Chapter 54
The party was immediately on their guard and brandished their weapons, and in Polka's case, got into her stance.
The mummy then shook his head and sighed, "I did not let you inside my abode to fight you. If you would please calm down, everything will be explained."
"Sorry if we don't trust you," apologized Nene but without putting away her lute, "But we already fought some mummies, so if you can understand..."
He nodded in understanding and walked over to his sarcophagus while saying, "Very well. Thankfully, the magic currently sustaining me has preserved my mind somewhat. Perhaps if you found me a hundred years later, I might not be so welcoming. Very well, ask away. I will not hide anything if I can help it, unless it pertains to my cult's business."
"Well, we were asked to check up on this place by Priestess Ina'nis and-"
"Ah, my priestess is still well? Are you members?" he asked with a wry smile. Getting negatives all around, "I see. I suppose I can at least tell you what used to be imprisoned in here."
"And how do we address you?" she asked as she put away her lute, signaling the others to do the same. They cooperated… except Lamy, though she did lower down her mace.
"Ah, yes, how rude of me," he apologized, "My name is Rah'zevim, former priest of the cult of the Ancient One."
A little confused as to what the Ancient One was, she asked, "So, what was sealed here?"
"An abomination, for lack of a better word," he muttered out with distaste, and then explained, "A failed experiment. It was sealed here to prevent it from causing any harm. However, it has the ability to cause madness and confusion. While we were blessed with resistance against such things, it still caused havoc and cut down many of our number. At the very least, it was relatively easy to seal it."
With a sigh, he continued, "However, I should have foreseen it would have been too easy to unseal it as well. I didn't know what happened, but I could hear the screams of the damned through the walls. By this time, many of my supposed attendants have failed to arise properly to defend the place and as you may have encountered, lost their minds. A most unfortunate thing, but I dared not leave the chamber in fear for my body. When I finally did go out to check, barely anything remained. And thus, I had to restore some semblance of order to this place even if the abomination has left due to certain… compulsions."
"Like the moving statues near the entrance?" asked the cleric.
He nodded. The grip on her mace became tighter. That's all she did as Botan placed a hand over her shoulder, calming her down a little.
"If you wish to recapture it or reseal it, I am afraid the vessel is destroyed. Destroying it would be the sole option," he then informed them, "Apologies for not offering more."
"Well, perhaps offering another kind of help would be good?" suggested Nene.
He nodded again and gestured around the room. Chests around the room unlocked and creaked open magically as he stated, "Very well, I shall be generous this time. You may take one item from my belongings here."
There were six chests in all. Two had various kinds of potions, one had spell components and crafting reagents, and the rest had an item in them; a book, a wand, and a cloak. The cleric refused to take anything. The archer took a potion, the blue liquid inside bubbling and steaming as if boiling. The monk took the book, the tome having the picture of an outline of a meditating person radiating with light. The succubus took the cloak, colored green and intricately woven with a hood attached. As for the bard…
"Erm, may I know what this is?" asked Nene as she held up a sealed glass jar of dark, thick liquid.
"That is black ichor, the liquified essence of a daemon or a yugoloth," he explained.
"Oh! I'll take this then," she stated cheerfully as she stuffed it in her backpack.
"Hmm? Are you sure you don't want anything more useful?" he queried in confusion.
"I'm good," she replied with a grin.
"...You humans are bewildering, sometimes," he muttered under his breath, unable to fathom her reasoning. He then clapped once and stated, "Once you have what you want, you may leave."
"Urm, there is a troll roaming around outside, what do we-"
"Perhaps you can leave it alone?" interrupted Rah'zevim as he moved to the other entrance, a set of double doors, "That is the only protection I have left."
"Well… if we don't bump into it, I suppose we can leave it alone," mused the lore bard.
"About the only thing I can ask for," he stated as he waved his hand, opening the doors.
The moment the party stepped outside, the doors closed smoothly, the mummy resealing himself inside. Without a word, they walked down the steps and walked across the small crossroads. However, a loud roar drew their attention to their left. At the top of the stairs was the rotting troll.
"Alright, we better try to knock it out?" stated Nene as the troll charged at them.
"Time for you to break and shatter! Be ground to dust!" chanted Aloe, clutching her new crystal focus as she pointed at the troll, causing an explosion of thunderous sound and made it flinch to stop it in its tracks.
Polka and Botan threw in their own ranged attacks as well, the archer whispering to her arrow a bit before releasing. Unfortunate that both got batted away by the recovered troll.
"Welcome to your silent tomb, Where all your darkest fears are gonna come for you, Come for you."
The haunting words of bard's song echoed through the passage. The troll stopped in its tracks for a moment before howling in terror, gripping its head as if in pain. It then turned around and ran off into the darkness.
"...Run!" exclaimed Lamy, the first to get over their collective astonishment.
Her words spurned them on and they quickly ran up the other side. They made their way back to the entrance in haste and collapsed tiredly on the cracked stone slabs of the floor right before the entrance that led to the desert.
