Page 224 of Red Ruin
Vhex and Remy aren’t actively using their powers, but the cave’s deathly aura speeds up the corruption of their silks.
It’s toxic to the living.
“Let’s sprint through these caves,” I say, unstrapping my glaive. “Vhex will take the lead. Then me, Remy, Tan, and Simms bringing up the back.”
The narrow tunnel forces us to move in a single file.
With Vhex lighting the way, we hurry toward the pulsing power.
The signal makes me shiver hard enough to rattle bone, but it works like a compass when the tunnel branches.
We jog past fork after fork, following the call until Vhex hits an artificial cutaway in the raw wall.
The rough-shaped doorway braced with stacks of stones is the first sign we’ve seen of human hands.
“Knock, knock,” Vhex calls and tosses a fireball.
It ricochets into a round cavern, lighting the dull and faded lines of an ancient, golden array.
At least a dozen tunnels flow into the chamber. Howls echo from the darkness beyond.
The voices are dry. Discordant.
Not wolves.
My hair stands on end.
Not human either.
“Ghouls,” I say shakily, readying my glaive.
“And something else,” Remy adds, his voice muffled by his mask. “Armored.”
Simms kneels to touch the ground and reach his senses through the rock. “At least twenty sets of footsteps. No more than thirty.”
“That’s all?” Vhex grins, sparking pink flames around his fists.
Tan unsheathes his sword and moves to my side. “Are we making a stand or pushing through?”
“Keep moving,” I answer. The lich king clearly knows we’re here, and he has near infinite corpses to throw in our way. “We have to punch through before we’re mobbed.”
Once we take care of the lich king, his minions will fall.
“Heard.” Simms straightens, cracking his knuckles.
Vhex flaps his wings. Casting sparks and grinning pure murder, he barrels through the ancient door.
Heart pumping for battle, I chase behind him.
With wordless coordination, the Sentinels form a shifting triangle around me and Tan.
We sprint across the cavern in a pack.
A ghoul pops out of a tunnel to our left.
It has creepy, grub-white skin, long limbs, and half-moon claws.
The thing is humanoid, but its face is all mouth—a split-open, bloody maw packed with jagged teeth.
