Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 15.

Just a reminder, it looks like we're going from chapter 13 to 15, but I added a chapter earlier in the week that changed the numbering.

Chapter 15.

They swam further out into the underground lake, Larson gliding below the surface and pushing slightly ahead of his crew that swam above. There was still a slight moment of panic as the water displaced the air in his lungs, but after a few breaths, Larson found the process natural. Once the air was displaced with the water of the lake, his senses sharpened and he began to not just see and hear, but also taste what was going on around him. The group of Hypogean forces they were chasing had a slight head start but were only a couple of hundred yards ahead. Glowing patches of moss grew here and there on the ceiling of the cavern, casting a dim light, that made it difficult to see and Larson had to surface occasionally and guide his crew in the right direction.

How the enemy was able to navigate was unknown, but it looked like they were heading in a straight line toward their destination. Tickling at the edges of ability was something else moving further from both groups, but so far, it was keeping its distance. Who knew what kind of underwater horrors they had this far underground? The disturbances generated by the enemy in front of them increased sharply, then ended, indicating to Larson that they had reached their destination.

A few seconds later, he could see the outlines of a small island in the center of the underground lake. Larson pushed ahead, glad to see the enemy hadn’t left anyone behind to watch for pursuit. After hacking up the water in his lungs to replace it with air, Larson slithered up onto the shore, noticing a glow reflecting off the rocks ahead of them. The others took a few minutes to arrive, and Larson helped to drag them out of chilly lake water, everyone was glad to be on dry land once again.

“You see that? It must be where they went,” Ibn said as he pushed ahead to scout. The island was rocky and desolate, and about fifty yards from the shore, he could make out a tunnel entrance that led deeper into the earth. A soft glow was seen from the opening, and wet footprints on the rocks showed that the enemy force had gone inside.

“I’ll lead the way, try to be as quiet as you can, they may not know we were tailing them,” Larson ordered. The five marines followed him into the tunnel and Ibn took up a position at the rear of their column. Three of the marines were armed with shortswords and two had brought along spears. Larson was the only one wearing armor, but he suspected that Ibn had some kind of protection built into the robes he wore. Howls of pain were heard echoing through the cavern, and the glow grew brighter the further they went.

Motioning for the rest of the crew to hold back, Larson crept up, peeking around a slight bend in the tunnel to see that the glow they were seeing came from a large cavern chamber ahead. A pair of troggs guarded the tunnel mouth, but they were both focused on whatever was going on inside the chamber. Larson pulled back and whispered what he had seen. The two troggs wouldn’t be that much of an issue, but they still didn’t know how many other potential enemies were inside the chamber.

The clock was ticking, and despite their skill and favorable position, the Imperium soldiers would eventually be ground down by the Hypogean army. Larson was going to have to take a risk and ask his crew to do the same. Calling Ibn up to assist, the pair moved toward the distracted troggs. Larson’s lower body made a grinding sound as it slithered over the rocky cave floor, alerting one of the troggs who turned to face him. Before the creature could utter a warning, Larson speared it through the throat, as Ibn fell upon the other trogg.

With the immediate threat taken care of, Larson was able to get a better look inside the chamber. The center of the large chamber was taken up by a device generating much of the light they were seeing. This device, which he assumed was powering the portal, consisted of a metallic cage surrounding a glowing ball of light. A dozen humanoids were strapped to the outer cage. Most of the victims were other troggs, but one human was placed in the center, his body flayed open by whatever the device did to them. A small stone altar was placed near the device, a single imp stood nearby, chanting and his hands glowed and pulsed in tune with the light inside the device. As Larson watched, several dead troggs were pulled down from the machine while fresh troggs were dragged into position by their kin.

Maybe a dozen troggs were standing guard, while more than twice that many were chained up to the side of the cavern near a large pool of water. Larson was willing to bet that the prisoners had been part of the force they were following, given the rags that they wore were drenched and dripping from the swim. While the imp near the altar stayed where he was, doing whatever it was that operated the device, the other two imps in the chamber ordered the trogg guards to haul fresh victims forward and toss the dead bodies into the pool of water.

