Call of the Abyss [Book 2 Complete]

Shlick

The Crawler's head separated from its body, the cut so clean it could be called a fillet. Ravina shook the blood from her sword and sheathed it, examining her handiwork—23 dead crawlers. It had only been about an hour, too. They came fast, mostly in pairs, though there were a couple groups of three or more.

Ravina stole a glance over to the group of adventurers standing against the wall of the tunnel. They were about 10-15 strides back and seemed to be in a state of shock, judging by their agape mouths. She just shook her head, recalling the incident that had led to them even being there.

Ravina led Gala down the narrow Stair—well, trying to lead her. Gala consistently kept pace such that they were both crammed into the Stair, shoulder-to-shoulder. Ravina would have much preferred going single-file, but she wasn't going to press the issue.

As they reached the final landing before the tunnel gate, a group of adventurers gathered and waiting near the door turned to face them.

"Well, finally! We have been waiting an hour, at least!" a man exclaimed as he swaggered to the front of the crowd. It was none other than the fop Ravina had met yesterday.

"Somethin' ya need, princeling?" Ravina asked sarcastically, not slowing her pace.

"The name is Mondan, and yes, actually. We have all heard of your prodigious exploits in the tunnels yesterday! Most impressive! We thought to learn something by observing your work this time, if you will allow us to accompany you?

"We have all agreed that the funds from crawlers killed on this excursion are all yours, so you need not worry about anyone trying to wiggle in on your profits," he declared loudly and confidently to murmurings of agreement around him.

"Can ya shut the fuck up?" Ravina spat, stopping and turning her head toward the group.

"...Pardon?" Mondan questioned, confused.

"If I let ya come with me, can y'all shut the fuck up and stay outta the way?" she clarified.

"...uh—yes, I suppose. That should not be any trouble," Mondan replied, somewhat subdued compared to his previous bravado.

"Fine. I don't care what ya do, long as ya stay outta my fuckin' way," she finished, starting for the tunnels again.

Well, they seemed to have learned something, if Ravina were to judge by their faces.

She actually regretted being so combative with them. Examining her actions over the past day had made her realize how aggressive she'd become. Her thoughts about this city's greed and corruption were manifesting in her interactions with its people.

Truthfully, Ravina was likely much stronger than these adventurers, and for good reason. She acquired her Level 75 Class shortly before she returned to Striton. Actually, that was why she returned in the first place—to settle down for a while and consolidate her gains.

The rules for advancement within the Guild were closely-guarded secrets, but most members of the Guild were aware that tiers of strength were a commonality between them. Mithril Rank meant at least Level 50, while Adamantine meant 75. Though, if Sith's "test" were anything to go by, Level wasn't the only qualification.

Still, this likely put Ravina an entire tier above Mondan, who just became a Mithril recently. It was unfair of her to be calling him weak as someone so much higher-level. Plus, if she were going to convince any of these adventurers to leave with her, she would have to be less aggressive and confrontational.

She turned to Gala, who was crouched over one of the fresher corpses with a grim face—an expression Ravina had yet to see her wear.

"What'a ya think, Gala?" she called.

Gala didn't flinch at Ravina's sudden volume—she didn't even move. Ravina thought she might not have even heard, so she approached her crouched form.

When she arrived, Gala suddenly stood straight, and with her right hand raised, she snapped. A white sphere of light pulsed out, originating from her snapped hand and passing through the whole section of the tunnel—continuing far into the dark beyond.

It was so quick that a blink might have hidden it, but Ravina had been in enough battles to resist the urge to blink at sudden lights and noises.

She caught a few hushed murmurs from the group behind them.

"Was that...a spell? My Mana Sense didn't even react," one adventurer whispered. She heard similar musings from other members of the group. "Shut the fuck up," was apparently a difficult thing to keep in mind.

"Wrong…" Gala said, her eyes distant.

"What's wrong?" Ravina asked, beginning to grow concerned.

Gala glanced at her briefly before turning toward the group of adventurers.

"Who speaks for you?" she called.

The adventurers collectively looked around before Mondan eventually stepped forward.

"We are not a party, but I suppose it was I that gathered us," he said. He seemed much more polite now.

