Crumbling beginnings
Damn it all. How could she have been so foolish? Her need to prove herself to the clan led to disaster once again. All she wanted was to show that her arcane talents weren't a "curse"! That she could use them to ward off the giants!
Instead, she led them right to her home.
At least the village folk weren’t around to see her fail this time. Well, they were “around”. Here, there, and everywhere. Their bloody remains strewn about the charred ruins of her once thriving home. Lana could do nothing but stare in abysmal horror as she watched what remained of her town burn to the ground. The stench of ash and fresh viscera filled her nostrils. If she had bothered to eat in the last few days, she surely would have vomited. She collapsed to her knees, wailing and sobbing, eyes blurry and drenched in tears. An enormous shadow encompassed her, blocking out what little she could see. She knew this was the end, and when the shadow's owner brought its weapon upon her, she did nothing except bawl….
~~~~~
Lana awoke with a screaming start. Another nightmare about her old home. It had been months since the tragedy, yet it seemed she was incapable of letting it go. She held a hand to her chest, and tried to steady her breathing, just as her father had taught her when she was a girl. She listened to the sounds of fresh water dripping from the stalactites above, matching their sounds with the rhythm of her breaths. In, out. In, out. Once she regained her composure, she crawled out of the discarded furs and leafy scraps she used as a bed, and got right to work for the day.
The sunlight came in through small holes in the cavern’s ceiling, allowing Lana’s tired pupils to adjust to the morning light. She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, stretched out her aching back, and set out to work for the day.
She reviewed her morning tasks as she packed a few small berries into her pouch. Right. She needed to disarm a few more mechanisms and traps near her hideaways, gather spider silks to repair the tears in her clothes, collect fresh water from the nearby river (that would take most of the day), and scavenge some new furs and feathers for that killer crick in her neck. She rubbed the back of her neck on her sore spot, and sighed. All had to be done before dusk, earlier if she could help it, a nigh impossible task. It was these early mornings that really made her miss her village. The loss of everyone she had known already proved traumatic, the crippling loneliness was only made worse by the daunting amount of chores she previously had a town’s worth of people to help complete. At least back then they had each other for company during their morning routines. Now that it was only her, the tasks were done not for the sake of a thriving community, but simple survival. It wasn’t easy, but she managed.
Lana grabbed her handmade knapsack of leaves and leather scraps, as well as her every important "bucket" made of carved stone, and clambered her way out of her hideout. Once outside, she collected her walking stick, slinging the bucket around the far end. Once the bucket was secured around the staff's edge, she tapped it twice against the ground to activate her light enchantment she placed within it. The bright light of the staff shone through the darkness of the cave ruins, acting as a permanent torch for her expedition. She grinned slightly. Her arcane talents were nothing compared to the fire-slinging, reality bending miracles of other arcane blessed, but they were her powers nonetheless. And she’d use them as she saw fit.
She never understood her clan's ban on the arcane. When visitors from the other human clans came to her village to trade, they were always warned to keep their talents to themselves. To save their magic for the road, as any hint of arcane may attract the attention of the titans. Of course, Lana had always believed it to be nonsense, she used her arcane talents in secret with no adverse effects. At least, until the titans did come and destroy everything she loved. But it wasn’t her fault! They were going to come regardless of what she did. She reasoned that the giants always had their way, that they are the gods’ favorites and could take and destroy as they pleased, even at the expense of an insignificant, innocent village of humans. One she had desperately tried to defend using the very magics they shunned her for.
Lana shook her head to bring herself back to reality. She needed to focus to wrap the spider’s silk around the twig she picked up without fraying it or attracting the attention of the arachnins. They usually left her alone; she proved herself too capable of fighting for the spiders to bother wasting energy trying to make a meal of her. Besides, most of them were busy collecting better prey for their brood queen. Regardless, any creature was sure to become aggressive when its home was under siege. They had a delicate balance - the spiders kept the pests away while providing her with natural silks and twine, and she let them be.
Once she believed she had collected enough, Lana broke the twig so it fit nicely into her knapsack and placed it inside.
Alright, next order of business: Water. Gods she was parched. It would take several hours for her to reach the river banks, the waters were best accessed at the cavern’s entrance, and judging by the direct sunlight shimmering down through holes in the cavern top, she was already behind schedule, and still so many tasks left incomplete. Food and scraps would have to wait. She reasoned she had enough leftovers in her cavern to last at least one more night, and water always took priority.