“A dozen troggs, and three imps. I think we can take them,” Ibn said, looking over the situation.

“Agreed, the troggs aren’t all that impressive in a fight, but the imps, especially the one with magic, might be more difficult,” Larson replied, looking over the two imps bossing around the troggs, they seemed very well equipped, with weapons and chainmail armor to fit their diminutive size. Each bore multiple small blades strapped to a baldric, and they looked like they knew what to do with them.

“We each take an imp, and the fangs of the viper can work on the troggs. Whichever one of us finishes first will take on the spellcaster. I’ve seen something similar before, the caster will likely have to keep his focus on the task at hand or risk his spell failing,” Ibn offered. It was about as good a plan as they could hope for, and at any moment, someone in the chamber was going to notice the guards at the tunnel entrance were dead and the two of them were standing there instead.

As they approached, each of the marines selected their first target. The party only made it about fifteen feet before one of the troggs screeched and pointed at them. Ibn broke into a sprint and Larson hastened his own pace, closing in on the imp he had targeted. The troggs brandished their clubs and charged, the simple-minded creatures were confident in their ability to defeat an outnumbered foe.

Larson’s imp began to pull blades from his baldric and hurl them at Larson. The bronze-covered shield gave a dull ping as each blade hit. He had expected them to deflect off, but whatever the knives were made out of, they easily pierced the bronze facing on the shield, one of the points penetrating the shield to prick the arm holding it up. A burning sensation started in his arm where the blade had broken the skin, a system message popping up into his field of vision as Larson closed in on his target.

You have been poisoned by darkblossom oil, this type of poison will slow your body functions and drain some of your life for the next ten seconds.

Your link with Cassia has boosted the natural resistance your race has to venoms and poisons, negating the effect of the darkblossom oil. Please note that multiple instances of poison or single doses of more powerful ones may overcome your natural resistance.

The burning sensation in his arm faded as Larson blinked away the notifications. Another blade lodged in Larson’s tail, his body resisting the poison on it as well. The imp looked shocked that poison wasn’t slowing him down, but the little creature didn’t hesitate to pull a knife into each hand and meet Larson’s charge head-on. He was out of charges for shield bash, but all his considerable mass hitting a target as small as the imp had a similar result. To his credit, the imp almost rolled out of the way of the charging naga, but the edge of the shield clipped his shoulder, turning the roll into a flopping crash.

Larson moved in before the imp could recover, jabbing it with his spear and pinning it to the ground. There was a lot of life in the imp, and it struggled to free itself for several seconds before finally dying. Looking around, Larson could see the battle was still raging. Ibn was trading blows with his imp, the normally fast as lightning officer was moving slower than normal, the result of more of the poisoned daggers. The imp wasn’t in much better shape, its body slashed open in several places. Ibn would win that fight, the imp should bleed out momentarily, but that meant it was up to Larson to stop the imp from casting the portal spell.

Sensing his approach, the imp stopped channeling his magic. To Larson’s disappointment, the glowing portal device dimmed a bit but keep functioning. The imp began to back away from the altar, pulling something from the pouch at his waist. It was a pair of red leather gloves that seemed to slither onto the imp’s hands. The imp snapped his fingers, the gloves magnifying the sound over the din of battle.

“You’re free, kill the intruders and you will be exempt from sacrifice,” The imp shouted. Larson risked a glance over to the troggs chained on the wall. Their chains dropped away, freeing the imprisoned troggs. For a moment, Larson was sure the troggs would turn on their tormentors, but instead, they tore into Ibn and the other marines, who were now hard-pressed by the overwhelming number of foes. The prisoners strapped to the portal device also were freed, but only the few that had just been added to it were able to fight, the rest of the bodies collapsed to the ground. Running to aid their imp master, the five troggs freed from the portal device placed themselves between Larson and the imp.

