SOUL FORGE (CLOSED)

Alex grinned, though she realized her Spartoi companion probably couldn't see it. "You know, I was only joking about the arrow. I don't think Faliq would appreciate me wasting arrows like that."
She gazed down at the floor and around the hallway they were walking down, trying to be careful with her steps as the man said. Meanwhile she hoped Lady was doing okay.
 
"I thought you were... did you eat all my snacks?" Eryth pawed at the bag, checking for the dried fruit and nuts he had packed. "Emee just sort of latched onto me when we met. Before the scales. I guess he stowed away with me when we left. No light here though unless you know of some chemistry I don't."
 
The captain guided Alex through the watery tunnel until the water began to ebb and the darkness was pressing in. It was only the change in the draft that alerted the warrior to the bisecting hallway and he held up a hand, blocking Alex from moving further. "The hall splits, der is'a room on deh opposite wall."

The warriors stumbled forward and his outstretched hands evetually found the slime slick wall. Fumbling, he searched until the stone changed to wood. "Deh door is here."

It was soaked from the damp air and bloated into the door frame, impossible to move without making sound.

"I can break deh door but it will be loud," he imformed Alex.

******

Emee yawned and blinked up at Eyrth, his blue eyes catching what little light there was left. He'd eaten all the snacks Eyrth had so kindly thought to pack and fallen asleep, but now he was shivering from fear. His nose picked up a terrible smell. "Dark...death..Ery..."

"Ye might try askin' ye housesprite," the Spartoi said, "They're pesky but useful when deh want."
 
Alex thought about their options, relying on instincts she had honed through playing countless video games that took place in similar settings. Loud noises could attract unwanted guests, but did they have any other choice? If they were to be attacked right now, the lack of sight was certainly a disadvantage... However, if they did not find a light source that disadvantage would follow them around through the rest of the labyrinth. On top of that, there was no telling how many more of these doors they might have to pass on their way. It was a decision easily made. Faliq sent a wave of approval through Alex's mind.

She drew the arrow she had nocked previously and faced the darkness, her back towards the door and the Spartoi leader. "Go ahead, I'll cover you."
 
Eryth scratched Emee's head, sighing as he found the empty sac where his gorp used to be. "What do you think, Emee? Can you find us a light down here? I'll find you more snacks if you do."
 
The Spartoi nodded and took a few steps back before slamming his shoulder into the soggy wood. The sounds of splintering and a grunt echoed through the darkness but the door didnt budge. Cursing in what sounded like Greek, the Spartoi stepped back and tried again. This time the door cracked and popped out of its frame from the heavy hit of the dragon man. A new draft wafted through the air and he stumvled inside the black room. Feeling around, he made his report to the Guardian. "Table...chairs...book shelf...many tomes and a few scrolls. All rotting, m'lady." The room had probably been abandoned hundreds of years ago when the river rose.

He felt around some more along the wall and found an old torch mounted in a wall sconce. "A torch as well."

****

Emee pressed his head into Eyrth's claws, trying to get a better scratch in but stopped when the Guardian mentioned a light and treats. "Light..." It sounded like a consideration, though he was still shivering. After a moment, the creature twitched his nose and then climbed out of the pack onto Eyrth's shoulders. He didn't like the water or the dark but Ery needed a light and would give treats. Pouncing from his shoulder, the house sprite latched onto the wall with his claws and skittered into the dark. Minutes passed with no sign of the spite until a small squeak come from above. Emee had found a rusted oil lantern and was holding it out with one paw. "Light?"
 
Alex kept an eye out for any Shadows - or rather, an ear since she couldn't see anything. Nothing seemed to be coming at them from the dark, however.
"Can you light it?" she asked.
 
"Good job Emee!" Eryth grinned at the housepet, suprised something considered a "pet" could have such a high degree of sapience. "I'll get you a treat as soon as I find something, someone seems to have eaten what I brought."

Taking the lamp in one arm, he inspected it for some sort of switch he could turn it on with. With any luck, it would still have some fuel left they could at least find their next light source with.

There was no pilot on the lamp however, just a bit of oil in the bottom and a bit of wick. They would need a flame to get it started.

"Anyone have a match or striker? And these tunnels aren't filled with flammible gas, are they? I can't smell any methane..."
 
