It was slow going as we descended into the ravine since the horses had to place each hoof carefully in order to avoid tumbling to their deaths, and there were some spots so treacherous we had to dismount and lead our steeds on foot. Finally, we reached the bottom of the gorge, and we found a semi-flat spot to build our campsite.
Once our tents were erected and a fire was burning, the sun was already starting to fade behind the tall mountain peaks. The air was chilly and damp, and I pulled my cloak tightly around me to ward off the cold.
“We should wait until tomorrow to get started,” Tiff suggested.
“It could take us a while to find the cave we’re looking for.”
“But you know it’s here somewhere?” I asked, and the goddess nodded.
“According to my research, it’s the largest cave in the complex, so it shouldn’t be that hard to find.” Tiff gave me an encouraging smile. “Especially not for the two of us.”
“Damn straight,” I chuckled. “If we can handle a horde of insect-like monsters, then we can find the right cave.”
“Thanks again for helping me,” Tiff said in a quiet voice. “I know I haven’t shown my appreciation very well, but I am grateful you’re here with me.”
“You’re very welcome.” I grinned. “I have to admit, it’s been a lot of fun so far.”
“The fun’s just starting,” Tiff countered as some of her bravado returned.
“I’m sure we can think of plenty of ways to enjoy ourselves,” I said in a suggestive tone, and a blush immediately darkened the goddess’ cheeks.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, and her tongue darted out to moisten her red lips.
“Well, we’re almost out of meat, so we should probably go hunting soon.” I shrugged and stifled a smirk at the flash of disappointment in her green eyes. “I can go alone if you’d rather rest in camp, though.”
“You seriously think I’d miss the chance to see your hunting skills?” Tiff smirked. “Besides, you already promised to teach me how to use a bow.”
We left the horses hobbled near our campsite, and I gave Nameless a mental command to guard them before I grabbed my bow and quiver full of arrows. I was glad I’d chosen to bring my obsidian bow, but I was familiar enough with traveling to know it was always a good idea to hunt along the way.
Tiff and I crept through the boulders and rocks crowding the floor of the ravine, and we came upon a stream that cut through the raw stone. The flowing water led to a wider, shallow collection, and there were several places to take cover.
“This looks like a good spot,” I said as I glanced around at the wilderness. “We just have to wait for an animal to come get a drink.”
“It’s that easy, huh?” Tiff arched an eyebrow.
“Just wait and see for yourself,” I challenged.
We sank into a comfortable position behind a boulder, but I had a clear line of sight to the small pond between the piled rocks.
Tiff picked at pebbles at our feet, and she tossed them in the air before catching them with a swift swipe of her hand.
“Shh,” I urged when a rock dropped to the ground, but Tiff merely rolled her eyes in response.
I returned to watching the small body of water, but we didn’t have to wait long for critters to arrive. A young buck emerged from the other direction, and he sniffed the air cautiously. I stiffened as I waited until the deer inched closer and closer to the water’s edge, and when it turned away, I reached for an arrow. Tiff watched closely as I nocked the arrow, and she gave me an encouraging smile when I glanced in her direction.
Once the deer lowered its head to take a drink, I exhaled and released my arrow. The projectile zipped between the rocks and across the distance to the water before embedding its tip in the deer’s neck. The animal jumped in alarm, and it stumbled away blinded by pain and fear.
“Now, we go after it,” I said, and I gestured for Tiff to lead the way.
We followed the trail of blood spatters decorating leaves and rocks in the injured deer’s wake, but we soon caught up to the animal. It was laying on its side, and I could see its ribs moving as it gulped down air.
“Aww.” Tiff’s eyes filled with emotion. “It’s in pain.”
“We need to end it,” I said, and my gaze flicked to the daggers strapped to her waist. “I think you should do it.”
“Of course you do.” Tiff sighed, but she obediently withdrew her blade.
The Goddess of Death stroked the terrified deer’s face in a comforting manner before she laid her steel against the animal’s throat, and she looked away as she pulled the weapon toward her.