The hours passed quickly as Lana traversed the caverns, following the markings and directional arrows she made on previous outings, eventually making her way to the river. The bright yellows of the daylight soon turned to warm orange rays as the day passed from midday to early dusk. The foreboding of the cold dark would be enough to drive any lone human mad, but Lana was well accustomed to the dark. She hummed as she walked, stepping to the rhythm of her tune. Once she reached the water's edge, she kneeled down, laid her staff to the side, and retrieved her bucket. She took a moment to admire the serene beauty of the river. From the roof of the cavern, a large (to her) portion of it had caved in, allowing for the pristine blue waters to flow in from above. Despite falling from the ceiling, the waters were actually quite calm. Once it flowed far enough into the cave, it pooled into a lake, where it settled into crystal clear shimmers. Lana sat slightly upstream, so as to catch at least a bit of cleaner running water. She first dunked her head into the river, letting it soak her hair and face. It was ice cold, but she didn’t care. It felt like ages since she had a proper wash, she ached for the comforts of warm bath and sweet smelling soaps, though an ice river bath was better than no bath at all.
She shook the cold water off like a wet dog, wringing out the long waves of her red hair. By the stars that felt good. If she wasn't before, she was certainly awake now, the ice cold water forcing her body to pump some much needed adrenaline.
With that burst of energy, Lana grabbed the bucket and stuck it into the running water. In only one hefty lift against the currents of the waters, she brought the bucket out, filled to the brim with fresh, lifegiving water. Still, she'd have to boil and filter it later, the water did no good as it is. Full of diseases and other contaminants, it was barely worth the trouble. Not that she really had a choice in the matter.
She stared into the murky bucket water with discontent. Once again she found herself longing for the comforts of her former home, with well water and fresh pots of tea to satiate her. She watched as the water rippled in the bucket, thinking back to when she would toss stones into the lake with her father.
Wait. Why was the water rippling? She hadn't moved it. A loud thudding sound brought her off her knees. The ground shook, bits of old soil and rock fell from the cavern ceiling. It was likely some animals fighting over territory again. They always caused such a ruckus. It was rather disruptive, even if it was just their nature.
She listened intently, hoping to catch the sound of horns on horns, hooves to hooves, or claws against the ground. She heard nothing for a bit, until another thud was followed by distant chatter. Hm. Odd. She had never heard such bizarre animal cries before. They continued on, they were loud and distinct from one another. They called and responded to each other, as if communicating with one another. The sounds got closer, louder, until it seemed as if they were all just on top of each other. They went silent for a moment, then they laughed. The distinct, unmistakable all-too-recognizable sound of laughter. Giant, loud, booming laughter. She froze. Those weren't the cries of territorial animals. No, the noises were too big, too complex, too intelligent. Those weren't animal cries at all! It was… a conversation! Oh no.
~~~~~
The party's laughter rang out through the forest canopies. Ashero, embarrassed, buried his head in his caster's hood. The elven man landed flat on his butt after attempting to float down to the entrance of the cavern. Thankfully, the height hadn't been tall enough to hurt anything save for his pride. Once she was able to stifle her laughter, Allynna followed her companion down with a graceful leap, a twist in the air, and stuck the landing. She posed for a moment, taking in her successful acrobatics, her cloak flowing behind her, before reaching a hand down and helping Ashero to his feet. The elf stood up with a “harumph” and a roll of his eyes. Allynna laughed again, flicking her tail back and forth, she had known him long enough to know that was Ashero’s way of saying “Thank you”. They were childhood friends, the three of them. Ashero, herself, and Thailna, an unlikely group of an elf, a tiefling, and a half-orc, who at present was climbing down the side of the cavern with their guild-assigned cleric, Irala, on her back. She descended, one foot after another, until both her and Irala could touch the ground. Irala curtseyed to show her gratitude, the elder moon-elf not so much as attempting to hide her wrinkled smile. Thailna returned the smile and wiped the sweat from her brow, her muscles showing some signs of strain.
“Well, we’re a bit later than expected, but you did manage to cross the trail despite the hardships along the way.” Irala spoke with a calm demeanor, her voice showing no sense of remorse or disdain for their late arrival to the caverns. Which was good news for the younger trio, she was the evaluator for their guild membership, afterall. The three of them had agreed to follow in their parents’ footsteps and join the guild as a traveling party. As was protocol for guild applicants, they were given “trials” to test their abilities, ensuring they were properly prepared for the dangers they would face. They passed the first few with little difficulty, impressing themselves as well as their evaluators. Now, for their last trial, they would traverse outside the city limits and into the wilderness. Of course, allowing young adults with little to no experience in the outside world to travel on their own was irresponsible, so each new party was assigned two older, more experienced members of the guild to guide them, evaluate their abilities, and act as chaperones for the prospective members.
