B17 + M

Bronwyn stood behind the stone outcropping that shielded the entrance to the cave, watching Morgan. He’d insisted that he was good at sneaking and that he’d check things out and come back for her. Currently, he was gliding along the side of the rocky knoll, crouched low and keeping to the shadows. She supposed he did move pretty well for such a big guy. She strained to hear his steps and couldn’t make out any noise. Before she knew it, he was slipping into the dark maw of the cave.

The minutes ticked by, and Bronwyn began to fidget. She didn’t like waiting. She didn’t like letting others take a risk for her. She tried to calm herself, taking deep breaths, but each time she started to relax, she heard Emmet’s shriek in her mind. She’d let Emmet scout ahead and look at what happened to him. Cursing softly, she started to make her way to the cave entrance quietly. She peered into the dark maw, looking down the sloping tunnel, and couldn’t make out any movement or sound. Morgan had told her he’d just look a bit down the tunnel; he wasn’t supposed to go that far ahead.

Bronwyn reached into her storage bag and took out the Lightstone that Olivia had given her before leaving. She’d given an identical one to Morgan, saying she’d awarded some guy Nels some contribution points for creating them. Apparently, he was working toward level eight and was hoping for some kind of Artificer class. The stone was smooth and white, about the size of a plum. It was held in a black iron bracket that had probably been forged in the smithy. The bracket had a ring fastened to it, and a leather thong ran through that. It wasn’t pretty craftsmanship, but it worked great when Bronwyn ran a little trickle of Energy into it; suddenly, the smooth white stone lit up like a hundred-watt lightbulb. She looped the leather thong over her head and started walking into the darkness.

She’d only made it about ten feet when she saw her light reflected in Morgan’s eyes. He was gliding up the tunnel toward her, effortlessly blending in the shadows. His breastplate winked with a bright reflection of her Lightstone each time he took a step. Bronwyn sighed and got ready to be chastised for not waiting for him. He came to a stop before her, smiling, “Missed me, huh?” Bronwyn didn’t reply right away, just mock-punched him and let out a sigh. “Well, don’t worry, I don’t think anything followed me. I just went down to the first room, the one you told me the Yeksa had been living in. There’s nothing there.”

“Okay, okay. Another long tunnel from that room leads to the Yovashi lair. No, I’m not letting you sneak ahead anymore. I’m sorry, my nerves can’t take it. The guy we let scout before ended being eaten.” When Bronwyn stopped talking, Morgan looked at her face for a long moment, then he replied:

“Alright. I can see your stress. Try to move quietly, just a bit behind me. Step where I step.” Morgan turned and advanced with his spear out, silent as a ghost, even in his metal armor. Bronwyn wondered how he had taken charge all of a sudden, but she felt like it would be stupid to argue the point. She waited for him to get about ten feet ahead and then followed as quietly as she could. They advanced down the tunnel and into the large chamber that had formerly housed the Yeksa. The broken furniture and piles of ratty furs still littered the floor. Bronwyn could see some kind of rodent scurry away from her light. She pointed to the gap in the wall where the tapestry had hung, and Morgan nodded, advancing into the darkness. She followed. The air got noticeably colder as soon as she entered the tunnel. Her bright light exposed every crack in the wall and bit of rubble on the floor for twenty feet. Morgan stopped and walked back to her, whispering, “How far is it? Should we put the light out?” The idea of going into the Yovashi lair in the darkness again was like a cold hand gripping her heart. She started to respond a couple of times, but each time thought better of what she would say. Morgan saw her struggle and continued, “The fucking thing probably knows we’re here anyway. Just keep the light on.” Bronwyn scowled, thinking of the Yovashi waiting for them, and nodded, balling her hands into fists.

The two continued, less quietly now, with Morgan in the lead, spear point leading the way. When they passed the site of the undead Yeksa battle, their charred remains stacked along one side of the tunnel, Morgan looked at Bronwyn and raised an eyebrow. She grimly nodded, and they continued. Bronwyn’s light didn’t leave anything to the imagination, and soon they were advancing on the Yovashi’s lair and looking in through the opening. The pool of blue, icy water was still there, the corpses of various creatures still floating in it. Morgan narrowed his eyes grimly and continued. He was about two paces from entering the chamber when they heard the low, baritone, gurgling laugh, and then the Yovashi spoke, “Oh? Two sweet System slaves have come to pay homage? Why, then, did you slay my new pets? They take me a little effort to create, so I should feel outraged, but instead, I just feel hungry. Come, pets.”

Morgan growled and stepped forward into the lair. Bronwyn followed him with the light, summoning her Stone Fists. “Hmm, your scent tastes familiar. Come!” Bronwyn had stepped into the lair, and her light exposed the scene in great detail. The Yovashi was still lurking in the back section of its cave. The dismembered corpses of at least ten humans were arrayed around it like an insane science experiment. Piles of limbs were in one area, several heads in another, and flayed, open torsos dominated the area just before the creature. Its giant black saucer eyes seemed to shrink in the light that Bronwyn brought into the room, and it hissed as it spoke, clearly irritated.

