D
Dying
Guest
A Walk in the Dark
By Drew
Senses alert for the slightest sound or movement, the Infiltrator slowly scanned the hall ahead. Slowly turning his head within his darkened hood, he took in every detail. He looked for rocks or cracks that could hide an enemy, and noted potential hiding places and escape routes. An Infiltrator survived by being prepared for every eventuality. Nothing stirred ahead, the silence only occasionally broken by the sound of a drop of water hitting the granite floor.
He was Pred, an Infiltrator of the Guild of Shadows. An assassin trained in the art of stealth, poison and death. He knelt low on the cold damp floor of the cave, his dark cloak disguising his outline. Slowly, he raised his right arm, formed a fist, and made a twisting gesture. A second Infiltrator landed noiselessly at his side. They lent into each other, their combined outline seeming no more than a low mound on the cave floor.
‘All seems to be quiet’ whispered Pred.
‘Good’ whispered a soft female voice.
Preds companion was Chloe. She was likewise garbed in a dark cloak and lightweight padded leather armour, and like Pred, she too was a trained killer. Infiltrators always operated in pairs, and the two had been trusted partners for two years.
‘Give me a camosound’ she whispered.
Camosound was a nominated sound used by Infiltrators to locate each other in a hostile environment when stealthed. Pred listened. Somewhere in the distance he could hear an intermittent scratching sound, probably a rat foraging for meagre scraps of food. Again, the sound of a drop of water ‘plinking’ into a puddle on the cave floor. Pred turned to his companion, paused for a second, then issued a sound that emulated the ‘plink’ of the water hitting the puddle. Chloe nodded, and repeated the sound perfectly. Pred repeated the sound twice, and again Chloe nodded. The camosound had been agreed. If the environment changed sufficiently, they would agree a new signal as they progressed through the tunnels. No further conversation was needed. Without a sound, Chloe came out of her crouch and made for the left side of the hall and vanished from sight. Pred leapt forward and took the right hand side. He too vanished from sight. The standard Infiltrator tactic was to hunt line abreast. The skill in operating as a pair was being able to move tactically whilst stealthed from sight. An occasional camosound would be used to verify their proximity to each other. Pred looked to his left, but Chloe could not be seen. Chloe glanced to her right and smiled to herself as she caught a fleeting glimpse of her partner. His stealthing technique was not quite as good as her own.
The tunnel ahead turned sharply to the left. Just short of the turn, Chloe veered towards the centre of the tunnel. This was the standard tactic for avoiding cutting corners and running into an unseen enemy coming in the opposite direction. She slowed her pace knowing that Pred would increase his on the outside of the turn. With the junction behind them, Chloe resumed her position on the left and issued a camosound. She received one in return from her right. Pred was exactly where he should be. The tunnel started to descend and after a while it opened into a broad torch lit chamber with four supporting pillars. Pred issued two ‘plinks’, and Chloe joined him at a pillar on the right hand side. At the far side of the chamber lay four dead bodies. They moved together around the side of the hall to where the bodies lay. They had been butchered.
‘Urgh, what are they?’ hissed Chloe.
The bodies on the ground before them were not human. They were yellow skinned, demonic in appearance, and wore no clothes.
‘I have no idea. I have never seen their like before’ whispered Pred.
His eyes wandered around the chamber, an opening on the far side could be seen to go downhill into the dark. The gruesome discovery had shaken the pair somewhat. When they had discovered the cave opening by the ruined temple, they had just expected to use it to shelter for the night. This was no ordinary cave. It had been carved out of the rock by some as yet unknown race. The torches had not burned out, suggesting recent occupation, and the demonic corpses had not yet decomposed. Who, or what had killed them?
A series of growls and screeches emanated from the tunnel ahead. The sound echoed several times in the cavern around them. Chloe and Pred crouched and turned towards the opening.
‘Let’s take a look’ whispered Chloe.
‘Tactical’ hissed Pred in reply.
The pair headed towards the tunnel, and resumed their tactical positions on either side. They proceeded downhill into the fading light. After a few minutes Chloe ‘plinked’ twice, and Pred joined her on the left hand side of the tunnel.
‘There’ she whispered, pointing ahead.
