Goblinsbane Ch. 03: Dungeon Crawl

"You're the one who's misinformed, Maka, because this half-elf can see in the dark just fine!" Akam was up on his feet, peering beyond the room's crumbled wall. When he turned back to the group, he flinched then slipped the mask off.

"Oof! Bright light is uncomfortable with this thing on. I'll have to remember that."

Sabine knew he was referring to the light from her mace, but since the rest of the group still needed it, she didn't extinguish it.

Meanwhile, Maka reached into the hole for the other item contained within. Leather and metal scraped against stone as she slid out a long, sheathed sword. The hilt appeared to be made of bronze. Leather covered the grip, and tiny images of armored men fighting monsters were engraved upon the ornate crossguard. As for the scabbard, it was made of fine leather reinforced with bronze, and it was connected to a strap of matching brown leather.

Sabine was no expert when it came to weaponsmithing or leatherworking, yet she could tell that both the hilt and the scabbard were of excellent craftsmanship. She suspected that the blade's quality would be equally impressive, if not more so.

Before anyone asked, Maka unsheathed the first few inches of the blade. In the divine light of the Morning Star, the blade shone brighter than a normal blade would have.

"Ooooo..." Akam's lips formed an 'o' when he made that sound.

Eredwal stood just outside the secret room, his hammer resting on his right shoulder. "I know that shine. That's mithril. Is it magical?"

"No." Sister Sabine and Maka answered at the same time.

"It's very light," Maka added. She pushed the sword all the way into its scabbard and held it vertically, both of her hands on its hilt. She tried a few, slow test swings, too. "It feels like a toy."

Eredwal glanced at Kassus. "Yeah. That's the beauty of mithril. It's lighter than any other metal, but harder than almost all of them. That sword is super deadly even without an enchantment."

He looked at Akam. "What do you think, Akam? Do you want it?"

Akam took the blade from his sister so that he, too, could feel how light it was. He unsheathed it completely, and when he did, there was a pleasant ring that filled the air for a few moments. His lips once again formed that 'o' shape as he looked at the blade, up and down.

"No, this isn't my style." Sounding disappointed, the young scout sheathed the blade. "It's almost as long as I am tall! If this were a foot shorter, I'd use it. But it isn't for me.

"I bet Kassus could use it, though." Akam offered the sword to the much bigger man, hilt first.

Hesitating, Kassus made eye contact with Sabine. "Ah, no. No. I don't want to take anything that's been found in a crypt."

Sabine knew her friend well enough to know he really wanted it. She smiled. "It's all right, Kassus. Our Mother will have no qualms about you taking this weapon. It will aid you in our quest, so you should take it."

"Yeah, Kassus! You'd use it better than any of us." Akam raised the hilt toward Kassus, but again he did not accept it. Instead, he looked at Eredwal.

"How about you, Goblinsbane? You loot from the dead all the time. You should take it."

"No, Big K, I've never liked swords much. Hammers are more my speed. This one's all yours."

Kassus glanced at Sabine one more time. Only after she nodded and smiled at him did he finally accept the sword from Akam. He drew it from its scabbard, and again it rang out. He inspected the blade and tested the weight and balance of it. Despite the fact that the mithril sword was about as long as the one currently strapped to his hip - and broader, too - it weighed less. Standing a safe distance away from the others, he took a few test swings. He didn't seem to realize that he grinned the whole he sliced at the air and assumed different battle stances.

"Would you look at that - love at first sight." Eredwal stepped back into the room and approached Kassus after he was done testing the sword. "Now do you see why looting is so fun?"

Kassus didn't say anything in response. His grin faded, but a shadow of it remained on his lips as he strapped his new weapon behind his back.

Eredwal closed the chest. "C'mon, Big Man, I need your help to carry all this loot."

Eredwal took the handle on one side of the chest and Kassus took the other. Together, they picked up the container and hauled it out of the zombie room. Both of them walked awkwardly, for the chest was heavy, even for them.

They stopped behind Rehr'mab's bone throne, and Eredwal looked around. "There should be a secret door around here that leads to a shortcut to the outside."

"Okay, where is it?" Kassus asked.

"If I knew where it was, it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?"

Before Kassus could reply, they heard a rumbling, followed by the grinding of stone upon stone. The secret door that Eredwal referred to began to open in the wall far to the left of the throne.

