Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows

Chapter forty-five, Crypt-ick: Unilatterally.

-Three weeks after leaving Airship Mauled, Soar Way mountainside, Flamberge-

The opening was before us, it lead into a dark tunnel descending into the mountain. I turned to my brother who was already holding his shield at the ready, I pulled out my sword and… it was sleeping again.

“Wake up, I need your light!” The sword didn’t say anything as I waved it wildly through the air. It was a sword, a mighty sword that was always on fire when awakened, but a sword nonetheless. As such it could not talk, but if it could I bet it would tell many a story. “Brother, a little help here!?”

“I am Fortitude, the fantastically fragrant!” My brother yelled at the sword and it jerked a bit in my grip before lighting up with flames.

I nodded to him in thanks and held it aloft as we walk into the shadowed halls beyond the archway and down the stairs.

“Soon we will find the 'Mists of Travel On', endless adventure awaits us brother!” We were going to find a tomb full of deadly Draugr protecting our sought after mode of transportation.

I figured this place couldn’t be too heavily guarded, right?

We descended further into the depths while being wary of any noise coming from the shadows. I was ready as I would ever be and would be the main offensive force. Fortitude… he could handle just about anything really, offense, defense, blocking a tunnel with his girth if needed and in general enhancing my fireballs whenever I fired them near his ozone layer.

He may smell bad enough to wake and then kill the dead again, but he was still my brother.

-???-

A pair of glowing red eyes opened in the dark as it hears the sound of claws and cloven hooves clacking against the cold hard stone floor.

These eyes saw the two figures pass it by and it watched them go on, the two were heading into the catacombs where the deadly Draugr waited to slaughter the fools.

Whether they survived or not depended on how attentive and strong they were.

Dropping to the floor after their light dimmed out of sight, the being hefted a large object glinting in the dark and started to follow the intruders at a distance.

It made no noise and was light as a feather. The only things visible were the two blood red orbs and the faintest hint of silver wisps that could be seen flowing behind the red eyes even in the dark.

It moved after the two intruders, watching and waiting for them to drop their guard.

The moment they dropped their guard, that’s when they were doomed.

-Fortitude-

It is like Ogres and Oubliettes… many coffins, most of them empty of the desecrated dead. Quite a few scratching noises, but we were not seeing anything. Smell is horrible, like decay and strange unappetizing chemicals.

Something very wrong happened in these twisting, winding halls. It was just a strong feeling that some of the warriors here likely do not sleep or weren’t allowed their rightful rests.

Something moved in the shadows outside the light of Flamberge’s sword… something was watching us.

I am ready to defend my brother’s back from any attack, for I am a mighty yak defender!

“Brother… there is danger nearby and do you see that?” I pointed my right hoof at something on the floor to our left as we entered a wide open space full of pillars, dust and destroyed coffins pulled from their holes in the wall.

There were long since desiccated bodies strewn about, they didn’t look like they got up or moved around from whence they fell when their coffins were tampered with.

“Where?” He came over and held the light of his sword out over a dried out husk that looked to have been cleaved in half at the barrel. The earth pony in the armor hadn’t been alive in a long time and yet their body has recently been moving. “This was recent, the damage is quite fresh and if this body was moving… it was likely to have been a Draugr. What could have been strong enough to deal with it like this though and why?”

Draugr, undead warriors powered by the darkest of magic that were never allowed to rest or reach the afterlife. It is a horrible fate to befall anyone. To become trapped in decayed forms, with both souls and knowledge powering the horrid husks.

They didn’t go out in the light of day as the sun's power would quickly dispel the dark magic and set the souls free, but at night they would leave their dark dwellings to kidnap or attack brave young warriors to add to their gruesome ranks.

These creatures could only be found in caves, crypts or dark places like this one. They are spoken of in Viking legends fairly often as being dangerous in groups or even alone. Among the weaknesses they had, one was fire and the other was silver.

We had plenty of fire, Flamberge couldn’t run out of that, but we distinctly lacked silver weapons though. Still, even without silver weapons, a sufficient enough force would suffice in destroying a Draugr if you could take off the head or damage the body badly enough to make holes for the soul to escape imprisonment.