Pred peered into the gloom. Huddled together on the right hand side of the tunnel was a pack of six creatures that Pred recognised as Plate Fiends. He had never seen one in the flesh before, but he had seen drawings of them in the guild library. They were about four feet tall, grey skinned, and they waddled on two legs. Two bulbous eyes blinked above a broad mouth full of teeth. They were squabbling over the remains of a fifth yellow demonic corpse.
‘The demons were butchered by blade and crush weapons’ whispered Pred. ‘These creatures did not kill them. Let’s stick to the left and pass them by’.
Chloe nodded, and they proceeded down into the gloom, leaving the scavengers behind them. After a while the tunnel levelled out, turned left, then descended again. A fluttering sound ahead increased their caution, and they advanced through a large chamber where small red demons flew in circles high above their heads. The Infiltrators moved undetected through the chamber, and after a while came to a junction that formed a crossroads of four tunnels. They looked along each corridor in turn for an indication as to which direction should be taken. At that moment, a high pitched wail of anguish emanated from the tunnel to their right. It sounded far off, but that did not diminish the blood curdling effect on the two companions.
‘I vote we go left’ said Chloe.
‘I agree, lets go’ Pred replied.
They set off once more, and proceeded along the ever descending tunnels. The tunnels had several alcoves, some of which were inhabited by strange creatures. Some of them floated in search of prey, others lay cowering as demons flew high overhead. After 30 minutes they entered a large empty chamber, and Pred called a halt.
‘Let’s rest up and have a bite to eat while we can’ Pred whispered.
‘I was thinking that, there’s an alcove ahead, let’s rest there’ Chloe replied.
They snacked on bread and water, and then one at a time they re-applied poisons to their weapons. At that moment, the pair were startled by the sudden appearance of a large winged creature as it flew right past them. It proceeded up the tunnel in the direction they had come from. It moved fast, and they barely had time to discern that the creature had the appearance of a grey skinned woman with huge bat like wings.
‘Succubus’ whispered Chloe after the creature had flown out of sight.
‘Yes, and I didn’t hear it coming. We had better pay more attention to our rear in case it comes back’.
‘I’ll watch our back, lets go’ said Chloe.
The tunnel levelled out at a three way junction. The sound of three ‘plinks’ from Pred made Chloe instantly alert to danger. She crossed the corridor to join him. His vague shape materialised out of the gloom, and she saw him point ahead to the junction. There on the far side were three Shredders, vicious creatures with acute sight and hearing. The two friends could not hope to fight all three, so they were faced with attempting to pass them, or turning back. Chloe looked around, and saw one of the shredders lumber over to the other two. There was now reasonable distance between the pack, and the left wall of the tunnel. As one, the Infiltrators moved forward. The Shredders snarled and snapped at each other, and betrayed no hint that they had noticed the pair as they cleared the tunnel opening and made their way down the ramp, leaving the growling monsters behind them.
‘Did you see the teeth on those things?’ whispered Pred.
‘Couldn’t help but notice them, and we have to get past them again to get out of here’
‘We’ll worry about that later, there’s another junction ahead’
As they approached the junction, a large spider crawled into view from the right hand tunnel. Long hairy legs supported its bulbous mass, which barely cleared the ground. Large dripping mandibles dominated the front of the creatures head. Pred heard two ‘plinks’ from behind him, Chloe was no longer beside him. He back tracked a few paces, and her shape materialised in front of him. She was crouching. Pred scanned his surroundings, then crouched beside her, facing back up the ramp knowing that she covered the direction of the spider.
‘What’s up?’ he whispered.
‘What’s up?’ she hissed. ‘It’s a spider’
‘So?’
‘I……hate…..spiders’ she said whispered venomously.
Pred suppressed a laugh; he had never known Chloe to be scared of anything. He looked back down the ramp towards the spider as it made its way down the tunnel away from them. It was certainly a big spider, but it was slow and ungainly, and he had no doubt that they could quickly kill it if it attacked.
‘I suggest the right hand tunnel’ whispered Pred.
‘Yes’ said Chloe quickly.
He punched her lightly on the arm. ‘Let’s go, tactical’.