Blood spurted from the wound, and Tiff grimaced as she pushed herself to her feet.
“How was that?” the goddess asked.
“It’s a good start,” I chuckled. “Now, we just need to teach you how to do the whole thing by yourself.”
“There’s no way we’re going to find another deer,” Tiff argued.
“And besides, this is more than enough meat for the two of us.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But I’d feel better if we had a little more meat just in case it takes us longer than we expect to explore the caves.”
“Alright, whatever, just tell me what to do.” Tiff stuck out her hands, and I handed her the bow.
After we dragged the dead deer back to camp and field dressed it, I let her carry the weapon as we found another hunting spot, but I made sure it was far enough away from our first kill to ensure the smell of blood wasn’t in the air. We waited patiently for a while before anything happened, but a rustling sound in the underbrush alerted me to an approaching animal.
“This is it,” I whispered, and I jerked my chin toward the bush.
Tiff inhaled shakily, and she nodded before she nocked an arrow on the bow. She held herself frozen in place as her emerald eyes stared expectantly at the bush, but a second later, a gray and brown rabbit bounded from its cover.
The Goddess of Death reacted instinctively, and she released the arrow as soon as the critter was visible. The projectile struck its target in the side, and the force was strong enough to knock the rabbit several feet away.
“You did it!” I whooped.
“I did it!” Tiff cheered.
We returned to our campsite with our kills in tow, and it didn’t take me long to finish butchering the deer. A short while later, I had strips of meat hanging over a smoldering fire, and Tiff roasted her
skinned rabbit over another, bigger fire. After some of the game was cooked, we settled into comfortable spots to eat our dinner. We laughed and talked between bites, and there was a much more relaxed feeling in the atmosphere.
The fire was dying as the stars were starting to blink into view, and I yawned as I stretched my arms over my head. When I looked back at the goddess, Tiff was staring at me with a wistful expression.
I shot her a quizzical look, but she simply smiled.
“We should get to sleep,” she said.
“Alright,” I allowed with a teasing smile. “We can always continue this discussion another time.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Tiff waved over her shoulder before she climbed inside her tent, but I wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet.
The tension between us was nearly unbearable, and I wanted nothing more than to grab her and kiss her, but I knew better than to touch her without her consent. That could end up being a deadly mistake.
We had a lot of work ahead of us with countless caves to explore, and there could be a trap around every corner. I had to stay focused on the mission and remember my goal.
I made a new save point the next morning before we began to climb up to the first cave, and I was looking forward to the moment when I could reset and know exactly where to go. I smiled as I imagined the shocked and impressed reaction Tiff would give me when I led her straight to the right cave, and I caught the goddess giving me a weird look from the corner of my eye.
“We’ll start here, on the western side of the ravine,” Tiff said in an authoritative tone. “Once we comb through the caves on this side, we’ll turn our attention to the other, and hopefully, find the one we need.”
“How will you know what to look for?” I asked.
“I just will.” Tiff didn’t elaborate, so I dropped it.
The goddess had brought us here without fail, so I needed to trust she knew what she was doing. I was here to make sure she stayed safe from any possible traps or ambushes, so in the end, it didn’t really matter if she told me everything or not.
All would be made clear in time.
We climbed up the steep cliff in order to reach the first few cave openings, but the first several holes we inspected were devoid of anything except an occasional animal dropping. None of them
were big enough to even hold one human, and no tunnels branched off into the darkness.
I sketched a basic map of all the openings I could see from the bottom of the ravine, and we began to cross them off one by one. It was tiring work since getting up to the caves was half the battle, but it would all be worth it when we found the right one. Then I could reset and surprise Tiff in my usual godly fashion.
The sun lifted into the sky and illuminated several more cave openings I hadn’t noticed before, so I quickly noted their location on our working map. The warmth of the light also pushed back the chill in the air, but climbing the cliffs had already caused me to work up a sweat.
I drank heavily from our waterskin, and I swiped the back of my hand across my forehead. This would be the hardest run-through, but for right now, we could take our time. We just had to keep at it.
