Chapter 7

The Caves of Chaos

The forest became thicker and darker. Thorns, brambles and plants with shiny leaves lined the road. The trees grew thicker, higher and had a darker tone to them. The road was bumpy and had many roots traversing across it. The closer we got to the caves, the darker and more evil feeling it became.

"Guys," Adamis said, "I feel evil all around us. Its getting darker and darker. It hurts almost." Adamis shook his head as if it would remove the pain.

Just then, we came to a ravine with a small river in the center and trees around the stream. The ravine stretched off into the distance and was four hundred feet wide. The sides sloped down with many paths leading to different caves. There was no sign of animal life in the area. The caves were of varying sizes and shapes. The ones higher up were larger, whereas the ones further down and closer to the river were smaller, and seemed like smaller creatures could fit inside.

"That one," Thoros pointed to one a cave that was a dozen feet high and was close to the river.

"That one," Adamis pointed to one of the caves higher up.

"That one," I said, pointing to a cave closer to the river than Thoros'. "The cave has a clear path leading into it. Not to mention it looks like small monsters would live inside it. Perhaps a tribe of orcs or lizardmen."

"What makes you the expert on what lives in which cave?" Adamis asked.

"I have entered many caves in my 131 years of traveling. In caves of that size we have usually found smaller creatures, orcs, lizardmen, kobolds, were-rats and similar things." I explained. Plus I had slept in some caves in the early years. But I didn't want to mention how many times I was almost eaten for dinner, lunch, breakfast, midnight snack and even mid-morning snack. I learned after a while not to sleep, rest or simply stand in some caves.

"Okay, it looks good." Cynwyd agreed.

We all walked down the path until we came to the cave I had picked out. In front of the cave was a collection of broken humanoid bones. They crunched under my feet. It was disconcerting to know I was potentially standing on elves, dwarves, humans, gnomes, Halflings and perhaps a few other creatures. I looked at a piece of a skull and saw how small it was. I guessed it was either a child or a dwarf. I hoped it was the latter.

I looked into the cave and eventually I came to the limit of my vision. After ten feet all I saw was a general, dark grey color. Since elves have infra-vision we can see the heat of an area. Since this cave was generally the same temperature, I saw it as a dark grey. Very rarely do elves find something black, unless if it is painted black.

"Did anyone bring torches?" Thoros asked.

Everyone said no.

"And no one thought to visit the provisions shop in town?" Thoros asked.

Once again everyone said no.

"Well, why don't we make torches?" Cynwyd asked. She seemed delighted by the idea. Perhaps it was a childish thing to want to play with fire. I remembered my brother always playing with fire spells simply because it was fun. Then of course my parents had sent me letters saying the our sister also played with fire spells.

On the slopes of the ravine were trees with plenty of dead branches. "I have a thirty foot long rope." I proclaimed.

"Twenty foot long." Thoros said, bringing out his rope.

"I'll get some dry sticks." Adamis said. He took out his long sword and ran up the slope until he came to a tree with several dry branches. He began swinging at the thicker ones and they came down the slope, and too our feet. Adamis came down after he had made ten, thick sticks. He then cut them into two and half foot long dry sticks which were roughly straight.

I cut off four feet of my rope, and Thoros cut off four feet of his as well. We made four torches, two feet of rope per torch. While Thoros and Adamis made torches I decided to enter a trance state.

When they were finished, I woke up, and said "We each take on torch. For now only two torcehs are lit."

We entered the cave. I smelled the smell of limestone, I felt a wall of cool air hit me. Thoros and Adamis were in the lead while Cynwyd and I were in the back. I twisted my sword out of it's sheath and continued walking.

The light from the torches bounced off of the walls, giving everything a long shadow. We had only been walking a few seconds before we came to a fork in the tunnels. One tunnel forked off to the right, and the other continued straight ahead. Thoros disappeared down, as if he were pulled down into the ground. Thoros' scream echoed off of the walls for hundreds, if not thousands of feet of cave walls. The Adamis stepped back, Cynwyd was had a startled and I must have had a similar expression. Adamis spoke first, "Are you okay?"

