Chapter 16

Meanwhile, the other members of the party had turned back around, retracing their steps. They returned to the cavern where the paths branched off in different directions.

"Hmm… Where to?" Serosa'ruth turned to his party, his eyes settling on Celdern.

"Well, I've never been to the northern section." The human bard noted, motioning his head towards said path.

"Sounds like a plan." Ky'itae looked over at her druid friend. "Shall we?"

"Indeed." The male elf nodded his head and with a swish of his dark cloak, began creeping towards the northern exit. Ky'itae followed directly behind, the humans tailing after her.

"We could be walking into a death trap, you know." Miri pointed out to Celdern, her eyes narrowing slightly. It was difficult to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice.

The Tethyrian returned the glare, "That's why we proceed with caution, Waukeen cleric." He grumbled, "So don't try to blame me if you can't keep your wits about you."

The Calishite woman felt her metaphorical feathers ruffle. "Excuse me, but unlike another certain human here, I can actually—"

"Sshhh!" Serosa'ruth turned to them, a gloved finger over his covered lips. He pointed ahead, where two burly orcs stood guard in front of a small flight of stairs. "I'm impressed they haven't heard you two yet." The druid hissed. "Get your weapons ready in case there're more." And with that, the cloaked elf blended into the shadows.

His three companions drew their weapons even as they heard the dying gurgles of the orcan duo. Ky'itae crept towards the stairs, looking up them as Serosa'ruth came back into view. "What's up there?" The lythari warrior inquired.

"I'm not sure, but I'll bet they don't like visitors." Celdern muttered, walking a few steps up to see a large, ironbound door at the top of the steps. Nailed to it with an iron spike was a bloodstained human skull.

Miri bit her lip, coming up next to Ky'itae. "Should we check it out? Last time a door opened on us, it didn't turn out too well."

"True, but what if something important's behind it?" Serosa'ruth pointed out. "Be on your guard." And with that, the druid pushed against the iron door, though it barely budged. "Damn, it's heavy."

"Let me help." Ky'itae placed herself next to Serosa'ruth and helped him push. The door finally swung inward with a loud groan.

The four adventurers stumbled into a small chamber adorned with tattered animal hides and smoldering torches lighting the walls. An odd and disgusting scent attacked their nostrils, causing both elves to fight back their gag reflexes.

"You think to challenge the Great Ulfe!" a deep voice rumbled from some yards away. The party looked to see a large, brown and warty humanoid step into the light. His greasy black hair shined in the firelight, and he held a large axe in one hand. In his other he gripped thick chains, which served as leashes to two huge wolves snarling at the adventurers.

The ogre released his hold on the chains, freeing the wolves, "Vak! Thrag! At them!" The gray wolves sprung forward, snarling at the four intruders.

"What did I tell you!" Miri cried, her daggers at the ready.

"And I said to be prepared, remember?" Serosa'ruth chuckled, his longswords withdrawn as he jumped over the wolves and charged at Ulfe. The ogre's hounds turned around for a moment, briefly debating whether to attack the druid and protect their master, or take on the other three.

Their answer came in the form of a third large wolf – this one brown – that leapt upon the smaller gray wolf and engaged it in combat.

"Where –?" Miri and Celdern blinked in bemusement. Serosa'ruth pushed Ulfe's axe back with both swords when the ogre swung at him.

"It's Ky'itae." The druid answered quickly, dodging a swing from the large axe. "She's a lythari – an elven werewolf of good alignment."

"Oh." Celdern nodded in understanding before he realized the second wolf had charged at Miri, engaging the young woman in close combat. The bard quickly swung his mandolin around to his front, taking the instrument into his hands. He quickly began to strum a haunting tune.

Miri deftly dodged the wolf's attacks and began to counter when she realized it had stopped, its ears twitching. The wolf looked around in bemusement, then stumbled off, charging at its brother. It knocked the other gray lupine creature off of Ky'itae. The two wolves snarled at each other and were lost in a tumble of claws and teeth.

"Confusion, a very handy tune." Celdern chuckled, flipping his mandolin over to his back and withdrawing his scimitar. He ran to aid Serosa'ruth in fighting the ogre, leaving a huffing Miri behind.