After searching close to ten more caves, we took a break for lunch, and Tiff and I gazed up at the ravine wall as we ate. She wore a thoughtful expression as she gnawed on some venison jerky, and I couldn’t resist pushing her to open up once more.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked as I playfully bumped my shoulder against hers.
“You really want my two cents worth?” Tiff countered.
“I’d give a million dollars to read your thoughts,” I said.
“So, mind reading isn’t one of your abilities?” Tiff asked with a teasing smile. “Shame.”
“How exactly would that fit with being the God of Time?” I questioned with an amused look. “Although it must sometimes seem like I can read thoughts, the truth is, I can’t. I just have to find out the old-fashioned way: by asking.”
“I was just thinking about how okay I feel.” Tiff cast me a sheepish smile. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m happy, but it’s been… nice.”
“How come?” I pressed. I really wanted to hear her say it was because of me, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, either. Tiff still had a lot of walls around her true self.
“I don’t know…” Tiff looked away, but not fast enough to hide the blush from me. “I guess I’ve had a lot of fun, you know, fighting with you.”
“You can say you like me,” I teased.
Tiff rolled her eyes and shoved me away from her, and it was like we both suddenly realized it was the first contact we’d made with each other since I’d given her the barest brush of a kiss days ago.
The goddess jumped up and stumbled backward for a moment, and I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just sat there. I would make the moment a lot better in the next run-through, but for now, I would let her sit in the awkward tension she’d created.
“I’m going to get back to work,” Tiff said, and she started climbing up the cliff face without another word.
I sighed as I pushed myself to my feet, and I dusted off my pants and consulted the map before I joined Tiff on the side of the ravine. She would come around in time, but I reminded myself to be patient with her. We worked in tandem to cross the caves on the western side of the gorge off our list, and it was getting dark by the time we finished.
Tiff refused to quit until it was too dark to see, and she finally came back to camp with the reluctance of a teenager being told to clean their room. I shook my head in amusement at her miniature tantrum, but I knew it wasn’t safe to go cave diving in the dark.
What she didn’t know was that I didn’t plan on letting an entire day go to waste, and she wasn’t going to find out any time soon.
Chime.
Tiff and I stared up at the cliff wall from the bottom of the gorge, and I turned back to the map. I started to cross off all the caves we’d already explored, and the goddess came to look over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Tiff tried to pull the paper away from me. “You’re messing it all up. We haven’t checked those caves yet.”
“Trust me, there’s nothing there.” I fixed her with a steady look.
“I’m the God of Time, and I’m telling you checking these caves would be a waste of time.”
“So, Mr. Know-it-all, what do you propose we do?” Tiff crossed her arms and flashed me a defiant look. “Just give up?”
“Quite the opposite,” I said. “We check the rest of the caves I haven’t marked, and if we still don’t find the right one, we will just try again.”
“You realize this could take days, right?” Tiff raised a challenging eyebrow. “You can’t skip steps.”
“I’m not skipping anything,” I said. “Look, there’s a lot you still haven’t told me, but I’m trusting you enough to follow you into the
wilderness. Right now, I need you to trust me when I say it’s in our best interest to pass these caves up.”
Tiff studied my face for a long moment like she was expecting me to say I was joking, but she finally nodded in understanding. I could see the questions spiraling in her eyes, but she didn’t voice any of them.
We returned to the cave search, and we spent the better part of the morning finishing the western side of the ravine. Tiff kept eying the caves we had already explored in the previous run-through, but I just continued to redirect her to an unsearched opening.
In the end, it took me three run-throughs before we discovered a cavernous space just beyond a tight and narrow entrance, and I could have leapt for joy when I saw the shadowy tunnels leading into the ground.
“We found it!” Tiff gasped. “And it only took us one day!”
“It’s going to take even less than that,” I countered.
“What do you mean?” Tiff frowned. “We already found it.”
“Oh, you’ll see.” I grinned from ear to ear as I reset to my save point with a wave of my will.
Chime.