The two leapt forward, Chloe to the left, Pred to the right. They made their way down the ramp, occasionally looking back over their shoulders for the winged creature that had passed them silently earlier. As they neared the junction, Pred veered towards the centre of the tunnel in preparation for the right turn at the junction. They ‘plinked’ as they completed the turn and proceeded for several minutes without incident. A cross roads loomed out of the gloom ahead. They approached it cautiously, and decided to go straight ahead. As they crossed, they saw the tunnel to the left go off into the dark. The tunnel to the right descended into the gloom. The tunnel ahead veered to the left, then opened out into a cavernous three way junction with supporting pillars on the left. The path ahead vanished into the gloom. As they entered the junction, they examined the tunnel to the right.
‘It goes up’ whispered Chloe. ‘Let’s take that path’.
‘Yes, we should start to climb up. The tunnel veers to the right, let’s both go on the left’
They entered the tunnel, and started to climb. It was harder to climb using stealth techniques, so they paused frequently to check their rear, and to ensure they remained in contact. At the top of the ramp the tunnel turned to the left, so they crossed to the right to take the corner wide. This manoeuvre revealed a strange two legged creature stood behind the archway leading into the turn. Neither Pred nor Chloe had seen such a creature before. It had a dark orange colouring, and its mouth was a long proboscis which seemed designed for puncturing and drinking from its victims. Hooked talons on the end of its feet belied its carnivorous nature. The two friends crouched to observe the creature for a few minutes to note its movements.
‘It’s rather like a Shredder, apart from the mouth’ whispered Pred.
‘It seems more solitary, not a pack creature’ observed Chloe.
The creature moved away from them along the left wall. The Infiltrators inched around the hall to the right of the tunnel. Suddenly, the creature wheeled around and charged them. Both Infiltrators reacted immediately. Chloe executed a forward roll that brought her into contact with the creature before it expected. Two long dirks had appeared in her hands, and she stabbed the creature in the chest and neck then back flipped into a crouching position. Pred had also charged forward, and somersaulted over the creature to land lightly behind it. As Chloe’s blades had withdrawn, his weapons pierced the creatures back. With a shriek, the creature died. Both Infiltrators immediately stealthed, and checked their surroundings. No further threat was visible.
‘Look at that’ said Chloe.
Lying on the ground beside the creature was a round black disc. Mounted in the centre of the disc was a bright glowing sapphire.
‘Where did that come from? I’m sure it wasn’t there before’ whispered Pred.
Chloe prodded the gem with her dirk, then picked it up. Pred reached out his hand to examine the jewel, but Chloe promptly put it in her pocket.
‘It’s a glowy, it’s mine’ she grinned.
‘We’ll roll dice for it later’ he retorted.
They retired to an alcove on the right, and individually re-applied poison to their weapons while the other stood guard.
‘We made no noise and we were stealthed, yet that creature detected us’ whispered Chloe.
‘Aye, it saw through our stealth, a dangerous creature. It wanted to drink your blood; did you see the way its mouth stretched towards you?’
‘I’m happy to disappoint it’ smiled Chloe. ‘Let’s move on’
They proceeded along the right wall, leaving the Drinkers corpse behind them. A series of ramps led them ever higher, presumably nearer to the surface. A series of junctions appeared and fell behind them as the pair elected to follow the tunnels that progressed upwards. Finally, the tunnel levelled out. Ahead, the halls seemed to be getting higher and wider. They approached what appeared to be an alcove in the left wall. To the right, a series of tall steps climbed up into the gloom.
‘Look’ whispered Pred.
In the alcove was a tall granite arch, across which a pale pink translucent glow rippled and sparkled. The couple approached it and peered through the pink curtain of light. Static energy tickled their faces. Beyond the curtain, the pair could see the central courtyard of a large castle, but it was night time and they could make out no detail. Just then, raucous guttural laughter could be heard from the steps behind them.
Instinctively, the Infiltrators turned towards the sounds and crouched. Coming down the steps were two Trolls and a Dwarf. They reached the bottom, had a cursory look down the tunnel to their left, and then ran down the hall to their right where they vanished in the gloom.
‘Midgardians’ hissed Chloe. ‘What the hell are they doing in Albion?’
‘I have no idea, but I know it’s not good. Let’s follow them’ whispered Pred.
The pair made their way along the corridor cautiously, alert to any sudden sound or movement. The hall opened up into a huge chamber with four pillars. The three Midgardians were at the far end. They were talking to a group of short yellow skinned creatures.