“Would o’ been ‘ere sooner if it weren’t for them bandits along the road!”
The second of the seasoned adventures landed with a thud right beside the rest of the party. He had spent a little extra time climbing down to the cavern, given his shorter stature and heavy armor. He had also been tasked with carrying the remaining supplies, as Thailna was not quite able to carry both their supplies and Irala down the edge. Allynna watched as the dwarf paladin lay the bag next to him, removing his helmet as he did so. He stroked his long silvery beard, the fine hairs rustling in the wind.
“Well, we took care of them easily enough, and rescued the trader caravan while we were at it! It may have taken extra time and some of our supplies, but a good deed is a good deed.” Thailna shrugged as she spoke. Her rough exterior betrayed her kind heart. She always looked on the bright side of things, as well as using her natural strength to defend those that could not defend themselves. She was a shining example of what the guild strove to be. So when the opportunity arose for her to save a traveling merchant’s caravan from a bandit ambush, she leapt on it without thinking. The bandits may have had numbers, but they had the combined ability to easily overpower them. The bandits were quickly dispatched, they scrambled for their loot before retreating off further into the woods, leaving behind only scraps and blood as evidence of their scuffle.
Of course, when all was said and done, the kind hearted Thailna and Allynna offered the caravan a good chunk of their own supplies, just to ensure they made it back to the city in one piece. Ashero and Gamdon attempted to speak up against giving away so many of their necessary supplies before even reaching their own destination, but a subtle glare from Irala was enough to shut them both down in one fell swoop.
“You daydreaming again, Allie?” A familiar rough hand on her shoulder brought Allynna out of her memories. Thailna gave her a warm smile as she ushered her along with the others of the ragtag group at the mouth of the caverns.
“Save the dreams for another few hours or so, Allie. It'll be sunset soon.”
With a slap on Allynna’s shoulder and a hearty laugh, Thailna walked over to Gamdon’s side, who had already begun to unpack their camping gear, setting out a make-shift fire pit surrounded by their bedrolls. Allynna hurried along, sitting comfortably next to Irala, who was busy reading over a scroll, and Ashero, who was leaning over the fire pit with a flint and steel. She stretched her arms out, yawned, and made herself more comfortable by unhooking her dagger belt from around her waist. She set it beside her, at the ready for when she lay down for the night. Before her head could hit the bedroll's pillow, a hearty "ahem" from Irala brought her focus onto the older woman. The rest of the party, too, momentarily stopped their tasks to listen to what she would say.
"Before we finish setting up our campsite and begin turning in for the night, let's review our purpose for being here."
Irala turned the scroll she was reading around, the pristine parchment and inked image of a large arachnid in clear view to the captivated party. She spoke with a projected voice that contradicted her normal gentle tone.
“We are here on the final evaluation trial for these three young adventurers. You may have passed the initial simulation trials and earned your place back at the guild, but this will be your way to prove that you can truly handle yourself in a real life quest. Now, let's review,” She cleared her throat and began reading directly from the scroll: “You are here in service of the guild for the mission of slaying one arachnin queen. The beast has set up its layer and brood in the ruins of an old cavern research facility located within the Belfa’ir Woods outside of the capital city of Ijora. This creature has proved a nuisance to trading caravans, trappers, and hunters alike. It commands its spawn to prey on local fauna and unsuspecting travelers. Slay the beast and bring back the requested parts and your trial will be considered complete, allowing you to become full members of the guild. The guild will ask for a portion of your reward, but you may keep any treasures you find. Good hunting!”
Irala bowed as she finished reading the scroll. She rolled it up and stuck it back in her travel pouch before settling cross-legged on her bedroll. “And remember, Gamdon and I are here to assist, but we will be taking a back seat to your quest. You three must prove your skills to us on your own. That said, please do not hesitate to ask for assistance if you need it. It is better we all complete our mission in good health, than to perish because of our own pride.”
Ashero finally managed to get the fire going, basking in its warmth before settling into his own bedroll. It was not long before Irala and Thailna had produced an iron pot from their bag of holding, from which they cooked a good night’s meal for the tired group. With the smell of a campfire in the air and a warm meal in her belly, Allynna was ready to retire to her bedroll. A light tap on her head from the cleric’s staff prevented her from falling asleep. The old woman smiled down at her with a look that reminded her of her mother on an afternoon when she forgot her to do her daily chores.