It was the morning after we’d arrived in the ravine, and this time, I knew exactly where to go. I watched Tiff studying the map for a moment, but it was unnecessary since I could take her directly to the cave we were searching for.
“We should start on the western side of the ravine,” Tiff suggested without looking up at me. “Then, once we eliminate the caves to the west, we can turn our attention to the eastern wall.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “I know where the cave is.”
“Yeah, I know where a bunch of them are,” Tiff countered in a sarcastic tone. “Look around. There are hundreds of caves in this ravine.”
“I mean I can take you to the one you really want,” I said.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Tiff scoffed. “This isn’t a game. We have to examine every opening in this ravine, and it’s probably going to take us more than one day.”
“Follow me,” I said with a shit-eating grin, and I offered her my hand.
Tiff sputtered and complained for a few moments before she accepted my hand with an exasperated sigh, but she followed behind me without any further argument. We ascended the cliff wall
bit by bit, and once we hit the level path leading to the cavernous space, I gestured for Tiff to take the lead.
The Goddess of Death slid between the narrow rock opening into the huge space beyond, and I followed a pace behind her. Her head was tilted back as she peered up at the distant ceiling, and I watched as her gaze swept around the cave until it landed on the tunnels at the back of the chamber.
“Wow!” Tiff turned to give me a bright smile. “You did it. You really did it!”
“It’s no big deal.” I smirked.
“Seriously, Bash, how did you know which one it was?” Tiff continued to stare around in awe. “It took you less than an hour.”
“I have my ways,” I said in a vague tone. “But now we know where to start. Who knows what is waiting for us in those tunnels, but at least you won’t have to face it alone.”
“Thank you, Bash.” Tiff’s emerald eyes filled with emotion, and she quickly blinked back moisture to regain her composure. “I know I keep saying that, but I really mean it.”
“You’re welcome to say it as much as you want,” I teased. “I’m sure it’s not the last time I do something nice for you.”
“We should get started,” Tiff said, and she turned toward the shadows at the back of the cavern. “We’re so close, I can feel it.”
“Close to what?” I asked.
“Answers,” Tiff replied.
There were obvious signs of previous human visits, and Tiff grabbed a torch from a pile in the corner. I summoned a flame into the palm of my hand, and I illuminated the path ahead while Tiff stepped into the tunnel with her torch raised. Her movements were slow and cautious, but I didn’t blame her. There was still the possibility that this was all an elaborate trap set up by the God of the Plague, and danger could lurk around every corner.
We explored deeper into the tunnel, and the air was dank and dusty. The stone walls were coated in a film of spiderwebs and fungi, but then the rough-hewn walls gave way to layered bricks.
“This was made by humans,” I pointed out as the architecture in the tunnel became more apparent.
“My research indicated this was a hiding place for magic users in the realm,” Tiff said as she looked around with a thoughtful expression. “I wonder who built it.”
“Well, if wizards created this place, then I’m sure we can expect some creative traps along the way,” I said. “We’ll have to stay alert.”
“After you,” Tiff said with a flourish of her hand toward the tunnel ahead.
“You just want me to be the first to die when there’s an unexpected trap,” I teased.
“I thought you couldn’t die,” Tiff countered.
“Touché.” I laughed.
We continued to banter and tease each other as we followed the tunnel deeper into the earth, but the dropping temperature made me pull my cloak tighter around me. I noticed a few unlit torches along the walls, and I ignited them before passing on. If this ended up being a maze, then it would help to know where we’d already been.
We eventually came to a junction with three tunnels meeting together in a circular annex, and once I lit all the torches on the walls between the corridors, I noticed a spot between the entrances with carvings in the stone. I stepped closer and narrowed my eyes as I analyzed the lines and circles indented in the rock wall, but then I
realized it was a map of the caves we were in. I could tell because it appeared to match the rough sketch we’d drawn of the openings from the bottom of the ravine, and I ran my fingers along the recesses until I found our current location.
“Why would they make a map if they were trying to hide stuff here?” I asked the goddess over my shoulder.
