Page 5 of The Glass Unicorn: Part 2
I glanced around, and the others waited for me to speak. I had was the head of the group, it seemed.
“All right, Reggie, you and I will go first. Behind us, Brynn, and then Thornhold and Ray at the end. Get ready with whatever you have, because I have a feeling we’re going to meet some nasty creatures in here. Also remember—friendly fire is probably on. I don’t know how they disabled it before, but you can bet that if the game’s broke, we can accidentally hurt each other. That’s the last thing we want,” I added.
“Good point,” Brynn said. She took her place behind Reggie and me. “I’ve got your back,” she said. Ray and Thornhold brought up the rear, keeping an eye out for any enemies coming up behind us.
I undid the peace binding on my daggers, preparing them for battle at a moment’s notice. “Who’s carrying a torch?” I asked.
“Why don’t we just use the lights on our watches?” Thornhold asked.
“We don’t want to wear down the battery too quickly. Remember, this is our only connection with the outside world. So, an old-fashioned torch it is, unless we’re in a place that has high methane content.”
“I have a spare torch,” Ray said. “I can carry it.”
We waited for him to prepare his torch, and then he lit it, and it began to burn brightly, giving off very little smoke. It was obviously modern make, and not the old fashioned branch and resin or wax. Another amenity that I would miss if we ended up having to stay in here for too long. Gameplay was so much more pleasant when some of these things actually worked the way we wanted them to, rather than the way they normally would.
“Okay, let’s head in,” I said.
I ducked my head and stepped into the opening. It stood about six-foot-six. Instinctively, I glanced at the ceiling. There were most likely bats around here, and I had no idea if they had been treated properly, or whether they had been programmed to be extra aggressive.
Hoping no one was claustrophobic, I pushed on ahead, until the chamber opened out a few feet in front of me. We spread out, looking around. The exit behind us was misty, a white fog covering the hole we’d come through. At least we could get back out that way. At least, Ihopedwe could.
“Thornhold, check to see if you can get out the way we came in,” I said.
He turned around and strode back down the passage, then vanished into the mist at the end. A few minutes later he reappeared, returning to the party.” Yeah, we can get out. So, what’s our first move? I suggest, as with all caves and caverns, we head left, to the first entrance that we find, and we keep making left turns. Hopefully, that will bring us out to the end.”
“Sounds good to me,” Reggie said.
Reggie and I set off, leading the rest as we headed toward the first chamber on the left. We had no sooner entered the passageway, when a loud scream echoed from in front of us, ricocheting from wall to wall.
I froze, not at all sure what to do. Part of me wanted to turn and run, but we were explorers in a strange land, andthisis what we had come for. I gathered my courage, and motioned for the others to follow me, as we headed down the passage.
CHAPTER 10: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
As the scream reverberated,bouncing against the walls, I jumped. Brynn brought up her hammer, and Ray let out a choked cough as he quickly held up his pendant. It was a holy symbol sacred to the Abarrian god Houlow—a god of justice and healing.
“Can that thing turn the undead?” I asked, readying my silver dagger. We were in a burial chamber which meant undead things. Like ghouls. And skeletons. And ghosts. And none of them liked silver.
“I hope so,” he muttered.
“Let’s go,” Thornhold said, striding down the passage.
I wanted to yell for him to stop. The thought of fighting skeletons had seemed far more appealing outside, in the sunlight, where there was room to run away. But Thornhold was already heading toward a curve in the hallway, and I couldn’t let him go by himself. I charged ahead, running to catch up with him. Ray, Brynn, and Reggie were right behind me.
“You can do this, you can do this,” I whispered under my breath, trying to psych myself up. At the same time, I was pushing thoughts ofNight of the Living Deadout of my brain.
We turned the corner, running right into an chamber. The double doors were wide open, and inside, a lone fighter was battling at least a dozen skeletons with glowing green eyes.
“Help!” he yelped, catching sight of us.
I squinted, staring at him.Human, not a Sym. He was a player, like us. That got me going, I swung off to the side toward one of the skeletons and began kicking at it, trying to knock it off its feet. My silver blade wouldn’t do much against bare bones.
Brynn and Thornhold took on skeletons close to the other player. Brynn’s hammer connected, the sound of metal on bone echoed through the chamber. Shards of bone flew this way and that as they slammed into the living graveyard.
Ray pulled out his holy symbol and began whispering an incantation as Reggie covered him. One thing we knew about magic in this world. If you were in the middle of casting a spell and you were hit, it would immediately interrupt the incantation and you’d have to start again.
I turned back to my skeleton and, avoiding his bony hands, dropped and rolled against him. that did it. He went down, buckling as I plowed into him. I grabbed hold of his leg. It was amazing how magic held together the creatures, but I yanked—hard—and his lower leg came off at the patella. The skeleton wavered, hopping on one leg, and promptly tipped over. The lower leg in my hand was still trying to move—the foot bones twisting as though it was trying to run away. I threw it, hard, against the stone wall, and it shattered into smaller pieces.
As I looked around, I saw a pile of rocks in the corner and raced over, picking up one of the biggest ones I could carry. I ran back to the maimed skeleton, which was still trying to get up, and smashed the rock down on its skull. The light in its eye sockets went out, like a TV going off.One down.