"Phew… hopefully, the troll doesn't chase after us," groaned the succubus as she slumped to the ground on her knees.
"Well, I suppose we can camp out here," stated the cleric, noticing the sun had already gone down.
The rest agreed and while Nene set up the hut, Polka used her globe to shed some light over them while they ate some of their packed food. When she was done, they joined her in the hut for the rest of the meal. After that, they turned in for the night.
Her eyes flew open and she gasped. Nene came close to panicking before realizing that she was breathing in the water she was submerged into. Looking around, she saw that she was alone. Very confused, she then swam upwards; hopefully, able to find the surface. Suddenly, a tentacle grabbed her ankle and started pulling her down. Feeling that this would be the best time to panic, she struggled and tried kicking it off. Not much effect. She had no weapons on her. No equipment. Just her normal clothes. The tentacle pulled her deeper, her mind getting more frantic and scared. She tried pulling it off but it held firm. By then, she was screaming inwardly, frightened out of her mind.
As the inky blackness engulfed her, she suddenly found herself hanging in the air upside down. The tentacle was still around her ankle and she noticed that it was actually growing from the grassy ground. Looking around, she saw her friends were in a similar predicament; Botan and Polka were hanging from their waists, Lamy was restrained by her arms, and Aloe was wrapped up in tentacles. All of them were breathing heavily with haunted looks. No doubt she was making the same sort of face. Again looking at her surroundings, the grassy ground was part of a clearing surrounded by forest. Suddenly, everyone was dropped on the ground and the tentacles seeped back into the ground.
"Hello."
They looked up and found Priestess Ina'nis looking down at them. They quickly got to their feet and faced her.
"I see you found the dungeon prison," she stated with a smile, "And discovered the prisoner's identity."
"Wait, how do you know that?" asked the fennec fox girl in surprise.
The priestess giggled and placed a finger to her mouth, then she said, "Now, as the faithful Rah'zevim has stated, you will have to kill the prisoner. I have no doubt that you are up to the task. And I have a feeling you will be encountering it quite soon. Humu, humu, humu."
"Er… do you know where it is?" asked Nene.
She stared straight at the bard and gave her a creepy grin, "Let's just say it likes hiding in dark places. But don't let that fool you. It is strong enough by itself. Be wary. Triumphant pride precipitates a dizzying fall."
She woke up with a start. Day had come and the sun streaming through the doorway was a welcome sight. She shook her head off the cobwebs in her mind and got up. Shaking everyone away, they got ready to leave this place. They had a lot of ground to cover after all.
It was around noon that they heard the sounds of a fight. The sun beat down on them as they hurried on towards it. They saw several figures fighting a fire elemental and they noticed a familiar warforged.
"Hey, is that ARC?" asked Polka in surprise.
True enough, the yellow and brown warforged was busy protecting someone who was on the ground behind him. There were two burnt bodies right in front of him, the arms and legs reduced to cinders. Two others were still standing and busy handling the elemental; one was a large, heavily armored warforged that was swinging a red-hot warhammer at it while the other was a kobold that was busy shooting it with crossbow bolts. The bolts were not effective whatsoever, burning up the moment they touched the elemental.
"Let's help him," urged Nene as she led the others to help the group.
The monk moved like the wind, barrelling forward while tossing darts at it while Botan and Aloe followed behind while shooting arrows and throwing a dagger. The fire elemental roared as it turned to face the distractions while the warforged and the kobold retreated. Meanwhile, the cleric summoned and sent in her spirit sword while shooting a ray of frost at it. It flinched and roared as the ice melted over its body, part of its fire being put out partially.
"Best run away, spitfire, or you'll be put out!" mocked Nene in the midst of its howling.
Polka shouted out a cry as she slammed her fists together, the brilliant glow covering her arms. She then swung a few punches, large inky fists materializing and slamming into the elemental.
"Woah, when could you do that?" asked Botan after she shot more arrows.
"He, he, the tattoos help," the monk replied with a grin before it fell away with a gasp, "Woah, face me!" However, as she punched it as it walked by, she yelped as she burned her hand. On the plus side, the fire elemental lost cohesion and dissipated with a loud roar to the heavens.
"ARC! Remember us!?" called out Nene as she hurried over to the remaining group of four, Lamy and Aloe following after her.
"Ladies!? How did you get here?" he shouted back, "We aren't out of trouble yet! That thing had-"
"MORE SERVANTS!? FOR ME?" declared a booming voice, "MY LUCK ABOUNDS IT SEEMS."
A large, muscular, red-skinned, horned man appeared. Dressed in short caftan pants and a silk vest, he was brandishing a large, fiery scimitar. He pointed at them, a brass bracelet and a gold ring on each finger, and declared, "YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN FOR SLAYING MY ELEMENTAL IF YOU LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND BECOME MY SLAVES."
