Chapter 245: Warm Blooded Greetings

Jungle's smugness about being right isn't lost on me or Anselm, or Shaco, or the freaking stones that illuminate the tunnels. Anselm pulled us up the well, dropping off at the first of the tunnel entrances leading deep into a labyrinth of dangerous flora and all sorts of natural bioluminescent lights. The stones and rocks aren't the only things that illuminate the tunnels, the flora, bulbs and leaves and even some of the growing moss give off a faint glow.

All the colours combine to cast an ethereal shine on the deeper caves and tunnels, it's a bit overwhelming to think there's so much to explore in here, that there's so much life and light.

Another source of light is none other than crystals. The business man in me says to pick up and axe and start digging them out, a few of the long ones jutting out the walls and ground and even in the pools of water we pass by, only a few should be enough to pay for much of the war expenses, hire more manpower if needed, Hunters like Jungle and maybe even Mages.

However, for his sake I suppress my greed and walk past the lot of it, it'll all still be there in the end, and Anselm's discovered a path leading up outside through the top of the well. When the time comes all I have to do is station a few people here and have them dig out my new wealth.

As much as there is life and light and wealth beyond the experience I hunt, there's also death, and quite a lot of it.

The corpses Anselm spoke of are indeed weird, it's all strange to see especially as a Necromancer. I've never seen corpses like this, and worst is, I can't use my spells on them, [Raise Undead],  [Create Undead] and [Undead Servant] all three of my main army building spells have no effect on these 'corpses'.

In truth they aren't more than piles of dust stacked on the floor, white with some scaling patterns.

"It's like these guys just...Are you sure these are corpses?" I can't help asking, I've got [Sense Death] active, looking for any soul, if these beasts have souls that linger.

To think of it, do monsters have souls? If I were to end the life of a monster what would I see through my [Sense Death]? Would a soul rise into Anera's blinding light like Leriva, Matilda and most of Carbina did? 

I suppose the question is, does Anera, the Goddess of Life, consider monsters as creatures that belong in her realm? No, no, no. The better question would be, who created the monsters? 

Someone must have, the same way the Elves have their Goddess, the monsters must have theirs, and so they must have a soul. The intelligence of each monster I've met should be proof of this right? The Goblins may as well be a race of their own, heck they've got a Shaman performing magic in battle. The same goes for the Werebears, the giant spiders and Dire wolves.

Heck the Dire wolves must have souls at the least, they're servants of Lotar aren't they? The Wolf Deity.

Anselm cuts my tangent short, kicking over one of the piles of white dust, the corpses. It spills over and there's nothing hidden underneath, he turns and shrugs, "Seems like it, couldn't be anything else could it?"

"It could be a trap." 

"Why would it be a trap? I kicked it over and nothing happened."

It's my turn to shrug, "I don't know, maybe it doesn't activate at the touch of ghosts."

Anselm begins to sneer, but pauses to think then sneers again, the beginnings of a confusing cycle, his lips part to say something but Jungle beats him to it.

"The both of you should shut up." He hisses, just over his breath as he skulks ahead. Large as is, the tunnel we're in has yet to open up or end. "There could be traps laid about anywhere, eggs with these damned snakes hatching beside us and I wouldn't hear it over your bickering."

'Bickering?'

I don't get a chance to refute this as Shaco sprouts out from my shirt, slithers down and past me and Jungle to hiss at the air in front of us. Before any questions can be voiced the air he hisses at shimmers and warbles, setting us into fighting stance as it reveals an impossibly large camaleon, at least, that what I think it is.

It looks like a lizard, rough and multi coloured scales glittering, eyes bulging on each side of it's head, and a long red tongue licking at the space in front of it. As far as I remember, reptiles like this smell with their tongue. It's sniffing us.

But that's not the worst of it, the chameleon lizard thing stands on two feet, hunching over in it's height so it's not taller than a small child or a large dog. It's open mouth licking the air in front of it gives a clear view of the fanged jaws it has hidden, far too many sharp teeth. And on each of its three fingered hands it sprouts claws that shimmer with stained green and blue substances, I suspect this is the blood of its prey. 

And then it hisses at us, snapping me out of the shock of seeing something as monstrous like it, I order.

"Kill it." 

Shaco springs, blowing up in size before the giant lizard thing can react. His fangs sink into its neck and it screams, screeching and trashing in protest but Shaco is having none of it. With his fangs sunk in its neck, Shaco lifts the trashing monster and slams it into the ground several times over until the bleeding and trauma stop it moving and he snaps the neck with a twitch.

With the first one dead, the walls all around begin to shimmer and warble. Jungle grips his spear, Anselm floats and I gather mana to pull out the bones from the first of the fallen.

"Bone Shield."