“Allynna, since the others worked so hard to get our campsite ready and prepare a nice meal, would you be a dear and take the first night watch for everyone? We would so greatly appreciate it.” The words carried no malice, but Allynna understood the message. She had been so preoccupied by her own excitement for the mission, she had forgotten to actually assist with basic necessities for it! She stood up and brushed herself off, then gave Irala a nod, returning her smile. It was only fair, after all.
~~~~~
No! It's not fair! Lana paced the floor from the safety of one of her hideaways as she considered the situation. She came out all this way to avoid these giant monstrosities, and now there were several that set up a camp inside her shelter, getting ready to do who knows what! Her stomach growled, reminding her of her priorities. She hadn’t yet finished her errands for the day, and with the sun sinking below the horizon and the group of giants currently blocking her only access to the bounties of the forest, it seemed she wouldn't be able to, not without great risk to her well being. Still, the pang in her stomach couldn't be ignored, as with all living beings, the threat of starvation outweighs the risks of obtaining food. She ceased her pacing and slouched against the cave wall, placing a hand on her aching belly.
Survival is about making quick decisions in desperate situations. She could wait it out, letting the giants do whatever it was they were going to do and leave, letting her come out without worry of being spotted, but she was certain that if she put off eating any longer, she might not be strong enough to gather the food she needs. On the other hand, if she went out now, there was the risk of being spotted by the giants. And was that really better than starving?
Lana creeped over to the crevice entrance and surveyed the giants. Their cooking fire still burned, serving to light the cavern walls as all but one of the giants lay on the ground, fast asleep. The one that remained awake was preoccupied with its blades. It stared off into the distance, whilst idly twirling the knife between its fingers. By some trick of the light, she could not make out the features of the giant. It was as if the shadows swarmed around it, obscuring it from view.
One thing she could make out, its focus was solely in the direction of the dancing flames of their campfire, away from her. If she was going to get past it, it was now or never. Lana hugged the walls, making careful, quiet steps as she inched towards the cave’s exit. She never took her eyes off the giant. Inch by inch she made her way across the cavern ground, until just as she was getting past the giants’ camp, she heard a shift of movement from behind her. She watched as the giant stiffened, then stood up swiftly, becoming more alert. Its long, pointed ears twitched as it turned to face her direction. Lana froze. She held her hands over her mouth, and tried to steady her breathing. The humongous being scanned the area, its eyes seeming to glow in dark as it surveyed its surroundings. Lana dare not move, fearing that even the slightest tremble would alert it to her presence. She backed into the rocky wall, knocking a few pebbles down. She gasped, and held her breath, watching as the giant’s eyes focused directly on her. It was unmoving, just staring through her. Lana stayed still as a statue, praying to whatever god would listen that the creature would just forget she was there.
For a moment, it appeared as though the giant had given up. Lana allowed herself to relax, her shoulders drooping down towards the floor. Only to tense back up when the giant began to shout and move in her direction. It pulled out its remaining blades, and that was all she needed to see before bolting back towards her hideout. She didn't care how much her lungs burned, how tired and hungry she was, in that moment she only knew survival, and every instinct was screaming at her to run. She darted as fast as she could for the opening, leaving the shadows behind in trade for the glow of moonlight. She could hear the hollers of the other giants as they awoke, their metal garments making a ruckus as they arose. Though her ears rang with their shouts, she could swear she heard a rumbling scuttering behind her as well. She dared not turn around to see the chaos that followed, solely focused on making it to the relative safety of her home.
Lana ran as fast as her legs could carry her, past the camp, far from the shouts of the giants, and into the enclosed space of her hole-in-the-wall. She only stopped running when she hit the edge of the wall, her muscles no longer able to carry her. She collapsed to the ground, panting and wheezing as she attempted to catch her breath. She rolled herself over and crawled to a corner, where she continued to pant, absolutely exhausted. Her body still shook, her arms barely able to stay steady on her chest. Once the adrenaline wore off, she could feel the aches throughout her body. She tried to calm herself, but found it difficult to slow her breathing, her body left her short-winded as it tried to catch up with her racing mind
Alright Lana, deep breaths. In, out. In, out.
