Shadowbane

... Even though I just made that declaration, how would I even find a ring in this hellhole? The Elves have tools for locating metal, but I obviously have no such tool on me, and I doubt I'll magically find one lying around in this prison.

I look back at the girl.

You know... I think my body looked just like that when the Demons were dissecting me. If I find one of those little hunchbacked fuckers, I might find the ring too. I'm sorry girl, that's about the only idea I can come up with at the moment. Not that I even know why a single ring would matter for her right now, but then again she's alive when she shouldn't be, so everything about her is a mystery at this point.

I could try carrying her back to the temple... Except that sounds impossible. Even so, when I run out of places to investigate here I'll at least try and see if I can.

I begin moving forward again and open the door ahead of me. It opens up to yet another dreary hallway. Fast-paced footsteps approach from the right, causing me to duck back into the room. I keep an eye on the hallway until two people sprint by me. It was a ninja being pursued by one of the guards, and I thought the ninja was moving rather fast until I saw the guard blaze past me. The guard was moving at double the ninja's speed, which meant it wasn't long before I heard a loud cracking sound emit from further down the hallway.

I ducked into the hallway and crept toward the duo. The guard was picking up the ninja's limbs and breaking them one by one. For his part, the ninja wasn't responding at all, which made sense. Half of his head had been completely blown off after all. The other half now decorated the walls of the hallway. I could see part of his scalp slowly sliding down the wall until it fell to the ground, creating a sickening splat sound as it landed.

After the guard had fully delimbed the escapee, he picked him up and carried him back the way they came. I returned to the previous room, waiting for him to pass by before I re-entered the hallway. After the guard opened the door at the far end of the hallway, I could see a set of stairs going up, and I also heard a new voice screaming from above, this time it was a woman screaming. Arkaios was right, the prince is dead, and now the spider is eating someone else. Fortunately, it wasn't Ishar or Greyson, and that's all I care about right now. I feel bad saying that, but there's only so many people here that we can save...

I go through the hallway, opening one door after another(most of them were already half-open though). There were a few more rooms full of cells, containing nothing but a bunch of mummified corpses, and there were a few storage rooms as well, all full of grain and rice. There was a half-mummified corpse near one of the rice bags. I found him lying on his back with a mouth full of dried rice. Someone either forced them down his throat, or he willingly choked to death on rice. If it's the latter, he chose an interesting way to go...

Next, I open one of the last remaining doors(next to where the ninja was just pummeled to death). Oh? Finally, something worth of value.

The room is clearly an office designed for a single person. I circle around the desk and look at the picture on top of it. There's a man in a highly decorated guards uniform holding a black cat, standing next to an older couple. Probably the warden and his parents?

I open one desk drawer after another, finding a lot of useless things, and a few useful ones, like a 9mm with a case of ammo next to it. This moon had guns? I guess most of them would by now... My knowledge is probably skewed thanks to how medieval Urza was.

Next to the handgun was a small notebook. I picked it up and sat in the warden's chair. Flipping through it, I find that most of it is just the man complaining about his superiors. Turns out, he's not a warden, but a go-between for the prison above and the altar below. He was given this position because he could be trusted, or so they believed. Over time he became fed up with how things were handled here. It's kind of amazing seeing how fast his adoration for his superiors turned into pure vitriol.

His complaints begin around here. {Why do they delay? Why are we just sitting here feeding them these worthless prisoners? WHY DO WE NOT DESCEND???!!! Over and over they feed me the same bullshit excuses, and I'm tired of hearing them. 'We must bide our time, Jeremy. Do not be hasty, for our time will come. First, we must eliminate the Crotia from Veca, and then, and only then, can we move on to the next stage. We cannot allow them to interrupt us during the great advancement.' Fuck off, just... Fuck off. I'm tired of waiting. We all know that the war will never end, so what's the point of waiting?!}

His words after this slowly change. The man, Jeremy, was clearly descending into some form of madness. Eventually, he reached a point where he couldn't wait anymore. He wrote a long rambling message that ended with 'No more waiting, I'm going down below to be with the great ones. The rest of you scum can rot away in your mortal shells while I take my rightful place under our true masters', and that was his last entry.

