Just as another ghoul tried to lash out, he brought his ax up from the initial swing and took off its arm. It howled in pain, its jawbone opening wider than any human could. Without hesitation, he brought his weapon down on the ghoul’s skull, splitting it in half.
It was difficult work, swinging such a heavy weapon in an enclosed space against such numerous enemies, but he knew what he was doing. A pair of daggers or a spear might be better for these corridors, but he wasn’t as experienced with those weapons. He had a sort of bond with his enchanted ax. So he learned how to use it, and use it he did.
Just a few seconds passed while the ghouls leapt at Ethan and he struck at them with a flurry of his ax. When the sound of metal on bone ceased, all of the ghouls were dead. Bits of undead flesh and muscle were strewn about the corridor. Ethan caught his breath as he lowered his weapon. He couldn’t hear any more dead nails on stone.
“Dang, Ethan, the ghouls get you?” a voice in Ethan’s head asked.
It was his friend, Sharpe. They were on a voice comm together while Ethan progressed through the dungeon. Sharpe was working through a corridor of his own, somewhere within the same labyrinth of tunnels.
“They wish,” Ethan replied. He took in a deep breath and started to walk down the corridor, over the bits of dead ghoul. “How far are you now?”
“Not far, I think,” Sharpe replied. Ethan could hear his friend running over the comm. “A lot of this is starting to look familiar.”
“I think I’m coming up on it now,” Ethan said. His pace increased a little as he reached the end of his hallway and turned left through an open wooden door.
When he entered the next chamber, he couldn’t help but draw a deep breath of amazement. It was like he had seen it so many times before — wide, tall, filled with pillars and stained glass — and, most importantly, occupied by an enormous monster.
The creature was at least forty feet tall, a grotesque form not unlike a toad or Jabba the Hut. It appeared to be composed entirely of rotten flesh. There were a pair of sunken eyes somewhere on its “head” that seemed more dead than the rest of it. Its back was turned to Ethan — it had not noticed him yet.
“I found him,” Ethan whispered as quietly as he could. He knew the Ghoul King didn’t have such good hearing on account of having no ears.
“Ha ha! Nice!” Sharpe replied. “I think I’m close, too. Don’t aggro it just yet.”
“I’ll try not to,” Ethan said. “But hurry.”
Eighteen-year-old Ethan Myler had fought the Ghoul King several times in his short life, but this would be his first attempt with Sharpe. Separately, they had both tried to beat the Ghoul King for years, but neither ever succeeded. There were plenty of other games to play when they got too frustrated, so it never occurred to them to try teaming up with each other. They tried tackling the Ghoul King with the help of strangers, but they didn’t have the kind of synergy Ethan and Sharpe did.
Ethan saw his friend appear at the entrance across from where he had entered himself. Sharpe shot him a thumbs up before sneaking in the chamber and up to Ethan. They both had plenty of room to maneuver without risk of alerting the undead monster that breathed with such loud volume on the far side of the room.
“Hey,” Sharpe said once he was close enough to whisper. “You ready for this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be. You?”
“I’ve got some incantations going on,” Sharpe replied. “Wanted to make sure we had every advantage at our disposal.”
“Smart,” Ethan said. “So how do we go about this?”
“You make the first blow by throwing your ax and then recalling it back to your hand,” Sharpe started. “Then I’ll try to incapacitate him before he gets over here. The more damage we can do from a distance, the better.”
“Just be careful about the ghouls he spawns,” Ethan said.
“Right, which is where you’ll come in,” Sharpe continued. “Since you’re limited for ranged attacks, I think the best thing you can do is focus on the little guys. At least, until the King can get to us. Then, we hit him and we hit him hard.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ethan said. “Let’s do it.”
“After you.”
Ethan stood to his full height and stared at the Ghoul King. It wheezed, a bit of saliva bubbling up in the corner of its mouth. It still hadn’t taken notice of him.
With a deep breath, he chucked his ax as hard as he could at the beast. It whizzed through the air, rotating a few full times before lodging into the Ghoul King’s neck. The monster let out a shrill shriek, then turned its full attention on the teenager who attacked it. Its grotesque features grew determined and it started to move towards them.
Sharpe jumped in with one of his spells, however. A gray-blue mist surrounded the caster’s hands as he made the Ghoul King immobile.
Angry, the Ghoul King let out a roar that shook the entire chamber. One of the weak pillars tumbled to the floor from the vibrations. The rumbling continued after the Ghoul King closed its gory mouth, though. Both adventurers could feel it in their feet.
The floor started to crack open, and the stones that composed it were pushed to the side. Gruesome ghoul hands, too many to count, emerged from holes in the ground. The smaller undead creatures scrabbled out of their underground tunnels and out into the chamber. None of them hesitated before rushing