It took some time, but her breathing eventually did begin to slow. With a now calmed mind and body, she took in her situation. The sounds of battle echoed outside her hideout. She could hear screeches and loud scuttering matched by shouts and clashes of metal against solid stone. The ground quaked, rubble falling from the ceiling of her hideout. For a while, she feared the cavern may collapse, crushing her within her own home, until finally, one final shrieking howl that violently shook the whole cavern was followed by a thud, then, deafening silence. Though her curiosity peaked, she dared not move. Her survival instincts overtook any irrational thoughts of satiating her curious mind.
Speaking of satiation, Lana's stomach growled. In all the "excitement" She had yet to eat anything for the day. She rolled over and reached for her sack where she packed away the berries from the morning. When she felt only air, she could feel the rush of panic set in once more. It had to be here somewhere! She scoured the floor for it, scanning every corner, only to come up empty handed. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
Stupid stupid stupid!
An entire day's worth of scavenging, all gone to waste. No silks, no water, and now no food. As if that weren't bad enough, another worrying thought crossed her mind -
What if the giants find it first?!
Her heart sank at the thought of leaving a trail right to her. Against her better judgements, she peered out from her hideout. She traveled further than she initially thought - finding that this was not her normal hideaway, but a different crevice that led to an enclosed room, cut off from the rest of the cavern by a humongous ancient door. She recognized her own writings and symbols from previous outings identifying the location. This was a treasure room, filled with gemstones, old scrolls, and of course, plenty of gold. It was hidden away, disguised as just another rocky wall in the cavern that was barely noticeable from the outside. In her previous outing, she had marked this place as a means of secondary egress, should the need ever arise. There was a small crawl space on the other side of the room that she could just fit through that led to the outside world. However, she rarely came here. The primary entrance served as a much roomier and convenient exit, and while the treasures were certainly nice to look at, they were hardly useful for survival.
Until now, that is. An idea crossed her mind. If the giants were as predictable as she believed them to be, all she had to do was guide them to this hoard. They'd take their fill, and satisfied with their haul, they'd go back to whatever nightmare they crawled out of, leaving Lana free to roam around in the open without fear.
She crawled back into her hideout, and searched around for a palm-sized pebble she could use. Finding a decently shaped one, she hurried her way back through the crevice out of the chamber and into the open space of the cavern. She peeked out, making sure the giant’s camp was far enough away, before setting out against the wall, climbing a decent distance, and drawing arrows, symbols, and directions to indicate the treasure room, how to access it, and the possible exit, should the giants be strong enough to remove the boulders blocking the way.
When Lana finished, she took a moment to admire her work before scurrying back to her hole. There was one more thing she needed to take care of. The treasure room contained many valuables precious to those who created it. Naturally, this meant it was also full of ancient traps and mechanisms made to protect those precious gems. To Lana, such traps were easily avoided and dismantled, however, to a less observant bumbling giant, they could prove deadly, which was far more trouble than Lana was willing to deal with.
She made her way back into the treasure room once more, maintaining a cautious awareness of her surroundings. One little slip up was all it would take to bring traps from mundane to harmful, and attract more of the already unwelcome attention of the giants. She started with a smaller trap, one that had weathered with age, and took it apart piece by piece. Without proper tools, there was only so much she could do to disarm it, but the mechanism had rotted away enough that it was relatively easy to pull apart by hand, even for someone her size. With the tattered remains of the first trap in hand, she made her way once more back to the cavern. It was at this point she began to realize just how tired she was. Several days without proper food, water, and rest was fully taking its toll on her body. Even just walking to the chamber entrance left her winded.
Ignoring the cries of her body, she set the trap’s parts out in a line at the front of the room entrance, wide enough that they’d be noticeable to even the largest of giants. She figured it would be enough of a warning. She wiped the sweat from her brow and one final time made her way through and back into the treasure room. She walked again to the front entrance, though this time she had to sit down to catch her breath. This whole plan would be pointless if she killed herself just trying to set it up. Her eyes felt heavy, and she could feel herself falling into slumber.
“Just… a quick nap. To restore my strength” she muttered to herself. Her eyelids closed, and the weight of her body seemed to float away as the slumber of exhaustion took her.
~~~~~~
Allynna munched on her breakfast rations whilst she studied the small object left behind by the fleeing little creature. Opening the top, she flipped through its contents, there wasn't much, just a small thing of silk-string and a couple of barely ripened goodberries. Though, it wasn't the contents that had her interest. It was more the construction of the object. It reminded her of her knappsack, but with a more 'scrounged together' look about it. It was held together by leaves and twine, but the general material was like a type of leather and fabric blended together. What's more, if it was a bag, it surely fit for the size of the creature that left it. Small, and easily fitting within the palm of her hand. She had hoped that by studying the 'bag' she might learn what the tiny creature was, but she wasn't quite well versed enough in the types of creatures in the area to even take an educated guess. It could've been fey, but even at this distance they were far too close to the city for there to be any feywild portals. Definitely not an imp, too small and it lacked that distinct sulfur smell. Human, perhaps? Unlikely, those traveled in groups, one all by its lonesome would be a death sentence for the poor thing.