Hmm... I'm tempted to dissect every part of this but I think I'll wait until I'm back in the temple. It'll be better if I talk it over with the others instead of just ruminating inside my own head.

I exit the room and look at the last door in the hallway. I open it, and sure enough, it leads to a set of stairs going down. So the 'Great ones' are down here...?

I start to walk down the stairs, but I come to a halt when I'm only four steps down.

... Something is really off here. The lower I go, the more distorted everything feels.

I restart my descent, and by the time I reach the bottom my whole body feels heavy, as if something is pushing, or maybe pulling me down. I don't like this... Every fiber of my being is telling me to run away. I'm just going to scan the room for anything useful and then get the fuck out of here.

The room itself is rather simple. It's nothing more than a large stone room, with a fireplace and an altar near the back.

I walk up to the altar and find that it's surprisingly pristine. In fact, the whole room looks like it was cleaned recently.

No blood anywhere? I thought they were sacrificing people on this altar, but if they really were then I should be able to see dried blood somewhere in here. Except there's none... Not even a tiny little dots worth of blood. And my eyes would find it too if there was.

I touch the altar and immediately I find myself back inside the temple.

"What the hell? Did I die just from touching that altar?"

{No. I was already worried enough with all the heavy miasma covering your soul, but then something I've never felt before grabbed your soul, so I immediately reset everything in the hopes that it would save you in time.}

Shana lifted her head from my shoulder, "What altar?"

"There's an altar in the basement over there. The more I descended the steps to it, the heavier my whole body felt. I tried touching the altar and the next thing I knew I was here." I continued, "So something grabbed onto me through the altar? I didn't feel anything."

{You would have, had I delayed even a little bit.}

"... Hmm. I wonder if that's why the whole room was clean to the point you could call it pristine? There was a diary that suggested they were sacrificing prisoners there, but the altar had no blood on or around it. Instead, something must be grabbing anyone who's on the altar, which probably brings them deeper underground?"

Markus hummed, "Miasma... My Lord, was the feeling anything like what we experience out there inside the fog?"

{Yes. The sickly aura covering everything outside was much thicker and heavier as Rei descended the steps toward this 'Altar' she describes.}

"Rei, anything else?" Keith asked.

"Hmm, there was a girl that should be dead, but she wasn't. I entered through a side entrance which led down to a cellblock full of mummified corpses. She was inside one of the cells with her hands wrapped in chains above her head. Her sternum had been completely ripped open, and she was covered in dried blood, but when I walked up to her she began to whisper the word 'Ring'. Apparently she was alive and could sense me through my veil."

Markus sighed, "That's obviously not something a living human can do... Was there anything else about her that seemed off?"

I shook my head. "Isn't that enough by itself?"

"Heh, true..." Markus chuckled.

Shana poked my thigh again, "Let's find that ring after we kill the spider. I want to see what happens..."

"I'm curious as well." I continued, "Oh, most of that diary was just the daily duties of the man who ran the altar, but he spoke a little about the 'Great ones' who lived deep underground. Belfor was sacrificing prisoners to those 'Great ones', and had plans to move underground to live with them in something they called 'The Great Advancement', but they were waiting until the Crotian threat on Veca was taken care of."

{There was a large nation of Crotians here that was constantly assaulting the nation of Belfor, but at the time I thought nothing of it. After all, Crotians love war, so there was nothing odd about what they were doing. At least, nothing that would warrant a closer look.}

Lindon looked back at me, "Wait, you think they were after whatever was underground as well?"

"I'm not sure. The man's superiors were adamant about removing the Crotian threat before advancing their plans to the next phase. They said they couldn't risk the Crotia 'Interrupting them'."

Everyone went silent for a bit until Markus eventually decided that it was too risky for me to go there alone again, and I didn't disagree. We all unanimously agreed to wait here for the Tengu to show up before making our next move.