‘Look familiar?’ whispered Pred.
Chloe squinted to make out the short figures in the gloom. They were the same race of creature that they had discovered butchered near the entrance. They appeared to be bartering with one of the Trolls.
‘Let’s get a closer look’ whispered Chloe.
The couple made their way around the edge of the cavern to the pillar nearest the Mids. There they crouched together and watched. The Troll produced a sack, and emptied the contents onto the floor at the feet of one of the demons.
Chloe nudged Pred, but there was no need. There at the feet of the demon were a large number of the gem disks that they had found by the Drinker. The demon appeared to count the disks on the floor, then greedily picked them up and put them in a satchel. It then held out its arms and muttered an incantation. A glowing Longsword appeared on the floor by the feet of the Troll, who eagerly picked it up. His companions patted the Troll on the back in apparent congratulation. There was a sudden short whistling sound and a thud, and the Longsword fell to the floor. The Troll fell face down onto the granite floor, an arrow protruding from its back. Its two companions drew their swords and turned to face back down the tunnel. A second arrow felled the other Troll. At this, the Dwarf cowered behind on of the pillars.
‘Come’ whispered Pred.
Together, the friends retraced their steps around the hall to where they had entered the chamber. Pred peered around the corner. Another arrow whistled by, and bounced off the pillar by the Dwarf. Suddenly the Dwarf emerged from his hiding place, and charged down the tunnel, passing Chloe and Pred by only a few feet.
‘Come’ whispered Pred.
The Infiltrators made their way down the left wall of the tunnel. Ahead, the sound of fighting echoed towards them. As they emerged into the portal chamber, the Dwarf could be seen standing over the body of an archer.
‘That’s a Hibernian’ whispered Chloe. ‘What the hell?’
‘Kill’ whispered Pred.
The Infiltrators closed in on the unsuspecting Dwarf. Pred was about to strike when Chloe held him back. Running up the tunnel towards them was a group of five Hibernians. The Dwarf roared in rage, and ran towards the portal. One of the Hibernians uttered an incantation and gestured, and the Dwarf staggered. However its momentum carried it forward and it entered the pink haze and vanished. Chloe gasped, Pred was unstealthed and appeared to be rooted to the spot. She was horrified to see his eyes roll back in his sockets. An arrow thudded into his left shoulder, and he whirled to the ground. Chloe didn’t hesitate. She ran towards her partner, grabbed him by the collar, and started to drag him towards the portal. The Hibernian started to chant again. Chloe produced her short crossbow, and shot the caster in the eye. She was unstealthed.
‘Pred’ she screamed ‘get up’
Pred moaned, his eyes an awful white. Chloe dropped her crossbow, and slapped Pred hard across the face. His eyes straightened, full of tears.
‘Get up’ she cried again.
Pred couldn’t stand, but he was able to kick away from him, which helped Chloe drag him towards the portal. His hands slipped on the smooth granite floor, wet with blood from his shoulder wound. Chloe strained with the exertion as she heaved her partner across the cavern. Two of the Hibernians were running towards them. She looked towards the portal, they would not make it in time. Still pulling Pred, she drew her weapon, ready to die fighting beside her companion.
‘It has been an honour’ she said calmly.
‘The honour has been mine’ replied Pred.
She felt Pred roll to his left slightly, and saw him fire his crossbow into the throat of the leading Hibernian. The impact threw him back into his compatriot and both fell heavily to the ground.
‘We aren’t dead yet, heave’ he cried.
With a final gasp of exertion, Chloe pulled hard as Pred kicked, and both fell through the glowing pink haze. They both found themselves on the paved floor of a keep courtyard. The full moon emerged from behind a cloud, illuminating the flowing banner of Albion flying from the roof of the keep tower. Chloe leapt instantly to her feet, both weapons drawn.
‘Where is the dwarf?’
‘Who goes there?’ shouted a commanding voice.
Three guardsmen were running towards them from the direction of the gate tower.
‘Servants of the Guild of Shadows on an errand for Albion’ shouted Chloe. She sheathed her weapons, knelt beside Pred and rested her hand on his shoulder.
As the guards reached them, Pred looked up at Chloe and smiled through his pain.
‘Well done you’ he said.
‘You too’ she replied.
‘Get me a healer’ she shouted.