"That's convenient." Akam approached the door, which still wasn't fully open after several seconds. "I didn't know secret doors open on their own."

"Stop right there, Akam," Eredwal ordered. "Secret doors don't open on their own. Get back here."

Akam followed instructions. Eredwal set his end of the treasure chest down, and Kassus did the same.

"Everyone, get ready. More company is on the way." Stepping forward, the Goblinsbane readied his hammer. Kassus unsheathed his new weapon and stood beside him. The Bashaans stayed close to Sister Sabine.

The secret door opened all the way, leaving a large gap in the wall. Through that gap emerged a skeleton that was much larger than the ones the party killed early on. It was so tall that it had to duck down in order to pass through the secret door. And unlike the others, it was obvious that this one wasn't once a human. With its size, its wider rib cage, arms so long they nearly touched the ground, and tusks protruding from its jaw, the thing must have been an oversized orc champion back when it was alive.

There wasn't a single strip of flesh upon it; it was nothing but yellow-white bone. It wore silver bangles on its meatless wrists, which Sabine would have found odd if she wasn't distracted by its frightening size. And it wielded a huge bone - a femur - like a giant club. With its club scraping along the stone floor, the monster lumbered toward them, but stopped several yards away. It appeared to be waiting for them to make the first attack.

"This shouldn't be here," Eredwal said. Sabine could hear a hint of panic in his voice. Glancing about, she didn't think that Kassus nor the twins had heard it; she was thankful for that.

"What do you mean?" Maka asked, her wand already in her hand. "Is it another rare mob?"

"No, I mean this thing doesn't belong here. Rehr'mab was the boss. This area should be clear."

"Maybe it's a secret boss?" Akam offered.

Eredwal didn't respond. After several seconds of awkward silence, Sabine placed a hand on his shoulder and channeled the same soothing, rejuvenating energy she had used on the twins. Beneath her fingers, she could feel the tenseness in the Goblinsbane's body ease a little.

"What do we do, Eredwal?" she asked him, gently.

Eredwal took a deep breath before he found his voice again. "Okay, people, you know the drill. Kassus: go up there and keep its attention. Maka and Akam, give him some time alone with the thing before you attack. Sister, be ready to jump in and heal at any moment. This thing looks tough, so I'll assist at the first sign of trouble.

"Everyone ready?"

"Yeah, let's end this and get out of here," Kassus said, already moving forward.

"Don't let that fancy new sword make you cocky, K-Town. Stay focused."

The guard grunted in acknowledgement. While the rest of the party fanned out behind him, he slowed his approach and shifted his battle stance - he went from holding his sword in front of him, vertically, to holding it high and to his side.

Once Kassus got within the monster's long reach, it took a swing at him. It moved with amazing alacrity, especially for a skeleton. But Kassus was ready.

"Ha!" That laugh burst from his chest as his sword struck the monster's club. The mithril broadsword was sharper than any sword of iron or steel could be, and it sliced through the bone club as easily as a knife cuts through butter. The top half of the femur - the part that used to connect to the hip of something taller than a human - flew through the air in Maka's direction, making her flinch but not striking her. It clattered on the floor, not hurting anyone.

Kassus saw the orc skeleton holding half of a femur, which made him laugh again. "As big as you are, you're nothing but a push-over!" He raised his sword and was about to rush in for a strike, but the monster made a backhand swing that was even faster than the first. Kassus wasn't ready for that one. The bone hit him in the side.

"Ouff!" The guard flew to the side and crashed against the wall. Somehow, he didn't let go of his sword until he collapsed on the floor.

"Kassus!" Sister Sabine rushed to her friend.

"Shit!" Eredwal was stuck in place for a few, precious seconds, eyes wide.

While the Goblinsbane hesitated, Maka pointed her wand at the monster and yelled, "Flamm!" A ray of fire soared toward its skull, but it blocked it with one of its bangle-adorned wrists. Although it was literally bone dry, it did not get set on fire for some reason.

The monster threw what remained of its bone club at the wizard. She tried to duck, but part of the bone clipped her temple hard enough to knock her out. Maka crumbled to the ground.

Before Akam could be terrified by what happened to his twin, the orc turned to him and lunged. It grabbed him by the front of his hardened leather jerkin and lifted him up into the air. The half-elf tried to stab and slice at the thick, bony arm with his blade, but if the monster could feel pain, it didn't show.

