After a day's rest, the party resumed their journey and reached the entrance to the dungeon.
On the outside, it looked like a normal cave. Its mouth opened like a gaping maw and its arch was framed by curling roots and dangling vines. As the trio entered and walked further into the dungeon, they noticed their surroundings slowly changing. Pale mist started to creep from the rough stone walls as flickering specks of light floated in the air.
It was as if they were transported to another realm. They probably were.
Dungeons are magical spaces spawned from Mana, as such, they tend to not follow the same natural and physical laws as the world outside. Some speculate that dungeons are portals to the divine - beings like gods and spirits. Others believe it to be a gateway to Hell, such as the Abyssal Dungeon, Tartaros.
It had been the first time for all three. They were astounded at the sight before them. Streams of crystal lined the stone wall, casting faint hues of blues and greens. Light flowed through the crystal threads like blood pumping through veins, making it seem like the dungeon was alive.
Stalactites hung like frozen spears from above, delivering droplets to luminescent shallow pools below. Strange fungi and moss bloomed along the cave floors and walls. Deposits of magical ores shone brilliantly attracting the attention of the adventurers.
"Look at that! It's probably worth golds," Straf exclaimed excitedly.
Eris remembered the warnings her brother, Deeno, gave her about dungeon ores.
"Hey Straf! Don't mess with those. My brother told me dungeon ores are unstable. You don't know what will happen if you touch one." Eris explained.
Lili also recalled a lesson from her past that all witches knew about - the Legend of Selene, the First Witch. It tells the story of an adventurer who obtained a legendary artifact from a dungeon that allowed her to uncover the secrets of Mana and use that understanding to cast Spells. They called it the God's Eye.
"Aaaah, why can't making money ever be easy!" Straf complained, letting out a disappointed sigh.
Not long after, they encountered their first wave of monsters. A group of Mutant Mushrooms appeared. These mushrooms were mobile and stood three feet tall. Their caps were spiked and they released poisonous spores from their gills. The team quickly made work of the monsters by using their ranged attacks. As they ventured deeper into the dungeon, their path was met with various monsters, but with their current strength, they were able to defeat them with relative ease.
The passage narrowed until it became a solid wall, closing their path.
"I guess this is the end, then. We've cleared the dungeon," Straf said with a hint of relief in his tone.
"We should head back. This place is starting to give me the creeps," Lili muttered.
"Ok, let's turn back. Nice job, guys!" Eris cheered.
…
Suddenly, the earth beneath them tore open.
"Aaaaaaaaah!" The party screamed as they plunged into the abyss.
Three holes appeared on the ground, swallowing them separately. Lili, with her quick thinking, conjured a horizontal barrier below her to break her fall. From a tiny crystal, it bloomed outward, digging into the sides of the hole, locking it into place. Lili fell on her behind, hitting the hard crystal.
Eeeek! That hurt. Why couldn't I have studied Cloud Magic instead.
In order to get back up, Lili jumped with both feet and conjured another barrier above the previous one. Slowly, she ascended to the top by repeating this method over and over.
Eris, on the other hand, drove her dagger into the wall to slow her descent. Straf did the same but with his sword.
When their fall finally came to an end, they found themselves inside a dark chamber, with no other opening than the hole they had plummeted through.
Eris felt bones crunching beneath her feet as she landed. Were these from less fortunate adventurers that didn't survive the fall, or was there something in there that killed them? She worried. Both were true.
White chilling mist began to coil across the floor, its tendrils curled around Eris' leg. The mysterious vapor thickened and twisted into a shrouded figure in front of her.
It was a Wraith - a monster that had no flesh or bone, only a swirling mass of mist and smoke. Wraiths could not physically harm others. Their attacks, however, were directed at one's psyche. Able to shapeshift, they create illusions born from someone's deepest and darkest fears. While they did not break bone, they broke soul - a wound far deadlier.
It surged upward like a rising whirlwind. Slender arms and legs protruded, a head and torso had formed. Soon, its transformation was complete. The Wraith had warped into the majestic silhouette of an Elf.
Eris trembled at the sight of the Elf, the race who had ruined her childhood. She clutched her father's dagger, but had no intention of striking. Fear took hold of her, its deadly grasp rooted her in place.
The Elves were a human-like race that stood six feet tall at average. They had long pointed ears and flowing straight hair. Their bodies were slender yet stronger than most humans. They had a conflict with a human kingdom in the south, known as Caethrys, and it ended with the downfall of the latter. Yellowstone, the mining town where Eris had lived as a child, was initially under the Caethrys Kingdom, but it was then invaded by the Elves. During the invasion, Eris' father stayed back to let Eris escape but met his demise under the blade of an Elf soldier.
Eris remembered the scene in agonizing fragments. She was being dragged away by Shei, who was also carrying the young Deeno. She turned back and saw the Elf soldier bring down his sword on her father. With one fell swoop, Eris' world had been shattered. She couldn't scream. She shouldn't draw attention to them. She silently watched as her father fell thinking that was the last time she was going to see him. It crushed a piece of her soul.
And now, the Wraith had used it to slowly rob Eris of her will to live. She will die in this forsaken chamber with no escape, only fallen and nameless adventurers to witness her final moments.
Mom, Deeno. I'm sorry. I won't be coming back.
"Eris! Straf!" Lili screamed at the top of her lungs.
Eris heard the call.
Lili escaped?
This ignited something in Eris, a faint flame of hope.
The Wraith noticed this change and proceeded to transform yet again, swirling and twisting, this time, into a man Eris had known, loved and cared for deeply. The Wraith took on the visage of her father.
"Why did you leave me?" it whispered in a low echoing voice.
"Father!" Eris cried, unable to control the tears flowing from her eyes.
