Drake led the way as they stepped into the first tunnel of the four-prong fork of tunnels in front of them. Behind them was a tunnel that would lead them outside the tunnel and back into the clearing.
As one, Drake and his cohort stepped into the first tunnel. They walked through the tunnel, scanning every inch of it, looking for anything hidden within the dirt. This update ıs available on novel⚑fire.net
Like the others that they had been through so far, the tunnel walls were smooth, with no indentations or openings leading to caverns. There were no holes, cracks, or anything, anywhere. The walls were completely unblemished.
It felt like the tunnel went on forever, making them walk through it for hours. When it finally ended, it had stopped short as if a wall had been placed to block their path. With their eyes glowing brightly, Mike was the only one who seemed to have found something hiding beneath the soil.
"I think I found something," Mike muttered, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. His eyes were fixed on the area as he pointed to the spot where he could see something inside the dirt.
Drake, Chad, and even Renn looked at the spot where Mike had pointed. "I don’t see anything," Drake whispered.
Chad nodded in agreement. He didn’t see anything either. He didn’t say anything, not wanting to make any noise.
Renn sent an image through his mind, telling him that she didn’t see anything either.
Mike waved his hand through the packed dirt, causing grains of dirt to fall to the ground. He continued to loosen the dirt in the area until it finally revealed a small key. It glowed faintly with an electric blue light. It was clear that he was the only one who could have seen it. It was the same color as his lightning.
Drake, Chad, and Renn continued to scan the walls with their magical vision, trying to see if they could find something themselves, but they never found anything.
"Keep an eye on our surroundings as we head back to the fork. We might have missed something," Drake whispered. "It might be hidden like Mike’s key."
Chad nodded in agreement as Renn squeaked softly, mimicking a real rat. She agreed to look for something as well.
Making their way back toward the fork, they scanned the walls, floor, and ceiling for evidence of more hidden treasure. They didn’t find anything. The entire tunnel appeared to be empty.
Halfway to the small chamber where the four tunnels met, a low growl sounded from the shadows in front of them, echoing through the tunnel. They froze in their tracks. There was something in the tunnel with them.
"Shit, if that thing collapses the tunnel, we’re dead," Mike hissed quietly. "Renn’s too big to transform into her wolf form, which means they can eat her in one bite."
"Try not to hit the walls or make too much noise," Drake quietly advised. He didn’t want to collapse the tunnel during a fight. Fighting in the tunnels was not ideal. Too much could happen. Not only was the space too compacted, but there was nowhere to hide or move freely during a fight. Because of the tunnel’s darkness, it would be difficult to get a good look at whatever beast was blocking their path, making their fight even more dangerous, making them unable to see them until they were right in front of them, nearly too late.
With their glowing eyes, they looked down the tunnel trying to see whatever beast was in front of them, but could see nothing.
"It must be exactly like the bears by the caves on the dragon mountain. When their eyes are closed, we’re blind, even with our magical vision," Drake complained quietly, expressing his concerns. "That makes it even worse."
Drake carefully uncoiled his whip, letting it fall gracefully to the ground. He took the lead, with Mike and Chad flanking him. Renn was on his shoulder, hissing quietly and holding on with her tiny claws. She didn’t like having to fight down in the tunnels either.
Drake’s eyes glowed brighter as he tried to communicate with whatever beast was blocking their path. He couldn’t see anything, but he figured he would at least try. He could gain another ally, or even a familiar, if the beast listened.
It didn’t listen, its growls growing closer. The lantern of truth glowed softly, keeping their immediate area lit. The beast in front of them was still in the shadow, not yet close enough for the lantern to reveal it in front of them.
Drake let his whip glow softly as he filled it with green energy, sharpening its bladed tip. Mike and Chad did the same. Mike used the energy of his blade, but did not use the electrical current that normally pulsed up and down the blade. He was afraid the lightning would collapse the cave. He had to rely on the other power of his sword. The glowing white energy pulsed softly as he tightened his grip.
As they walked further, the beast finally came into view. It was a strange form of a worm. However, it had the head of a rodent of some kind. It wasn’t that big, but its long, sharp teeth appeared deadly. Drake tried again to speak to the beast, but it wouldn’t listen. Its beady eyes glowed with a soft yellow shine. It was a level 1 beast.
"Fine, then die," Drake hissed, sweeping out his whip. It sliced through the worm like paper. It was only a level one, making it easy to kill. It burst into a cloud of light particles that briefly lit several feet of the tunnel, showing a horde waiting in the darkness. It wasn’t alone; there were a lot more of them in the shadows, blocking their way. There were dozens of them, and there was no way around them; they had to fight.
{You have slain a cave worm}
More growls echoed through the cave. The others scurried closer, ready to attack and attempt to overwhelm them.
Renn tucked herself inside Drake’s robes. She was far too small in her current form to do any good against the cave worms. Mike was right, they could easily eat her in one bite.
Drake continued to lash his whip. His cohort was unable to pass him to help. The tunnel was too narrow. One after the other, the cave worms died.
{You have slain a cave worm}
{you have slain a cave worm} ...
One jumped forward, trying to land its slick body on Drake, but Mike shot his sword forward, impaling it.
{A member of your cohort has slain a cave worm.}
The messages kept coming, but Drake ignored them. There were too many cave worms to worry about the messages.
As Drake slashed his whip, one worm made it past him, its sharp jaws biting into Mike’s shoulder. Chad came in and sliced it; then he quickly healed his friend. Drake had most of it covered. Not many were getting past him. Those who did had quickly died, either Mike’s or Chad’s swords slicing through them with ease. There were clouds of light particles, a constant shine of light within the cave, making the entire horde visible.
The mass of rodent worms dwindled rapidly. The clouds of light particles faded until there was nothing left.
Holding up the lantern of truth, another key was discovered. It was orange in color, with a green glow that only glowed in the key’s tip. It had been dropped by one of the worms after it had died.
Drake slowly picked up the key, staring silently at it. The thoughts were flowing through his mind. His eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. He turned to his friends.
"This key is to represent Ruby. I know it is. She’s a level 2 beast. That explains why it’s orange and green," Drake whispered, slipping the key in his pocket. He looked at Mike. "Yours glows the same color as your lightning. That means the rest of us must have a key that represents us. Renn’s should be red with a green tip. Chad, yours should be white, and mine is green." Drake remembered he had a key also. One that he had found during the previous quest. If they didn’t find another one, he would use that one in its place and see if it works, even though it was a little bit smaller than the two they had just found.
After studying it, he could tell that it was meant for Ruby, who had no way of fitting into the tunnel. His thought was that the quest must have altered itself to accommodate her since he hadn’t had her at the beginning of the quest. He needed to receive a key representing her in some way, so the beast was sent to drop it for them.
They continued until they reached the four-prong fork in the tunnel again. They needed to try the next tunnel. If he had been right in his thinking, either he, Chad, or Renn would find the next one. Mike and Ruby already had theirs; there were only three left.