Bane slipped past me, and I quietly filled him in on the traps the Drow had told me about; he spotted them both within minutes, and we jogged along the smuggler’s path at speed.
I looked around as we went, seeing the traces here and there of old stonework, bracings to secure the ceiling and walls, and repairs that had clearly been done, both ancient and recent.
It took over an hour before we came to the first branching of the path, where a second, more recent path joined the first. I closed my eyes and searched for Oracle, finding her still far in the distance, but stopped at last, and below us to the left.
“The new path.” I said, and Bane took off at once. Where the first path was hard ground, compacted over the years by the passing of countless booted feet and small caravans, this second path was far narrower, and clearly not the work of smugglers. We saw boot prints regularly, and occasionally other, stranger signs, areas where the path had been swept clean by something wide and low.
We began to find segments reinforced by a sparkling, ridged material, strands of something that braced entire sections, and an awful smell began to build.
We paused to rest after two hours, and I summoned a pair of fountains again for the group, this time realizing what I’d done so thoughtlessly.
You have discovered a new Ability: Multi-cast.
You can now cast two spells at the same time, provided they are either the same spell, cast twice, or complimentary spells that you have at least reached level ten (10) in.
“Well, shit.” I muttered, reading the notification that had appeared. I’d done it without thought, so used to the feeling of Oracle casting a second spell and using my mana that I’d replicated it, not knowing it was something strange. I also didn’t realize just how damn expensive the spell was; instead of costing me ten mana, it was costing me ten for the first one, and thirty for the second, plus an additional forty to keep them both going every ten seconds. I cut the second fountain immediately, explaining to my team and letting them share the first.
Once everyone had drank their fill and refilled their canteens, Bane rested in the water for a few seconds, and we took off again, jogging for another hour almost, before Bane slowed to a halt, his right upper hand waving in warning.
We gathered around and the torches were lowered, hands raising to shield them as much as possible.
“Up ahead…” Bane whispered to me. “I can sense something vibrating; I think it’s some form of Spiderkin…” I cursed, and passed the word on, turning back to him as he continued.
“I’ll go ahead and scout. Wait here.” I nodded, and he was off, his natural camouflage allowing him to blend in with the tunnel as he went.
Silence reined as the minutes ticked by, my naginata resting in my right hand, loosely held, while I toyed with the dirt, idly drawing patterns as I stared into the tunnel. Long minutes passed, and then more, slowly ticking on and on. I frowned suddenly, a single soft sound seemingly out of place in the silence of the tunnel, and I listened for it again.
It sounded like sand shifting, or soil…I concentrated on it, a noise from behind distracting me and I turned to shush Miren, the youngest of the group who’d just started to whisper a joke to Stephanos.
Lydia growled a warning at them all to be silent, and I turned back to the tunnel before me, freezing as I saw a quartet of eyes staring back at me.
The creature was long and low, maybe three feet tall, oval in shape, and running back around the tunnel’s bend to disappear into the distance. I could see that it was at least four feet long, with a bulbous form like a pale-skinned cross between a worm and a gelatinous blob. It had paused as soon as I turned back around, it’s almost silent approach on dozens of small spiked legs arrested as its black orb-like eyes stared at me. Slowly, just below the eyes on its rounded, bulbous head, a jaw hinged open, and a proboscis slipped forward, a hollow tip pointing straight at me.
My eyes widened, and I dove to the side instinctively, roaring out a warning as a stream of white liquid sprayed the area I’d been crouching in.
I heard a scream from behind me, and a hissing, bubbling noise, and I rolled back from my left to the right, jumping back to my feet in the middle of the corridor, and stabbing out with the naginata.
I could hear someone behind me sobbing in pain, and I felt others stepping up. Lydia was on my left, and Barrett on my right, a trio of small missiles flashing past me to embed themselves in the creature as it pulled back from my blow, exploding a second later and spattering small sections of the tunnel in goo.
I yanked back on the naginata, feeling resistance as the flesh of the creature flowed around the wound I’d made, tugging back at the weapon and pulling me closer.
“Be careful!” I managed to get out, before the creature lunged forward, its jaws snapping shut inches from my arm, as Barrett shoved me aside. He dove back, the creature’s pale flesh brushing against his hand and eliciting a groan from him.
“It burns!” he warned, frantically waving his hand, and trying to shake off a layer of slime that I now saw covered the creature, even as Lydia smacked her mace into