The soul that used to occupy the husk before us was thankfully free of its imprisonment. There was definitely dark magic here. Even as strong and brave as I was… this place sent shivers down my spine by just being here.

A screech sounded out and Flamberge turned his sword to catch the husk of a griffon swinging forward from around a nearby pillar, it was bearing down on him with a claymore. My brother blocked the blow and was knocked back a few feet for his effort.

The griffon, flightless due to its bony wings, stared at us with sickly green eyes as it charged forward and swung for us again for a horizontal blow.

Stepping forward, I proudly held my shield aloft and steadied myself for the blow. The sword wielded within the two scrawny limbs stopped immediately before the might of my shield.

I was shaken slightly from the mighty impact and the weight put behind that blow stunned me somewhat.

Even so, I proudly held my ground even if this creature’s strength was unnatural enough that it could almost make me falter by itself. Pushing back at it, I knocked it off balance.

Flamberge quickly regained his sense, surged forward and slashed for the monsters neck as it tried to raise its weapon for another attack. It was too late to defend itself.

The undead griffon’s head flew off and became engulfed in flame to thankfully dissolve away into nothing. The body was also engulfed and burned away, leaving behind a pile of scorched armor and a sword clattering harmlessly against the cold stone floor.

One other thing was left behind by the monster’s destruction, it was the spirit of the trapped griffon Viking. She looked both sorrowful and even a little bit hopeful.

“Be wary, you need to look out for the guardian who can’t destroy the source of all our woes.” The ghost warned us, it started to slowly fade away and floated up through the ceiling with a small smile on her beak. Valkyries bring her to where she belongs, she fought her own eternal rest long enough to give us warning and a clue. “Thank… you…”

“The guardian who can’t destroy the source… what do you suppose that ‘source’ part meant?” At brother’s question and head scratching, I just merely shrugged. I am not knowing what we have stumbled upon, but we did expect the legendary Draugr at least.

“I am not knowing, but Draugr was almost strong enough to knock me off guard.” My brother looked upon me with shock and his draconic wings flared out in surprise. “I am completely fine brother, there is no need to worry about yak health!”

“That’s not what I’m staring at, look at your shield!” Blinking at my brother’s distress, I turned the shield so that I could see it in the light of his sword’s flames.

Not once in my life, since it was excellently forged, had my shield been damaged by anything. At least it hadn’t been damaged until now that is. There’s now a large horizontal scar across my shield that was caused by the claymore that now lay upon the floor. The damage was really quite impressive for one blow, considering all the things my shield has been through previously.

“I am sure the griffon warrior would not mind if I take up her weapon to seek vengeance for the fallen.” I took up the claymore in my left hoof to slide it under the strap of my shield. “It is only honorable that we make things right for those who came here before us, we will free them all!”

“Are you sure about taking up that weapon brother?” Looking to Flamberge, I nodded softly. He accepted my choice gracefully. “Right, let’s move, we cannot let this darkness continue on beyond this point!”

“The weapon is quite sturdy and grim work needs to be done brother, my shield will not be enough for this task alone.” I joined him as we started to slowly move forward, more cautious than ever before. Our goal was set and we were of one mind, heart and spirit. “We will fight for victory against this darkness or free as many as we can! Only in victory can we truly go after the ‘Mists of Travel On’ with clear minds.”

-???-

These two were a curiosity.

They defeated a Draugr, but how would they do against more than one?

I would wait and see what they could do before I decide to make my approach.

The last few adventurers didn’t make it too much farther in. The traps here were not meant to keep robbers out… they were made to keep something in.

It was not my time to test their mettle yet, I would wait to see what they could accomplish before I stood in their way.

They would die to possibly become part of this cursed crypt or they would succeed in their endeavors.

I care not which of those two things happened, but I would surely try to be the one that killed them.

-Flamberge-

My brother took up a weapon. It was surprising, but it made sense given the circumstances when even his shield wasn’t sufficient for the danger we were approaching. What was more surprising was that his shield was actually damaged, I had never seen it tarnished before.

We’d find the ‘Mists of Travel On’ after we were done here. We would not leave a single soul trapped in this Hel, the horrid underworld that it is! From what that spirit said, there is a source to this problem and a guardian we should be wary of.