"Shaddap! We'll never be slaves!" shouted Polka as she sent several purple-colored spectral fists into his face. Botan followed up with a peppering of arrows that poked holes into the enraged efreeti's chest.
"YOU... WILL BURN!" he roared as a wall of fire appeared with a wave of his hand.
Screaming filled the air as the wall erupted under Lamy's, Polka's, and Nene's feet. They stumbled out of the wall in an effort to get away but while the monk and the cleric fell out of the safer side, the bard went the other way and got burned a second time.
"Be healed!" chanted Aloe as she waved her hand in the lore bard's direction while trying to aim her dagger at him. It missed, unfortunately.
The efreeti roared again as a flash of light shot into its face.
"Hey! Can't make us slaves! You're so defective!" mocked the bard, increasing his ire.
"Ha! Ha!" jeered the fennec girl monk as she sent for spectral punches at him. The first one slammed into his arm but the rest were cut down with his burning scimitar.
"Ha!" sounded off the archer as she continued to rain arrows.
However, Botan was not laughing when the angry efreeti charged at her and swung his scimitar a few times, shouting, "YOU WILL BE TAMED AND BROKEN. I WILL NOT HAVE MY SLAVES OFFEND ME THIS WAY."
"No slaves here! You'd be an idiot to think that!" Nene continued to mock him as Aloe and Lamy continued to try and make a dent in him.
It did work after the cleric took some of the previous time to maneuver her spirit sword into position. It was unfortunate that her ray of frost was blocked by his scimitar but that gave the monk a chance to deliver a decisive strike. The first two spectral fists were destroyed but the third punch struck him in the privates. As he howled in pain, the other team behind them grabbed their crotches when they saw what happened.
"Ha! Who's broken now?" jeered Botan.
"ALL OF YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS," the efreeti growled out in muted agony as he turned invisible. The wall of fire he summoned then disappeared.
"Wow, I think that's the first time I saw Polka win a fight with a nut punch," stated Aloe with a smirk.
"Ah… I didn't intend to though..." she trailed off in embarrassment.
"Heh, well, whatever is effective," stated the succubus with a shrug.
"Hmm, I wish I got that fire sword," muttered the archer dejectedly.
"Hey, ARC, are you and your friends alright?" called out Nene as she and Lamy hurried over.
"Oh? Hello again, miss," he greeted them, "Apologies, I don't remember if I got your name before."
"Oh, I'm Nene. This is Lamy," she introduced, and then pointing to each of her friends, stated their names.
"Oh, greetings, Miss Nene. Well, as you know, my name is ARC. This here is Appa Ninny," he introduced, pointing to the kobold, who waved at them while hiding behind the larger warforged. He pointed to the other and said, "This guy is Kilo-Delta-Romeo, KDR."
"You can call me Candor," the deep, gruff voice of the warforged said. By then, the other three had joined them.
"Who is she and what happened to her?" asked the cleric as she knelt down to look over the girl that they were protecting. She had short blonde hair and wore clothes suited for desert travel, loose-fitting to let air flow through easily.
"Ah, Miss Mel hired us to accompany her here. She was looking for old places, you see," ARC explained what little they were told, "She was some historian of sorts from Huan Tuo, so it made sense."
"Looking for old places? Hmm..." murmured the lore bard, wondering if this historian was getting dreams from Priestess Ina'nis as well.
"We need to get her to shelter," declared the cleric, "She is overheated and has heatstroke."
"We passed by an abandoned fort on the way to the dungeon. Maybe we can go there?" asked Botan.
"Ah, if that is the place we passed by, then yes," the warforged agreed as he picked up the lady bridal style, " Let's go."
AN: Hello again, readers. Welcome back.
First of all, thank you for the review, Misaka.
Next, Holo5 met a mummy... I hesitate to call this one a lord... maybe something in between a lord and a normal mummy. Anyway, Rah'zevim explains what was imprisoned there as well as gave the party some helpful stuff. And whaddya know, something to upgrade Anya with. Then, they also escaped the rotting troll. Hmm, they can't reseal the place, but... Nene has Tiny Hut.
Ah, dream time with Ina! I hope it comes across as very strange and out of place. It should be from their point of view.
The next day comes and they bump into a familiar person. Remember ARC? I've decided to bring him back with a new party, Appa Ninny the kobold and KDR the warforged. Mmm, so, Appa Ninny is an arcane trickster. Not that high a level yet, but still an alright ranged fighter. I also decided to have him become the chef of their group. KDR is a forge domain cleric. Less on healing and more into fighting. I was kinda inspired by the warrior priests in Warhammer Fantasy. Hence, he will be beating up enemies first before using Healing Word if it's available. Then again, he sometimes becomes hyperfocused in battle so you may not receive healing so easily.
So, they assist ARC and his friends against a fire elemental and its summoner, an efreeti. Sure enough, they took it out with some trouble. It seems they were escorting a Miss Mel... sound familiar?
Next chapter, we find out why this Miss Mel is here. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.