The Tower in the Shadows

The floor boss was dead.

Sliva looked over her party. She was noting the heavy breath and signs of injuries.

The Dungeon had mercilessly pushed them far beyond what she would have anticipated for this floor.

"How is everyone?" She spoke, attracting everyone's attention.

Her team was battered. The floor boss had been much tougher than they expected. The giant spider was smarter and had used its abilities to great effect. Elron was still covered in webbing, which he was trying to pull off. Dayon was battered and bruised but had avoided serious injury. Asta was covered in spider bites but was also without major injury. Only Halo and herself were uninjured.

They told her that they were ready to continue. Dayon and Asta were drinking healing tonics as Halo collected the reward for the kill. Elro moved up next to her.

"Well, that was an unpleasant surprise." He quipped. Sliva shook her head at this.

"This Dungeon is strange."

"Which part, Sliva? The direct access to the floors or the rapidly increased power of the monsters on each floor. Or that each floor has different environments and monster types that are not linked?"

"All good points. I am fearful of how the clans of our and other elven nations will react to this place."

This silenced him. The others could hear their conversation but were being polite and avoiding joining in.

"Asta." Sliva motioned for her to join them. The younger elf came over.

"Yes, Sliva?"

"You did well in the fight." Sliva was not arrogant and praised when someone was worthy of it. The other elf acknowledged the praise with a slight nod of her head.

"What do you think we will encounter on the next floor?" She asked.

"I am afraid that is a question we will not be able to answer until we get there," Sliva said honestly.

"The elders are going to be unhappy with this place." She said, looking around. They could still see the bite marks on her exposed skin, but the healing tonic was causing the red, angry swelling to fade.

"We will let them decide how they will feel about this place, shall we?" Elron said. The younger elf said nothing more.

"She is learning slowly but learning." Sliva thought to herself.

The group collected themselves and made their way to the stairwell. The next and final floor beaconed. This time, they took a moment before advancing. They were silver grade, but a copper monster that they underestimated could kill them. The floor boss had reminded them of this.

"Conversation will remain to the minimum. We move with purpose and wisdom."

She motioned to Halo, and they started moving with him in the lead. The team had spent decades together and could predict each other's actions, but Asta did not reap that benefit. Sliva was dismissive of the Dungeon when they entered but was not anymore and her team had the same attitude.

The ever-present moss was growing on the walls, lighting the path ahead. They came to another room. There were no more stairs leading down and the room looked like it was still ready for workers to continue to dig further down.

To the north was a heavy door with an open portal to the south. Halo checked the door, turned to Sliva and shook his head in the negative. So, it could not be opened from this side. If this floor was like the others, the floor boss would be on the other side.

They went south.

As soon as they left the stairs, the paved stone changed to loose earth and ahead was another cavern. The lack of stalactites was the first point of concern. Halo was in the cavern with his short sword drawn. Each step was so light he left no footprints behind him. He was tense but ready and expecting the ambush.

When it came, he sprang aside as the giant worm erupted from the ground. The worm's open front section, covered by dozens of teeth, missed the elf.

Elron and Sliva drew their bows and aimed at the monster. The problem was immediately evident to both of them: the monster had no eyes!

The two arrows were loosed as Dayton advanced anyway, impacting the worm's body. Each arrow dug in, but no major injuries were inflicted. The worm turned to face the archer, allowing Dayton to close and slide his sword into its open mouth. Grey blood gushed from the injury and the worm recollide from its attacker.

"Asta, engage!" Sliva ordered.

Asta unleashed a firebolt and the spell impacted the monster's hide, burning it. Halo moved in and finished it with a thrust to its flank.

The flash of the reward was noted.

"Well, that is annoying." Elron said as he inspected the body of the monster.

They knew what he meant. The group was built around Elron and Sliva's tactic of picking out vital areas, such as eyes, with their arrows. The goal was to blind or inflict a kill shot. Dayton and Halo then moved in and finished off anything that was still alive.