Next installment - Return to Darkness Falls, coming soon
By Drew
Senses alert for the slightest sound or movement, the Infiltrator slowly scanned the hall ahead. Slowly turning his head within his darkened hood, he took in every detail. He looked for rocks or cracks that could hide an enemy, and noted potential hiding places and escape routes. An Infiltrator survived by being prepared for every eventuality. Nothing stirred ahead, the silence only occasionally broken by the sound of a drop of water hitting the granite floor.
He was Pred, an Infiltrator of the Guild of Shadows. An assassin trained in the art of stealth, poison and death. He knelt low on the cold damp floor of the cave, his dark cloak disguising his outline. Slowly, he raised his right arm, formed a fist, and made a twisting gesture. A second Infiltrator landed noiselessly at his side. They lent into each other, their combined outline seeming no more than a low mound on the cave floor.
‘All seems to be quiet’ whispered Pred.
‘Good’ whispered a soft female voice.
Preds companion was Chloe. She was likewise garbed in a dark cloak and lightweight padded leather armour, and like Pred, she too was a trained killer. Infiltrators always operated in pairs, and the two had been trusted partners for two years.
‘Give me a camosound’ she whispered.
Camosound was a nominated sound used by Infiltrators to locate each other in a hostile environment when stealthed. Pred listened. Somewhere in the distance he could hear an intermittent scratching sound, probably a rat foraging for meagre scraps of food. Again, the sound of a drop of water ‘plinking’ into a puddle on the cave floor. Pred turned to his companion, paused for a second, then issued a sound that emulated the ‘plink’ of the water hitting the puddle. Chloe nodded, and repeated the sound perfectly. Pred repeated the sound twice, and again Chloe nodded. The camosound had been agreed. If the environment changed sufficiently, they would agree a new signal as they progressed through the tunnels. No further conversation was needed. Without a sound, Chloe came out of her crouch and made for the left side of the hall and vanished from sight. Pred leapt forward and took the right hand side. He too vanished from sight. The standard Infiltrator tactic was to hunt line abreast. The skill in operating as a pair was being able to move tactically whilst stealthed from sight. An occasional camosound would be used to verify their proximity to each other. Pred looked to his left, but Chloe could not be seen. Chloe glanced to her right and smiled to herself as she caught a fleeting glimpse of her partner. His stealthing technique was not quite as good as her own.
The tunnel ahead turned sharply to the left. Just short of the turn, Chloe veered towards the centre of the tunnel. This was the standard tactic for avoiding cutting corners and running into an unseen enemy coming in the opposite direction. She slowed her pace knowing that Pred would increase his on the outside of the turn. With the junction behind them, Chloe resumed her position on the left and issued a camosound. She received one in return from her right. Pred was exactly where he should be. The tunnel started to descend and after a while it opened into a broad torch lit chamber with four supporting pillars. Pred issued two ‘plinks’, and Chloe joined him at a pillar on the right hand side. At the far side of the chamber lay four dead bodies. They moved together around the side of the hall to where the bodies lay. They had been butchered.
‘Urgh, what are they?’ hissed Chloe.
The bodies on the ground before them were not human. They were yellow skinned, demonic in appearance, and wore no clothes.
‘I have no idea. I have never seen their like before’ whispered Pred.
His eyes wandered around the chamber, an opening on the far side could be seen to go downhill into the dark. The gruesome discovery had shaken the pair somewhat. When they had discovered the cave opening by the ruined temple, they had just expected to use it to shelter for the night. This was no ordinary cave. It had been carved out of the rock by some as yet unknown race. The torches had not burned out, suggesting recent occupation, and the demonic corpses had not yet decomposed. Who, or what had killed them?
A series of growls and screeches emanated from the tunnel ahead. The sound echoed several times in the cavern around them. Chloe and Pred crouched and turned towards the opening.
‘Let’s take a look’ whispered Chloe.
‘Tactical’ hissed Pred in reply.
The pair headed towards the tunnel, and resumed their tactical positions on either side. They proceeded downhill into the fading light. After a few minutes Chloe ‘plinked’ twice, and Pred joined her on the left hand side of the tunnel.
‘There’ she whispered, pointing ahead.