{He's close. Prepare to greet him.}

Yeah, we know he's close... We could hear him battling something up until a few moments ago.

A minute later the Tengu Lord came into view. This one's feathers were mostly light black and red, and its staff was more akin to a totem pole. It had weird drawings on the end of it that reminded me of the staffs the shamans of the Lizardmen race were wielding. And finally its armor was a mix of wood and bronzed metal, with a few talismans hanging off of its chest.

The two Tengu Lords I saw on Urza looked rather terrifying and gave off an aura that matched their looks. This one however... I can't believe I'm saying this, but he looks heroic. Even his aura feels light and comforting. It's hard to believe that he's the same type of Eldritch Lord as the other two...

Markus stepped forward, "Mister Tengu, My Lord wants you to touch the barrier so he can speak with you."

The Tengu nodded and reached out with his left hand, placing his palm on the barrier. He closed his eyes for a bit as he conversed with Arkaios. A few minutes later he reopened his eyes and stepped through the barrier. Looks like Arkaios has decided to trust him.

{He knows nothing about this area aside from the fact that the main Demon stronghold to the north had sent a small contingent down here to Belfor half a year ago, and then suddenly a few months back they sent a much larger contingent down.}

"Either requesting backup, or maybe they decided this area had much more value than they originally assumed?" Keith said.

"Demons truly are stupid. I'm not surprised that they felt the aura down in that altar room and thought it was valuable. Their obsession with new and unique things led to their downfall."

"You think that's what happened, Rei?" Nisha asked.

"What I think happened is that the 'Small contingent' was meant to establish a foothold here and get revenge on Viktor, but at some point they noticed the unique aura coming up from below the prison. I doubt they stole the prisoners from Viktor as a means to secure diggers, they have large Demons to do that after all, but once their captives whom they probably planned on torturing for entertainment were back at the base, they decided to use them for digging instead."

"... Wait, why'd they dig next to the prison instead of straight down through that altar room?" Shana asked.

"No idea. Maybe the stone is impenetrable? It wouldn't be the first time something was invincible underground."

{We can talk about all of this after you've rescued the others. Good luck everyone. Hopefully you can bring everyone back here this time.}

I hope so as well... I've been worried sick that Ishar and Greyson might have been chosen to be the spider's next victim, but there was nothing I could do until this Tengu showed up.

The Tengu turned around and started jogging through the forest, heading straight for the prison. Same as last time, everyone but Nisha and Shana ran into the forest, following behind the Tengu Lord.

"Remember everyone, it's been three days since the last reset, so everything is going to be a little different from our last attempt at this," Markus said.

We all thought the same thing, up until a spear came flying through the fog at the Tengu's head. He beat it out of the way with his staff and then did an overhead attack into the fog ahead of us. We couldn't tell, but he must have killed the Minotaur because the Tengu was now whipping his head to the left and right. We all knew why at the same time the Tengu did. The same footsteps as last time approached us from all three directions.

"How the hell is everything playing out just like it did last time?!" Keith yelled.

Markus bent down in preparation to dodge any incoming blows. "Get ready everyone! We never did figure out what was in front of us, and I refuse to die to this invisible fucker on the left again!"

The biggest issue is the armored monster that crushed Albel and Lindon. Shana's cryptic thoughts on the whole thing didn't help much, but I do know what she was trying to say. When the armored monster first appeared, it felt like a much more condensed version of the fog, so it's not a stretch to say it felt like the armored monster was all around us from the very start.

The Tengu raised his staff high above his head and began to twirl it sideways. I, Shana, and Keith all knew what he was about to do. I kicked my feet deep into the ground and sat down while burying my fingers into the ground as well. To the side I could see Keith stab his sword into the ground as Shana's clones dug their claws into the nearby trees.

"What, what?!" Lindon said, looking around in a panic.

"You two were already dead so you didn't see it, but the previous Tengu used this attack on us. He created a large vacuum by twirling his staff above his head."

"He's going to pull the fog and the enemies to us?! We already can't see anything with how thick the fog is!" Markus yelled.