“Who knows.” Tiff stepped up to my side and gazed at the carved map. “Maybe getting around the maze isn’t the dangerous part, so it doesn’t matter if visitors see the map since they don’t make it out alive.”
“Dark,” I chuckled. “That’s not going to happen to us.”
“You have a lot of confidence…” Tiff looked up at me with a searching expression. “How is it that you seem to know so many things?”
“Maybe we’ll have time to discuss it after we survive this,” I said. “But for now, we should stay focused on finishing the mission. If this is a hiding place for magical artifacts, then where would they be?”
“Probably in the furthest corner deep underground,” Tiff said.
“If I were hiding things, I’d make sure the space it was in was the
most difficult to access.”
“Alright, well, then we at least know where to aim,” I said as I tapped the stone map. “This appears to be the end of the maze of tunnels. It may take a while this time, but bear with me.”
“This time?” Tiff’s voice showed her confusion, but when I didn’t answer right away, she scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, let’s get going.”
I ran my finger along the stone wall starting from our destination, and it reminded me of one of those coloring book mazes, but it didn’t take me long to trace the correct path.
“This way,” I said, and I led the way into the third tunnel from the left.
I lit torches along the way, and when I glanced over my shoulder, the corridor back to the annex was fully illuminated. It would be helpful to have a clear exit if we ran into trouble, but I didn’t think there was anything down here I couldn’t handle.
A distant swooshing noise echoed through the tunnel ahead, and I frowned as I crept forward. As I lifted my flame to illuminate the path before us, I found gigantic metal blades dangling from the
ceiling that swung from wall to wall, and there was only about two feet between them.
“Whoa.” Tiff whistled under her breath. “What do we do, boss?”
“We have to time it perfectly,” I said. “There’s probably a lever or switch on the other side that controls them.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“It’s pretty common in these situations, at least in the video game versions,” I said. “Come on, we have to figure out the rhythm.”
I wondered if I could use my griffon feather boots to jet though the swinging blades without getting sliced to ribbons, but that wouldn’t help Tiff unless I was carrying her on my back. I wasn’t sure if she would be willing to do that, and it did make me a little uncomfortable to think about her deadly touch against my flesh. I didn’t think she would do anything, at least not before I got her through this mission, but I had to be prepared for anything.
“You really think we can get through this without being chopped in half?” Tiff shook her head in disbelief. “How exactly are we going to do that?”
I thought about offering to carry her through the obstacle, but I wasn’t ready to put myself in that vulnerable position just yet. Once I
knew I could trust the deadly beauty, I would be willing to let her touch me as much as she wanted, but I had to look out for myself first.
“Well, there’s a little bit of space between each blade.” I pointed to the square paving stones lining the floor between the swinging metal. “All we have to do is get to one safe zone at a time.”
“Alright,” Tiff said in a decisive tone, and she rubbed her hands together as she stepped up to the booby-trapped tunnel. “Let’s do this.”
“Wait for my signal,” I instructed, and I kept a close watch on the blades.
The metal swished as it swung into a crevice in the wall, and there was a slight pause before it reemerged. I counted it a couple of times until I felt confident I could time it perfectly, and when it disappeared again, I signaled for Tiff to move forward.
We repeated the process step by step, and once Tiff was a few spots ahead of me, I followed her into the corridor. There were roughly ten blades swinging behind and in front of us, but we took our time. Rushing would be pointless if it led to injury, so I resisted the urge to hurry through the obstacle.
Once we emerged on the other side, Tiff let out a sigh of relief, and she flashed me a grateful smile. I knew this was only the first of many possible traps, but it was encouraging to see her starting to trust me more and more. It would be even more awesome when I reset and showed her the way like a flamboyant tour guide, but first, I wanted to discover all the secrets lying ahead.
We continued onward, but our steps were slow and careful.
We put a lot of distance behind us without encountering any more obstacles, but I knew the swinging blades weren’t the only defense mechanism down here.