Pred peered into the gloom. Huddled together on the right hand side of the tunnel was a pack of six creatures that Pred recognised as Plate Fiends. He had never seen one in the flesh before, but he had seen drawings of them in the guild library. They were about four feet tall, grey skinned, and they waddled on two legs. Two bulbous eyes blinked above a broad mouth full of teeth. They were squabbling over the remains of a fifth yellow demonic corpse.
‘The demons were butchered by blade and crush weapons’ whispered Pred. ‘These creatures did not kill them. Let’s stick to the left and pass them by’.
Chloe nodded, and they proceeded down into the gloom, leaving the scavengers behind them. After a while the tunnel levelled out, turned left, then descended again. A fluttering sound ahead increased their caution, and they advanced through a large chamber where small red demons flew in circles high above their heads. The Infiltrators moved undetected through the chamber, and after a while came to a junction that formed a crossroads of four tunnels. They looked along each corridor in turn for an indication as to which direction should be taken. At that moment, a high pitched wail of anguish emanated from the tunnel to their right. It sounded far off, but that did not diminish the blood curdling effect on the two companions.
‘I vote we go left’ said Chloe.
‘I agree, lets go’ Pred replied.
They set off once more, and proceeded along the ever descending tunnels. The tunnels had several alcoves, some of which were inhabited by strange creatures. Some of them floated in search of prey, others lay cowering as demons flew high overhead. After 30 minutes they entered a large empty chamber, and Pred called a halt.
‘Let’s rest up and have a bite to eat while we can’ Pred whispered.
‘I was thinking that, there’s an alcove ahead, let’s rest there’ Chloe replied.
They snacked on bread and water, and then one at a time they re-applied poisons to their weapons. At that moment, the pair were startled by the sudden appearance of a large winged creature as it flew right past them. It proceeded up the tunnel in the direction they had come from. It moved fast, and they barely had time to discern that the creature had the appearance of a grey skinned woman with huge bat like wings.
‘Succubus’ whispered Chloe after the creature had flown out of sight.
‘Yes, and I didn’t hear it coming. We had better pay more attention to our rear in case it comes back’.
‘I’ll watch our back, lets go’ said Chloe.
The tunnel levelled out at a three way junction. The sound of three ‘plinks’ from Pred made Chloe instantly alert to danger. She crossed the corridor to join him. His vague shape materialised out of the gloom, and she saw him point ahead to the junction. There on the far side were three Shredders, vicious creatures with acute sight and hearing. The two friends could not hope to fight all three, so they were faced with attempting to pass them, or turning back. Chloe looked around, and saw one of the shredders lumber over to the other two. There was now reasonable distance between the pack, and the left wall of the tunnel. As one, the Infiltrators moved forward. The Shredders snarled and snapped at each other, and betrayed no hint that they had noticed the pair as they cleared the tunnel opening and made their way down the ramp, leaving the growling monsters behind them.
‘Did you see the teeth on those things?’ whispered Pred.
‘Couldn’t help but notice them, and we have to get past them again to get out of here’
‘We’ll worry about that later, there’s another junction ahead’
As they approached the junction, a large spider crawled into view from the right hand tunnel. Long hairy legs supported its bulbous mass, which barely cleared the ground. Large dripping mandibles dominated the front of the creatures head. Pred heard two ‘plinks’ from behind him, Chloe was no longer beside him. He back tracked a few paces, and her shape materialised in front of him. She was crouching. Pred scanned his surroundings, then crouched beside her, facing back up the ramp knowing that she covered the direction of the spider.
‘What’s up?’ he whispered.
‘What’s up?’ she hissed. ‘It’s a spider’
‘So?’
‘I……hate…..spiders’ she said whispered venomously.
Pred suppressed a laugh; he had never known Chloe to be scared of anything. He looked back down the ramp towards the spider as it made its way down the tunnel away from them. It was certainly a big spider, but it was slow and ungainly, and he had no doubt that they could quickly kill it if it attacked.
‘I suggest the right hand tunnel’ whispered Pred.
‘Yes’ said Chloe quickly.
He punched her lightly on the arm. ‘Let’s go, tactical’.
