Dread runners a litrpg u.., p.17
Dread Runners: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler, page 17
Simon lowered his shield as he ran. He saw the elf across the crevasse give him a sly wink.
“Simon?” Bridget said as she ran alongside him.
“They’re testing us. Just keep running,” the darkling said as his shield shrunk a little.
The pair charged along the strange spires, explosions rippling around them.
Val had moved into the lead. The dark shadows of the cavern began to part, and she spotted an archway.
“The exit is just ahead!” the vamp shouted over her shoulder.
Roma darted low, her paws carrying her as fast as she could. She watched the vamp ahead.
There was a large rumble, enough to shake the whole cavern.
Val stopped running and moved behind a spire. She poked her head out and looked, as the cavern shook again.
Simon pumped his legs, looking ahead and to the other side. When the cavern shook, he nearly lost his footing as he pushed ahead.
The elves across the crevasse stopped shooting as they ran.
An explosion rocked the cavern. Debris and mist blasted up from the crevasse as something large curled upwards.
Val saw it first, a giant, crimson skinned thing curling over to the elf side of the cavern. A large, tooth-filled maw opened as it swiveled its head to the elves.
“Red Worm!” several elves shouted at once.
The giant creature was over a hundred feet long, and thirty feet wide. The scent of living meat touched its senses, and it struck down like lightning.
The Shipwreck team pulled, or jumped back. The head of the worm struck the ground, caving in part of it. It reared back, crushing rocks in its mouth to dust.
“We found enough bait for the rest of our lives! Hit it with everything you got!” the elf captain shouted as she fired both mana pistols.
The red-haired elf fired fire arrows, as the shadow elf mage whispered an incantation, and a stream of lightning blasted from her hands.
The red worm screeched as magical attacks peppered and exploded along the trunk of it.
Val turned to the rest of the team getting closer to her.
“This is our chance to make a run for the exit,” she shouted.
Simon slowed his pace, and pulled his battle-axe from behind his back. He looked across as the worm looked like it was barely taking any damage. The elves leapt and fired away, but the worm was getting closer to them. Worried looks filled most of their eyes, but their captain shouted and fired like courage incarnate.
Tara looked at Simon, and saw what dwelled in his gaze.
“Simon, no!” the wight said.
Simon spoke without looking at the wight, “I know this might not make sense, but if we don't make allies, we will never reach the bottom.”
And with that, the darkling darted for the edge of the crevasse, and made an impossible leap upwards, battle-axe in hand.
Roma’s cat eyes watched as Simon flew across the crevasse with his battle-axe overhead.
Simon was silent as he soared into the chaotic fray. When he was near the giant worm, he brought Bone Splitter down, and sliced into the monster’s thick hide.
The worm let out another inhuman screech as it thrashed, and waved.
Black claws stabbed out from the darkling’s left hand, and stabbed into the monster’s tough hide so he could cling on to it. With a mighty pull of his right arm, he dislodged the battle-axe, and slammed it into the monster again.
Dark ichor seeped from the new pair of fresh wounds, yet the monster continued to thrash, the darkling barely holding on.
The elf captain, and her crew, watched in astonishment as the darkling held on and slammed his axe into it again, and again.
Simon didn’t shout or scream. Only purpose filled him as he tried to slay the monster himself.
“Help the hero!” the elf captain shouted.
Weapons and mystical energies aimed, and blasted out.
The red worm thrashed as it was attacked on two fronts. Lightning and fire blinded its already poor vision. Its senses were assaulted with magic and fire arrows. The constant chopping of the thing hanging on it distracted it further. The bleeding pain grew so great, and the monster let out a weak wail.
“Bridget, aim at the worm!” Tara commanded.
The flesh golem lifted her gauntlets, but hesitated.
“I might hit Simon,” she said.
Roma began to shift back into her human form, but Val stared at Simon with annoyed eyes. She watched as the worm was weakening from the many attacks.
Simon lifted his bloody axe again, and chopped into the worm again, foul blood leaking from it.
When the darkling was about to make another strike, something landed above him. He looked up to see Val on the worm, a katana blade in each hand.
The vamp moved quickly. Her blades sliced across the worm’s body as she ran up the length of it. Her movements were so quick, gravity was but a guideline. Her attacks were quick blurs, slicing away at the monster as she ran. When she nearly reached the head, she lifted her blades up to impale them in the things’ wide head.
There was a shift, and the red worm’s head snapped up just as she was stabbing down. It slammed into her, scattering her blades away as she was thrown backwards into the air.
The vamp floated over the dark crevasse. Understanding filled her as she knew there was nothing she could hold onto.
Simon glanced up as he saw Val was airborne, her blades spinning in the air away from her.
Tara watched with wide eyes.
“Simon, no,” the wight whispered.
The darkling planted his boots on the trunk of the worm. He retracted his black claws as he let go of his battle-axe. The darkling launched off the worm like a bullet. He turned his body, arms out to the falling vamp.
Roma was barely human as her hand touched a stone spire weakly, trying to keep herself steady.
“Simon. Val,” the witch said as fur sank into her body, unable to perform a single spell as she shifted her form.
