The Tower in the Shadows

They stood outside the Dungeons' entrance the next day.

Doltum and Seela had spent the past day preparing themselves for what was ahead.

They would be the first in today. Head straight to the tenth floor to see if the other stairwell leads to the next floor. Doltum was going to fight the manticore again. He knew this enemy was dangerous and treated it with the respect it deserved.

Elian had rechecked all of her gear as well and brought along extra supplies, just in case. She hadn't expected to need them, but it was better to be safe than sorry. There was one thing she knew for sure about this Dungeon: you never knew what you'd face.

The sun started to creep up above the mountains. The morning light began to illuminate the valley. Most of the city was already awake and moving around, but the sunrise marked the start of the day for the adventurers.

"We shall begin," Doltum spoke, drawing her attention away from the horizon. She turned and looked, finding him walking towards the doors with Seela right behind. Elian quickly made for them.

They entered the surface-level building of the Dungeon. Each of them had been here several times before, yet they had ignored the hidden bottle of poisoned wine in the cupboard and the sharoon in the rafters.

They all spotted the slightly different stonework that represented the traps added to the surface level. Doltum had read the report from the gnomes and declared himself satisfied, stating he didn't need to investigate further. Seela had remained silent on the subject.

They walked to the stairwell that led down into the Dungeon and up into the tower. They started the descent. When they reached the first floor, they briefly stopped at the location where they knew the second type of trap was now located. This was far better hidden, but they were aware of his existence thanks to the gnomes. Doltum briefly paused here, and Elian wondered if he was going to have a look at it. He shook his head and then moved on. Evidently, he wasn't.

They continued down the stairwell, and the further they got, the more they noticed the temperature change. The first hints of it were on the fifth floor, but by the time they got to the seventh, it was undeniable. The eighth and ninth just reinforced the heat coming up from the 10th.

During the descent, both of her companions were acquired, which was quite odd for them. She could sense their focus on what was ahead and did not want to disrupt their concentration. However, it was still strange not to hear the constant bickering that went on between the pair.

By the time they reached the 10th floor, Elian was sweating profusely.

They paused at the bottom of the stairwell and looked out across the 10th floor.

"Elian, remain here until we have dealt with the manticore." Doltum's tone broke no argument as he looked out across the floor, his face a mask of concentration. Elian said nothing but stood back next to the stairs.

Doltum and Seela walked onto the floor, each openly holding their weapons.

Elian watched them as they walked away, the heat in the air causing them to shimmer as they got further away, like a mirage. It didn't take them long to reach the Stonebridge and cross it, all of them knowing that it was once they were past this point that the manticore would appear. They were all keeping their focus on the space above them, as this is where the attack would come from.

It surprised them.

Instead of coming from above, the attack came from around the corner of the floor, which was blocked from the site due to the shape of the space. The manticore charged them, forcing them to go on the defensive straightaway.

It lashed at them with its tail and claws, moving quickly to assert dominance in the fight. Doltum was its primary target, as he was the most dangerous of the pair. That did not mean that Seela was ignored. Both veteran adventurers were bobbing and weaving, avoiding the attacks, but some got through, and this is where their enchantments kicked in.

Doltum had prepared them for this fight. He had spent both time and resources changing the enchantments that they had access to, which were attached to the clothing and some artefacts that they carried on their persons. These enchantments work against infernal creatures. The manticore had been identified as having infernal elements to its nature, and so he had prepared suitable enchantments to help protect themselves from its attacks.

These enchantments were also designed to hurt the infernal creature attacking them. The yowl of pain from the manticore signalled to Elian that they were working.

The danger to the pair was that the manticore was not an actual infernal being, but only one with aspects of the infernal. This meant that the enchantments were not as effective against it as if it were a true infernal being. The enchantments protected them, but not to their full capacity.

Doltum was the primary participant in the battle against the manticore. Seela aided where she could, but had a primarily supportive role. He launched spells from his wands while stabbing with his enchanted sword. He was quick on his feet, moving to the best of his ability to evade the manticore's counterattacks. The problem was that the manticore was just as fast.

They scored several strikes against Doltum, which was stressing his magically enchanted clothing. There were signs of damage even from this distance. Elian suspected that he was also wounded, but not severely enough to cause him to slow down. The manticore had its threat rating for a reason, as it was one of the most dangerous monsters that she had ever witnessed in person.