The two leapt forward, Chloe to the left, Pred to the right. They made their way down the ramp, occasionally looking back over their shoulders for the winged creature that had passed them silently earlier. As they neared the junction, Pred veered towards the centre of the tunnel in preparation for the right turn at the junction. They ‘plinked’ as they completed the turn and proceeded for several minutes without incident. A cross roads loomed out of the gloom ahead. They approached it cautiously, and decided to go straight ahead. As they crossed, they saw the tunnel to the left go off into the dark. The tunnel to the right descended into the gloom. The tunnel ahead veered to the left, then opened out into a cavernous three way junction with supporting pillars on the left. The path ahead vanished into the gloom. As they entered the junction, they examined the tunnel to the right.
‘It goes up’ whispered Chloe. ‘Let’s take that path’.
‘Yes, we should start to climb up. The tunnel veers to the right, let’s both go on the left’
They entered the tunnel, and started to climb. It was harder to climb using stealth techniques, so they paused frequently to check their rear, and to ensure they remained in contact. At the top of the ramp the tunnel turned to the left, so they crossed to the right to take the corner wide. This manoeuvre revealed a strange two legged creature stood behind the archway leading into the turn. Neither Pred nor Chloe had seen such a creature before. It had a dark orange colouring, and its mouth was a long proboscis which seemed designed for puncturing and drinking from its victims. Hooked talons on the end of its feet belied its carnivorous nature. The two friends crouched to observe the creature for a few minutes to note its movements.
‘It’s rather like a Shredder, apart from the mouth’ whispered Pred.
‘It seems more solitary, not a pack creature’ observed Chloe.
The creature moved away from them along the left wall. The Infiltrators inched around the hall to the right of the tunnel. Suddenly, the creature wheeled around and charged them. Both Infiltrators reacted immediately. Chloe executed a forward roll that brought her into contact with the creature before it expected. Two long dirks had appeared in her hands, and she stabbed the creature in the chest and neck then back flipped into a crouching position. Pred had also charged forward, and somersaulted over the creature to land lightly behind it. As Chloe’s blades had withdrawn, his weapons pierced the creatures back. With a shriek, the creature died. Both Infiltrators immediately stealthed, and checked their surroundings. No further threat was visible.
‘Look at that’ said Chloe.
Lying on the ground beside the creature was a round black disc. Mounted in the centre of the disc was a bright glowing sapphire.
‘Where did that come from? I’m sure it wasn’t there before’ whispered Pred.
Chloe prodded the gem with her dirk, then picked it up. Pred reached out his hand to examine the jewel, but Chloe promptly put it in her pocket.
‘It’s a glowy, it’s mine’ she grinned.
‘We’ll roll dice for it later’ he retorted.
They retired to an alcove on the right, and individually re-applied poison to their weapons while the other stood guard.
‘We made no noise and we were stealthed, yet that creature detected us’ whispered Chloe.
‘Aye, it saw through our stealth, a dangerous creature. It wanted to drink your blood; did you see the way its mouth stretched towards you?’
‘I’m happy to disappoint it’ smiled Chloe. ‘Let’s move on’
They proceeded along the right wall, leaving the Drinkers corpse behind them. A series of ramps led them ever higher, presumably nearer to the surface. A series of junctions appeared and fell behind them as the pair elected to follow the tunnels that progressed upwards. Finally, the tunnel levelled out. Ahead, the halls seemed to be getting higher and wider. They approached what appeared to be an alcove in the left wall. To the right, a series of tall steps climbed up into the gloom.
‘Look’ whispered Pred.
In the alcove was a tall granite arch, across which a pale pink translucent glow rippled and sparkled. The couple approached it and peered through the pink curtain of light. Static energy tickled their faces. Beyond the curtain, the pair could see the central courtyard of a large castle, but it was night time and they could make out no detail. Just then, raucous guttural laughter could be heard from the steps behind them.
Instinctively, the Infiltrators turned towards the sounds and crouched. Coming down the steps were two Trolls and a Dwarf. They reached the bottom, had a cursory look down the tunnel to their left, and then ran down the hall to their right where they vanished in the gloom.
‘Midgardians’ hissed Chloe. ‘What the hell are they doing in Albion?’
‘I have no idea, but I know it’s not good. Let’s follow them’ whispered Pred.
The pair made their way along the corridor cautiously, alert to any sudden sound or movement. The hall opened up into a huge chamber with four pillars. The three Midgardians were at the far end. They were talking to a group of short yellow skinned creatures.
‘Look familiar?’ whispered Pred.