At the very least, she knew it had dropped the bag when it darted by, likely trying to avoid the arachnin hoard's ambush. She was thankful it did, too! If not for the tiny creature's presence, she may have missed the ambush altogether and failed to alert the other members of her party.
The five of them were more than capable of dealing with the smaller spiders, even in their great numbers, but once the humongous queen showed its ugly face, things became more difficult. It took everything they had to bring it down, but one final blast from Ashero's Fire Bolt brought the beast to a screeching halt, as well as scattering the remainder of the arachnin hoard. There was no time to celebrate, however, as in the chaos of the battle, the entrance (and only exit!) to the cave collapsed in on itself, leaving them trapped in the dark. After their restless night, the party agreed to travel further into the cavern in the morning, hoping another exit was possible.
"Hey, come check this out!" Thailna's voice echoed through the cavern ruins. Allynna quickly pocketed the small object, making a mental note to return to it later, and ran to her friend's side. The rest of the group soon followed behind. Thailna held her torch up high, to better light her discovery. The torchlight revealed what appeared at first glance to be little scribbles all along the wall. The group followed the scribbles down deeper into the cave until they merged together, forming one large oval that reached to the ground.
“It's… a door!” Allynna took in the odd “door”. The lines were hardly straight, appearing as though they were drawn on by a child. Nonetheless, the outline of the door was clear, a hidden passageway masqueraded as just another piece of the wall. Had it not been for the chalk outline, they would have easily missed it. Surrounding the door were small drawings, each depicting a different shape surrounded by smaller, more complex shapes.
“These glyphs around it, never seen anything like them. Think a bandit gang left them?” Ashero placed a hand on the glyphs, tracing in their patterns as he studied them. Allynna could see the frustration on his face. Years learning all manner of glyphs and runes and yet he could not discern simple drawings on a cave wall.
Thailna shook her head in disagreement
“Too recently done. We would’ve heard them drawing on the walls or sneaking about the cave. Plus, you said it yourself, this looks nothing like anything a greater race would make. Although, this one looks like a sun of some sort? Think there’s an exit here?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Ashero attempted to push open the door, barely budging it before a jerk on his hooded robe pulled him away. He let out a yipe as Thailna yanked him away like a dog on a leash.
“Slow down there, death row, look beneath you.”
Sure enough, just underneath Ashero’s feet lay the remains of a simple trip wire trap. The pieces were scattered about and rotted through. The rot only accounted for a small portion of the damage done to the trap, missing parts, broken mechanisms, and the wire itself appeared to have been intentionally cut.
“It's rotten and old, same as everything else in this cave,” Ashero picked up the rotten wire, presenting the frays and old molds to the party. “I highly doubt any of the traps within will pose any threat to us. Most likely they'll collapse upon activation.” Ignoring the bemoans of disagreement from his friends, he barely managed to slide the ancient door open through brute force.
The inside was breathtaking. Lining the walls were gems of all kinds, their shapes, sizes and colors all clashed together in sporadic decor. The floors were paved with gold, with ancient coins piled in the corners, each pile was topped by a wooden chest, darkened and rusted by the passage of time. The western side of the room was less glorious, but adorned with a different type of treasure: sunlight. It trickled in from the outside, blocked only by old rubble and stonework. He had found their way out.
Ashero stood in awe of the treasures surrounding him before regaining his usual confidence and walking nonchalantly into the dimly lit room nonchalantly, before turning back to face his friends and allies.
“See? Nothing to worry ab-” Ashero never finished his sentence. The party watched as he was hoisted into the air by his foot. Sharp spines came from the ceiling, closing themselves around his leg like the jaws of an animal. The group acted quickly, rushing in just behind him, the cave shaking as they entered. Rubble fell from the ceiling, the ancient mechanisms creaking to life as other traps attempted and failed to activate, their old rusted parts shaking loose debris long trapped by stillness – the cavern was caving in, and this time it certainly would bury them alive!