"No."

"How deep is the hole?" Cynwyd asked.

There was a grunt of pain from the pit. "Ten feet at least. My leg hurts. I think its broken." The was another grunt of pain. "But my god will give me the strength." We waited a few seconds, I could hear whispering from the bottom of the pit. Then a sigh of relief. "I am okay now."

There were screeches, growls and roars coming from down the right tunnel. The padding of small, feet echoed off of the walls. Any sound amplified by the cave. A group of ten three foot tall humanoid creatures covered in fur and having the head of a dog, and they carried rough spears. The first few snarled in response to the light, but then they saw us and they squealed like a pig. The squeals sounded familiar, as if they were speaking a language, but I couldn't identify which one, as the sounds were amplified by the cave. They threw their spears at us.

I put away my sword, twisting it into my staff, hearing the satisfying click of the hilt snapping back into place. I took out my bow, and knocked an arrow in place. Cynwyd raised her hand, ready to cast a spell. Adamis took out his cross bow and armed it with five arrows.

Adamis was the first to shoot, and it hit one and killed it.

Cynwyd closed her eyes and whispered something in elvish, her voice to low for me to hear what it was. But once she was finished, her hand glowed an icy blue-grey, and an unearthly grey mist flowed out of her hand. Expanding across the pit, to the other side, where it struck four of the dog-creatures, they squealed in pain and terror, snarling and growling like a dog, as the mist coalesced into frost on their fur. Three of them fell over, still alive, but neutralized.

I fired a warning shot, missing one of them by a hair's breadth. The arrow skittered across the cave floor, scaring the creatures making them jump back. A second later I knocked another arrow, after a another second I had aimed, and a second after that I fired, and hit one right between the eyes. I could hear the cracking of the skull straight across the pit. Then the satisfying thump as the creature fell over dead. Just then, one of their spears hit shin and dug two inches into my flesh. My legs fell out from beneath me and I grimaced. I had experienced far worse than this.

Adamis shot a few more, and Cynwyd just watched. A spear hit Adamis in the shoulder, but he continued firing arrows.

After a few more seconds the beasts realized they were losing and picked up their fallen comrades and ran down the tunnel.

Adamis healed his shoulder, then walked over to me asked, "Where are you hurt?"

"My shin."

Adamis pulled the spear out and laid his hands on my shin. I felt the skin crawl into place. Once it was finished I stood up and grabbed my bow, picked up the arrow I had knocked before one of the cursed beasts hit me, and picked up my staff.

"Hello?" Thoros yelled up from the pit. "Is anyone going to help me out?"

I opened up my wizard's cloak, took out my rope and threw down the one end. I kept seven feet of rope with me. "Help me pull him up."

Adamis and Cynwyd grabbed on, Thoros grabbed onto the bottom and said "Pull me up." We pulled him up. When he stood up before us, he said "How are going to get across?"

"We could make a bridge out of rope." I suggested. "The pit is only ten by ten feet, and I have twenty-six feet of rope, Thoros has twenty. We could make a bottom part a tight rope and have to other pieces on your right and left side hanging at about chest level and you could hold onto those for support."

"Or we could just cut down a tree." Adamis suggested.

Thoros was confused and asked, "What good will that do?"

"We drag the tree in, and push it across the hole so we can make a log bridge." I could tell Adamis smiled, and the smile was a creepy smile, because the light from the torch danced across his faced, creating deep shadows.

"But we don't have an axe." I said.

"There were fallen trees down by the river." Cynwyd said.

So we exited the cave, the four of us grabbed twenty foot and eight inch wide log, lifted it up, carried it up the side, into the cave, then we set it down, and pushed it across the pit.

"Whose going first?" Adamis said.