If we had Gene’s wits, then we wouldn’t have any problems. It was just the two of us and we did not ask for help from our tribe before coming here, we were solidly on our own for this.

We came here on our quest. We made a silent promise to see our brother again and to send aid towards Airship Mauled, we were keeping those promises and will still be alive to talk about it!

I heard a scratching noise, the twisting of bone against bone creaking in the darkness around us as we walked into a wide open circular space and then…. complete unnatural silence.

Another flame was lit and I turned to see Fortitude tying a torch to one of his horns, I think that was just in case he can’t see by the light of my sword. We should have considered doing that sooner, but I’m reminded that we weren’t very bright.

Stepping forward, we both heard a clicking noise and I readied my sword.

Something swiftly moved towards us and Fortitude caught it on his shield, it was an enormous swinging axe coming from the ceiling. A trap perhaps? I am glad that my brother caught it so easily, though it seems to be straining him to hold it like that.

While my brother was preoccupied with the pendulum axe, three Draugr charged in at us. Two of them came from behind and one came from the path we were following.

Two winged ponies with spears and a big bony looking yak with a large war hammer.

I took out the pony charging us from the way we were facing by spitting a fireball at it. It immediately caught fire and fell over shrieking. It quickly dissolved and the green light disappeared from its eyes.

I turned to deflect the other pony’s spear away from me and into the ground where it created a crater from the force of the stab and got stuck.

After staring at the bowl shaped concave for a second, I swiftly slashed its head away from its torso. I doubt that I could take a hit like that from a Draugr, even my scales weren’t that tough. I wasn’t taking any chances here and would always take them seriously by putting them down as quickly as I could.

I hadn’t been paying well enough attention, as the last Draugr was in the midst of swinging the war hammer to take my head off.

If both pony and griffon Draugr were significantly stronger than normal…

Before the hammer could connect with me, the pendulum axe ripped its way into the yak’s chest making it drop its hammer. It was summarily slammed it into a wall to where it became pinned.

It struggled to free itself and it snarled quite loudly, but it couldn’t find any leverage on the axe taking up half its torso. If having half its torso taken up by a large axe blade didn’t put a Draugr down, I hoped we didn’t meet more than three at a time.

Fortitude, looking particularly angry to see a Yak Draugr, he roared as he swung the torch tied to his horn into the trapped monster’s body.

The shrieking of the creature as it caught fire would be stuck in my memories for a while. I watched as the flames tore through the undead yak swiftly, leaving nothing left.

“Yak soul be free!” Fortitude shouted. “As my patron goddess Sekhet is fond of saying, all souls are sacred!”

“Are you okay brother?” My question was received with a grunt and he turned to continue along our path.

“I am being fine, let us continue forward and down. We find this Draugr source, then yak smash!” I worried about the big lug, seeing that a yak fell to these Draugr must not have been a very pleasant experience for him. “I am also very scared... almost lose brother if not for quick thinking!”

“Be fair, we’re facing a fairy tale monsters that we’ve only heard about in stories.” At least we had a fairly good advantage against them, I could breathe fire and Fortitude was strong enough to tear them down quickly. "So I'm scared too."

We exited into the long winding hallways and went past several more disturbed coffins and down some stairs.

-???-

Three more Draugr felled, maybe they actually had a chance to survive long enough for me to kill them.

There was some mild hope that it wouldn't ever have to come to that.

Author's Note:

Now we're getting into Flamberge and Fortitude's journey.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

These are the sorts of dungeon grinds where I barely manage to survive the first incident, or even fail more often, so reload the prior savepoint and head off elsewhere to grind. Which gets really bad if the coders decide to punish those who dont like being brutally abused directly to the coders wishes.

[Alchemik]

I'm a little disappointed we're done with Jade's part for now. She's one of my favorites in this, along with her crew. But ah well, nothing lasts forever, and now we get to see these two most excellent chuckleheads find fortune and glory! And hopefully friends.

[Shadowshame]

I wonder which one of the will get a familiar as both Velvet and Jacky got familiars a trend seems to be forming