Chapter 36: Book 1: Chapter 15 (Part 1 of 2)

Chamber three was complete and despite Peter coming perilously close, nobody had been killed. The three who were perched on the pillars clambered back down and joined the fighter types in the middle.

I waited for the inevitable vituperative tirade from Carl. And he didn’t disappoint.

“You motherfucker,” he screeched. “This was supposed to be your room.”

I just looked at him with a sardonic grin. “Seems we forgot to inform the dungeon of that,” I quipped.

Carl was about to scream at me again when Tommy piped up. “It’s not their fault, Carl. We should have remembered there are no safe areas once you get started. We were just lucky with the slimes earlier.”

Carl turned his ire on the chubby teenager. “Shut the fuck up, you useless slob. We only brought you along as a healer, and where were your fucking heals. That pig sliced Kelly and me with his tusks several times and you didn’t do jack shit.”

“Piss off, Carl,” Tommy retorted. “I healed you up after it got you on the safety platform and then I had to save Peter. After that, I was out of Mana…”

Tommy’s moment of courage was interrupted by the crack of Carl’s fist on his nose. Tommy stumbled back and fell on his arse and blinked owlishly, his nose saved from being broken by the new Hit Points system. Carl stepped forward to punch the boy again, but I followed him and grabbed the fist he pulled back.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” I growled.

With my other hand, I gripped his breastplate from behind and yanked him backwards in a classic horse-collar tackle. Carl was deposited a few feet away in the mud, before he could rise, I re-summoned my scimitars and pointed them at him.

“If I recall, by the terms of our agreement your team leads into the final chamber. Get your shit together,” I ordered with cold menace.

My display forestalled whatever Carl had been about to say, and he was helped to his feet by Kelly. Then the two of them and the brothers stomped away, Carl scowling the whole away.

“Uh, thanks for standing up for Tommy,” Jackson started and was interrupted by a yell.

“Jackson, get over here we need to plan, privately. Tommy, stay in the mud, no one gives a shit about you, you useless fucker,” Carl sneered.

I couldn’t help but catch a sigh that was equally exasperated and calculating from Kelly at Carl’s backhanded slur of Tommy.

Jackson looked at me and then Tommy with a guilty expression. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t find the words. He reluctantly turned and joined the cabal of asshats without a word instead. Tommy’s face had momentarily filled with hope and then fell when Jackson’s decision was made.

I strode over and reached my hand out. Tommy clasped his hand with mine and I helped him back up onto his feet.

“Thank you,” he said, and turned away, tears in his eyes.

Shana moved over to him and helped him brush some of the mud from his robe. “Ignore those bastards, they’re cruel to hide their own insecurities,” I heard her whisper to him, and he nodded in response.

I regarded the huddled group not far from us. Jackson was remonstrating angrily but was being held in place by Carl and Peter, while Kelly lectured him sternly. I knew without asking what they planned but sought confirmation from Quixbix anyway.

“They want to use Tommy as bait, don’t they,” I asked him under my breath.

<They haven’t used the word bait, but that’s what it amounts to> he answered.

“Fuck,” I breathed.

<What does it matter? You’re going to have to kill them all anyway when they turn on you> the imp reasoned.

“Maybe,” I sighed. “It’s Carl and his cronies who I’ll need to kill. Tommy is just a poor schlub who hooked up with the wrong friends. But then again, there is no reason to make it easy for them,” I finished as an idea popped into my head.

I would have to act fast, though. I moved over to Tommy and nonchalantly stood in front of him, my back to his face. I wanted to keep my eyes peeled on the huddle ahead.

“Tommy, listen to me,” I muttered over my shoulder. “You need to quietly and calmly turn around. Walk over to the granite dais like you need to sit down or something and then leave the dungeon.”

“What?” he squeaked in surprise. “Why?”

“Tommy, you only have a few seconds before they call you back over to them. They’ll be all smiles and apologies, but they won’t mean a word of it, except for Jackson, who I doubt they’ll let talk. They’ll only want you back to force you to take point in the final boss chamber. Tommy, if you go into that final chamber you are going to die. Leave now, it’s your only chance,” I pressed.

The persuasion check was successful. Tommy Collins believes you and will act accordingly.

I looked over my shoulder at him. Tommy blinked and glanced around me at the group. Fresh tears formed at the edge of his eyes. I had persuaded him, but he still needed a little push to act, which Shana duly provided.

“Tommy, you can trust, Torin. Go,” she urged him gently.

Words from a pretty girl did the trick and he nodded, wiped the moisture away from his cheeks and heeded our advice. He hesitated at the shimmer and glanced over his shoulder one last time, which is when Carl noticed where he was.

“Tommy, you fucking coward,” Carl screamed and broke away from the huddle.

The angry Crusader supplied the last impetus needed and Tommy stepped through and out of the dungeon to relative safety.

Carl stalked up to me. “Why did you let him leave?” he snapped.

“Why would I make him stay? He’s your team member, not mine, or at least he was,” I retorted.

Carl scowled and gobbed on the floor; the phlegm missed my boot by an inch. Which was how close Carl came to dying right then and there, saved by his inability to hit his intended target.

“Watch yourself, Carl,” I growled and pushed past him.

“Shana and I are going in, that means you have three minutes to sort your shit out or be kicked. Which would suit us just fine,” I announced loudly to the rest.

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There were a few protests and strangled noises, particularly from Carl, but none of them tried to stop us. Jackson couldn’t even meet my eyes, his shame clear from his body language. We strode through the shimmer and into the final chamber, the boss room.