"I'll go first." I got on the log, and walked nimbly across. I stepped off the other side and observed just how dark it was away from the torch. It were as though the darkness absorbed the light. For the first time I realized just how evil these caves were. I began to wonder what other creatures could be hidden in here. If this cave was full of kobolds, then what were the hundreds of others larger and smaller caves strewn all over the ravine full of.

Adamis came across next, he almost fell over a few times, but he made it. He carried a torch with him, lighting up the darkness, creating a false sense of security.

Next was Cynwyd, she slipped an nearly fell into the pit, except that Adamis reached out and grabbed her hand before she could hit the ground. Adamis and I pulled her up.

Thoros walked across, slipping once or twice. He carried another torch. Once he made it across, we continued walking.

After a few more meters the light from outside completely disappeared, and we depended solely on the torch light. After what I estimated to be another hundred meters, we came to another fork.

"Which way?" Thoros asked.

Adamis and I pointed in opposite directions. I pointed left and he pointed right. "Thoros?" Adamis asked.

He shrugged, "I really don't care. There is an equal chance that we will encounter monsters at some point."

Cynwyd was the deciding factor, "I say right."

I agreed, since I really didn't care which way we went.

We continued on for another two hundred and thirty meters. The cave was slopped slightly downwards; we must have been at least ten meters below the entrance elevation, if not twenty. It was here that we heard the same snarls, growls, barks, roars and screeching we heard the kobolds speaking. I lifted up my hand, palm facing them. "Stop." I whispered.

I listened as hard as I could, I got rid of the echoes. Knowing kobolds they most likely spoke in a language related or similar to the Orcs. Since I spoke Orc fluently (if you can ever say that for Orc), then I could communicate with them.

I walked on forward and said, "Hello." Except it was a snarl. I was attempting to communicate.

The reply was surprising. The series of squeals and barks I translated roughly into, "Oh help us oh Orc! Keep them away!"

"I am keeping them away." I replied in a series of growls, snarls and barks. Even though I hadn't spoken Orc in years I thought I was pretty good. "Except I am no Orc."

"Then what are you? Lizardman? Goblin? Troll?"

"I am an elf."

Immediately that was met with snarls and snickers. Then howling and barking. "An elf! Oh boy, we will eat you elf! Good dining! We haven't had elf in years! Why the last time we had elf it was rotten! Remember we stole some elf meat from the Rckst?"

"What are you doing?"

"They speak a language similar to Orc, and I speak Orc. So I can communicate, except I just made a terrible mistake."

"What's that?" Cynwyd asked.

"They think were all elves. And they plan to eat us."

"Well," Adamis said, "we might as well have a good fight." He unsheathed his two handed sword and ran in. He disappeared into the darkness.

The first squeal was heard, then a clash of steel against rock. Then the kobolds screamed, "Protect the treasure!"

I twisted my sword, heard the clicking of the hilt falling into place, then I pulled it with a pleasing, metal on metal sound. Cynwyd took out her bow, and Thoros took out his long sword. "Come here." Thoros said.

I came.

"Let me see your sword." There were several squeals coming from down the cave. I handed Thoros my sword, he poured a black, oily substance over it and lit it on fire with the torch. My sword looked pretty cool, er hot I mean.

"Now go." The three of us ran forward a few more meters until we entered a large room, fifty feet in diameter. There were about a dozen kobolds all backed into a corner, blood shining in the light of the sword and torches.

Cynwyd whispered and there was a humming coming from her. I turned around and she was covered in a pink and purple shield, her bow in hand. She knocked and arrow and released it, hitting one of the kobolds.

I ran forward, stabbed one in the back, killing it. A half dozen came after me with their spears, one struck my upper leg, I turned, and cut off his head, then I spun around and stabbed one in the heart. As I spun around again some of the fiery oil came off and landed on one, it's fur caught on fire. The other three ran away.

I turned to check on Adamis, who was slashing at them.