Memories of her past with her father flooded her mind. Among the fragments that surfaced was a night when she couldn't sleep for she thought ghosts lingered in her room. Little Eris called out to her father. As her father came, he gently pinched Eris in her tiny arms.
"Ouch! You're bad, papa!" Little Eris said with a frown on her face.
"But you're not afraid anymore now, are you sweetie?" her father replied playfully.
"Well, yeah. Now I'm angry 'cause you're a meanie!" she yelled.
She remembered her father laughing throughout the night.
Pain.
Eris' hands shook but she knew she had to do it.
Screw it!
Eris had stabbed her left arm with the dagger.
She cried out in pain. "Aaaaaaah!"
But in that moment, her fear was overshadowed by the pain she felt. Her mind cleared, even for just a bit.
With Eris temporarily blocking her fear with pain, the Wraith had dispersed into a formless cloud, since it drew its power from the dread it awakened in those who faced it.
Eris moved the dagger buried in her arm, leaving new tears in her flesh. She had to find a way to defeat the Wraith before fear overcomes her again, or before she lost too much blood.
It's a Monster. It should have a core. A Shard.
She scoured the area until she found a skull that had a faint glow radiating from its eye socket.
It must be inside that.
Eris ran towards the skull, blood dripping from her hand. The Wraith tried to stop her with its ghostly tendrils, however, it had no effect. It tried to hide skull inside its mists, but Eris knew exactly where to strike it.
Eris dropped on both knees. She raised her right hand. In futile desperation, the Wraith had collected all of its parts and shot upward hoping to stop Eris' hand. This did nothing, but gently blow through Eris' hair with a cold breeze. It was inevitable.
Eris struck the ground with a decisive thrust, bashing skull and shard alike.
The Wraith slowly vanished, as darkness claimed the pit.
It's dead.
"Lili!" Eris shouted.
"Eris! Are you okay?" Lili replied in earnest.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to put some bandages on this wound." Eris proceeded to wrap her left arm and down some of the potion pills.
You truly are a lifesaver, Tabor.
Now, how am I going to get back up?
"Do you have a rope with you, Lili? Maybe you can make a crystal one," Eris asked.
"Tsk, are you mocking me? How do you think a rope made from crystal will work!" Lili explained in her usual angry tone.
However, Lili had a plan. She can actually control the length of her Crystal Arrow, but she keeps it short because it's harder to launch a longer one. However, in this scenario, she didnt't need to launch it, she just needed to let it drop.
"Eris! Get away from the hole, got it! I'm going to send something down." Lili yelled.
"Got it!"
Lili started her chanting.
"Crystal Spear!"
A long rod-shaped crystal formed and dropped through the hole. It created a pole for Eris to climb and reach the mouth of the hole. Now, she just needed something to climb with from the bottom of the hole to the surface. Any sharp object will have to do.
She found an old dagger beside the skull she had just crushed. It wasn't made of metal, it looked like it was made from a monster - a bone, tooth or claw. It didn't matter. As long as she can drive it into the ground, it was enough. Eris had climbed the crystal rod and with a dagger in each hand, she was slowly able to reach the top, cursing every time she had to use her left arm to pull herself up.
The two girls screamed at the hole where Straf had dropped, worried if he had survived the fall or the Wraith.
Straf landed safely in the chamber just as Eris had, and there he also encountered a Wraith.
The Wraith took on the appearance of a giant ant, the same one that ravaged Fishook Bay.
Trembling, he had shut his eyes, mustered all the courage he could find in himself and mumbled, "I'm not scared of you."
The Wraith then changed its appearance. This time, into a boy lying on the ground in a pool of blood, his limbs torn and writhing in pain. It was his older brother.
"Live.. Leave.. Why did you leave me?" the Wraith imitating even the voice of his brother.
"I didn't want to!" Straf yelled out, his voice cracked, tears rushing down his face. Straf fell to his knees. "I couldn't do anything."
"You could have died with me," his brother said, his voice echoing in the chamber. "Die for me now."
The light drained from his eyes, leaving them dull and lifeless.
Straf whispered, "I should have died."
And then he heard someone calling out to him.
"Straf!"
"Straf!"
"It's not real! Destroy the shard!" Eris screamed at the top of her lungs.
Her voice reached his heart, filling him with strength and courage. He recalled the reason he had chosen this path.
I don't know if I could be brave enough as you.
Hero of the Slums!
The Wraith, sensing Straf's fear fading, transformed, yet again, into a figure Straf knew all too well - a crying boy holding his father's sword, pleading the heavens to save his brother. It was Straf when he was a little boy - weak and powerless.
Straf feared nothing more than becoming that little boy again. The boy who couldn't do anything but watch as giant ant monsters tore through his brother. The boy who couldn't protect himself from his father.
I don't want to be powerless anymore.
Straf walked toward the Wraith, the shadow of his younger self. He rested his hand on its head, feeling the cold of death seeping into his fingers.
"You're going to be fine," Straf said to his younger self. "I know it."
He noticed a faint light in the corner.
That must be the shard.
As he was approaching it, his younger self cried to him, "Don't leave me."
With each step, the Wraith spoke.
Straf paid it no mind. He knew that version of him was gone when he decided to go on this adventure. He accepted what he was, and he cannot change it. All he could do was move forward.
Straf held his sword.
"Don't le…"
He smashed the shard with the tip of his sword.The Wraith vanished plunging the chamber ito darkness.
Straf was able to climb back up using the same method Eris did.
The two girls greeted him with teary smiles on their faces, feeling relieved that they were all together once more.
"Let's get out of here!"
Sometimes conquering your fear does not mean a loud display of bravery - it's, at times, the quiet acceptance that you can live with what happened and move forward.