Then I heard the sound of stone scraping against stone in the tunnel ahead, and I motioned for Tiff to be careful and stay behind me. The goddess obeyed without hesitation, but she peered around my shoulder with curiosity. Once I held my flame up to shed light on the situation, I saw the stone tiles on the floor of the corridor shifting and moving on their own.
I watched with fascination as the flooring rearranged itself in a continuous cycle, and I couldn’t find any levers or buttons to turn it off. We would have to get over it, but that would be easier said than done. It seemed as though the tiles were constantly returning to the
starting point over and over again, but maybe if we treated it like an escalator, we could reach the other side.
“Don’t stop moving,” I instructed the Goddess of Death. “Jump from one tile to another, and pay attention to the ones heading toward the other side.”
“This is like hopscotch on steroids,” Tiff commented in a dry tone. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Careful,” I warned. “You could be eating your words soon.”
I took the first step onto the tiles, and I was surprised by the speed the floor moved with. My feet were nearly swept out from underneath me, but I bent my knees and moved with it like a surfer.
Once the tile I stood on began to return to the starting position, I jumped onto another stone.
Tiff followed after me, but her progress was much slower. The tiles around her started to move in a circular motion, and every step she took only brought her closer to her starting point. It was like they were sensing us and adjusting, so it wasn’t just a simple puzzle to solve.
We had to outthink it.
“Come here,” I said as I headed toward the goddess, but I made sure to watch my step carefully.
Tiff jumped from tile to tile fast enough to break away from the circling stones, and a moment later, she was by my side. Before the tile she stood on could pull her away, I grabbed her hand and led the way to the other side. There were a couple of times when the stone we stood on was surrounded by tiles moving too fast to step on, and we were cramped chest to chest.
I looked down into the goddess’ emerald eyes, but I didn’t want to be distracted from our current obstacle, so I gestured for her to move ahead. I pointed out the right tile to step onto, and she leapt forward with a graceful motion.
The tiles moved faster and faster the closer we got to the other side, and soon we were dashing across the floor jumping from spot to spot like frogs crossing a highway. As we neared the edge where the floor stopped shifting, the stones suddenly fell away, and we were left teetering on two isolated tiles several feet away from the ledge of the tunnel ahead. The darkness at my feet seemed never-ending, and I didn’t want to experiment with how far down it went.
“We have to jump,” I said. “You’re closer, so you go first. Then I’ll jump to your spot.”
Tiff nodded in understanding, and she set her chin to a determined angle before she aimed at the ledge ahead of her. I held my breath as I watched her muscles bunch, and I didn’t release it until she landed safely on the other side. The goddess fell into a roll, but she came up on her feet with her arms raised triumphantly above her head.
“I made it!” She whooped with delight. “Come on, slowpoke, hurry up!”
“Shut up,” I laughed before I followed in her footsteps.
Once I was safely by her side, we shared a smile before turning our gaze to the room around us. We were in another annex with three other corridors branching off, and I tried to remember the map carved into the stone. It seemed like it was fairly straight forward, but I didn’t remember which way to go from here. I’d have to take a shot in the dark, but once I reset to my save point, I could lead the goddess confidently through the maze.
“After you.” I gestured to the tunnel to my left, and Tiff strutted in front of me with a confident smile. Her lack of fear or tension was comforting, and I hoped it meant she was finally trusting me to have her back.
The tunnel led to a dead end, and it opened up to a room that appeared to be a sleeping chamber. There were bunk beds on either side of the space, and a basket overflowing with blankets and linens on the floor in between them. There were no signs of recent occupancy, so I didn’t think anyone was down here with us, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“So, the wizards could sleep down here?” Tiff asked as she gazed around at the space. “Kind of dreary, isn’t it?”
“Maybe they needed a space like this in order to conduct magical experiments,” I said. “The walls and layers of dirt above us could dampen any negative effects.”
“True.” Tiff turned away from the bunk beds and returned to the hallway. “Why did we come this way? I thought you knew everything.”
“You’ll see,” I said in a vague tone, but I followed her the rest of the way back to the annex in silence.