I wiped sweat off of my brow, and charged a pair of kobolds in the corner. They turned their backs towards me and whimpered. For a fraction of a second I questioned my motives, but by the time my sword was sticking in the back of one, and being pulled out, I threw away the thought and slashed a rather ugly cut in the back of the other, then I stabbed him in the back to put him out of his misery. Suddenly, the whole cavern lit up, the kobolds ran around, almost blinded by the light. Everything was lit up in an odd way, there were no shadows, it seemed like each angle and edge were super imposed upon itself. The room all of a sudden felt ten times bigger. I took advantage of the light and slashed at a kobold coming my way. It was injured, but I let it get up and ran away, into the caves.

I looked around and Adamis was stabbing one in the back, Thoros had caught one in a net, but kept it alive. And two others were escaping into the caves. I ran after them. But Thoros said, "Let them go." So I did.

"Uh, how do you put this out?" I asked.

"Just sheath the blade and it will go out." I sheathed it and puff of smoke exited the sheath, then the fire was no more. So I twisted the sword back in.

Every one gathered around the net with the kobold in it. The kobold snarled and growled, it squealed and yelped. All in futility. I asked it, "What is your name?"

"Haztkst."

"Are there any others in these caves?" Having a general knowledge of monsters, I knew they usually dwelled in packs. I guessed that since there were two deviations in the path we took, I guessed there were plenty of other caverns with plenty of other kobolds.

"The chieftain will get you. All of them will." He growled and barked.

I stood up and said, "We have to get out of here quickly. But first treasure."

Cynwyd asked, "Why?"

"Because Haztkst here says there are others. And since there were two other paths we could have taken, I have deduced that there could be indeed a group of fifty kobolds. With the sound of the fight, and the escaped kobolds, I hate to say it, but the others will know of our existence, if they don't already."

"How do you know there are others besides logic?" Cynwyd asked.

"He said the chieftain will get us."

"How do you know the chieftain wasn't killed? Do you know what a chieftain looks like?"

"I would suspect that a chieftain would look…" I was cut off by Thoros.

"If there are others, then we better hurry. There are sacks pouches of gold on all of them, two coins each. Why don't we pick up the treasure?" Thoros asked. So Adamis and I began picking up treasure. I had picked up four, and Adamis likewise, when Thoros said, "Why don't we have a group pile of gold where we will then split it?"

I immediately hid one bag in my cloak pocket. Then walked over and said, "Where are we going to put it?"

The kobold snarled and sneered. "Stop it! Stop taking our treasure!" I hit him with the head of staff. He was knocked unconscious.

"I have a blanket." Cynwyd said. She spread on the floor.

"Great." Adamis and I threw five bags of gold in. Then everyone except me went out to collect the gold.

I got to thinking, that the kobolds had said, "Protect the treasure!" Well, certainly, twelve bags of coins, with two gold each, was not considered treasure. Treasure usually meant something more than seventy gold coins all together, not spread out through the population. "Wait! The kobolds said 'Protect the treasure.' I don't think twelve bags of gold with two each in them counts as treasure, especially not in a kobold's eyes. So perhaps they hid it."

"Look for treasure!" Thoros said, he began ruffling through furs and skins. Adamis did as well. Cynwyd and I began searching for secret doors.

I gave on the secret doors, so I started moving furs. Adamis and I moved the same fur, and there was a clinking sound in it. I immediately grabbed it, took out my knife, but then Adamis tore it out of my hands, threw it on the ground and slashed it with his long sword. I then grabbed it, then he grabbed it, and we played a tug of war. As we tugged on opposite ends, the fur ripped apart, resulting in an explosion of fur, skin and coins.

I picked a few up, threw one up my cloak sleeve, brought handful and dropped it into the basket, unfortunately the one up my sleeve also fell. We picked up all the coins, then dropped the fur in the blanket.

"Are we going to kill the kobold?" I asked Thoros.

"No. We are taking him back for questioning." Thoros told me.

I nodded. Thoros took the net with the kobold in it, then put him in a bag, then tightened the bag's opening with a rope. Cynwyd picked up the money bag. Then we all left the cavern.