The darkling caught the falling vamp, and held her to his chest. Val stared at him as he held her with one arm, and reached out with another.
A spell exploded against the worm, rocking it back.
Simon saw the edge of the crevasse cliff, ready to grab it. The head of the worm fell and struck the back of his legs, causing him and Val to spin.
“NO!” Bridget shouted as she reached the edge. She watched in horror as Val, Simon, and the worm, tumbled down in the darkness below, and vanished from sight.
Chapter 19
Shadowy Needs
Simon opened his eyes, and glanced around. He was on his back. Above him was a ring of trees, and a full moon glowing at the top of a cavern ceiling.
The darkling’s hands were at his sides, fingers digging into grass and dirt. He sat up, and looked around.
A small clearing surrounded him. Shadows danced among the dark trees, even if there was no wind slipping through them. The area dripped of black darkness, but the light of the strange moon glowed, keeping the abyssal shadows at bay.
When Simon glanced down to his side, he saw Val lying on the grass, about five feet from his side. Her katanas were on the ground to each side of her, as his axe was by his side.
The darkling slowly stood up, glancing around as he looked for the worm. A memory painted his thoughts of himself, Val, and the worm, falling into the darkness of the crevasse, and everything going black.
A quick scan of the area revealed no worm, dead or alive.
The darkling walked over to Val, crouched down, and tapped her shoulder with two fingers.
“Val?” he whispered, unsure if there were any enemies nearby.
The vamp’s eyes opened, and she shifted her gaze to him.
“Are we on the surface? Did we perish?” she groaned.
Simon shook his head. “No. We’re still in the dungeon.”
The vamp looked up at the strange moon floating at the top of the tall cavern, and squinted.
“Is that, the moon?”
“It’s a moon. We’re still underground, and it’s much too small,” Simon smirked.
Val gave him a small smile. “It’s nice when I’m not the only sarcastic one,” she said and raised her hand up.
Simon took her hand, and helped to her feet.
The pair gathered their weapons, and sheathed them, before they looked around again.
The vamp eyed the moving shadows alongside the tree trunks, and leafy branches.
“The shadows are moving,” she whispered.
Simon nodded. “I noticed that too. There is no breeze. It’s almost like they’re alive.”
Val turned around, seeing more shadows behind them at the clearing edge.
“What is this place?”
“I’m not sure, but I was in a place similar to this before, when I separated from the group.”
“What happened?”
Simon tilted his head, and looked up at the moon with curious eyes. “I was taught something about myself.”
Val looked around, an annoyance filling her eyes.
“Strange that the dungeon would take an interest in one mythic.”
“It doesn’t do this with others?” Simon asked.
The vamp looked around with a tired, sharp gaze.
“No, or no one is talking about it when it happens to them. I myself have never had such an experience.”
Simon walked closer to the clearing edge. As he approached, the shadows bent toward him, like a black, living flame.
Val watched him with curious eyes, before a hunger, and a weakness filled her. Legs trembled, and she immediately fell to her knees. She sat back, a feral hunger filling her eyes.
Simon heard her fall, and turned to the vamp sitting on the floor.
“Stay back,” she said with a harsh whisper. “I’ve used too much energy. I’m hungry, and I may do something I will regret.”
“I won’t leave you here,” Simon said with a concerned edge.
Val’s eyes weakened as she looked at the darkling. “You poor fool. You don’t understand what I need at the moment.”
“I know you need blood.”
Val’s weak smile turned into a sad one. She looked down, and let out a long sigh.
“My darkling hunk, it’s plain as night that I cannot go on. I’ve never fed on a darkling, and I don’t intend to. You’ve made this a fun, exciting dungeon run, but I think I’m finished.”
Val looked at him with a knowing gleam in her eyes.
“I need you to slay me,” she said with a weak smile.
“Slay you?”
Val nodded once. “I will appear in the town center of Penumbra Springs. There, I will be able to procure some blood, and return to my wicked charming self.”
The vamp looked down with a solemn gaze. “I never thought of myself as heroic. I’ve tried, many times, but I seem to fall back into my usual habits, and selfish desires.
“Seeing you leap over onto the worm, and attack it because the other team may have perished, well, it inspired me. For a brief moment, I wanted to help too.”
Val let out a sad laugh, as a haunted look filled her eyes.
“I’ve been a monster for a long time. I’ve killed so many people, I’ve lost count. Bridget and I were exiled to this world because we tried to fight for something better. Our good deeds were punished, and here we are.”
The vamp looked aside, defeat in her eyes.
“If I wasn’t so weak, you would have never seen this side of me. I would have carried on with splendor and grace. Simon, I’m asking you to keep this between us. I don’t think my fans could bear to see it, If I had any fans.”
Simon watched as Val slowly lost her way. The façade of her fabulous and in control demeanor fell away like dying leaves at the end of autumn. Before him was a defeated monster, wondering if she needed to be in this realm, or any of the multiverse of realms.
“I won’t take it personally if you chop off my head. Maybe I won’t appear in the community center, and leave this world as I should have a long time ago.”
“Val,” Simon said when shadows leapt up from the clearing edge and curled around limbs.