Eredwal finally regained the ability to move at that moment. He dashed forward. The skeleton saw him coming and threw Akam at him. Eredwal dropped his hammer so he could catch him, but the young half-elf was thrown with such force that it knocked him off his feet.

Almost the entire party was knocked down, if not out, in a matter of seconds. With no one else to face it, the orc skeleton turned to the unconscious Maka and lumbered toward her.

Meanwhile, Sister Sabine spoke a prayer of healing over Kassus. At the same time, she kept an eye what the monster did. A gentle, green light settled over Kassus like a blanket, and already he began to stir, but he wouldn't be ready for action quick enough to help Maka in time.

Sabine's gaze flew to Eredwal and Akam. They weren't knocked out, thankfully, but they were thrown halfway across the room and were struggling to get back to their feet. The monster reached out for Maka, and there was no telling what it would do once its bony claws were on her.

Sabine didn't know what to do. She was the only one who could act at that moment, but what power did she have against such a threat? It dealt with Kassus, Maka, Akam, and even Eredwal with such ease, so what chance did she have against it?

The Morning Star seemed to decide for her. She felt the artifact weapon pulling on her hands, telling her, without words, that what she needed to do was smash some bones.

It told her something else, too. Sister Sabine felt the handle warming up in her hands. It was a familiar warmth: it was the warmth of the sun upon her skin as she walked through a field of grain. She had felt that comforting sensation countless times throughout her life, but never like this. For the first time, it felt as though she could harness that warmth - no, not just warmth, but the holy radiance of the sun itself - and use it as a weapon.

Finding a prayer in her heart that she had never before heard, let alone felt, Sister Sabine stood up and marched toward the skeleton. She leveled the Morning Star at it, and yelled:

"STOP, CREATURE! By the Light of the Dawn Father - Divine Husband of of the Harvest Mother - you will NOT harm that girl!"

The skeleton stopped reaching for Maka and turned toward the priestess. At the same time, the Morning Star's radiance amplified until it appeared as though the studded mace head was sheathed in golden fire. With righteous rage burning within her soul and the Morning Star feeling as though it would burn the skin off her palms, she suddenly understood what she needed to do: focus her faith and her fury into the artifact.

So she did.

A beam of glorious light shot out of the Morning Star. Sister Sabine screamed at the top of her lungs without realizing she did so. The sleeves and the bottom of her cassock were blown back, as though she were standing in gale-force winds. If her thick, black hair weren't so short, it would have been blown back as well by the mystical force that exploded from the mace.

The resplendent ray struck the skeleton in its face, causing it to stumble and nearly fall over. Although it had no lungs and no nerves, it roared in pain. It clutched at its blackened skull and tried to block the searing bolt with a giant hand, but the radiance pierced through its bones like they were nothing.

Kassus was back on his feet thanks to Sabine's healing. He was groggy, but otherwise he was in fighting condition. The bodyguard picked up his sword then stood at Sabine's side, ready to attack if the orc skeleton got closer.

The Goblinsbane was also back on his feet, and unlike before, he didn't hesitate. He dashed forward, snatched his war hammer from the ground, and charged at the monster while it was still dazed. With a swift, horizontal swing, he drove his hammer's head into the thing's rib cage. It staggered backward, but it didn't fall. And although the blow that Eredwal dealt should have shattered bone, the monster's ribs merely cracked.

"Don't just stand there, K!" Eredwal shouted over his shoulder. "Help!" He delivered a flurry of hammer blows to the skeleton - to its arms, its legs, its torso, and one shot right to its smoking, black skull. But the thing would not go down.

Sister Sabine was exhausted by what she had just done. The Morning Star felt so heavy all of a sudden, but through her strength of will she continued to hold it up. "Go, Kassus," she said to her friend, who bolted forward once she gave him the go-ahead.

Together, the Goblinsbane and the Mirean soldier attacked the undead orc. Eredwal ducked one of its swipes, then followed up with a swipe of his own that caught it on its jaw and made its head snap to the side. Coming in from behind it, Kassus slashed at its spine. With his mithril blade, he should have severed the spine with ease, but it remained intact. Still, the monster arched its back, roared in pain and spun around to claw at its new attacker. Kassus dodged out of the way.