When it hissed the word, “come,” Bronwyn felt herself moving forward. At first, she wanted to resist the pull, but then her rage came bubbling up, and she decided to go with it. She turned her lurching stumble into a sprint, summoning her improved Stone Warding over her entire body, and barreled into the nightmare creature. Her improved agility stat paid off immediately. Rather than just seeing a blur and being smashed by his leg, she actually saw it moving and was able to sidestep; at the same time, she brought her Stone Fist around and crashed it into the limb. Chitin cracked and fluid sprayed, and the Yovashi howled in rage. Bronwyn grinned. She circled to the right, swatting away several more attempts to strike her. Clearly, her levels and focus on agility were what she’d needed to face this enemy.

The Yovashi turned to follow her movement, exposing his side to Morgan. Morgan, however, didn’t seem to want to strike yet and was skirting the Yovashi in the opposite direction. Bronwyn had a fleeting fear that he would chicken out, but she couldn’t focus on that; the Yovashi was trying to strike her with two different legs at once, and she needed all her attention just to dodge them. She was just getting used to the rhythm and was about to launch an offensive strike when the Yovashi suddenly thrust its shoulders backward, whipping his tentacle appendages toward her. She felt them wrap around her arms and her legs, and though she struggled, they were pulling her in. She knew that the creature’s terrible beak was nestled among those tentacles. She panicked, kicking and thrashing and pouring as much Energy as she could into her Stone Warding. She felt the tentacles inexorably pulling her forward; she saw the chitinous beak extend from the shadows, her light glinting off its shiny surface. She saw Morgan, fully ten feet behind the Yovashi, lurking in the shadows. What the fuck was he doing?

One minute she was looking at Morgan, about to yell at him to help her, and the next, he was gone, and a spear, coated in black gore, came exploding out the mouth of the Yovashi’s beak. The Yovashi let loose a thunderous discordant screech, writhing back and forth. Its tentacles let go of Bronwyn, and she scrambled backward and up to her feet. Now she could see Morgan. He was standing behind the Yovashi, gripping his spear, grinning madly while a dark, glittering stream of Energy flowed out of the Yovashi, up the spear, and into him. The Yovashi wailed horrifically. Bronwyn smiled grimly and lifted her right fist. She wanted to punch that thing’s fucking skull in, but first, she needed to get to it. She commenced pounding his chitinous legs into broken thrashing fragments.

“NO!” Suddenly the Yovashi, broken, bleeding, pale with its loss of Energy and blood, screamed out. One of its tentacles slithered up to its neck, and, for the first time, Bronwyn saw a small black metal disk hanging from a chain there. When the tentacle touched it, it started to emit purple, glowing steam. “I’ll return, cattle!” Morgan saw what it was doing and let go of his spear, leaping up to try to grab the pendant from the tentacle. Bronwyn roared and reached for one of the creature’s fat tentacles, pulling it toward her, forcing the Yovashi’s head down, and she smashed her fist into it, savoring the crunch of bone.

“Got it!” Morgan said, yanking the pendant away from the tentacle as the creature collapsed. His triumphant grin changed, though, as the purple, glittering smoke didn’t stop and began to expand around his arm and hand. “Oh fuck,” he said as it rapidly engulfed his arm and then his chest. He locked eyes with Bronwyn as the purple haze fully engulfed him, and then he was gone. The smoke spread out and dissipated, and Bronwyn was left standing over the dead Yovashi, Morgan’s spear still impaling it. Yellow motes gathered on the corpse and streamed into her.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 11 Stone Pugilist. You have gained 3 Strength, 3 Agility, 3 Will, 3 Vitality, and 2 Dexterity.***

***Congratulations! Quest complete: Explore the cavern from which the Yeksa emerged. Contend with the evil that lies within. Return to the Colony Stone to claim your reward.***

“Morgan!” Bronwyn furiously scanned the room, seeing no sign of him among the many corpses and parts of bodies. She grabbed one of the Yovashi’s legs and pulled it, making sure Morgan wasn’t under it. She knew she wouldn’t find him. The way he had looked at her, he knew something was up. Had he died? She didn’t think so; If the smoke had been some kind of deadly acid, it would have hurt her too. The Yovashi had activated that amulet when it realized it was losing; it had said it would return. Did Morgan get teleported somewhere? She knew teleportation was a thing in this world. “It had to be something like that. Fuck, Morgan. I hope you aren’t someplace worse than this.”

Resignedly, Bronwyn worked to pull Morgan’s spear out of the Yovashi. It was damn heavy, and the blade was like a razor. She admired it briefly while she wiped it on a rag and then stuffed it into her storage pouch. She kicked around the corpse, making sure the Yovashi wasn’t sitting on any other magical rings or pendants and finding none. She took her bright light to the farthest corner of the cavern and saw a small, polished wood chest. It was about the size of a jewelry box, made from a lovely cherry-colored wood and inlaid with hundreds of runes. It had been placed, presumably by the Yovashi, on a smooth boulder with a flat top. She recognized some of the runes as similar to those on her storage pouch.

She stared at the box for a long time, wondering if she should open it. The Yovashi had known some powerful magic. What if it was trapped or warded or something? She decided to take it back to the colony for Olivia and some of the artificer types to study. She cautiously ensured that there weren’t any strings or wires attached to it and then picked it up. She briefly tried to put it into her storage pouch, but some kind of force prevented her. It felt like she was trying to shove a pillow into a keyhole. Looking around, she called, “Morgan!” Hearing no answer, she turned and walked out of the lair.