Chapter 36: Thinner Than a Hair

Chapter 36: Thinner Than a Hair

Their descent was slow but true. The Labyrinth’s slope wasn’t as steep as that of the earthen ramp that’d led them into it, but the Labyrinth never straightened out. The inclination was so slight that Lucan might not have noticed it had he not known it was there.

They came upon multiple forks and splitting passages as they traversed the sea of glowing green provided by the moss, treading hard rock blacker than pitch with purpose. Lucan had decided that they would pass a few of the forks before branching off to one of the side paths, since that would give them more chance of exploring areas that weren’t thoroughly cleaned of their inhabitants. They would mark their passage of course, so they could find their way back. But even should they lose their way with no markings to guide them, there was one rule to the Labyrinth that none forgot. Go upwards. The slope of the Labyrinth was ever present, and it always led up to the Elder Root. And while the Labyrinth spanned all of the Elder Lands, you were unlikely to get lost unless you traveled so far that you ended up in another Root’s territory. Or if you went down one of the shafts, never to be seen again. Lucan hoped they wouldn’t even see one of those from a distance.

When they came upon their fourth fork in the path, Lucan decided to take one of the branching passages. It was a little narrower than the original path but not enough to affect their formation. Ryder left a mark on the wall where they passed and Lucan noted no other marks nearby. According to what he’d read, such marks faded from the walls of the Labyrinth with time. There was no way to know whether this passage had been traversed before or not, at least not without company.

The passage curved to the right and continued to loop in that direction as they went down for a considerable amount of time. Eventually, they came upon their first oddity. The passage straightened out into a patch of darkness ahead, lengthy enough that the light beyond it was a subtle glow that was difficult to parse. There was no moss stuck to the ceiling ahead of them. It seemed that the moss’s growth had ceased–no–wrong. The moss had been eaten, Lucan realized as his eyes adapted to the darkness. Something was flitting in the darkness.

“Do you see that thing?” he asked.

Clifton shifted back a bit, perhaps instinctively. “No, I see many things.”

Lucan focused and stifled a curse. His man-at-arms was right, there were multiple flying creatures in there. “Step back slowly. We’ll want to fight them in the light.”

“What if they refuse to come out of the darkness?” someone asked.

“Then we’ll find another passage,” Lucan answered without hesitation.

As though intent on disappointing them, the creatures flitted out of the darkness to present themselves in all their glory. Large, thin wings, not unlike those of a dragonfly, carried a serpentine body that grew thicker towards the head. The head itself was reptilian with grooves and ridges, reminding Lucan of an illustration he’d seen of the alligators of Hamodeus.

The creature as a whole wasn’t too large, only as lengthy as an average dog without the legs, yet its ability to fly made it a grave threat.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

“Careful, it could fly over us and towards Lilian,” Lucan yelled. “Cordell?”

“It’s nothing but a flesh wound,” Thorley ground out, kicking the corpse of the beast away.

Lucan said nothing. He was at least grateful that the young man hadn’t failed to cover his flank.

“Everyone well?” Lucan repeated to the others, and they all yelled back their affirmation, including Lilian who he glanced back at to find whole and well.

“Very well,” he continued. “We ought to retreat farther back, then we may check our Blessings.”

They fell back in short order, keeping an eye on the retreating patch of darkness.

Once they were a sufficient distance away, Lucan let most of them seat themselves. “Cordell, Heath, Ryder, keep watch,” he commanded before taking a seat himself and calling up his Blessing.

You have slain a lv1 Kewmer Wyrm and absorbed part of its Vital Essence.

You have slain a lv1 Kewmer Wyrm and absorbed part of its Vital Essence.

You have slain a lv1 Kewmer Wyrm and absorbed part of its Vital Essence.

You have slain a lv1 Kewmer Wyrm and absorbed part of its Vital Essence.

Lucan hummed and glanced at Lilian who seemed busy with her own Blessing. He assumed that she’d shared in the Vital Essence since she’d assisted by weakening all the beasts with her spell. He had gained neither level nor Skill proficiency from this encounter, though he was nigh-certain that he was close to the former due to a partial feeling of fullness inside him.

He sighed, dismissing his Blessing and waiting for the others to be finished with theirs. Soon, they’d have to get up again and traverse their way through that darkness with torches in hand. There were likely no more beasts in it, but if there were, they knew better what they were dealing with now.