Allynna wasted no time going to assist her friend, but from the corner of her eye she spotted a small creature scurrying across the ground. She recognized it as the very same creature that passed her by just before the arachnin ambush. Only this time, with the added light leaking from the outside, she could see it a little clearer. Pale skin, long hair, tattered cloth covering its body, and the distinct rounded ears. It was human after all! But, why was it out here by itself? A question for later. She watched as it scrambled into a small hole in a wall, cornering itself just out of sight.
Once Ashero was safely removed from the trap and in the care of Irala, she ran over to the hole and looked inside. She could see the little thing pressed against the corner, shaking like a leaf in the wind. When she determined this to be its only means of exit, the other sides of the crevice blocked by carved stone and fallen rubble, she placed her hand at the entrance, and attempted to coax it out of its hiding place.
“Come on out, little one," She gently wiggled her fingers in a ‘come here’ motion. "I won't hurt you." Her voice was soft and quiet. She made special care to hide her fangs behind her plush lips, so as to not further frighten the poor thing.
“Allynna, the hell are you doing?” Ashero shouted. The highlands elf was understandably agitated, his poor attitude amplified by the throbbing injury on his leg.
“There’s a human in here! We must’ve startled it when the trap was triggered.”
“And? You're wasting time, this place could collapse any minute!" As if to reiterate his point, the ruins shook, small pieces of rubble raining upon the adventurers' heads.
"Quit yer shoutin' and hold still! Yer gonna bring the whole damn place down on us!" Gamdon grumbled as he continued to wrap the elf's wounds. Irala had already finished mending the more gruesome parts of the injury, it merely needed a few bandages. A simple process that would take but a moment, had Ashero not continued to fidget, much to the dwarf's annoyance.
“Would you two cut it out?! Irala, help me move this rubble, I think I can see a way out through here!” Thailna took off to the other side of the cavern, Irala right behind her. Allynna paid them no mind, focusing still on trying to retrieve the small creature from its hole.
"Why are you so fascinated with that thing?" Ashero's hollers drew another shake from the ruins, and a glare from Gamdon
Without turning to address her colleague, Allynna replied,
"It's been helping us! I know it has!"
Ashero lifted his leg, nearly kicking poor Gamdon, and showed off his freshly wrapped wounds.
"Yeah, a real help it's been!"
"That's your own fault for darting ahead into the room unprepared! One disarmed trap at the entrance doesn't mean there aren't more inside! Besides, it warned me of the arachnin ambush! And, the markings on the walls that led us to the treasure room? I've never seen anything like them! The details are too small and intricate to have been drawn by anyone of the greater races. Plus, the disarmed trap? What else could pick apart those tiny, delicate, near-invisible wires, but something equally as tiny and delicate!"
Allynna's eyes lit up as she spoke of the fascinating deeds the human had done for her party. Perhaps she might've thought herself crazy, had she not seen it with her own eyes. Being a tiefling had a few benefits, dark vision being one of them. Her mother had taught her that if all else fails, trust her eyes. She had never really bothered with humans before, nor did she understand the other races' judgements of them, but this one had caught her attention. She had so many questions bouncing around in her mind. Where did it come from? How did it know about all the traps and treasures? Why was it all alone out here? And most importantly, why would it risk getting caught to help them?
She flicked her tail once more as she pondered what to do. It was clear the human was not going to come out willingly. However, if she forced it out, she would risk either further frightening it, or bringing it unintentional harm.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the ground violently shook. Large chunks of rubble fell from the crumbling ceiling, narrowly missing Allynna. The shock from the near-miss caused her to jump to her feet. She turned to see her companions frantically dodging falling rubble as they grabbed as much riches as they could carry.
"Good news is we found another way out! Bad news is it was the only thing holding this place together!" Thailna shouted as she ran down to help pack the heavier possessions.
"Well then, what the fuck are we waiting for! Let's get out of here!" Ashero replied with equal volume. He wasted no time packing what he could as he stumbled for the exit. The pain in his leg caused him to fall over flat on his face, dropping what little he had been carrying.
Gamdon retrieved the fallen items as Irala helped the admittedly embarrassed Ashero up. He placed his weight on her and used her as a crutch as they limped for the exit.
"Wait!" Allynna exclaimed as she once again bent down on her knees and held her palm to the crevice. "What about the human!?"
"What about it?!" Ashero's pained expression turned to annoyance. He was willing to deal with Allynna's nonsense under normal circumstances, but at this moment, their lives were in danger, and the pain in his leg had drained all his patience.
"It'll die in here!" Allynna cried with genuine worry in her voice. She couldn't let the poor thing die for their carelessness, not after it risked itself to help them.