"These creatures, does anything happen to people they wound—specifically wound, not kill?" Gala asked sternly.

"Um…not—no, not initially," Mondan stammered. Ravina didn't blame him. There was something about Gala right now that commanded obedience.

"'Initially,' you say? Speak clearly, child," she demanded.

"Well, uh—when one is injured by the crawlers, nothing really happens. However, many of us have noticed a trend among those injured. They all, without fail, become obsessed with the crawlers.

"It is a slow thing. It can take weeks, months, and even years. Eventually, though, they all start talking about crawlers more and more, calling them 'scourges' and 'a plague' and the like, and speaking of eradicating them.

"The final step is that they, against all advice and reason, go charging off into the deep tunnels, raving about 'eradicating the scourge once and for all,' or something similar. They are—none of them—ever seen again," Mondan finished solemnly.

"And nobody finds this strange? Have there been any inquiries or investigations into this matter?" Gala asked. She sounded like a mother preparing to lecture a forgetful child.

"Not officially, as far as I know. It is we adventurers that recognized this pattern. The 'Crawler Craze,' we call it. Several have brought it to the Guild's attention, but their policy is to 'respect Guild members' free will.'

"They claim that non-fatal wounds received from the crawlers are treated to the highest standard by Guild physicians, and any fixation acquired after healing is likely psychological trauma, and due to an understandable desire for revenge. To get in the way of that desire would be overstepping the Guild's authority," he explained.

La'Gant's words yesterday echoed in Ravina's head.

"We have a rather wonderful system established here in Durthangrim, you see, and I would prefer to avoid any issues that might 'rock the boat,' shall we say?"

"Tsk," Ravina clicked her tongue in agitation. The Guild was supposed to protect its members. Sure, impeding their free will would be an overstep, but no investigation? That was intentionally careless.

Ravina looked up and met Gala's eyes. They both nodded to each other and started forward of a like mind: if the Guild wouldn't investigate, they would have to.

However, before they could take more than a few steps, a familiar voice called out from the darkness.

"Advance no further," Sith said, her glowing purple eyes appearing in the darkness of the tunnel ahead. No other part of her body was visible, so the glowing eyes in the darkness made her voice sound eerie and detached.

"Auntie, what is the meaning of forestalling us? These creatures are…bad—wrong. I must know what infects them," Gala declared, still in her serious, commanding tone.

"Indeed, their infection is the rot I have been hunting. I have had little success—it hides from me. Think about that, Gala. It hides—from me. Do you know how few creatures exist that could hide their presence from me?" Sith asked sternly, though not unkindly.

Gala's face paled noticeably. Ravina dared a glance back and was unsurprised to see the group of adventurers suddenly not paying attention to the exchange.

Somehow, they seemed to have completely forgotten Ravina and Gala, and not even noticed Sith in the first place. She was not great with magic, but Ravina thought this must be some kind of powerful concealment spell—possibly illusions?

"Leave this place. Any creature that can hide from me is not one either of you could handle, even together. Ravina, you have your task, and the departure time draws near. Focus on that," Sith said, her eyes vanishing in the dark.

Ravina peeked at Gala to see her deep in consternation. Ravina let her think for a while, and after just a minute or two, she seemed to visibly deflate.

"Well, I guess Auntie has it handled. No use stressing over something I can't change. These tunnels would look much better with a few mushrooms, though…" she mused, looking around at the tunnel walls.

Ravina just sighed, shook her head, and grabbed Gala's arm, leading her back toward the adventurers and the exit. Sith was right; time was running out.

As they passed the group, Gala's look hardened once again. Quick as a whip, she snatched Mondan's arm.

"Eep—" he squeaked, quickly catching, silencing, and recentering himself.

"Inform everyone you care about, and tell them to do the same: if you value your life, take no injury from crawlers—particularly by tooth or claw," she commanded, shaking his arm a little at the end for emphasis.

"Yes—ma'am, uh…sure thing," Mondan stammered.

Ravina was becoming increasingly amused by his inability to handle Gala, but her words were a dire warning that, unless Ravina was misinterpreting, she spoke from experience.