However, what we saw soon after that was the fog blowing away from us. The Tengu's staff spun faster and faster until the nearby trees began to rip out of their roots and tip over. Soon after that he stopped and slammed his staff into the ground. I glanced around and was shocked at how much of the fog had been blown away. The sky was still hidden behind the fog, but there was at least a one-mile gap between us and the fog on all sides now.

"H-Holy shit... Thank you, Keith." Lindon said.

I looked in that direction and saw Lindon clinging onto Keith with his legs and arms wrapped around him. If the situation weren't so dire I would have burst out laughing at how ridiculous it looked.

Markus practically growled as he said, "There it is..."

Far off to the left I could see a slight shimmer in the air approaching us head-on. I looked to my right next but the armored creature was nowhere to be seen.

The Tengu sprinted forward as I was turning my head to look in that direction. Through his legs I could barely make out the Lion I saw battling the Minotaur before. Shouldn't that thing be near the prison? It has to be a different one... Which means there is more than one of these lions roaming about.

"Anything?!" Markus yelled back at us.

"No! I can't see the armored monster anywhere." I said, firing off the sonar ball of light at the monster. Just like before, it connected and outlined it so we could all see it clear as day.

Markus' blade shone a bright white, "Tsk... We'll just have to fight the invisible fucker while praying we don't get attacked from behind again."

Dozens of small finger-sized fireballs flew past me, hitting the monster in different parts of its body.

"I didn't see a barrier flare up anywhere on its body!" Albel yelled.

Oh, so that's why he did that... Very clever.

As it reached us the feline's tail whipped through the air, aiming straight for Markus, obviously with the intention of splattering him into the ground again. This time though, Markus could see it. He dodged to the right and sliced backward. A bright white light exploded near the portion of the tail he cut off, but what surprised me was the white fire it left behind on the monster's tail. The monster roared in pain as the white fire spread up toward its body. Soon after that its invisibility faltered, allowing all of us to see what we were fighting.

"Is everything here going to be this fucking creepy?!" Lindon yelled.

It was shaped like a feline, but that's where the similarities ended. The monster was covered in furry black blisters, and its head was completely devoid of everything except black fur. No eyes, mouth, or ears, and it was pristine, making the rest of its body even more disgusting in comparison. Just as I was wondering how it roared mere moments before, it leaped backwards which allowed me to see the large row of teeth on its underbelly.

While it was in midair a green ball shot out of the monster's creepy belly-mouth. The ball exploded onto Markus just as Lindon placed his barrier over him. Acid splattered out towards the rest of us, but everyone except me was able to get away in time. I was way too close to Markus when it exploded, and as a result I could see smoke rising from different parts of my blood armor, and while my artifact necklace had managed to block most of the damage, parts of my face around my mouth still melted away before I could get the acid off of me.

Electric daggers rained down on the monster as I sprinted toward it. Keith, now draped in Nisha's blue aura, blazed past me and circled around the back of the monster. The monster looked between me, Keith, and the green ball to my right that was shining a bright white(Lindon's acid-covered barrier on Markus) before deciding to leap to its right and attempt to blast me with a ball of acid, but just as it aimed its stomach at me, one of Albel's fireballs flew past me and arced right into the monster's mouth. The ensuing explosion was disgusting, to say the least. A large blast of bile and acid spewed all over the grass, but the damage didn't stop the monster from spinning around and smacking Keith out of the air. He was mid-leap in an attempt to get on top of the monster, but now he was slamming into a tree a hundred yards away.

The monster's tail whipped down toward Markus again, but just like last time he cut a little bit of it off while dodging to the right, except the attacks didn't stop this time. The tail that was now completely on fire, repeatedly attacked Markus, who was now focusing solely on defense. He tried attacking the tail without his light enhancement, but as a result his sword almost got stuck inside the tail, so he stopped attacking and focused on dodging while waiting for his ability to recharge.

