Chapter 18: 17: Death Around The Corner

The scaven leader turned away from Lindley and gestured at a pair of scaven with huge bronze battleaxes. The two warriors quickly moved to each side of the creature, behind its huge head.

After receiving a slight nod from their leader, the pair of scavs raised their weapons and threw themselves at the spot where the skull met the neck. Swings after swings, the scavs chopped away at scale, flesh, and bone of the burrower.

With the head of the burrower torn apart and the beast stone removed, the leader looked at Lindley and pointed to the body of the dead wyrm. He uttered some words in Scavish which Lindley didn't understand. Not to appear rude, Lindley bowed to every spoken words of the scaven leader.

Realizing the boy didn't understand him, the scav shook his head and walked towards the body of the burrower. Mimicking the wyrm, the scaven leader began to make gestures in simulation of his words. Slowly, Lindley started to join the pieces together, and before long, he understood the basics of Scavish.

The burrower had been the bane of the scaven tribe. It would come, kill some scavens and then, disappeared. His own people, including a family member of his! After taking permission from the king, he had led a group of warriors to hunt the beast down. For many days they had been following its trails. They had finally tracked it down to this place and set up an ambush.

That was when he, Lindley, showed up out of nowhere.

Lindley couldn't believe it. The large area was silent when he entered through the black door, just a few moments ago. He didn't notice anything out of place. If the scaven group were of extreme hostile nature, he would have been dead. No question asked.

In shock, he looked at the scaven leader who nodded in confirmation. The scaven leader and the other scaven warriors were hiding behind the large boulders, waiting for the wyrm, when the human boy walked into the cavern. The human boy had entered the cavern at the wrong time.

The leader, who was initially angry at the human boy for disrupting their plan, raised a finger to halt a spear meant for the boy. Although any human was deemed a potential enemy by the scavens, the leader thoughtfully glanced at his group of warriors and smiled in silence.

No need to kill the human boy, he would be an extra bait.

So, while the boy stared at the mutated kobold, they watched the scene in anticipation. They observed how the human boy was readying his sword to fight the kobold. Yet, to their surprise, the boy paid no attention to the tremors that was growing louder in the cavern.

Then, the scaven leader shook his head. This was a battle between mortals and a beast. The scaven meaning of honourable death on a battlefield changed the scaven's heart. Hence, he decided to do something he never believed he could do as a scaven battle master who had seen so many deaths. He intervened to save the boy.

No one should be left to a fate as such.

He had preserved the boy's life, and now, the boy had helped them to defeat the beast. Such was the fate. And as a deserving recognition, the scaven leader removed one of the fore-crowns of the wyrm and handed it to Lindley. A symbol of the acknowledgement of Lindley's contribution to the feat, even though he might still die later.

The fore-crown was no way as valuable as the stone of the wyrm, but it was still a treasure to be sold.

He was still checking the fore-crown when the walls of the cavern began to vibrate, giving off a wailing sound.

A twisted form climbed out, trailing sticky strings of ichor—a carrion crawler. It was a thing of grotesque distortion. Scales, spiked limbs, and glistening organs fused together to form a breed between a serpent and a spider. Many bulging eyes sprouting from a half-exposed brain.

The venomous Carrion Crawlers!

The misshapen creature began searching the place malevolently, only for a deadly spear to impale its head to the wall.

The scavens took their cues from the appearance of the crawlers. It meant that the shifting tunnels was about to commence. After receiving a guttural order from the leader, a number of the warriors carried the head of the wyrm and hurried towards the far end of the cavern.

As they ran, straining blister exploded, then another, and another. A distance behind them, carrion crawlers pulled their bodies out of the walls. Each lurched, jumped, or slithered forward as best suited its own contorted shape.

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Left with no other options, Lindley ran with the scavens. He was behind them in speed, which allowed the carrion crawlers to get closer to him. As much as he ran, the crawlers were shortening the distance. Knowing he was in trouble, he threw caution to the wind and ran as if death was after him.

Well, he was being chased by crawling, or perhaps running, death anyway. He could only hope not to step on any traps like before.

Straining his eyes, he could faintly see the scavens in the dark but could clearly hear the sounds of their throdding feet. Lindley followed the sharp echoes of their footsteps down the large passage of the massive cavern.

The tunnel plunged straight through the darkness, without openings or side passages. There was a sickening odor which grew more intense as he ran, but there was nothing else to do but to will his mind and press on.

Although he couldn't be sure, Lindley could have sworn that the passageway was leading downward. He needed to go up, he thought in despair. The farther he was from the surface, the more difficult it would be for him to find a way out.

It seemed the tunnels were dragging him deeper into them.

He continued down the murky passageway. The mouths of more blurring tunnels opened to his left and right. Some were blocked by fallen rubble, and others were dry and dusty. But he could still hear the fading footsteps of the throws coming from the central tunnel. Without delay, he picked up his pace.

After a time, they came to a large area, lit by large fire bugs. The fetid stench was stronger here. A rank odor like the putrid reek of decay hung in the air, so thick that it almost seemed to leave its mark on Lindley's body and soul.

Yet it wasn't just the smell that spilled from the tunnel, there was a great hostility that cause Lindley's spirit to tremble in fear. It was a stench of pure evil, of extremely deadly energy. The same level of energy he felt when he entered the crypts of the fallen. Now, his head was beginning to weigh heavier as he looked around.

To his relief, not far from his position, he saw the scavens jumping into a tunnel, one by one. When the scaven leader saw him, he pointed to something on Lindley's right side, beckoning him to run faster.

When he saw the scaven leader preparing to jump into the tunnel that appeared to be closing like a trap wall, Lindley ran with all his might. He knew it was a shifting tunnel. If he wasn't fast enough, he would be sealed off from the scavens.

At the same moment, the aura of death swelled behind him. With his lungs burning from exhaustion, Lindley gasped desperately but kept running.

Few feet away from the closing tunnel, he hurled himself forward just as deadly claws pierced his back, and he fell into complete darkness.

[Ding!]

[Metal Ore Thinaum Obtained]

[The Key Of Passage Obtained]

[Scavish - Basic Knowledge Obtained]

[Honour - Living Dead Obtained]

[Fighter >> Level 3 >> Level 4]

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