"You know what this is—what happened to those people that got the 'Crawler Craze?'" she asked Gala, whose face was beginning to go lax again. Ravina thought it reminiscent of butter melting.

"Suspect, but suspicion is enough. It is an insidious infection that changes one into…someone—something else. It is not just their minds that are gone; it is who they are, their core, their very essence that becomes altered.

"It is a fate worse than death, and they do not charge down those tunnels—toward the source of the infection—without reason. The source—the creature—is building its forces. Each mind it collects, its army grows.

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"I fear for the future of this city," she finished quietly, staring down into the tunnel's darkness.

The adventurers all exchanged nervous looks. They had come down here to give Ravina a hard time when they discovered she was lying about her strength. However, not only were they proven wrong, but they were informed of a potentially cataclysmic threat to their city.

Ravina understood their unease well. She'd neither heard nor seen Gala act the way she had in this tunnel. The gravitas that she spoke with weighed heavily on Ravina, too.

"Miss Ravina, please—allow me to apologize. I was mistaken; you are undeniably strong," Mondan said, bowing his head slightly. The others in the group also inclined their heads.

"No biggie. I was a little harsh on you, too. Ya see, I'm in the middle of my Adamantine advancement exam, so I'm probably close to a full tier above you, if you've only been Mithril for a little while. Not fair for me to call ya weak an' all that," she admitted easily.

"Adamant—wow," Mondan mumbled. Low voices speaking similar things could be heard from the crowd.

"Is there…is it possible I might become that strong, then? You must understand, having just heard about some kind of world-ending threat in our very home, we must do what we can to ensure we are prepared to face it!" he said, becoming more passionate as he spoke.

His passion seemed to be infecting the crowd as well, as their murmurings of agreement began to rise.

"How did you get so strong? Is there some kind of training that can be done?" Mondan asked.

Ravina chuckled. This was it—the moment she was trying to create. She'd thought it a long shot, but maybe if she could figure out something about the strangeness of the crawlers, she could somehow turn that into leverage to convince the adventurers to join her. Perhaps there was some source of corruption within the city's government she could use to encourage an exodus or something.

It was unrealistic, but it was the only idea she had. She had money, but not even close to the amount required to move a great number of adventurers—let alone these adventurers, for whom wealth just fell into their laps. She also had no influence in this city, being a newcomer.

She had no leverage to speak of to get others to join her cause, and only a week to come up with something. Her one idea, figuring out why the crawlers were so strange, hadn't panned out. There was corruption present, but it was out in the open. The adventurers already knew and tolerated it.

This, though—she could work with this.

"There's no secret, sorry to say. Ya gotta train, ya gotta fight, ya gotta struggle, ya gotta survive, and then ya gotta do it again. This guy I know, Braden, used to use these big fancy words all the time. He called it 'iterating.'

"Whatever ya wanna call it, ya gotta struggle, and if ya survive the struggle, ya come out the other end stronger than ya went in," she lectured.

The adventurers were crestfallen, if her judge of their faces were accurate. She wasn't surprised—hearing there was no shortcut to power was not encouraging for the threat they now (potentially) faced.

"How can we do that? The only enemies we face are the crawlers and desert creatures. The desert creatures are no challenge to even a Steel, and the crawlers we can't fight seriously for fear of the Craze…" Mondan said morosely.

Ravina was noticing a shift in Mondan. Seeing how far behind he actually was seemed to have burst his bravado bubble. He was now more introspective, looking inward rather than yelling outward.

"Aye, the crawlers—even if ya didn't have the Craze to deal with—wouldn't be enough of a challenge. They throw themselves at ya like they're intendin' to die," she explained.

The adventurers were staring at the ground as one, likely contemplating what they could possibly do. The greatest challenges lie deeper in the tunnels, but the crawlers do also. They couldn't risk a sojourn into the tunnels when a single swipe from their claws could lead to…changing.

"Ya know, I ain't ever said why me 'n Gala are even here, did I?" Ravina said provocatively. This was the moment—it was time to make it or break it. Ravina was never good at these sorts of leadership moments, but she would give it everything she had.

The adventurers all looked up at her as one.