“You’ve made a big mistake Skritszisilerpicazant, it’s your turn to feel endless pain,” A haggard voice called out from the portal device. The human that had been strapped to the machine was climbing to his feet, though Larson had no idea how he was even alive given the horrific injuries the man had endured. Tattered black robes revealed flesh burned to the bone, but dark magic glowed on the man’s hands as he stumbled toward Larson, his focus entirely on the diminutive imp that Larson was closing in on.

“No, you go back, your soul isn’t done fueling my portal just yet,” the imp, whose name Larson wasn’t even going to try and pronounce said as he pulled a long, skeletal finger from his pouch, pointing it toward the gravely injured man as he chanted.

Larson knew that the imp had to be stopped, so he accepted a flurry of heavy blows from the troggs as he bulled his way through their mass to stab at the imp. The twin-pronged spear slammed home, one tine on the spear piercing the imp’s arm, and pushing forward to pin the arm to the imp’s chest. The second tine slammed into the imp’s gut, and with a heave, Larson flicked the little red creature so that it bounced across the cavern.

“Nice shot, thank you for your assistance,” the man said, finishing his spell. The black energy flowed into the bodies surrounding the cage, and to Larson’s surprise, the dead troggs rose and began to stumble toward the group assaulting Larson. The word zombie filled his mind, the system distracting him by adding some basic knowledge of the undead at the worst possible time.

Blows from the troggs continued to rain down on Larson. Even though the troggs were only using their fists, the creatures were strong, and his armor could only do so much to soften the blows. He caught one on his spear, using his mana to imbue the spear just as it hit. The crushing damage collapsed the troggs’ chest taking it out of the fight, but with his mana pool depleted by the deal with Cassia, he would be out of magic for the rest of the fight.

Larson tripped another trogg with his tail, and the other three attacking him ceased their efforts and tried to claw and punch at the approaching zombies. Finishing off the one he had tripped, Larson left the other troggs to the prisoner’s undead minions. Moving to help his crewmates, Larson could see that two of the marines were down, and though Ibn had been able to shrug off the imp’s poison, he moved like he was nursing several injuries and wasn’t in top form.

“I’m not done with you yet, human,” the imp whined staggering toward the former prisoner.

“Too bad, because I’m about to be done with you,” the injured prisoner said, walking confidently toward the imp after stopping to pick up one of the throwing knives from the ground.

“You won’t need that, I know I’m dying, but you’ll all join me,” the imp whined, crawling to a small steel-banded, wooden chest that rested among some supply crates near the portal device. The imp rummaged around before pulling a large, stone shark figurine from his pouch and coating it in his blood. “Come, blood seekers, come flesh-eaters, come and lose yourself to the call of the feast,” the imp said, smashing the figurine on the ground. Gathering his second wind, the imp drew a dagger and moved to meet the prisoner in combat.

If that chest the imp had pulled the figurine from contained magic items, Larson wanted it. The crew would need some compensation for their efforts, and Larson wasn’t planning on returning empty-handed. As the imp focused on the angry prisoner, Larson slithered over to the abandoned chest. The lid was closed, and he didn’t have time to rummage around inside, but it had a good heft to it as Larson lifted it and deposited the chest into his void storage. With his looting completed, Larson moved to help his crew in their desperate fight with the troggs.

The marines had backed away, trading space for time as the horde of troggs approached. Several of the troggs spotted Larson’s approach and broke off to intercept him. Larson pushed his way through the mob, suffering a few more blows as he rejoined the surviving members of his crew. Ibn and two marines were still in the fight, another marine was still alive, but badly hurt and only able to crawl to safety behind the row of defenders.

A sharply pitched shriek sounded out from the imp, Larson concluding that the prisoner had enacted his revenge on the little monster. Pressure on the line lessened as more and more of the troggs backed away from the fight for some reason. Battered and bloodied, two of the undead troggs broke through the line of attackers, holding open a gap long enough for the wounded human to limp through and join Larson’s party. Once he was through, the zombies stayed behind, bludgeoning and biting at their living kin.

