The world is full of monsters. Be careful
Chapter 26 – The Underground Tomb Part 2
Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga, along with the thieves, leave Dreamland and head east. Koga had an excited expression across his face. He hummed a tune as he maned the reigns of the wagon without a care in the world. Everyone else, however, didn't look so excited. Everyone besides Luci was starting to doubt this legend about a treasure hidden in a tomb. Luci was making some dark jokes to scare Elfo, which was working. Hilda was making small talk with Bean. She asked her random questions about what she's been up to and how the princess's life was going. Bean explained that she had run away from her wedding and accidentally killed one of Bentwood's sons. As Bean was telling her, this made Hilda laugh pretty hard. Once Bean was done telling her story, Hilda asked, "So…has Tavish asked about me at all?" Bean would shake her head no and frown. "Tavish isn't worried about anyone but himself. All he cares about is the relationships he can make with other kingdoms to make himself look good," She said bitterly. "Oh…" Hilda replied, sounding a bit saddened.
After ten more minutes or so of riding, the wagon stopped. "We're here!" Koga said to everyone as he hopped out of the wagon. Everyone did the same, and they followed Koga. The group followed Koga through a forest with tall, thick trees and vines hanging from above. Koga would then pick up a stick along with a rock. He places the wood near a thick piece of stone and hits the rock against the stone, causing sparks to land on the sick, setting the tip ablaze. The group continued down the path through the woods till they found a large piece of stone sitting on the left side next to a black hole in the ground. Elfo looked down in the hold and gulped. "That doesn't look terrifying at all..." He said in a sarcastic quivering. Bean stared down into the dark abyss below and said, "That doesn't look safe. How are we supposed to get down there?" She asked as she looked over at Koga. "Don't worry," Koga reassured. "I brought some-ROOOOOOPE!" Koga screamed as the ground below them gave in, and He, along with the thieve, Bean, Elfo, and Luci, slid down the dark hole below them. They all screamed till they hit the bottom of the hole.
"Ugh…" Koga groaned. "Is everyone ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bean replied. "I can't see anything…."
"I landed right on the bum-bum…." Elfo whined.
"What's this soft and squishy thing?" asked Rupert
"That's my boob, you idiot!" Hilda said, and then there was a sudden smack sound followed by an "OOOW!"
"Everyone chill the hell out," said Luci as his tail went ablaze, lighting up the darkness.
Bean looked up from where they fell, and she sighed. "Well, I hope there's an exit at the end of all this." Koga nods. "There always is," He looked forward. "Well, there's only one way, and that's forward. Let's roll everyone!" He said as he looked at the pathway in front of them. Everyone else got their feet, and they all continued. Walking down the tunnel, they noticed that it began to expand and grow more, giving more room to the treasure hunting team. Koga started looking around above him. He began to see weapons stuck on the roof and, in particular, odd spots moving forward. "AHHH!" Elfo screamed. When he shouted, this made everyone jump and reach for their weapons. "Elfo, what's wrong?!" Bean asked quickly. Elfo, with his arm shaking, pointed up to the skeleton stuck in the wall. The frame had blades stuck in each of its shoulders and one sword stuck in its mouth going into its gut.
"Holy smokes…" Tuppence gasped.
"It almost looks like a botched magic trick," said Luci. "But It does look like modern art, to be honest."
"The poor bastard got stuck to a wall by blades. I do not want to run into whatever did that…" said Rupert.
"Uhh…guys…" said Elfo as he pointed ahead. Everyone looked from the skeleton stuck to the wall and straight forward. Stuck against the walls were corpses with their heads hanging low. Rupert and Tuppence gulped simultaneously as they saw this, and Hilda shook a bit. "Everyone better be on guard," Koga warned. As the group followed Luci as he lit up the pathway, everyone began feeling weird unease. Bean could've sworn that she saw one of the heads of the corpses move slightly but shook it off as her eyes played tricks on her. Or, she hoped at least. "Man…how far does this tunnel go-" But Bean was cut off by Hilda, letting out a shriek. Everyone turned around and saw that the corpse against the wall had hit's arm tightly around Hilda's neck. "HILDA!" Bean called out to her. The corpse looked in their direction, and its eyes glowed bright white. Other corpses bound to the tunnel walls awakened, all of their eyes glowing bright white. They forced themselves out of the walls and eyed the group, groaning and cracking their bones.
"Yuuup! I saw that coming," said Luci.
Bean rushed forward with her weapon drawn, and she thrust it straight into the corpse's head. The corpse's eyes released Hilda from its grasp, and she fell over. Bean caught her before she hit the ground and pulled her back. "Are you ok?" Bean asked. Hilda rubs her neck. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" Hilda reassured.
Koga let out a big laugh, "Ahhh…classic undead monsters!" He takes a deep breath and exhales. "Takes me back to when I went on my first dungeon adventure-" But Bean cut him off and yelled, "Dude, you can daydream about this later; they have us surrounded!"
Corpses from left and right were walking toward the group. Koga unsheathed his sword. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take these things out and get to the treasure!" Koga charged forward and began fighting with the corpses. He swings his sword swiftly, takes out four of the bodies, and continues to fight the rest. Bean had fended off her fair share of corpses alongside Hilda, who was stabbing and slicing at them using a knife. Elfo, Luci, Rupert, and Tepenence watched as Bean, Koga, and Hilda fought. "Should we help out?" Elfo asked. Luci replied, "Nah, they got it," He took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled. Other corpses began showing up wielding weapons. One lunged after Bean, but Hilda cut him off with a swift slash that cut off its arm. Hilda picks up the sword and cuts down the remaining corpses alongside Bean.