There was no point wasting time explaining my powers when we still had a mission to focus on, and besides, she wouldn’t remember asking any of these questions during the next run-through. She knew what I let her know, but I wasn’t ready to reveal
all of my secrets just yet. All my other women had acted confused and bewildered whenever I tried to explain the finer points of my abilities, and I had to reset in order to restore their total faith in me. I wasn’t sure if I would have the same outcome with the Goddess of Death since she possessed her own range of powers, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
Maybe someday.
We took the next tunnel, and it began to curve and descend even further into the ground. I could only imagine the manpower it had required to construct such a maze, but it could have been made simpler by the existing cave network already being present. We emerged from the corridor into a brick room with what appeared to be an altar at the center, and stone benches covered in clumps of moss circled the center platform. Pillars separated the room into quadrants, and vines climbed the columns toward the ceiling despite the lack of sunlight.
Maybe there was some kind of magic helping them grow.
The whole place reeked of magic, and the hairs on my arms and neck stood on end. I didn’t see any obvious traps, but that didn’t mean there weren’t defensive spells in place. There was only one
way to find out, and I’d have to search the entire space if I wanted one hundred percent completion of this mission.
“Looks like a church,” Tiff observed as we stood in the entrance. “Do you think there’s something hidden in here?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Let’s rule it out, just in case.”
Tiff nodded before she stepped cautiously into the room, and we each went in separate directions as we flanked the circular room.
There were alcoves and shelves carved into the rock walls with simple wooden carvings of animals and candles, but I could sense faint tingles of residual magic. They didn’t react when I tried to check the stats, so they had no use anymore.
A bloodstain decorated the altar, but there was no way to tell if it was animal or human. There was also no telling what weird religion or cult met down here, but it seemed like this wizard’s hideout had something for everyone.
“Find anything?” the goddess asked as we met at the center of the cavern.
“Nope.” I pressed my lips into a tight line. “Let’s try that other tunnel. It has to be the right one.”
“If you say so.” A smirk twisted the corners of her lips, but she led the way back to the second annex without another word.
The final tunnel veered to the right, and then it began to curve and twist like a snake slithering through a leaf-strewn forest floor. It was hard to see what lay ahead around the blind corners, so our steps were slow and careful. We continued to ignite the torches jutting from the wall whenever we came across them, and the flames cast our silhouettes into dancing shadows in front of us.
After we’d walked for a couple hundred feet, the air began to crackle with energy. Something ahead was ripe with magic, and I tensed as the intensity grew stronger. I had a bad feeling about what we were heading toward, but it would be nice to finally find out what was in store for us.
If the God of the Plague set up a trap for Tiff, then I had no doubt she would join my side in the war against him, but if we found nothing but magical artifacts, then there was a good chance she would remain his ally. Either way, I needed to know where we stood.
I hoped she’d see reason, but that would be her choice to make.
“Do you feel that?” Tiff asked as she pulled me to a stop.
“Magic,” I said with a nod.
We continued on a little while longer, but then a strong stench of decay and fecal waste wafted down the tunnel into our faces, and we both grimaced in disgust.
Whatever we were about to face, it was going to be gross.
Finally, we came across a flight of stairs leading down to an archway, and I had a feeling everything we were looking for lay in the chamber ahead. I jerked my chin at Tiff to signal her to go first, and then I stepped down right behind her. We entered a large cavern with a domed ceiling close to twenty feet above our heads, but when my gaze fell to the floor, my stomach dropped.
The space was filled with snarling, twitching things that roughly resembled humans, except their entire bodies were covered in boils, oozing sores, and warts, and they were tall with thick, rippling muscles like bodybuilders. Their eyes were bloodshot and wild, and they jerked their heads around as if they were searching for something, but then every gross creature in the cavern turned to face us simultaneously.
“What. The. Fuck.” Tiff’s emerald eyes widened as she stared at the horde before us.
I swallowed hard as I scanned over the dense horde, and I realized we were outnumbered at least twenty to one. This was going to take some time, but fortunately, I had that all under control.
Chime.