"We'll die in here if we don't leave now!"
"Then I'll stay behind! I'll make sure everyone gets out and that we didn't leave anything important!"
"What!? Are you insa-"
Irala forcefully pulled Ashero to the side, just managing to avoid falling debris. The two fell, with Ashero landing on top of Irala.
Gamdon helped them both to their feet. Irala dusted herself off and slung Ashero’s arm over her again. She was about to scold him, but a shout from Gamdon reminded her of their current situation.
"By the Gods, 'eres no time for 'is! Get up 'n' get movin'!" He grabbed Ashero’s other arm, tossed their packs on his back, and rushed them all through the exit.
With the rest of her companions safely escorted out, Thailna ran to Allynna's side. The younger woman was still attempting to coax the small creature out of its hole. Though clearly desperate, she still spoke in a hushed voice, ignoring the deafening noise of the collapsing cavern. Thailna placed her calloused hands on Allynna's shoulders. She knelt down next to her and calmly spoke to her friend.
"We need to go. Now."
She stared deep into Allynna's golden eyes, hoping she might give in. When she refused to move, Thailna sighed, rose to her feet, grabbed the last of their belongings, and moved for the exit.
"I know your mind is set. I'll be waiting outside. Don't take too long, I really don't want to have to drag you out kicking and screaming."
Thailna took her leave without looking back. She had known Allynna long enough to understand that when her mind was made up, nothing short of death would stop her. As she took a step out of the exit and into the light of the outside, she prayed to the gods that Allynna would come to her senses before she had to drag her out.
Allynna was out of options and time. She flicked her tail and bit her lip as she reached into the crevice. She felt around the inside until she bumped into something soft and warm. She knew what she felt was the human. She grabbed it before it could escape. It struggled in her grasp, and she tightened her grip around it in response. She could feel the little creature still kicking and squirming in her hand.
"I'm sorry little one, please don't hate me!"
She took a deep breath and pulled it out of its hiding place. With her free hand, she opened the pouch hanging from her thigh, then carefully tucked the human away inside. She could feel the human's squirming die down as she closed the pouch. There would be time for apologies later. Right now, she needed to run. Without taking a moment to breathe, she raced for the exit as fast as she could, never slowing down, not even when she had to dodge falling rocks as the ceiling caved in. She could see the light from the outside just ahead, but the collapsing tunnel was gaining on her. She picked up speed and dove through the exit as the last of the falling ruins sealed the opening behind her.
She landed belly down in the dirt, sliding a few feet from where she landed. Allynna let out an audible sigh of relief and turned over on her back. She made it.
Her relief quickly became panic as she had a sudden realization. The human! Had she accidentally crushed it when she dove through the exit?! Quickly, she ran her fingers over the small bulge in her pouch. When it moved in response to her touch, she once again let the wave of relief come over her.
"Nice landing, Allie." Thailna stood tall above her friend. She laughed as she watched Allynna's expression turn from surprise, to confusion, then to embarrassment. Grabbing her with one arm, she lifted her off the ground, and helped to brush the dirt off of her ragged garments. She gave her friend a hard pat on her back, before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Come on, we found a place to set up a new base camp before we head back to the city in the morning. Irala promised to cook up some of our leftover rations. Let's go catch up with the others before Gamdon eats it all again!"
Thailna continued to talk to Allynna as they walked deeper into the surrounding forest, but Allynna was only half listening. Her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. More specifically, she was pondering just how she was going to explain her tiny passenger to her group. She placed her hand over the pouch and felt the human move again. It would have to wait, she decided. First, she needed a warm meal.
~~~~~
Pain. Unbearable pain. That's all that ran through Lana’s mind while she screamed and begged for mercy. She wanted to kick, to fight, but her body refused to obey. The darkness of the giant’s pouch consumed her, gnawing at what remained of her sanity. Light, she needed light! She tried to reach for something, anything that she could touch to bring forth the same light she once brought to her staff. Instead, she only grasped her leg, sending waves of pulsing pain through her body. Lana screamed, her cries falling upon deaf, uncaring ears. Tears welled in her eyes. The only solace she knew was that once they got to wherever they were going, the giant would end her suffering. She grasped tightly to her leg, begging for at least a little rest, a little tolerance before the end.
“Please…” she cried “Just feel better!” Her eyes were growing heavy, the dim light fading into an empty blackness. However, just before she completely lost herself, she swore she saw a bright light encompass her leg, and the pain ever so slightly weaned as she let herself lose consciousness.