"That guy I mentioned, Braden. I trained his daughter, see? Girl named Julia—wonderful girl. She's seventeen now, but she started clearin' dungeons on her own when she was just fifteen.

"Anyhow, there was an incident where we faced a…powerful villain. He got the drop on us and teleported me way out to the fuckass end of nowhere. I don't know exactly what happened after that, but somehow Julia, my student, ended up in a marsh about a thousand journeys north of here.

"What's more, there's an army of undead besiegin' that marsh. She was taken in by and is helpin' a group of elves that live there, but they ain't holdin' out well. I came here lookin' for brave adventurers to join me in breakin' the siege," she explained calmly.

"An army…" and "We're not soldiers…" were a few of the mutterings Ravina heard from the group. Most seemed (understandably) trepidatious to be combating an entire army. One of the explicit functions of the Guild was to prevent adventurers from being called to war by cities and rulers, after all.

"It ain't gonna be easy. We'll have to hoof it through the wilderness for a thousand journeys, and we ain't slowin' down but to eat and sleep. Then, after all that wilderness-hoofin,' we gotta go into battle against the overwhelming undead force. I ain't even got an idea on their exact numbers, but I'm assumin' thousands.

"I ain't gonna tell ya that it'd be in yer best interest to join me—some of ya that do will die. War ain't ever gonna be a good or pretty thing, but those who survive will come out stronger for it.

"The only promise I'll make—the only one I can make—is this: I'll do everything I can to keep ya breathin', and if any of ya fall, it won't be for nothin'.

"However, a sword ain't get made but in the fire of the forge, and no matter the skill of the smith, not all survive the heat. Some of ya will die, no matter my intentions. Only thing I can promise is that I'll do my best to prevent it.

"You'd also be helpin' the elves. My understandin' is that the entire culture—the entire civilization of elves—is at risk of bein' eradicated. We could stop it—we could do something that actually matters.

"We could be who we dreamed of when we were youngins, dreamin' of bein' adventurers—of helpin' people. In doin' so, you could then gain the strength ya need to fight the battle that's loomin' here, in the darkness," she concluded, thumping a closed fist against her chest and motioning toward the dark tunnel.

The adventurers looked around at their neighbors, and Ravina saw nods, grips tightening on weapons, and steel entering faces. Mondan in particular had a fire burning in his eyes.

"Spread the word! The Guild at dawn, two days hence—any fools with fire in their hearts and death at their heels, meet me there! We will leave immediately to save the marsh—we go to our growth, or our death!" Ravina shouted.

She spun on her heels and marched off toward the Stair without waiting for a response, Gala trailing behind her with a stupid smile on her face. "Glad this is so amusing to you," she thought.

However, the sounds of shouts and cheers echoing through the tunnel behind them forced a small smile out of Ravina as well.

Throughout Durthangrim, whispers spread like sparks on dry stone.

In a tavern near the canyon floor:

"Forty by herself? You're joking! There's no way! Those damn crawlers are a menace—you don't kill them like reaping wheat."

"Aye, it's true! I saw her take down twenty-five with my own eyes the next day!"

In a park on the first tier, where one entered the city proper:

"I get it, but why would I risk my neck for some marsh elves I didn't even know existed five minutes ago? We've got a good thing going here."

In a bathhouse on a middle tier:

"Sure, things are pretty stale. But it's safe-stale. That's not a reason to go chasing death and glory."

"What about helping people? Is an entire people being wiped out not enough motivation for you?

"Tell me, if a threat like that came to Durthangrim, what would become of us if everyone thought that way? No one would come to our aid. We'd be alone, and we'd die alone."

All across the city, word of a suicide quest rippled through the ranks. Most dismissed it as another high-level lunatic chasing delusions of grandeur. But a few—a precious few—saw more.

Some saw a way to grow stronger after stagnating, some saw a way to make a real impact on the world, and still some saw a way to achieve fame and glory.

Whatever their motivations, they began to gather at the Guild.

Ravina tied her dimensional bag to her belt, having packed all her things out of her room at the inn. She and Gala were out the door and heading toward the Guild before most of the city was even awake.

The city never really slept, with various activities happening both day and night, but there was a period in the early hours of the morning—when the night owls were turning in, and the early risers were just stirring—that the city was peaceful and quiet.