It was fast, brutal, intelligent, and worst of all, sadistic. She could see why so many adventurers had been lost to this floor, fighting it. Doltum had experience of fighting such monsters in the past, and it was showing here.

He came to dominate the fight in the end and brought down the beast.

Elian could see he was breathing heavily from the way his shoulders were rising and falling. She knew it wasn't just from the heat of the space that they were in, but the speed and brutality of the fight he had just gone through.

Seela waved her over.

Elian crossed the Stonebridge and walked over to the body of the manticore that was lying on the floor. Seela had collected the reward for killing the monster. She was now looking at the beast lying dead.

"Ya, a nasty one." She spoke to the body. Elian had to agree with the sentiment. The manticore was a nasty monster.

"Are you able to continue?" Elian asked Doltum. He was drinking a potion, and now that she was close to him, she could see the damage to his enchanted clothing. As such, a high-grade adventurer, his clothing was also of exceptional quality and carried countless enchantments. The fact that it was damaged revealed the severity of the battle.

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"After a few moments, we shall continue." He said after lowering the potion from his mouth.

"Need to keep moving. Stop with the flashy sword work." Seela gave her critical review of his fight with the manticore.

"I would if my opponent obliged by standing still." He countered.

Elian tuned out their bickering as she looked further down the cavern to the other stairwell.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is the light coming from below up the stairs?" She asked, silencing the bickering.

"I believe you are correct," Doltum said as he stood next to. "Shall we go and see what the Dungeon has created? Seela, please see to the chest."

The three of them stood at the top of the stairwell, looking down. In return, light was coming up from the floor below. Doltum descended, leading them onto the new floor.

It was another cavern, but radically different from the one above. Crystals in the walls and ceiling were generating a soft, yellow light that was very reminiscent of sunlight, but lacked its warmth. The ground was covered in grass, and moss grew up the walls, and in many places flowers were to be found. Elian spotted two doorways halfway through the cavern, one on either side of the wall, facing each other.

What was strange about this cavern was not what it lacked but what it contained. On the far side was a great statue of our humanoid figure with wings protruding from its back.

"Elian, there are at least four, maybe five, of those void stone traps here on the floor and in the pillar." Doltum's voice drew her attention. She quickly began to take note of where he was indicating.

"Please don't disturb them. I have no desire to find out how they might react to tampering." Elian asked him.

"Trust me, I have no desire to either." He looked up from the floor across the cavern before him. "I think we are deep enough now to be in the Underlands."

"Think ya right." Seela was looking at the two side doorways in the cavern. Each was missing an actual door, but the frame was present, allowing a door to be placed in it.

"I think the danger is the statue." Doltum pointed to the figure in the distance. "Elian, please remain here while we proceed."

The pair walked forward into the strangely pleasant garden setting before them. Elian could identify several of the plants growing here, and some were worth money, but they could also be found on the floors above.

The cavern was not as long as the one above, she suspected, but not by much. It was also not as wide, and a path led towards the statue. Just beyond the doors, she can make out rectangular boxes within the growing plants standing upright on either side of the cavern, making eight in total. They were situated near the statue in a spacious area. She couldn't see beyond the statue, which stood about 8 feet tall on a plinth that was another four feet high, blocking her view. It appeared to be holding a mace, but at this distance, she could not be one hundred per cent sure.

The two adventurers move slowly onto the floor and along its path. They stopped and checked several things to make sure that they were not walking into a trap. Each time, they quickly seemed satisfied and continued. They inspected the open doorways, looking into a space she could not see. Whenever they saw it, they were confident in it, and they continued into the open area.

Pointing to the rectangular forms that the local plants were trying to disguise.

Whatever they were planning to do was stopped by what happened. The eight rectangular forms suddenly began to move. They were revealed to be the upright stone coffins when they were pushed down. They did not hit the ground with a loud thud because of the grass and plants growing in front of them, so the sound was softened.

Eight skeletons dressed in rusted armour, bearing helmets, shields, and swords in a similar condition, charged out and attacked the two adventurers.

They were prepared for an attack, so they were not taken by surprise. As the undead approached, moving as quickly as they could, the adventurers unleashed their abilities. Elian watched as three of the undead were quickly taken down by the combined attacks of the two. Elian felt incredibly uneasy about the fight happening.

