Duelling Dungeons

“I have to say, ‘The Black Sanctum’ sure has a skilled decorator. The floor does a good job of evoking a creepy, claustrophobic feeling while providing more than enough space to fight. The lighting is placed just right to make the connecting sections creepy, while providing just enough illumination in the arenas. It’s impressive!” Kass declared.

“Yeah, it’s great. It perfectly recreates the feeling of being buried alive,” Sylvia grunted. “How much further until the end? This place is giving me the creeps.”

“Not much further. We’ve already cleared all the arenas, and the only thing left is to enter the heart of the hive,” Kass explained.

“The heart of the hive? Seriously?”

“Of course, how else would a floor based upon swarms of animals and insects end? A pool?” Kass giggled. As they were talking, the corridor started to open up, widening into a large circular room. Although it looked like a tomb, with hundreds of caskets lying in alcoves cut into the wall, the centerpiece was absolutely the massive, organic-looking mud construct that dominated the back of the room. At the base of the nest was a raised dais with an offal-coated altar and a cold stone throne. Lounging on the throne was a woman dressed in black robes with ornate silver stitching.

While most of the team briefly paused at the door, Kass slithered right in. “Ah, here we go.”

“Don’t you find that even the slightest bit intimidating? Doesn’t it give you pause?” Sylvia asked quietly, as she strode forward to catch up to her friend.

“Sure, it’s impressive, but we have a schedule to keep!” Kass exclaimed.

“Welcome to my domain!” the woman on the throne shouted, her voice echoing around the chamber. I'm Ssssssuure you came here expecting an easy fight, but you’ll quickly disssscover that I’m no pusssshover. You will feed my sssswarm.”

She rose from her throne and threw off her cloak, revealing that she was heavily tanned, muscled, and had a long copper snake tail instead of legs.

“Are we facing another Naga?” Sylvia asked quietly.

“No, a Lamia,” Kass growled. “Distant cousins, they prefer the dry land and brute force over magic. Our two races tend to have a bit of a rivalry.”

“Are you prepared to face Ssssybila, Lord of the Sssswwarm?” the Lamia asked.

“No time like the present, bring it on!” Kass shouted back.

Sybila chuckled, raised herself high, and then swooped back to her throne, snatching up a bronze helmet, sword with her hands, and staff with her tail. As she slipped the helmet on, she glanced back at the party. “I hope you don’t regret thissss.”

Taking the staff into her now-free hand, she jammed the weapon into the bottom of the hive, sending vibrations through the structure. The air was filled with the sound of thousands of skittering legs, and seconds later, dozens of giant millipedes, each one three or four feet long, started pouring out of the structure.

Kass immediately paled and slipped behind her oversized friend.

“What’s the matter? I thought you were ready for this?” Sylvia asked.

“I was. I am!” Kass replied. “I knew exactly what we were facing… I’ve just never seen a giant millipede before. They’re disgusting!”

Sylvia glanced over her shoulder in disbelief. “Seriously? I thought you told me you’ve fought eldritch abominations and rotting monsters before, you can’t handle a bug?”

“They had significantly fewer legs than that!” Kass snapped, slipping back a little bit further. “I’ll help… I just need a second to gather myself.”

“Fine, I’ll buy you some time,” Sylvia sighed. “Rembrandt! Combat formation.”

The revenants strode forward, creating a loose battle line around her. Across from them, Sybilla advanced, her megapedes swarming around her like she was some sort of insectoid queen. One of the smallest millipedes even crawled up and curled around her neck, like some sort of lazy cat.

When they were about ten feet away, Sylvia raised her sword and ordered, “Wraiths, open fire!”

The spectral archers, which were a little worse for wear after several encounters with the other swarms, floated forward and emptied a salvo directly into the advancing arthropods. Despite being at nearly point-blank range, most of the arrows just bounced off the millipede’s carapaces. The one arrow that did find its mark, embedding itself in the face of the creatures, didn’t even slow the millipede down. In fact, it just seemed to enrage the creature.

“Ignore the millipedes, focus on Sybilla!” Sylvia ordered. “Revenants, cut apart the bugs!”

“Anthropods, not bugs,” Sybillia tutted. “And I’m sure you’ll find my servants will be much harder than you expect.”

