus behind the day before. Under better circumstances, he might have crafted some cutting barbs and slights, making them all feel as guilty as hell for an hour or so.

But now, the matter made him aware of something more salient...

“Wait,” he said, spinning around and making sure that his first impression was correct – only three of his companions had been waiting in the dungeon room. “What the hell happened to Warlik?”

Leppie now turned away from Ubund, and walked towards her other companions. “Warlik was very brave, Alcar. We were still being pursued by Imperials, and he fought two of them alone, and then led the others away. A diversion. He helped us to escape. Gave us his gear, too – those are his lanterns. He kept only his sword.”

“Hmm. Right,” murmured Alcar.

In truth, he hadn’t forgiven Warlik, but at least the swordsman had helped his friends, by the sounds of it.

“And what happened to Brutus?” asked Olynka, still looking downcast.

“Ah.”

Alcar smiled, then pulled the jar out of his robes and raised it up. “He’s an exceptionally small dog right now, but let’s get him back to normal.”

Alcar turned the minuscule bloodhound out onto the floor of the dungeon room, and then reversed the incantation with a moment’s concentration. Soon, Brutus was licking at his hand, and then moved around the room excitedly sniffing at the other companions.

“Nice,” murmured Etienne.

As he returned the jar to his robes, Alcar nodded. “Don’t want to speak too soon, man, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of this. I also found an incantation to make things fall more slowly.”

Etienne glanced at the gap in the ceiling and then back at Alcar. “Well... why the heck didn’t you use it?”

Alcar shot a vicious glare at Ubund again, and then looked at the others. “I didn’t know I was going to fall. Ubund just talked about sliding down. And now look at me.”

Alcar looked down at his robes, which were indeed in an even worse state than before – torn in multiple places. He did his best to right them, and as he did so, his hand brushed against the strap of the quiver of arrows that he had been wearing since finding the dead lizardwoman. This, he lifted off, and handed it to Olynka.

“Here you go, my friend. A refill.”

”Thanks!” her face lit up with a broad smile. “I managed to pick up two arrows since we parted. Two! Pathetic!”

“Hehe. Well, the previous owner of this didn’t need it any more.”

“So... we’re still friends?” added Olynka.

Alcar sighed. “Sure. I don’t blame you for Warlik’s actions. We’ve been through a lot, not all of it good. But you’re still my adventuring party, okay? All of you.”

“Right,” said Leppie with a serious nod, then reached out to prod at the damage to his arm and peer at the bruises on his face. “But you’re hurt. I’ll do my best to patch up these wounds.”

“Thanks, Lepp.”

“And then, let’s go get this codex,” said Etienne.