"I didn't need your help." She muttered, though she felt slightly guilty over the sediment. Party members stick out for each other, and the fact the bard was a Tethyrian shouldn't make any difference. The cleric shook her head, clearing her thoughts as she joined Ky'itae in attack Ulfe.

The great ogre growled in frustration, swinging his axe wildly. The four adventurers dodged the attacks, and Ky'itae leapt through an opening, snapping her powerful jaws through the wooden axe handle. Ulfe's weapon clattered to the ground, useless. He tossed aside the remains with a snarl grabbing the lythari with one great hand.

Ky'itae let out a yip in surprise and pain, but didn't lessen her efforts. Growling, she bit down hard on Ulfe's wrists. The ogre yowled and released the wolf, gripping his bleeding wrist in pain.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Miri flung one of her daggers into the ogre's eye while Serosa'ruth sliced a long curved gash through the ogre's stomach. Ulfe fell to his knees in agony, allowing Celdern to swiftly and brutally remove the monster's head from his shoulders.

Taking a moment to recover, the adventures looked about for the wolves, only to discover that the ogre's hounds had fled. Wise animals.

"Well, that was unpleasant." Ky'itae, transforming back into her elven form, grumbled and held her stomach for a second. "That bastard gripped hard."

"You all right?" Serosa'ruth's green eyebrows furrowed in concern, but the moon elf waved them away.

"I'm fine, just a little sore." She assured. Miri located the ogre's head and pulled her dagger out from its eye socket. She looked up at the nearby wall, squinting.

"…There's two wooden chests here." She called over to the others. Intrigued, the other three came up behind the short woman to examine the containers.

"Not very sturdy…" Serosa'ruth ran his fingers along the wood carefully, "And no detectable traps…"

"Easy opening, then." Ky'itae ripped off the half-rusted iron padlocks and tossed them aside. Chuckling at the moon elf, Miri pushed open the first chest, while Celdern opened the second. Gold and silver coins and a potion bottle lined Miri's container, while more coins and a decorative rapier filled Celdern's. The bard fished out large pouches out of his pack, tossing one to the Calishite.

"Here, that's bag's enchanted to hold more items than it looks." He told Miri as quickly began shoveling coins into his pouch.

Miri muttered a quick, "Thank you" before doing the same, eyeing the potion bottle closely. Unable to identify it, but figuring she could sell it later, she shrugged and dropped in the pouch.

"Hmm… a well crafted rapier," Serosa'ruth noted, picking up the weapon and examining it. He handed it back to Celdern to put away, "Keep it. We can get it inspected later and see if Saeola can find any use for it, since she uses these blades. If not, we can sell it."

"I thought druids have no need for money." Celdern grinned. Serosa'ruth rolled his eyes, though they hinted at a smile.

"As I tell everyone who points this out, I keep the rest of my party in mind when it comes to gold, and even a druid needs some coin to purchase supplies or board while in civilization if he travels as I do." The druid turned and walked towards the exit, Ky'itae close in tow.

"Good point." The bard conceded, emptying out the chest before him and pulling his pouch closed. Weighing little more than it had when he first took it out, Celdern returned the magical pouch to his pack and stood up.

Miri finished filling her own pouch soon after, tying the container to her sash. She rose and dusted herself off, sending a wink in the men's direction. "Well, Serosa'ruth may have little need for money, but Waukeen wouldn't mind her cleric gathering a little wealth for herself and some to give to the masses."

"Sure, whatever, you greedy little Calishite." Celdern rolled his green eyes and followed Serosa'ruth and Ky'itae out the door. Miri growled, opening her mouth to retort, when she realized there had been more amusement than malice in the bard's tone. She closed her lip and sighed through her nose, rolling her own hazel eyes as she tailed after the others.

- - - - -

The four adventurers retraced their steps and noted a passage to the east they'd missed before. Following the new path, they soon came upon an encampment of a dozen orcs. They paused, staying out of sight and sound of the preoccupied orcs. Serosa'ruth scanned the local terrain, then held up one finger to indicate to the other three to hold their ground. He muttered something in Druidic lowly, his hand beginning to glow a dull gray. He swung his fist forward, and suddenly, a giant fist made of stone burst from the wall ahead and slammed into the unsuspecting orcs, slamming them into the opposite end of the cavern. The orcs splattered against the rock, leaving a bloody and gooey mess.