As the Wraiths refocused and released a second wave of arrows at the floor boss, the Millipedes reared up and placed themselves between Sybilla and the archers. The Lamia let out a long hissing chuckle as she surged across the last few feet and stabbed directly at Sylvia. Sylvia’s massive weapon easily deflected her longsword.

“Heavy armor and a massive weapon, you will be easy picking for my pets. They'll find an opening in your defenses and eat you from the…” Sybella taunted, only to be interrupted by Sylvia bringing her greatsword around in a massive overhead sweep. One of the millipedes reared up to block the swing only to be thrown back into Sybella, and the pair was blown backward by the sheer force behind the blow. The millipede screeched, wiggling in pain for a second or two before finally dissolving.

“There’s more than one way to get through heavy armor,” Sylvia growled, stepping towards the downed Lamia. “I prefer physical force.”

“Brute! I’ll teach you some respect,” Sybella hissed, before retreating behind her line.

“Trying to delay us,” Rembrandt remarked. “Their armor is too tough.”

“The way adventuring teams normally beat Sybella is to draw her pets away, so one or two team members can engage her directly,” Kass explained. “I don’t think she’s going to let that happen here.”

“I don’t think she’s going to have a choice,” Sylvia growled. “Rembrandt, do you think you can take her alone?”

The spectral fire in the revenant’s eyes flared brighter. “Yes.”

Sylvia didn’t hesitate; she brought her massive sword down into a low arc and caught the arthropod blocking Rembrandt in the side, sending it flying away. “Get to it then!”

The undead swordsman nodded and strode through the gap she created. When the nearest millipedes turned and tried to intercept, Sylvia and the other Revenants fell upon their flanks, drawing the creature’s attention again.

“Kass, I don’t mean to interrupt your mini panic attack, but do you think you can do something to help us here?” Sylvia asked over her shoulder, once Rembrandt had slipped through.

“Like what? My blades are sharp, but they still won’t penetrate that carapace," Kass whined. “Besides, I think I might scream and panic the first time one of those things turns towards me.”

“You do have other skills than just your bladecraft, can’t you do something with your magic?” Sylvia grunted before kicking a millipede that had wandered too close. The massive arthropod rolled several feet, then rolled back to its feet like nothing had happened.

“Not without more water, or blood!” Kass exclaimed.

“Empty all your canteens then! If you can do anything to speed up this fight, then we can just make a quick stop and refill them. It’s better than getting bogged down here!” Sylvia exclaimed.

Kass took a deep breath, stood up a little straighter, and nodded. Recalling her light elementals, she emptied her two remaining canteens on them, then added a touch of her magic. The small elementals merged into a single entity. It still wasn’t that large, but it was big enough to affect the battle.

With a wave of her hand, the elemental rushed across the arena floor and completely engulfed one of the arthropods in a thin layer of water. It floated mere centimeters off the ground, legs skittering uselessly as it was held in place.

Its opponent, a revenant with a particularly large spear, simply walked around it, studying it intently, before plunging its weapon directly into a gap in its carapace. The millipede spasmed, then rolled into a ball and dissipated into motes of light. As soon as it was gone, the elemental moved on to the next target.

Across the room, Sybilla screamed as Rembrandt smashed the sword out of her hand. She tried to retreat, but before she could, he darted forward and impaled her on his own blade. As she died, the millipedes seemed to lose all cohesion, some continuing to fight while others retreated back, towards their home.

Sylvia jammed her massive blade down through the top of the nearest millipede's head, nailing it to the floor. As the rest of the team split up to clean up the survivors, she slipped back to where Kass was standing.

“That went pretty well, don’t you think?” she asked, a small grin on her face. “Almost no surprises.”

“Almost,” Kass replied quietly.

Sylvia stretched out her arm and laid it across her friend's shoulders. “I’m glad you brought me along on the assault. This was fun. Almost made me forget we were working in a dungeon.”

“Uh huh…” Kass muttered, glancing over at her friend. “Is that all you're going to say about this?”

“Oh no, I’m TOTALLY telling Talia about your phobia, just to see her face,” the Windigo smiled.

Kass immediately elbowed her friend in the stomach. “Don’t you dare!”

The action just made Sylvia burst out laughing.

“We’ve taken care of the bugs,” Rembrandt announced from the other side of the room. “The portal’s open.”

Kass shrugged Sylvia’s arm off her shoulder and slithered forward. “Good, we’ve got a schedule to keep. Let’s keep moving.”