"Thanks, Hilda!" said Bean cheerfully to her.
"No problem! Just be careful next time!" said Hilda.
Koga had taken out the last of the corpses, and so had Bean and Hilda. Koga looked somewhat disappointed and said, "Well, that was…eh," He sheathed his sword. "This can't be the only thing guarding whatever is ahead, could it?"
"Let's just be glad that's all we have to put up with now!" said Bean, glaring over at Koga.
"Come on, don't you want a challenge?" asked Koga with a grin.
"NO!" said Bean and everyone else besides Luci.
Koga rolls his eyes. "Fine, let's hurry up and get out of this tomb then. Party poopers…"
And so they continue. The group went further in till they came across a large stone door. Koga stepped forward, placed his hands on the stone door, and pushed it open. Once the door opened, a blinding gold light nearly blinded the group. Everyone's jaws dropped when they stared into the room. Gold upon gold was in every corner. Jewels, golden crowns, necklaces, and every type of valuable item the world could use were in this one room. "WHOOOOA!" Bean said in awe. Luci hops off of Bean's shoulders and dives into the gold. "KOGA, YOU BIG BASTARD, YOU WERE RIGHT! I'M RICH. I'M RICH! I'M-" Luci looked over at the rest of the group. They all stared at him with stern looks. Luci let out a groan and said. "Fiiiiine…we'll split Sixty to ten. I get the sixty, and you guys can get the ten."
Once Luci was told off for trying to give the group a garbage split, they all began going for the treasure. Bean and Hilda picked necklaces, rings and coins and placed them into their bags. Elfo, Luci, Rupert, and Tuppence were all doing the same. Koga, however…didn't look too pleased.
Elfo looked at Koga. "Hey, Koga, come help us get some of this treasure!" He called out to him cheerfully.
Koga looked around. "This whole thing was way too easy…." He whispered to himself. "Something's not right…"
Bean and Hilda weren't paying too much attention to what Koga said. The two were conversing, taking away as much gold as possible. "So I was thinking once we get out of here…we should start hanging out again," said Bean, looking over at Hilda. Hilda looks over at Bean "I didn't think you'd ever want to hang out again…" Hilda let out a small laugh
"Why do you say that?"
"Well…I mean, we all just stopped hanging out, and I thought you got tired of being around me," Hilda said as she rubbed the gold coin with her thumb,
"What no!" said Bean, frowning at Hilda. "It wasn't supposed to come off like that. It's just…stuff was going on, and I just…I didn't feel like being around anyone then, and…oh man, it's a lot to explain…" She sighed.
Hilda placed her hand on Bean's shoulder and smiled. "When we get out of here, I'm all ears…"
Bean smiled back at her. "Thank you, Hilda…"
After that, something caught Hilda's eye. An item was poking out from the pile of gold coins, and Hilda reached over and pulled it out. "Well…what's this?" She said as she examined it. It was a long dagger-like object with red beads going through a hole. There was also a red stone embedded at the center. "Uh…Hilda…" Bean said hesitantly, "That doesn't look safe. You should put that down." Hilda waved Bean off and said, "Oh, come on, Beanie, I'm sure it's fine!" She said as she placed the necklace around her neck. "Check me out eh?" She posed a bit with it "It goes good with my outfit, doesn't it?"
"You don't feel weird? Or hear any voices?" asked Bean
"No, I don't feel any-" Hilda pasued and her eyes widened. Bean stared at her. "Hilda?" She said worriedly. Then…Hilda's eyes glowed white. Bean gasped "OH NO! KOGA!" She called out to him.
Koga turned around and saw Hilda's glowing white eyes. "OH MY GOD, DID SHE PICK UP A CREEPY-LOOKING ITEM AND PUT IT ON?!"
"YESSS!" Bean screamed as she backed away from Hilda, now floating in the air.
"OH GODDAMN IT!" Koga said as he rushed over to Hilda, but when Koga got close to her, a shockwave emitted from her, knocking him back.
"Oh no…this doesn't look good…" Rupert said as he watched in horror.
"My name is Gabriel Garret…" Hilda spoke in a deep eerie tone. "Those who dare try and take my riches will suffer a fate worse than death. I have taken this woman as my temporary host. Her soul now belongs to me!"
"Umm…" Elfo gulps. "If we put everything back, can we please go?" He asked timidly.
Gabriel glared down at Elfo, raising his arm and sending a ball of fire toward Elfo. Elfo screamed and jumped out of the way. Gabriel turns his eyes towards Koga and begins sending a flurry of flame balls at him. Koga runs through the room, dodging them. Once Gabriel finished his attack Koga takes out his long sword and rushes toward her. But Bean calls out to Koga, "NO! YOU'LL HURT HILDA!" And Koga stopped charging immediately. But this caused Gabriel to land an attack on Koga by sending a solid force wave that sent him flying against the wall.
"Oh god…" Bean murmured. She looks over at Hilda and shouts, "Hilda, you have to fight this! PLEASE!" She begged. But it was pointless. Gabriel sends out another shockwave attack that sends Bean flying through the air and landing on a pile of gold. "ARGH!" She groaned in pain.
"As I said…You all will not leave here alive…"