Chloe squinted to make out the short figures in the gloom. They were the same race of creature that they had discovered butchered near the entrance. They appeared to be bartering with one of the Trolls.
‘Let’s get a closer look’ whispered Chloe.
The couple made their way around the edge of the cavern to the pillar nearest the Mids. There they crouched together and watched. The Troll produced a sack, and emptied the contents onto the floor at the feet of one of the demons.
Chloe nudged Pred, but there was no need. There at the feet of the demon were a large number of the gem disks that they had found by the Drinker. The demon appeared to count the disks on the floor, then greedily picked them up and put them in a satchel. It then held out its arms and muttered an incantation. A glowing Longsword appeared on the floor by the feet of the Troll, who eagerly picked it up. His companions patted the Troll on the back in apparent congratulation. There was a sudden short whistling sound and a thud, and the Longsword fell to the floor. The Troll fell face down onto the granite floor, an arrow protruding from its back. Its two companions drew their swords and turned to face back down the tunnel. A second arrow felled the other Troll. At this, the Dwarf cowered behind on of the pillars.
‘Come’ whispered Pred.
Together, the friends retraced their steps around the hall to where they had entered the chamber. Pred peered around the corner. Another arrow whistled by, and bounced off the pillar by the Dwarf. Suddenly the Dwarf emerged from his hiding place, and charged down the tunnel, passing Chloe and Pred by only a few feet.
‘Come’ whispered Pred.
The Infiltrators made their way down the left wall of the tunnel. Ahead, the sound of fighting echoed towards them. As they emerged into the portal chamber, the Dwarf could be seen standing over the body of an archer.
‘That’s a Hibernian’ whispered Chloe. ‘What the hell?’
‘Kill’ whispered Pred.
The Infiltrators closed in on the unsuspecting Dwarf. Pred was about to strike when Chloe held him back. Running up the tunnel towards them was a group of five Hibernians. The Dwarf roared in rage, and ran towards the portal. One of the Hibernians uttered an incantation and gestured, and the Dwarf staggered. However its momentum carried it forward and it entered the pink haze and vanished. Chloe gasped, Pred was unstealthed and appeared to be rooted to the spot. She was horrified to see his eyes roll back in his sockets. An arrow thudded into his left shoulder, and he whirled to the ground. Chloe didn’t hesitate. She ran towards her partner, grabbed him by the collar, and started to drag him towards the portal. The Hibernian started to chant again. Chloe produced her short crossbow, and shot the caster in the eye. She was unstealthed.
‘Pred’ she screamed ‘get up’
Pred moaned, his eyes an awful white. Chloe dropped her crossbow, and slapped Pred hard across the face. His eyes straightened, full of tears.
‘Get up’ she cried again.
Pred couldn’t stand, but he was able to kick away from him, which helped Chloe drag him towards the portal. His hands slipped on the smooth granite floor, wet with blood from his shoulder wound. Chloe strained with the exertion as she heaved her partner across the cavern. Two of the Hibernians were running towards them. She looked towards the portal, they would not make it in time. Still pulling Pred, she drew her weapon, ready to die fighting beside her companion.
‘It has been an honour’ she said calmly.
‘The honour has been mine’ replied Pred.
She felt Pred roll to his left slightly, and saw him fire his crossbow into the throat of the leading Hibernian. The impact threw him back into his compatriot and both fell heavily to the ground.
‘We aren’t dead yet, heave’ he cried.
With a final gasp of exertion, Chloe pulled hard as Pred kicked, and both fell through the glowing pink haze. They both found themselves on the paved floor of a keep courtyard. The full moon emerged from behind a cloud, illuminating the flowing banner of Albion flying from the roof of the keep tower. Chloe leapt instantly to her feet, both weapons drawn.
‘Where is the dwarf?’
‘Who goes there?’ shouted a commanding voice.
Three guardsmen were running towards them from the direction of the gate tower.
‘Servants of the Guild of Shadows on an errand for Albion’ shouted Chloe. She sheathed her weapons, knelt beside Pred and rested her hand on his shoulder.
As the guards reached them, Pred looked up at Chloe and smiled through his pain.
‘Well done you’ he said.
‘You too’ she replied.
‘Get me a healer’ she shouted.
Next installment - Return to Darkness Falls, coming soon