Val watched with wide eyes as Simon was pulled back, the darkling grunting as he fought against it. She leapt up to her feet, and drew her swords.
Simon pulled against the shadows, but the more he pulled, the stronger they became. He growled as he dug his boots in, not wanting to be swallowed by the strange shadows.
“Bask in the darkness.”
The whisper touched his mind, and Simon’s eyes widened a hair.
Val blurred to him, her swords high and ready to cut down at the shadows.
“No,” he whispered. “Let me go.”
Val stared at him with wide eyes.
Simon stopped fighting, and was immediately pulled into the dark shadows.
An abyssal black consumed the darkling.
The darkness parted, and high above him was a full moon. It glowed with subdued brilliance.
The darkling moved his arms and legs, feeling like he was floating on a sea of shadows. There were no waves, or ripples, just simple darkness.
Simon’s mind worked. He looked at the moon, the only thing creating light in a black void. Its light held the darkness at bay.
The darkling’s eyes half-closed. A deep, dreamy song vibrated along his entire form. It was beautiful, and calming, like listening to a favorite melody at midnight.
Madness crept over his dark soul. He lifted a hand up, as if to touch the glowing moon.
“I understand what must be done,” Simon whispered as his finger reached the edge of the moon.
A bloom of darkness flowed into the light. It spread like spilled ink. It snuffed out the light as it spread out further. When the moon was covered in darkness, the light died. The shadows were pleased, and flowed into the darkling’s mouth.
Simon opened his eyes, standing at the edge of the clearing. An alert filled his gaze, and he smiled.
Veil of Shadows
Description: The user can wrap themselves in a cloak of darkness, becoming nearly invisible in low light and blending with shadows.
Effect: Grants enhanced stealth and minor shadow manipulation.
Simon felt the shadows settle in his dark heart.
I unlocked another piece of my power, but why? Why does it feel the dungeon is training me? What goal is it trying to reach?
Val rushed to the darkling, blades in each hand.
“Simon, I saw you vanish into the shadows, and reappear instantly. What happened?”
“It’s alright. The shadows were not trying to hurt me. They were trying to help me.”
Val tilted her head to the side, and raised an eyebrow.
“You sound crazy,” she said.
Simon nodded. “I’ll take that as a complement.”
The vamp lifted her arms and sheathed her swords over her shoulders.
Another alert filled Simon’s gaze.
You trusted the whispers.
Whisper of the Abyss has improved to Moderate.
Simon quickly read the alert, when Val’s legs trembled and she swayed. His hands reached out to grab her, and she fell into his arms.
The vamp and darkling looked into each other’s eyes.
Val’s gaze fell to his strong neck, seeing a pulsating vein under his skin.
“Simon…please…push me away,” she said weakly.
Simon was silent as he looked into her glowing pinpoint red eyes.
“Simon…I want to drink…from you…but I don’t know what your blood will do to me? It…may make me…a monster to put down,” she said just above a whisper.
The darkling held the vamp to his chest. He looked down on her with a gleam of madness in his own eyes.
“We can discover what my blood does to you, together.”
Val stared upwards as urges clawing at her own reasoning.
“Will…this…be our secret?” Val asked with honest innocence.
“It will be whatever we want it to be,” Simon said, and touched her pale cheek with the back of his fingers.
Val blinked, unable to resist her own urges. Her lips parted as fangs grew longer. She launched the short distance to his neck, sinking her fangs into his flesh, and dark blood.
Simon held the vamp close, feeling her lips massage his skin as she drank his dark blood.
Val was a feral thing, sucking on Simon like a true creature of the night. Dark blood spilled down her throat, and her eyes widened as controlled madness eclipsed her whole being.
Knowledge poured over the vamp's broken soul, as whispers stormed her mind. It was a cloud of shadowy darkness, ocean tides of books, dreamy visions of dark tentacled gods, and deities cloaked in yellow. They sang songs of beautiful discord, under crushing weights of black holes. Reality warped as she clung to the darkling, and she let out a scream of joy, as she fell into the abyss with a happy smile.
Val snapped her head back, and stumbled. She caught herself, and looked at Simon with wide, knowing eyes. An innocence filled her features, as a primal strength powered her undead form.
“Simon, I understand,” Val said with a small eye twitch.
“You do,” he smiled.
“Everything we are doing, I mean, what you’re doing, is to discover why the dark gods left you behind. We…you, must find the dark gods, and know why they left.”
Val touched the side of her head, Simon’s soul blending with hers.
“You want to convince them to return. To…become shepherds to the billions of minds here once again.”
Simon approached the vamp, and stood before her with a small smile, and a maddening gaze.
She looked up to him again, her eyes wide and black. “If they don’t return, you will become a dark god, to protect, and oversee Urth.”
The darkling took her hands into his, and raised them up. Val stood close, looking into Simon’s eyes with dreamy darkness.
“My intentions were never truly hidden. To some, I would be a villain. To others, a dark hero. It doesn’t matter. I’m training to become more. I won’t allow defeat to color my journey, our journey,” he whispered.
Val nodded with complete understanding. “You haven’t simply fallen for Roma. You have fallen for all of us.”
