“Everyone okay?” Asked Arcaea, coughing from the dust and dirt in the air.
“Aside from everything hurting? Yeah I’m fine.” She heard Kurai’s sarcastic voice sound off from somewhere in the darkness.
There was a moment of silence before a dim white light began emanating from Kurai’s hand. In it she held an orb which she had activated in the darkness and a second later it began hovering around her. The illuminorb wasn’t a device of her design but it was one she had built, out of whatever materials she had present at the time. In the dim glow Kurai, Janette and Arcaea found themselves amongst the rubble of rocks. All of them were covered in white dust which still hung in the air.
“Wait…” began Janette before trailing off for a moment. “Where’s Raven?”
The three of them started scanning the underground chamber. The light from the orb wasn’t strong enough to illuminate the entire room and so they couldn’t tell how large it was. Looking up they could see the hole they fell through and the faint bit of moonlight that shun through. The rubbled rose and fell in places with one huge mound of rocks in the center which was probably where the urthog’s remains lay. Beneath their feet they could see parts of a metallic floor.
There was the sound of shifting rocks and for a moment the three of them thought the urthog was about to emerge out of the rubble but instead they saw Raven stumble into view from the other side of the mound. The white dust had mingled with the splatters of blood that covered her. Again, the most distinguishing feature they could see from this ghostly gray and crimson figure were her bright yellow eyes.
She stumbled forward, her legs shaking, then she stopped and looked at them for a moment. A smile crept across her lips and she raised one hand to give them a thumbs up.
“Everything...according to...plan…”
Her hand then dropped as she barely had any strength left.
“That was according to plan?” asked Kurai snarkily.
“Yeah I don’t remember us planning on dropping 20 meters into an underground vault.” added Janette as she walked on over to Raven.
“I believe Kurai’s grenade must have fractured the ground enough so that Raven’s final blow was able to inadvertently make it collapse.” said Arcaea who then looked up at the hole above them. “Where are we?”
“I imagine it’s probably an old bunker or...something like that.” Janette theorized as she prepared a healing spell for Raven.
“It’s alright, save your arcanum.” said Raven as she waved her hand dismissively.
“You’re at death’s door, Raven.”
“I’ll be fine. Just need some rest. Hey, Arcaea! I have your cleaver.”
“Oh, right.” said Arcaea as she accepted her massive blade back from her friend.
“Thanks for the loan. Janette, please stop.”
Janette was about to trace a glyph in the air when Raven grabbed her hand to stop her.
“You. Are. Bleeding!” Janette’s voice was unnaturally stern as she said it, which gave the rest of them momentary pause.
“We...we don’t know what else might be down here.” explained Raven. “We might need every bit of your magic juice to find our way out.”
“Please don’t call it that.” said Janette with a hint of frustration in her voice.
“Well…” Kurai’s voice seemed to trail into the conversation like an uninvited guest. “...technically that’s exactly what arcanum is. It’s just highly processed magic juice.”
“I know! It just sounds so...unacademic.” The disgust in Janette’s voice was palpable.
“Girls, stop your whining. Raven, get healing.” commanded Arcaea.
“You’re not my mom, Arcaea.”
“Shut up. Janette, heal her while Kurai and I go collect the urthog’s teeth so we can get…”
Arcaea’s voice stopped and all of them went quiet.
There was a sound of shifting rocks again. But none of them were moving. The sound grew louder and louder. They all turned towards the large mound and felt the blood freeze in their vein.
The urthog was still alive! And it was getting back to its feet. Buckets of blood cascaded from it along with the rocks and pebbles it was buried under.
“Are you torking kidding me?!” exclaimed Kurai.
There was no time for strategies. No time for commands. All they could do was act on instinct.
Arcaea launched forward and struck the beast’s face with her cleaver. Its previously thick hide had been all but peeled or burnt away in the explosion so the blade’s swing did a lot more damage than she was anticipating. While Kurai rummaged through her pockets the beast reeled back and then pushed towards Arcaea with an outstretched maw.
She ducked and attempted to dodge but felt its razor sharp teeth caught her in the shoulder. Pain engulfed Arcaea as her blood began flowing freely.
Kurai quickly found a couple of gadgets that she threw at the urthog. The two small metal disks attached themselves to the beast’s hide and arcs of lightning began coursing through its brutish body. The shock was enough to get it to release its hold on Arcaea who fell to the ground, tightening her grip on the cleaver.
The two disks began whirring loudly and soon sparks and puffs of smoke billowed out of them as the arcs of lightning stopped.
In a split second the urthog launched at Arcaea again, an attack she was woefully unprepared for. But just before its fanged mouth snapped at her again Raven came in, seemingly out of nowhere, dark energy pulsing through her. She had no weapon to use so she focused all that energy into her fist.
She punched the beast in its head with a sickening crunch and the sheer force of it sent the urthog stumbling backwards. A moment later Arcaea threw her cleaver at it and the blade, spinning through the air, buried itself deep into its face, again. As it roared Raven stepped forward to meet it head on, then she stopped, swayed for a second, then finally collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
“Raven!” they all called out in unison.
A second later Janette threw another fire arrow at it, catching the urthog in its open mouth. For a moment they all thought the arrow would either fizzle out or that the beast would collapse. Neither of which happened. Instead the behemoth erupted into flames like a fire elemental from Shatter Coast.
They all stood there, eyes wide as the bright orange flames illuminated the entire underground chamber. The urthog thrashed around, hissing and screaming in pain. Then it stopped and looked at them. Somehow it was still standing.
Neither Arcaea nor Kurai had noticed Janette darting forward but they now beheld her slowly dragging Raven’s unconscious body back as the flaming monstrosity before them began taking a step forward. And then another. And another.
“I’m out!” called out Janette. “Any of you got anything?! ANYTHING?!”
Kurai was frantically rummaging through her pockets while Arcaea helped Janette.
“I’m out too. Only a couple of drops of arcanum left and no gadgets that I have at the ready. And Bailey’s broken! I’ve got nothing!” said Kurai with panic in her voice.
Janette and Arcaea dragged Raven back until all four of them were backed up against a wall. The smoldering urthog still struggling to walk towards them. The smoke and smell of burnt flesh that filled the chamber was asphyxiating.
In her desperation Janette reached for what was left of Kurai’s supply of arcanum and cast Fire Arrow one last time. The magical elemental arrow shot out from the palm of her hand and disappeared into the urthog’s gaping maw. It didn’t even react.
“What do we do?!” called out Kurai.
“I don’t know!” answered Arcaea who felt utterly defeated.
The smoldering urthog took another step. And another. And another. And then...there was a loud crack and it crumbled down. Its left arm had snapped and was falling apart, burnt to a crisp. The beast looked up at them, the cleaver still buried in its face and reached out towards them. Its meaty fingers trembling, its leathery hide peeling off, its flesh liquifying. And then…
...it went limp and still.
The three of them that were still huddled together against the wall, stared at the beast as its body burned to a crisp. Their breath was heavy and frantic but soon slowed as the tension left them and fatigue set in.
“Is Raven still with us?” asked Kurai.
Janette put her hand over Raven’s mouth and nose and felt a great relief.
“She’s still breathing.” announced Janette.
“I vote that we rest for a while.” said Arcaea.
“Me too.” said Janette.
“Me three. But let’s do it away from that thing.” said Kurai.
“You afraid it’s gonna come back to life?” asked Janette jokingly.
“Honestly? Yeah! But also the smell of it is making wanna vomit.” said Kurai.
“It’s making me hungry.” added Arcaea.
There was a moment of silence.
“You need help.” said Kurai.
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