"Gross and crude, but… it worked." Ky'itae chuckled grimly.

"I'd hate to clean up after that." Miri scrunched up her face.

"I'd hate to piss our druid friend off." Celdern scrunched up his red eyebrows.

Serosa'ruth rolled his eyes with a hidden smile. "With a dozen of them, I just wanted to get it over with quickly. Come on, let's keep going." They continued down the eastern path. They eventually reached a large wrought iron gate.

"Looks kinda tough." Miri noted, looking at the solid metal.

"Yeah, but the lock's on this side, and it doesn't look that hard." Celdern countered. He slashed at the lock with his scimitar, only to get it caught. Growling, the bard yanked his blade free, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Miri smirked. "Not as soft as you thought, huh Tethyrian?" She brushed past the bard, "Lucky for you, I have a few handy spells prepared." The cleric pressed her slender, tanned fingers against the lock and muttered an incantation. She stepped back, and a moment later the lock shattered, its remains dropping to the floor.

Serosa'ruth nodded in approval, moving to push open the great gates. "Nice work." Ky'itae aided him once again while Miri stuck her tongue out at Celdern.

"Feh." The bard grumbled, pushing the gate open with the elves. It opened with a loud groan and the four walked into the large cavern.

"Great, we've got another Faelar and Saeola in the party." Ky'itae whispered to Serosa'ruth, who laughed lowly.

"I dunno, they're not flirting so much as bickering and trying to outdo each other like siblings do." The male elf grinned.

"This is true." Ky'itae admitted, then looked about at the intricate dwarven carvings about the wall and the immense cavern surrounding them all. "Whoa…"

"Must have been a Great Hall for gatherings or somesuch…" Celdern surmised, then spotted the burnt skeletons against the wall to their left. "…I'm betting there's a firetrap there. We should stay back."

"You think?" Miri rolled her eyes, then looked over to see four dead orcs… and some other small, strange creatures she didn't recognize. "Looks like Faelar and Saeola were here already."

"Well, hopefully it was them and not something else." Ky'itae furrowed her thin eyebrows. Serosa'ruth knelt down to inspect the orcan corpses. He ran his gloved fingers over the gash marks, inspecting the cuts.

"No, it was our half-elf companions. These wounds were made by a rapier, and those," he pointed to another dead orc, "by a dagger or short sword. I'm guessing they were wounded, because a small trail of blood leads off over here…" The druid followed the blood stains until they stopped just before a flight of stone steps leading downwards. "Hm… I guess they healed themselves, but I would say it's safe to assume they went down these steps, eh guys?" He looked back at his companions, who nodded in agreement.

"I'd say." Ky'itae crossed her gauntlet-covered arms. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Yes, let's." Celdern nodded, motioning his short leader onward.

"Into the abyss, then." Serosa'ruth chuckled grimly, descending down the stone steps.

"Ugh, could you pick a less creepy metaphor?" Miri shivered, following the others down into the dark stairway.

Sorry, I've been busy with schoolwork and such, and SL's been tied up with the same. I've talked with her on the phone, but I haven't had a chance to write with her for a while. This chapter was done all by me, but it might be tweaked around later if SL wants to add/change anything, so keep that in mind. I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker than this one if I can. Thanks for reading, guys!

Oh, two final notes: I keep forgetting to mention this, but the locations mentioned recent (as in, since about chapter 13) are roughly based around the DnD Adventure "The Forge of Fury." Some things have been changed around, some have remained relatively similar to the campaign, so I figured I should cite that as the basis of this particular venture the crew's on. It's the only quest in Stuck with You that's based specifically after a pre-existing campaign, though.

Also, reviews are GREATLY appreciated, and it's easier to get motivated when there's feedback, good or not. Though, if you review, please, don't just say "great story" or "this sucks"; tell us WHY you like it or not; you don't have to give a detailed review, just something like, "I love the humor/Faelar's great" or "I think you need to add more description/this part was hard to understand" or some such that can give me and SL at least a general idea of what we're doing right (or wrong). Thanks!