Ravina would have enjoyed that silence and stillness, had Gala not been babbling about every plant in existence that would enhance the look of each building they passed.

The day had finally come. A week was not much time to gather a force for fighting a war, but it was what she had. It was time to move on with as many, or as few, as she'd managed to gather.

As they entered the Guild, a great gathering of adventurers, standing relaxedly but with sharp eyes, all stopped chatting and turned toward them. Ravina counted around a thousand adventurers in the crowd.

She had estimated the Guild's total numbers in this city to be between six and seven thousand, so while a thousand was more than she'd expected, it was also less than she'd hoped.

However, time waited for no one, so they had to move.

"They say that the line between foolish and brave is perilously thin. Time to find out which of those we are! Those foolishly brave, follow me! We make for the marsh. We will save the elves, we will improve our own strength, and we will have victory!" Ravina shouted.

The assembled burst into roars and cheers. Adventurers were always easy to rile up. One didn't become an adventurer without a sufficient amount of passion and grit.

However, as the group began moving toward the exit, a great giant stood in the way.

"I'm afraid I must object to you running off with a large percentage of my adventurers," La'Gant said with a gross smile. He stood with his bare, muscled arms crossed—directly in the group's path to the exit.

"Your adventurers? We don't belong to you—we don't belong to anyone! We're free!" Ravina shouted in anger. She was angry, but she shouted mainly to keep the adventurers' energy up.

She needed them on her side, which meant she needed them to refuse to be cowed by La'Gant's authority.

The group roared its approval, and the confident smile began to slide from La'Gant's face.

"Quests are required to be submitted to the Guild for approval before being offered to adventurers. You've not done this, so I must intercede in this illegal operation," he said, not backing down.

"This ain't a fuckin' job, you nitwit. I've asked my fellows, my kin, for help in this dire hour, and these brave few have answered the call. This doesn't concern your branch of the Guild. You have no authority over us or this operation!" she shouted, growing increasingly incensed. She was relieved to hear the anger behind her as well.

The adventurers were still on her side, but she also couldn't let the temperature rise much higher. La'Gant likely knew he had no legal authority to stop them, but if he managed to escalate things until a few adventurers became violent, things would progress differently.

"Dear Ravina," he said, shaking his head in dramatic disappointment, "my aim is not to violate any member's autonomy. My goal is only to—"

"Go against the Founder's wishes?" Sith interrupted, suddenly manifesting next to Ravina—when the hell did she get there?!

"Wha—" La'Gant started, just as surprised as Ravina.

Before he could get more than a syllable out, Sith tossed a badge to him. Ravina couldn't see it well before he caught it, but it appeared to be a bright, golden badge that glowed in purple hues when light reflected off of it. It had eight sharp points sticking out of it that extended from a central golden circle, surrounded by another, thicker golden circle—an eye?

"This mission is sanctioned by the Guild's Founder. The Guild will not interfere, do I make myself clear?!" Sith shouted to the entire room, now cowed into a hushed silence.

"This…this is—Ah!" La'Gant exclaimed as he suddenly dropped the badge. He looked perplexedly at his sizzling palm, smoke rising from it. Before the badge hit the ground, it began flying back to land in Sith's hand.

"Oof, looks like you're already on thin ice, little guy. Better not push it," she said with her trademark, wicked smile. She licked fangs that now extended beyond her chin with a forked tongue, as a pointed tail (that Ravina was positive hadn't been there before) swished behind her.

La'Gant shook his head out of his stupor and made to reply, but before he could, Sith walked right into him as though he weren't there.

The most peculiar thing happened when she seemed close to colliding with him—La'Gant simply shifted to the side. He didn't physically move, it seemed. It was more that his body just appeared to the side of the door, as though the world had moved him out of Sith's way.

Not one to let an advantage go, Ravina began moving to the exit with loud footsteps, startling everyone out of their stunned silence.

"To victory–or death!" she shouted as she walked out the door. Behind her, a great cheer rose, and the thunder of a thousand boots followed in her wake.

This was probably the most difficult advancement exam Ravina had ever taken.