Lady faced the wall of blackness with absolute will. That was what was needed for form a barrier and she could call on every ounce of it she had. The initial attack had gotten the roiling black mass of Shadows attention and it started flow her direction forming into all manner of beasts. Boars with bloody tusks, great Basiliks, shades, undead, Cabras and devils of the underworld spat at her, all lifting up the same demand in a haunting chorus. "Join or die, Lady Lightening."

"You will go back to where you came," she said through gritted teeth.

The Shadows mocked her with a hissing sound and the mass of monsters surged forward to over take her. Lady held her ground though the small voice in the back of her mind begged her to run, claiming there had to be another way.

She ignored the voice and braced against the black, frigid air blasting against her. This would be their first victory and she would make sure of it. With a flick her wrist, she called on Sperest and set her loose her shield. A blue spark ignited and grew over the courtyard, creating a wall between herself and the monsters. She willed it to spread to the entrances...forcing it into the doorways and halls. The move made her knees shake as beads of sweat dripped down her temple. Keeping the shield up indefinitely would slowly kill her, draining her energy till it was no more, but it would hold long them out of the catacombs long enough to make the blood seal. The mass of Shadows slammed against the shield and the whole castle shuddered with the force.

"You go no further," Lady growled, pulling her dagger from her belt.

There was a crackling laugh to her left and a chill spread down her spine. It was far too familiar and it made bile rise in her throat. No.
"But wont we?" he said.

************
He checked to see if the wood was dry, if felt a little slick but there was also dried pitch smeared over the top of the torch. It might light if they created a spark and were lucky. "Aye, I think so," the Spartoi captain replied to Alex, "If I can borrow ye fancy knife, yeah?"

As he asked there was a small rush of wind, a change in the drafty air current and he could smell the darkness in the air. "Hand ye knife!" he demanded, "Somethin' comin!"
*************
"Treats!" Ery squeaked before dropping to Eyrth's shoulder.

The Spartoi had no idea what a match was, but a striker they knew and Eyrth's partner offered his arm. "Ye use de beak of ye weapon on m'arm and ye get a spark." When the scaled Guardian seemed to hesitate, the Spartoi held out his powder white arm. "Ye not break me, just do it."
 
"Er..." Eryth lowered Corbin slightly. They were magic beings, of course, but even this seemed a little odd. Maybe their skin contained a coating high in magnesium. "Like a scratch or..?"
 
Alex didn't hesitate at the man's tone. Handling Faliq and the arrow she had already been holding into one hand, she took Coraxe out of its sheath with the other and handed the knife over. Within seconds she had her arrow drawn again, aiming for the dark hallway and waiting... Her skin crawled at the thought of whatever was watching them from that darkness, but she kept her senses with her. She couldn't let Faliq persuade her into shooting recklessly. There were other Spartoi down here, as well as Eryth. If it was an enemy it would have to reveal itself first.
 
"Ye just scratch me an' get'the sparks with th' lamp, yeah?" The Spartoi instructed, "Th' flesh of dragon's teeth good f' somthin."

The warrior took the lamp from Eyrth's claw and held out his arm again, ready to use it as a striker.

******

The Captain grabbed the strange knife and then stuck his hand on the torch before taking the edge of the blade edge wise along his skin. The metal sliding down his arm made a screeching sound as sparks flew everywhere, but none caught. The breeze grew stronger and a low growl came from down the pitch black hallway.

The second spartoi group behind Alex raised their weapons and came to her side as the darkess itself seemed to be shifting all around.
 
"Al... Alright. How- how hard do I have to press?" Eryth gripped Corbin around the head, putting the beak against the Spartoi's skin. A gentle scratch did nothing, not even a mark on his skin. A second scratch brough better results, a nails-on-chalkboard screech that made Eryth cringe and a flurry of sparks that shot into and around the lamp.
 
Alex felt all of muscles tense up at once, then relax again. She felt like something out there was mocking her, she felt like it would pounce and she wouldn't be able to stop it because she couldn't see anything- And then, she felt Faliq warm up in her hands. Another growl sounded from the darkness and next thing Alex knew an arrow was flying.
No, her arrow was flying. It made impact with something, though of course she couldn't see what, and suddenly the warmth in her hands was gone. She wondered if she had imagined it.
 
None of the sparks caught on the old wick lamp, and the Spartoi looked to Eyrth with a firm nod. "Try again."

************

The spartoi captain scraped the blade across his skin creating a shower of sparks a few caught on the torch and fizzled through the dust stuck to the pitch. A spark turned to a glowing ember and started to spread with a puff of smoke. The spartoi covered the newly born flame, trying to keep the draft off and praying that it grew enough to work as a light.