“We got bigger troubles than the troggs,” the man said.

“This is bad enough, what’s the new trouble?” Larson asked as he pulled his spear from the gut of one of the attackers.

“Makon, strange ones, but makon nonetheless. The things are pouring out of the pool in the cavern. At least they’re attacking everything, not just coming for us,” the man said. There were too many troggs in front of them, but the line of attackers was thinning as they turned to face the new threat attacking them from the rear.

“I don’t know if we can handle troggs and makon, how are there makon this far below the surface?” Larson asked.

“It doesn’t matter how they got here, they’re here and we need to leave. Did you have some plan to escape after your attack?” the man asked.

“Yes, across the lake we have some soldiers holding back the Hypogean army. They have a runestone that will get us back to the surface. Before we can leave, though, we need to shut down the portal,” Larson told the man.

“It’ll go down on its own without sacrifices to sustain it,” the man advised.

“That’s all well and good, but won’t they just recast the spell to activate the portal?” Larson asked.

“They can try, but once this portal collapses, it’s not just a matter of powering it back up, they’ll have to start the whole process over again, and that will take months, at least,” the man said.

“Good, we’ll fall back toward the tunnel entrance, can you swim? We have to cross the lake to make it back,” Larson said.

“Don’t worry about me, the water won’t be an obstacle. We should leave, now, before the makon overwhelm the troggs,” the man told them.

All but a few of the troggs had lost interest in Larson’s party, unleashing their rage on the shark-like humanoids emerging from the pool. These makon looked odd, instead of the formidable bulk of the ones he had fought before, these were slender and had a pure white hide. The normally black eyes of a makon were glowing faintly blue in the dim light of the chamber, reminding Larson of some creature from the depths of the sea where no light was found.

From the way their blows were landing on the primitive troggs, the strange makon were still deadly, despite their physical appearance. Given the troggs’ lack of weapons and armor, the claws and teeth of the makon were more than a match for the bludgeoning punches of the troggs. The last few troggs that attacked Larson’s party were cut down as they broke through and headed for the tunnel leading out of the chamber.

“Stay and defend,” the man said to the pair of zombies he commanded. Larson was a little creeped out by the undead and was more than happy to leave them behind. Not the best fighters from what he could gather, they should still be able to gum up the narrow tunnel exiting the chamber and allow them more time to retreat if either trogg or makon decided to pursue.

“Did the imp summon the makon with that figurine?” Larson asked.

“I believe so, before I lost consciousness, I overheard the imps talking about the item and some of the others they had found, trading them to someone on the surface that was aiding them. It’s an ancient relic of the makon people, they found them inside a hidden compartment in the chamber we just left,” the man said. Larson couldn’t wait until he made it back to the ship to see what else might be in the chest he had pilfered. Given the recent attack on Stratwall Harbor, their surface contact must have been someone either living in the city or with a grudge against it. Proving the makon attack on the city wasn’t an accident would go far in justifying some kind of reward for the privateers.

“Don’t wait for me, get moving, I can catch up,” Larson said as they left the tunnel and approached the shore of the lake. Ibn led the crew into the frigid water, hauling the wounded marine behind him. The group paddled as fast as they could toward the far shore. Once he joined them, Larson would be able to keep them heading in the right direction.

“Thank you for saving me, I’m in your debt, sir. The Zisilerpicazant clan and I are old enemies, and I didn’t hold out much hope for my continued existence when I fell into their hands,” the man said.

“Glad I could help, I’m Captain Larson of the Sea Venom. We’ll get you to the surface and then to Stratwall Harbor. From there you should be able to find your way to wherever it is you’re going,” Larson said, shaking the man’s hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Captain Larson, I’m Narbos. I was known as Narbos the Grimm, master of the zone of Bharga’s Crossing. That life, and my rule over the zone, is over. Narbos the Grimm is gone, where my life will take me remains to be seen,” Narbos said. Larson wasn’t sure what to make of the mage, but for now, they all had a portal to catch.