Well, these worms had no eyes or brains to target.

"Change of tactics. Elron, we fire as soon as they appear. Dayton and Halo strike at any opening. Asta use your magic when you have a target." They all nodded at her orders.

"Two exits east or south?" Halo pointed out.

Sliva thought for a few seconds. "South. We can swing back if it's the wrong direction."

The corridor led to another room with a dirt floor but bricked walls. Another worm attacked and died. The reward was collected and they moved on. Sliva would count everything when it was all over.

Before entering the next room, Halo stopped dead, which stopped the rest. He knelt and began investigating the ground around the doorway. They waited, trusting in their team's skills.

With a quick motion, he cut a thin wire that they became aware of. He continued to move forward slowly into the room. With sharp motions, he broke the surface of three pit traps around the entrance of the room. When he was satisfied, he motioned them forward.

The three traps were similar to those on the earlier floors, but instead of flint arrowheads, they were iron-serrated ones. This markedly increased the danger of this floor.

"No worm." Halo signed.

They crossed the pits and entered the room.

"Onwards." Sliva motioned with her hand.

The next room entrance stopped Halo again. He began inspecting something in the dirt with the blade of a stiletto dagger. Whatever it was, he was getting concerned. Sliva knew this from his body language. Having spent decades travelling with her team, she knew them so well that she could read their thoughts from their body language alone.

He turned to them and signed. "Large pressure plate. Beware."

They individually crossed into the room avoiding the marked-out area that Halo had created. Three were in the room, Elron and Asta, waiting to enter when the worms attacked. Dayton was the one attacked as he was the deepest in the room. He blocked the first, but the second came from a different direction and bit into his leg. He let out a cry of pain as his leg gave way and he fell to his knee.

Silva's team's reaction was fast.

Arrows soon impaled the worms' bodies as Halo moved to protect Dayton. Yellow blood soon flowed as Halo stabbed, and more arrows impacted the worms. Dayton did what he could but was bleeding badly.

The fight was fast and brutal, ending as quickly as it started.

Sliva rushed over to her fallen companion as the others covered them. The worm had caught him on the back of the knee, where there was no armour. She reached into her satchel and handed him a bottle with a glowing red, almost blood-coloured liquid.

"Drink this now! No arguments."

He nodded, pulling the cork out, breaking the seal and downing the contents. Healing potions were expensive, but his injuries were beyond that of a tonic. His knee was mangled and a good chunk was missing, with blood pumping from the wounded flesh.

The potion took only seconds to get to work. Sliva feared the wound would be beyond even the potion's ability to heal. But as she watched, it seemed the magic was strong enough to heal her companion's body.

After a minute she asked the important question. "Can you stand?"

Dayton nodded and rose. He was unsteady at first but quickly found his footing. He walked around, getting his strength back, the colour returning to his face.

"As soon as Dayton is ready we go on."

The group welcomed the brief respite. She knew they could go on, but pushing too hard was an easy way to get them all killed. Dayton was soon ready and Halo went into the next corridor.

The next room was different. It was a circular room with a pit full of serrated arrowheads and a walkway around the edge. Halo quickly exposed the false sections that would cause a careless adventurer to slip and fall.

Another worm died in the next room. The pedestal was new to them, so Halo inspected it.

"Thoughts?" Sliva asked.

"Trapped and a good one. I can't get around it."

"Is it worth it?"

"It appears the bag contains several coins."

Sliva thought about it only for a few seconds.

"Leave it. We have spent too much time here as it is."

They continued through the next few rooms, killing the worms and ignoring the alcove with another bag in it. They knew the next room contained the boss.

"Rest for a few moments. We will enter then."

The break was more to let them gather their thoughts and prepare themselves. The last floor boss had been harder to beat than they were willing to admit. This Dungeon followed no rules that they had seen in the others. Sliva knew that she was going to be questioned extensively over this Dungeon.

"We are going to kill the boss and inspect the core room. Then we are leaving."