Once again, we were on a granite slab that made up the safe area until combat began. The new room was a similar size to chamber three. The floor was black paved slabs arranged in a concentric circle pattern. There were arched metal constructs similarly arranged in a circle about halfway from the dark rock walls and the centre of the room. In the centre of the chamber were two thrones made of obsidian. Between the thrones, in the dead centre of the room was a well from which a dark red glow emanated.

If I had to guess, the crystal of the dungeon core was nestled in that well, just out of sight. The core was guarded by two brick-orange figures sitting in the thrones. I judged them to be eight-foot-tall, though it was difficult to make an accurate assessment from their sitting position.

<Golems. Made from fired clay by the look of them> Quixbix informed us.

The brick-orange clay golems had no features apart from two dark hollows for eyes that had a tiny speck of light glimmer at the back. Those specks were laser-focused on me and Shana. Their legs ended in thick clumps rather than feet and from the waist up to their shoulders their bodies thickened to accommodate two sets of arms. The front pair of arms were crossed in front of their chests and the back pair clutched the back of the thrones.

I walked the width of the granite slab to get as good an inspection of them as I could and noted that the back of their heads had what seemed to be matching hollows for their ‘eyes’, which would make sense with the double set of arms.

Carl, Kelly, Jackson, Lucas, and Peter appeared on the plinth about the time I had finished.

“Golems,” I grunted without elaborating. “Your turn to initiate the fight, but don’t worry, we’ll be getting involved.”

“Kelly, you should try and tank this one,” Jackson suggested. “Your mace should fare better against a rocky mob.”

“Tactics are my decision,” Carl snapped and shut him down. “Kelly, you tank, I’ll off-tank and kite the second golem away, until we’ve finished the first,” he continued giving instructions to the remaining three.

After a moment, he turned to me and Shana. “Keep your distance from our group, you can fire arrows at the golem Kelly is tanking but let us handle this room. You can help mop up the second one when we’ve taken care of the first.”

He addressed the last part to me. I nodded my head and smiled mockingly at him, though to be honest, it wasn’t a bad plan. I simply had my doubts that Carl’s team had the ability to pull it off without us. Plus, this was the last chamber, if this were a game, we should expect a surprise of some sort.

Carl grumbled under his breath but put his game face on and his team jumped onto the paved floor of the chamber. As soon as they landed, the golems stood from their seated position and stepped towards them. I put my arm out and whispered for Shana to stay on the slab for the moment, then analysed our opponents now that the plinth was no longer a safe zone.

Janusian Clay Golems x2
Grade: S Level:  1
HP: 2,500	Value: -
Threat: Very High	XP: -
Golems are constructs given life through magic. They have no vulnerable spots to target. Janusian golems have eyes front and back making them difficult to surprise. This version of the Janusian golem is made of hardened clay. Medium damage mitigation against Piercing, low versus impact and unarmoured against magical and elemental sources. Immune to damage of Necrotic, Venomous or Poisonous sources.

 

“They have the same Hit Points as the razorbacks but are far less vulnerable. This will be a battle of attrition,” I advised Shana.

Thankfully, the golems were quite slow and clunky as they made their way towards Carl’s party. Slow enough, that Lucas and Jackson took up positions behind the curved metal protrusions on the right to attack from range before they could reach them.

Carl broke from the group and got close to the leftmost golem and ducked its initial clumsy swing. His blade snaked out and slashed the golem’s ‘belly’ before he darted behind it. Carl must not have noticed the dual-facing nature of the golems as once he was behind, he didn’t turn around or watch the creature over his shoulder. The golem lashed out with a fist from the back pair of arms and connected heavily between his shoulder blades.

This sent Carl sprawling forward and away from us.

His breastplate armour probably saved his life and he scrambled away from the golem up to the back of the chamber. There I saw him summon a small red vial from his inventory and chug the contents. A healing potion I assumed. I couldn’t really be angry that he kept quiet about it, I certainly hadn’t informed them about our Health and Mana pellets.

Carl’s actions, as clumsy as they were, had at least been effective. The golem he struck changed direction and walked back towards him, away from its partner and the rest of the team.

That was the signal for the rest of the team to engage. Kelly moved in and hit the golem with his mace several times before Peter darted in and swiped low with his sword. Jackson and Lucas let loose with small balls of green flame and arrows respectively.

“Shana, how much Mana do you have left?” I asked my companion.

“One hundred and twenty-two, which is half of my pool as you instructed,” she answered. “What’s the plan?”

“Okay, we are going to step off the plinth on the left and give them room as Carl less than politely asked. Shoot twelve infused arrows at Kelly’s golem, but then stop. Quix, keep an eye on Carl,” who I could see had recovered to his feet. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try and kite the second golem into us accidentally.”

“Yes, Torin,” Shana responded.

<Yes, Torin> Quixbix said in tandem.

Shana started firing her arrows at the golem, Kelly and Peter slowing her assault as they bobbed and weaved about the automaton.

“I’m doing six piercing and twenty dark damage with each arrow,” Shana reported after the first couple of her shafts had slammed home.

I nodded and continued to scan the room for alternative threats.

Everything was in hand, even Carl was having a measure of success on his own in the Northern quadrant of the room. The golem bashed its fists into his shield, but its lack of speed prevented it from getting past his defence. His shield wouldn’t last forever, but I estimated the first golem had been whittled down by about two-thirds of its Hit Points.

This was, of course, the moment that things took a turn for the worse.

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