In the hallway, a growling could be heard along with the sounds of scratching along the walls, then a decisive snap of wood. A set of red eyes appeared in the darkness along with the stench of rot. "Your name, Guardian...whatssss your name?"
 
"Oh... Okay." Eryth took another shot, slightly harder and faster this time, still cringing at the sound and queasy from the idea of accidentally breaking skin.
 
Before what the Shadow had said ever registered to her, Alex already had a new arrow nocked and drawn, aiming right between those red eyes.
Then she hesitated. Why was the thing talking to her? She couldn't think of a single good reason why it would want to know her name. She considered shooting it again, but if she could buy the Spartoi guy time to get that torch lit...Weren't shadows weaker with light?? All this went through her head in less than a second, and Faliq was growing more and more antsy as it did. Or maybe she was the one growing antsy, and Faliq was a convenient scapegoat...

"Hircine," she blurted out. She couldn't really help herself, even in a stressful situation her mind always made space for Skyrim. Or maybe... it did so especially in a stressful situation. She cursed herself mentally. Good job Alex, now you're the mother of lycanthropy.
But she'd be damned if she allowed that voice to say her name, with its hissing. It reminded her of the Baku, and nothing good ever reminded her of that.
 
Another shower of sparks from the Spartoi's arm caused a small little ember to catch on the lamp wick. The dragon man quickly cupped his ivory hands around the flames to block the draft from killing it. Painstakingly slow, a flame began to eat into the wick, popping with dust until a gentle light filled the corridor. Behind them lay the exit, its dim light barely there and ahead of them damp darkness. Emee scurried up to Eyrth shoulder and shivered at his neck. "Death...dark...Lady."

The Spartoi looked up to Eyrth, his sharp teeth made even more prominent in the shadow of their flame. "We need t' hurry. Lets go." Without another word he started wading through the water again, into the darkness. The path began to rise a little and the water eventually receeded, splitting the path into two ways, one to the left and another to the right. Emee's nose bobbed in the air beside Eyrth's ear and his lamp -like eyes bore into the left side of the hallway and he gave a terrified shiver.

***********
"Hirsssssine," hissed the shadow from the depths of the hallway, " I had the laaaasst true Guardian."

The eyes dissipated, leaving no indication where the creature was in the hallway other than the occasional change in the draft billowing through. "You are not a Guardian...your arrowsss have no bite."

The stench of rot grew stronger and a sudden gust of wind hit Alex along with it.

"But I do!"

The Captain Spartoi managed to nurture a little flame to life and as it filled the room with a dim light, he thrust the torch into the hallway. Light cut into the hallway revealing a massive black snake with fangs bared inches from Alex. "Move!"
 
Eryth licked at the air, but his senses were still mostly human, and the smells of ash from the men and the utter weight of the sewer's stench was enough to overpower any hope at sensing what Emee seemed to. His satellite ears probably gave him an advantage to, especially considering that his now lied flush to his head. Other than Emee's worry, little seemed to separate the two tunnels. He pointed Corbin towards each, hoping for some sort of reaction from his staff. Nothing. "Which way do we go?" Eryth asked, keeping his eyes where Emee was watching.
 
Alex did not need to be told twice. She jumped away from the snake with a yelp, nearly tripping over her own feet. Faliq was heating up in her hands again, warmer than before, and she was flooded with feelings she couldn't quite place. Indignation, irritation, anger... then it hit her. It was Faliq. Faliq was offended. She almost laughed. Her weapon was more easily offended than she was.
She tightened her hold on the bow and quickly nocked another arrow. That snake had pushed the wrong buttons... she'd make sure it would regret it. She drew her arrow, took aim and focused on the heat coursing into her palms. Whether or not she was a guardian in that snake's eyes didn't matter to her, but...
"Faliq, bite it," she murmured.

As if it had been waiting for this, the arrow she had drawn morphed before her eyes. It seemed to grow sharper... it almost looked like it was growing teeth. And when Alex released the arrow it didn't just hit the snake, it tore through it. It didn't falter until it hit the wall opposite Alex with a loud thunk, and stuck there. Alex stared at the arrow in disbelief, before it crumbled apart into dust and scattered over the floor.
A Skill, Alex realized faintly. She had unlocked a-
The tension that had taken over her body released itself in a nervous giggle. "I-I did it!"
 
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