A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 49: The Tumbles
We made our way back through the forest, following the directions Melvin had given us. Our path led us back to the Fehlween River, and we continued north along the bank, seeing the water grow darker the further we went. Eventually, we came to a point where a tributary joined the river. The small tributary flowed into the Fehlween River from the west, its water just as inky dark as the shadow-rich liquid of the main river. Stands of soot-colored reeds clung to the river banks, their tufted stalks standing unmoving in the still air. I spotted a small boat pulled up against the bank, mostly hidden by the reeds. The bottom of the boat was stained with a copious amount of blood. Lying amidst the gore was a severed human leg. It looked to have been cut off at the shin. Nearby, there was a blood-stained knife. Someone had carved a message into the seat of the boat, written in a shaky hand.
'The dark crept in and touched my leg,' read the message, 'Cut it off, but too late. I'm going dark and light. Came down the thinny way, out of the Tumbles, Can't st…'
The message ended abruptly. I knew this was a clue.
"Come see this!" I said.
My companions hurried over, and examined the scene as I had.
"The thinny way, huh?" said Charles, "they probably meant this tributary".
"It looks that way," said Krisyra, "It seems like the shadows tainting the main river start at this stream. If we follow it, we'll likely find the source".
We continued up the tributary, following it as it twisted and turned deeper into the forest. Eventually, we came to a break in the forest. The ground rose slightly here, forming a low island among the gloomy forest floor. This small hillock appeared to be formed of a mass of ancient, fallen stones. Tumbled together and half buried under centuries of forest loam, the moss-covered stones were weathered by storms and time. Sprouting among the broken masonry was a titanic oak rising 50 feet into the air. Its trunk was dusky ash in color, its leaves glossy obsidian. Hanging from its branches were thick coils of shadow that dripped slowly down towards the ground like black honey.
"I think we found our culprit," said Narcrath.
"Maybe, maybe not," said Krisyra, "I've never heard of a tree like this, it's similar to the shadow tainted creates we fought, only more so. I believe the source of this problem may lie beneath this tree".
"Well, let's find a way in," I said.
As we moved up to search around the hill for an access point to the ruins, the tree sprung to life, the tendrils of shadows writhing towards us. Narcrath launched a chromatic orb of lightning, blasting the tree. Lydratir took aim with his bow, and fired at the tree. Two arrows drove themselves into the tree, but shadows flowed over them. Charles moved in, and swung his greatsword at the tree, leaving two deep gouges. Shadows filled the gashes, and the tree was still damaged. I rushed in and sunk my claws into the dark tree, and its movements slowed. After a moment, the tendrils of shadow hung limp. However, even as a watched, the damaged we'd dealt was being filled it by the shadows. We didn't have long before this shadow-tree recovered. We had to keep moving, and cut off this darkness at the source.
We searched around the hillock, and discovered an entrance a short distance south of the tree. It was a narrow path between two pieces of masonry. We squeeze our way through the gap, emerging into a tunnel beyond. It led down steeply, and let out into a cellar. It was a dark chamber, its contents largely obscured by the almost physical gloom that filled the space with shadows. A collapsed wooden rack and smashed barrels were barely discernible in the in the dark, and the stone floor was littered with shards of broken glass. A pair of giant spiders came scuttling down the tunnel leading deeper, and we readied to fight them off.
However, they didn't last long at all, as Krisyra felled the giant spiders with a single Thunderwave. We continued the way the spider had come from, and arrived in another chamber. Rusty bars form several caged off areas of varying size in this chamber. Yellowed, moldering bones laid in haphazard fashion within the cages. Open doors on rusty hinges moaned slightly, pushed by faint subterranean drafts. Narcrath looked over the room, and scratched his chin.
"It looks like we must be in the right place," said Narcrath, "these bones, there old, very old. More than that, most of them are the remains of magical creatures. That over there was a bulette, that's the remains of a catoblepas, there's a gorgon, the bones of an owlbear, that's a peryton… and that's a unicorn. The unicorn's horn appears to be intact. If we take it, we could make a good bit of coin… it's a rather valuable magical reagent.
Krisyra stepped in, and carefully removed the horn of the long dead unicorn, packing it away carefully. There was only one path leading forwards, deeper into the darkness.
A/N: And there we go! Our heroes are getting closer to their goal. Next time, the party continues deeper into the tunnels beneath the Tumbles. See you then!