She gave them the time she thought they needed and then motioned for them to go.

They walked into the boss's room. Like most of the Dungeon, the ground was loose earth, but this room had a large mound on the far side. They entered and formed a rough skirmish line with Asta hanging back in the doorway and Dayton out further in front.

The boss waited until they were a bit further in and then attacked.

The monstrous worm erupted from the mound, glowing slightly from a skill activation. It crossed the ground towards Dayton who braced and used his own. Sliva and Elron released arrows as they moved aside, but they had no effect.

The impact between the two was loud and knocked Dayton off his feet, back through the air. He hit the ground hard. The worm appeared stunned. Sliva's group continued to attack.

"Elron. Swap to piercing arrows. We are not getting through its hide!"

Eight arrows were peppering the worm's hide, but almost no blood could be seen. It appeared to be a rock over flesh. Halo was stabbing with his daggers and had a bit more success. Asta had joined the attacks with her spells. The third impact against the worm was ice magic. She was changing each spell looking for the best. Sliva glanced at Dayton to see he was getting back to his feet while downing a tonic. He did not look good.

The boss was trying to bite or crush Halo, but the elf was fast and dodged around it. The worm's size would work in its favour if it caught Halo even with a glancing blow.

Elron loosed the first piercing arrow, and it struck true, but again, little damage was done. By the Stars! This thing was tough!

Dayton rejoined the fight.

He and Halo tried to keep the boss distracted as the others used arrows and spells to wear it down. Dayton was not as fast as Halo and was caught as the boss lounged forward, mouth open to eat him.

Dayton's shield was rammed into the maw, preventing the elf from being bitten in half, but it was cracking under the strain as the teeth sliced into it. The creature's strength was overpowering him.

"Alchemist fire!" Elron shouted. He had pulled a sickly green glowing flask bottle from his dimensional bag. Dayton heard him and slicked at the leather straps holding the shield to his arm with his sword.

As soon as he was free, he jumped back, and Dayton's shield shattered. The boss opened its mouth to spit out the shield's remains and Elron threw the flask. Sliva loosed an arrow that collided with it and caused the flask to shatter….

The flash, boom and heat from the blast disorientated all of them.

They recovered quickly. The boss did not.

It was writhing in pain as the green/blue fire burned within its mouth. It was lashing around and with a glancing blow, it caught Elron, knocking him from his feet. Dayton and Halo attacked where they got an opening. Sliva and Asta attacked from afar.

Elron was injured but got back to his feet, rejoining the fight.

They battered down the boss for the next few minutes, taking some hits back in turn. In the end, they brought it down, but the fight seemed to go on forever.

When the boss collapsed Elron and Dayton quickly followed. Halo and Sliva remained standing but were tired and aching. Asta was leaning against the doorway sweating from the strain of casting so many spells.

"Well-well, that was unpleasant." Elro quips from the ground, panting.

"Check yourselves over." Sliva ordered.

Everyone but Asta had some form of injury and needed treatment. The reward for the kill was collected but the body was left untouched as they had no idea what any of it was worth.

Dayton pulled his spare shield from his dimensional bag as they got ready to move on.

They walked down the southern corridor and exited the room back into the stairwell. Sliva was now confused.

"Asta, can you see the essence flows and see where the Core is?"

Asta's eyes glowed as she changed her perception. She looked around and was frowning. Blinking rapidly, the skill ended.

"The essence flows are all confused. I cannot see the route to the Core."

"Could it be in the section we missed?" Elron asked.

"Possibly."

Sliva looked around the stairwell. This whole exploration had been strange. The clans of her nation were going to demand more answers than she had. Money-wise, they were going to break even with what they had used and gained. The fourth and fifth-floor bosses were both tougher than they expected. All within the copper rating of the Dungeon.

They could check the missed section of the floor.

Her team could do it, but they were battered and tired. They awaited her order.

"We are done. Let's see the sun once more."

With her order, they left the Dungeon via the stairs.