Now focusing almost entirely on me, the monster tried to squash me with its right paw as I over-enhanced my legs. I kicked to the right and immediately jumped up and grabbed the fur on its right collar. Before the monster could respond I kicked the side of its face with both of my feet at full strength, making the monster's head whip to the left with so much force that its whole body fell onto the ground.

The monster, apparently now seeing me as a bigger threat, went after me with both its front paws and its tail as it was falling sideways. Instead of battling the creature to hold my position like it probably expected, I jumped far away onto the grass behind me. Markus, now free to attack, was waiting for it as it landed on the ground. His blade wrapped in light blew half of the monster's head off, and soon after that the monster's head literally fell off of its body, rolling harmlessly sideways a little.

At first I was confused, but then I saw Keith walking out from behind the monster's now lifeless head.

Albel and Lindon ran up to us while keeping their vision behind them. The armored monster didn't attack us this time, it must need the fog.

"Hell yeah, everyone! Nicely done!" Lindon said.

"Everyone okay?" Markus said as he stood up from the ground. He was just rolling around in the grass to remove the acid from Lindon's barrier -who was now deactivating the barrier since he didn't need to worry about the acid anymore-.

Keith sighed and sat down, "No. I'm limping... The mere act of walking is sending waves of pain up my spine. I think I might need to return. If I try and 'tough it out', I'll probably just end up dead, which will force Arkaios to reset."

"Not that I'm downplaying the whole 'dead' part, but for your group, does it matter all that much? Can't we just bring you back right away?"

Markus shook his head, "Sadly, that's not how it works. Our Lord needs time to repair a soul after he tethers the part inside of Keith back to his realm. We'll lose him for a few weeks minimum, and it could extend up to two months."

Ahh shit, we definitely can't go without him for that long.

We all turn toward the large footsteps approaching us. The Tengu stops next to our group and sits down. At a glance I can tell that the only damage he sustained was from the monster's acidic blood. Parts of his armor are singed here and there, but for the most part he seems fine. He lowers his staff and points at the end of it.

Markus nods, "Interesting... His staff that's made of wood sustained no damage from the monster's acid."

A cacophony of stomping feet rings out from our left and right flank.

"Oh, now that's just fucking wonderful," Lindon said.

"Nisha is going to bring me back. I'm sorry you guys... Hopefully I can heal up in time to help you with the spider." Keith said, looking down.

Markus put his hand on Keith's shoulder, "Don't beat yourself up over it kiddo. Unlike a certain someone else we can't keep pushing forward even when parts of our face are melting off. You've done good, now hurry back and heal yourself."

"... It's that bad? All I know is that I can feel a bunch of wind blowing around in my mouth even when it's closed."

Keith looked at me and chuckled, "Not as bad as my back, but yeah, it's pretty bad..."

After saying that he waved at us and promptly disappeared into a ball of blue light.

Markus looked at the Tengu, "Alright boss, what's the plan?"

The Tengu pointed at himself and then both the left and right sides. Next, he pointed at us and then toward the prison.

Does he want to take all of the monsters on while we attack the prison alone? That can work if the monsters all come after him, but what if half split off in our direction?

"I see the dissatisfaction on your face, Rei, but this is pretty much our only option." Markus continued, "Can you eat these monster's souls before we leave? I'd rather not fight them again."

"I can't. The Minotaur never had one to begin with, and the cat's soul disappeared the second we killed it."

"Disappeared?"

I nodded, "Yes, it quite literally disappeared, but not like how the Tengu saves his Lords souls. The cat's just went poof. I obviously don't have any proof yet, but I feel like it's gone for good."

"I've never heard of that happening before... But I hope you're right." Markus continued, "Alright you four... Wait, where is Shana?"

"One of her clones told us she's running ahead to scout for us." Albel said.

"Perfect, that girl always knows what to do without me needing to tell her." Markus continued, "Okay, as I was saying, we're going to sprint straight for the temple. With any luck, our next enemy should be the three-headed dog outside of the prison."

The four of us ran past the Tengu as he began firing off magical arrows into the fog. He's probably trying to pull the monsters onto himself. Hopefully it works, because we can't fight multiple large monsters at the same time.