Fighting through her fatigue, Sister Sabine jogged to Maka. She breathed a sigh of relief once she realized she was still alive. Channeling the divine energy within her, the priestess touched the girl's head and healed her wound. Maka groaned, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Collect yourself, quickly!" Sabine urged. "The others need you!" She then rushed to Akam to see how he was doing. The boy appeared to be shaken but not seriously injured.

Meanwhile, Eredwal and Kassus were having trouble against the undead orc. Although they worked well in concert, the thing's bones were too tough; they were supernaturally tough. The worst damage they had done to it were a cracked jaw, a chipped skull, and slash marks on its spine and other parts, and none of those things slowed it down.

Kassus tried to parry one of the monster's swipes, but it was so strong that it knocked him off his feet and caused him to skid along the floor. With the plate-armored warrior out of the way, for now, the thing focused its rage on Eredwal. It tried a double-fisted, overhead slam that the Goblinsbane barely managed to dodge. Its fists crashed onto the floor like mauls, breaking stone and throwing dust up into the air.

Eredwal got driven backwards, toward the double doors the party had used to enter the boss room. He tried to hammer the monster's face, but it back-fisted him and sent him flying through the doors, instead.

Maka was back up. She left her flame wand on the floor, where she had dropped it, since the creature defied logic and didn't appear to be affected by fire. Her fingers wove through the air in a quick, complicated pattern while imperceptible lines of light trailed behind them.

"Inpetus!" Maka yelled as she flung her hands forward. Multiple bolts of force shot out of her palms. They soared through the air and struck the skeleton's shoulders, spine and the back of its skull, causing it to flinch with each impact.

Akam was back to his feet, too, thanks to a shot of rejuvenating energy poured into his body by Sister Sabine. Bow out, he fired arrows as quickly as he could. The arrows bounced off bone, doing no visible damage, but he kept shooting because he could do nothing else to help.

The skeleton ignored both of the twins' attacks. It ducked underneath the top of the doorway and lumbered toward Eredwal, who struggled to stand back up.

Sister Sabine recovered in time to see another one of her friends about to get squashed. Once again, she felt righteous anger building up within her. She leveled her mace at the creature's back.

"Stop, monster! You've done enough harm this day!" The fury that she felt boiling in her chest became heat that surged through her arms and into the Morning Star. A new bolt of radiance blazed forth from the ancient weapon and struck the orc skeleton in the spine. This bolt wasn't as powerful as the first, but it was still more than powerful enough to cause the orc skeleton to roar and reel. Its spine was now blackened like its skull. It needed to sink its claws into the walls on either side to prevent itself from falling over.

The monster wasn't the only one who struggled to stay on its feet. Sister Sabine struggled, too, for another wave of exhaustion swept over her. As blackness crept into the edges of her vision, she looked up to see if Eredwal was standing and ready to fight. He was.

While the oversized skeleton stood there, stunned, the Goblinsbane saw something glowing at its feet - it was the mystical mark that Maka had left to remind them of the trigger to the boss room's door trap.

Eredwal rushed forward. The skeleton made a swipe at him, but the Goblinsbane ducked underneath the swing, slapped the glowing tile on the floor, and then dove between its legs. As he rolled back into the boss room, the heavy log up above detached from the ceiling and swung like a pendulum toward the monster. The metal ram's head on the business end of the log crashed into the skeleton's pelvis, which shattered, causing the thing's upper body to get knocked backwards without its legs. When its upper body crashed to the floor, one of its arms snapped off, too.

When Eredwal rolled back to his feet, he faced the entrance of the boss room. He held his hammer up, ready to strike, but right away he saw that the monster was no longer much of a threat. The thing that had nearly killed the party could now barely move. From the floor, it looked at Eredwal, snarled, and attempted to crawl over to him with its last remaining arm.

"Ugh, this is sad," Eredwal said. He stepped on the skeleton's wrist. It tried in vain to free its arm, but it couldn't, which Sabine thought was surprising. It had been able to swat both Eredwal and Kassus away like bugs minutes before, and yet now it couldn't pull its arm out from under Eredwal's boot.

The Goblinsbane swung his hammer downward, as though he were about to drive a spike into the ground. But instead of a spike, his hammer connected with the undead creature's skull, cracking it open. Whatever brains it once had must have dried up years ago, for nothing oozed out of the open skull; only bone dust puffed out.