Chapter 10: Blood and Ashes
Upon descending the dusty-tiled stairs, the group were immediately accosted by a gang of zombies. Two wielded their typical vicious daggers, flanking from the left and right, but in the rear of the long chamber, two archers lurked, releasing volleys of glowing arrows.
One of these projectiles struck Big McIntosh in the unprotected foreleg, causing him to stumble. Although the arrow only grazed the flesh, his leg went completely numb. The surrounding area had a sickly bluish tinge.
“Ice arrows!” Twilight yelled out in warning, as Iron Will casually decapitated his quarry with a single swing. “Take cover!”
“Easier said than done!” Spike yelped, narrowly sidestepping what would have been a lethal headshot.
The four attempted to dodge right, but Big McIntosh stumbled over his paralyzed leg, causing the group to remain rooted to the spot. “Nope!” he cried out as the undead mass plunged its jagged blade into his side. At least know they were aware of the envenomed blade, but their lack of sufficient time to properly prepare antivenom was of concern. The deadly toxins began to sap his strength, but his constitution was legendary and he wasn't going to drop dead on the spot.
Spike sent a flurry of daggers at the melee zombie while Twilight threw a fireball at the archers, enveloping them in a smoldering inferno. The disturbingly familiar scent of charred hide assaulted everyone's nostrils, but the prisoners were far too jacked on adrenaline to faze.
Just when the smoke started to clear, the archers stepped out, skeletal, but still animate. The muscles and ligaments completely burned from their bones, it was now crystal clear they were magically animated. The runes they had noticed earlier remained on the skeletons, apparently chiseled into the pelvis beneath the flesh. Seemingly unhurt by the loss of their flesh, the monsters continued their relentless ranged assault.
Frantically dodging and attempting to minimize the impacts of the freezing arrows, the prisoners sustained a few casualties as they zigzagged toward the undead rangers. Spike was struck in the claw, severely hindering his offensive capabilities. Iron Will was hit in his neck, although the freezing effect seemed to be much less prevalent due to his minotaur vitality.
The zombie archers proved to be worthless fighters at melee range. Big McIntosh and Iron Will sent their broken bones flying against every wall of the room before they could even try to swing.
Feeling empowered from their victory, Spike triumphantly snatched up one of the fallen bows in his good claw, having noticed it was in good condition despite its age. “Hey, Twilight, look what I found!” he announced, looking gleefully to his right. He promptly shrieked in terror. Twilight Sparkle lay dead on the floor, blood pooling from the arrow which had pierced her forehead.
“Twilight! No!” Spike screamed, his eyes welling up with tears of panic at the loss of his best friend. He quickly remembered the glowing gemstones they had encountered earlier. “We need to find one of those life crystals, quickly!”
“Eyup,” Big Mac agreed. The lack of Twilight's healing spell meant that his wound would go unhealed, and he was already getting woozy from blood loss and poison. Iron Will did what he could with a makeshift bandage made from strips of cloth, but it wouldn't stop the venom running through his veins.
Iron Will, the only remaining party member still in decent fighting condition, silently nodded, although he knew it was too far to backtrack. “Well, come on, move it along!” he rallied, taking over the leadership position in Twilight's absence. Hoisting her corpse on his shoulder, he bravely lead the party into the next room.
The next room contained a barred gate with some text inscribed into the wall next to it. Since Twilight wasn't there to translate, they were unable to read it, and instead searched around for a triggering mechanism. Spike, looking around for hidden buttons, felt something cold and sharp brush against his back. He shivered in fear for a while before daring to turn around.
Behind him, adorning the wall, was a statue of the most terrifying creature he had ever seen. “GAHHHH!” he screamed, jumping into the air and predictably slamming back down into the floor, bound by the chains that connected him to the others.
Iron Will took a closer look at the statue of the devilish head, noticing that one of the red-jeweled eyes was missing. “Looks like something's supposed to go in here,” he said.
“Eyup,” agreed Big Mac.
“Whoops...” Spike said, sheepishly blushing. He reached into his sack and pulled out a matching gem with a small bite out of it. “I got this from the zombie. Ehehehe...”
Trying to avoid the dirty looks his fellow prisoners gave him, Spike stood on his tippy-toes. He just barely managed to reach high enough to slide the partially-eaten ruby into the eye socket of the statue. There was a loud clanking noise, and the gate slid open.
“Well, that settles that. No time to waste!” Iron Will shouted, marching onward. Big Mac was looking pretty bad. The color had begun to drain from his face, leaving it a pale pink. His wound was festering beneath the crimson-stained cloth bandage, burning and eroding away his will to continue. But he had to be strong. For his friends. For his family.
As they walked along the narrow hall, Spike picked up a burnt parchment that Big McIntosh's hoofsteps kicked into the air. He started reading it aloud:
There are some kind of nasty flying beasts ahead. They spit fireballs and attack with their talons, but I can't say for sure that they are phoenixes. They seem to have the tail of a wyvern and scaly wings. One of them singed me, but I managed to finish it off with a well-placed blow to the head. I advise you not to get cornered, unless you fancy being roasted alive. Best of luck.
Root Rum
“Well, it's a good thing I'm fireproof!” Spike announced joyfully. It seemed Mt. Grimrock had cut him a break for once. Just then, an orange glow appeared around the corner.
“Good. Then you go first!” Iron Will replied, shoving Spike to the front of the party.
Spike immediately regretted his outburst. Hoping for the best, he peeked around the corner and saw that the light actually came from a hanging lamp on the ceiling.
“It's all clear, guys! It's just a lamp!” Spike breathed a sigh of relief that turned out to be premature. The swooping creature zoomed out of the fire, blasting a flurry of burning missiles at him from its mouth. Had he been anything but a dragon, he would have been reduced to ash.
Spike aimed a dagger and threw it at the creature as it turned around, prepared for another salvo. Despite being forced to use his uninjured off-hand, he landed a lucky strike and felled the beast with a knife to the neck. It collapsed to the floor in a pile of ash, never to rise again.
“Well, it's gone now,” Spike announced, signaling Iron Will and Big Mac to come along. As they walked toward the comforting blue glow at the end of the hallway, Spike thought he heard something. It sounded like... peeping. He knew that sound. Suddenly, he realized the reason the creature attacked so viciously. He couldn't bear to look over his shoulder at the crying chicks inside the fiery nest. What had they become?
That night, the four of them dreamed of freedom.