"It's too easy." Elian realised why she was so concerned about the fight. The undead were falling too quickly. It was then she realised the statue was moving.

Doltum and Seela were being distracted by the undead; the real danger was the statue.

It leapt into the air, spreading its wings, and glided towards the two embattled adventurers. Dotum was warned either by a skill intuition or luck and pushed Seela out of the way as the statue hit the ground. A heavy mace impacted where they were standing, and Elian would have sworn she could feel the impact through the ground, even where she stood.

The undead continued to attack, forcing the two adventurers to fight them and this new danger. The undead were no threat to them, but were an effective distraction.

The statue swung its mace in a practised manner as it attempted to hit the adventurers. Elian could tell that it was not as fast as the manticore above. One of its wings caught one of the last undead instead of Seela, who managed to dodge out of the way. The undead Skeleton exploded with the force of the blow.

Doltum and Seela had not used any skills while fighting the manticore above, as they were saving them for this. Elian had questioned that tactic at the time, but now she realised that they were being very pragmatic. In this fight, they were not holding back, using everything they had.

Elian witnessed Doltum cast several spells at his new enemy. Before they could impact, a shield of light appeared before the statue, not stopping the spells but weakening them before they struck. This caused the shields of light to shatter like glass. Elian recorded everything as fast as she could.

"The monster used what appears to be the [Light Shield] spell."

Doltum was striking with his sword as well, but it seemed to be almost ineffectual against the thing he was fighting. Seela was being far more involved in this fight, using her steel-tipped club to strike at the monster. However, she, too, seemed unable to inflict any effective damage.

The fight showed that this monster was not as fast as she had first observed it to be as a manticore. But what horrified her was the sheer durability of it. Doltum had magic and enchantments that could cut through nearly anything, but he was struggling here.

The statue charged him, triggering the skill, but he was able to dodge out of the way before it passed him. If he had not, he could have been very severely wounded in the impact.

Seela was deploying battle potions that impacted unexploded against their opponent. But nothing seemed to be working. She was using alchemic fire and acid, but the thing just kept moving with almost no sign of damage.

Doltum was soon casting more impactful spells, but they were being met by the statue's [Light Shield] spell. It then revealed its offensive magic by casting [Light Arrow] back at him. His magical defences were able to prevent the spell from reaching him.

Doltum blurred as he triggered multiple skills simultaneously. Elian winced, wondering what strain I was putting on his body. She was able to make out him striking the statue multiple times, but his sword was unable to penetrate deeply into whatever that was. She could see the sparks as it slid off its hide. She was starting to suspect that it was some form of golem or similar construct.

The fight continued with neither side being able to score a decisive blow on the other. Doltum and Seela were fast and were able to avoid the worst of the attacks, but their opponent was seemingly impossible to injure.

She couldn't call it a stalemate, as there was one deciding factor at play here. The adventurers were tiring, while whatever they were facing seemed relentless.

She knew it was only a matter of time before one of them made a misstep, and it was in the end, Seela. Doltum had just avoided an attack, but the statue had suddenly pivoted, swinging sideways, catching Seela. The defensive enchantments triggered, as well as her natural stubborn endurance, but it wasn't enough.

The impact took hold of her feet and sent her flying through the air, causing Elian to wince as she watched her bounce. The grass and plants are at least softening some of the impact, but not much.

Doltum said nothing but launched a furious series of attacks to distract the statue from his downed companion.

Seela staggered to her feet. But she was swaying, and Elian knew she was severely wounded. Doltum was also trying to assess her condition while he fought desperately against the unknown monster.

He came to a decision and cast several spells once more at the monster. These were not seeking to injure the creature but to immobilise it. One of the spells was a well-known eye space one that froze the statue's feet to the floor. Unfortunately, it did not work as well as Doltum had hoped, as the statue simply smashed through the ice containing its feet. I doubt the spell, however, seems to be more effective, blinding the monster briefly.

He quickly began retreating, moving past Seela and dragging her along with him. She was protesting, but he was ignoring her. He dragged her all the way back to the stairwell.

"Elian! Out now!" He yelled as the statue was now in hot pursuit of them.

The trio fled up the stairs to the 10th floor, and there they stopped to catch their breath.

"What in the seven hells was that thing?" Elian exclaimed. Neither of the other two had an answer for her.