The descent was long. My fingers were raw from the jagged rock. The light from the surface was gone, replaced by a thick, heavy gloom that felt like it was trying to push into my lungs. I stopped on a narrow ledge to catch my breath. My chest was heaving.
Then I heard it. A giggle.
It wasn't a human laugh. It was sharp, rhythmic, and wrong. It bounced off the walls, making it impossible to tell where it came from. I froze. I didn't reach for a weapon yet. I just watched the shadows.
A stone hit my shoulder. It wasn't large, but it was thrown with enough force to bruise. I looked up. High above, nestled in the crevices of the ceiling, I saw eyes. Dozens of them. They were pale, glowing with a dim, sickly light.
"Show yourselves," I muttered. My voice sounded small in the vastness of the Pit.
In response, something dropped from the ceiling. It landed ten feet away with a soft, meaty thud. It was a monkey, but not like any I'd seen in the jungles of Thonburi. Its fur was oily and pitch-black, absorbing what little light remained. Its arms were too long, dragging on the ground, and its face was a twisted mask of white skin.
It tilted its head at me. It looked curious, like a child looking at a new toy it wanted to break.
Suddenly, it moved. It didn't run; it blurred. One moment it was ten feet away, the next it was right in front of me. I felt a gust of wind as it swung a long, clawed hand. I threw myself back against the rock wall. The claws scraped the stone where my ribs had been a second ago.
The creature didn't stop. It leaped back into the dark, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Another giggle echoed from behind me. Then another from the left.
"Fast little bastards," I hissed.
I felt a sharp pain in my calf. Another one had darted out from a hole in the ground, bit me, and retreated before I could even blink. Blood started to soak into my trouser leg. I felt my temper rising. This wasn't a fight; it was a game to them. They had immense power in those lean limbs, and they were using it to toy with me.
One of them appeared on a ledge above me. It began to jump up and down, hooting in a high-pitched, mocking tone. It threw a handful of dirt into my eyes. I blinked rapidly, rubbing my face. When I could see again, three of them were circling me on the ledge.
They were vibrating with energy. They didn't stand still. They twitched, their long fingers drumming against the stone. One of them lunged. I swung my fist, connecting with its jaw. It felt like hitting a bag of wet sand. The monkey flew back, hit the wall, and shook its head, looking more annoyed than hurt.
It bared its teeth. They were long, yellow, and sharp. It wasn't laughing anymore.
"My turn," I said.
I reached for one of Kiet's fire pots. I needed to change the rules of this game.
The monkeys were fast, but they were cocky. They thought I was just another slow-moving meal. I gripped the glass vial, the orange liquid inside swirling with a dark intent. I waited. I needed them to group up.
One of them shrieked—a high, piercing sound that felt like a needle in my ear—and they all lunged at once. They came from three directions, their dark shapes blending into the shadows. I dropped the fire pot at my feet and kicked off the ledge.
I felt the heat before I even hit the lower floor. A roar of orange flame erupted, lighting up the cavern in a sickening, bruised violet light. The shriek of the monkeys turned from joy to pure agony. Two of them were caught in the blast, their black fur turning into stinking smoke instantly. They thrashed on the ground, little balls of fire that didn't go out.
The third one had managed to leap away, but its long arm was singed. It crouched on a stalagmite, its white face contorted in a snarl. It looked at its burning kin, then at me. For the first time, I saw fear in those pale eyes.
I landed hard on the level below, rolling to break my fall. My wounded leg screamed at me, but I didn't have time to bleed. I looked up at the remaining monkey.
"Not so funny now, is it?" I grunted.
Above me, the ceiling began to vibrate. It wasn't just three of them. The giggling returned, but this time it was a chorus. Hundreds of those black shapes were beginning to crawl down the walls, their long limbs stretching as they prepared to overwhelm me with sheer numbers.
I realized the Governor hadn't sent me to a dungeon. He had sent me to a hive.
I wiped the blood from my forehead and checked my gear. I had four fire pots left and a bag of meat I hadn't touched. I looked at the wall of black fur coming toward me. I didn't feel like a hero. I felt like a man who was going to have to kill a lot of things just to get a nap.
I started to run. Not away, but deeper. If the artifact was here, it was at the bottom. And if I was going to die, I was going to do it on top of a pile of dead monkeys.