Shadowcroft Academy Year 2 - Chapter Forty-Five

Logan worked quickly. Steve’s minions were working to get past the downed statue of Chadrigoth in the entry room, and they were making serious headway. Chadrigoth’s current dungeon layout was far too linear, which simply wouldn’t do. Using the raging surplus of Apothos he suddenly had access to, Logan added false corridors, twisting passageways, covered digestive pits, and bone-scythe pendulums. He quickly spawned and deployed a host of his own minions: Waddlers, basic Spore Wargs, more advanced Blistering Death Wargs, and a platoon of adorable, puffball Kurrybooboos to help heal the other minions.

Forests of mushrooms—brought forth with his Rapid Growth Ability—dotted the corridors, rooms, and passageways. Tangles of Ghoul’s Snare would slow enemies while carefully placed clusters of Crimson Coral Fungus would herd the invaders down the correct passageways. Swaying Opal Truffles concealed his smaller minions as well as deadly Gem-Studded Puffballs. Using his symbiotic bond with Chadrigoth, he also seeded the abyss lord’s minions with Braincaps, enhancing their already formidable abilities. Blister Wart sprouted from Pit Spawn and Dungeonaut—anything that had the misfortune to brush against them would be in excruciating pain.

With that down, Logan turned to the more challenging task: getting his head around Chadrigoth’s Circle of Torment abilities. The demon prince wasn’t wrong—those skills were powerful, but they were also complicated. Mind Slave was a single target spell that allowed Chadrigoth to enslave any dungeoneer who failed a sufficient Ego Check—if they failed, he could temporarily supplant their Ego for his own, turning them into cult-like worshipers. Logan had a feeling that wouldn’t work on Steve; his mind and Ego were off the charts.

Diabolis Puzzeleris Boxi and the Shame Maze, however, were both magical traps designed to both slow invaders and inflict brutal physical, mental, and spiritual agony. They were perfect. The dungeon was laid out west to east, and Logan added most of his enhancement to the east side. For example, he put the Diabolis Puzzeleris Boxi room on the west side of the lava river ravine. He positioned the Shame Maze on the east side. Then it was a short walk from the Shame Maze to get to the inner sanctum, where Logan had most of his mushroom resources—including a final digestion pit.

Logan had to move fast, but he’d had lots of practice working under pressure—this was second nature to him at this point. The design wasn’t perfect, but it was a hundred times better than what had been there before. Only time would tell how effective it would actually be against Steve, though. Speaking of which, Steve’s dummy-faced lightning spiders had finally dug out the staircase. That allowed the invading horde to come flooding down the steps and into the first grand gallery.

Chadrigoth wasn’t much help, though he did add two secret passageways—one was a hidden corridor which connected the inner sanctum to the lava river ravine. The other hall was a series of ladders that would take Logan back to the entrance. From there, they had easy access to the Null Arena. Once Steve pushed deep enough into their dungeon, Logan would slip around the back and take a run at the Winterdark Halls, where he would hopefully be able to capture the inner sanctum and destroy Steve’s proto-core.

Logan found it ironic—this fight really was like their final. He’d never expected to be fighting with the abyss lord instead of againsthim, but the basic principles were the same. And, just like their final, Logan and Chadrigoth were on their own. Professor Zantho would be proctoring other exams, Rockheart was busy overseeing the Winnowing for the First Years, and Headmaster Shadowcroft was away with the Third Years for the Inter-Academy Tournament. As for the Threshing Turtle, Steve had said something about keeping Professor Ikgix out of the action, and Logan believed him.

Logan put the professors from mind—no calvary would be coming. They were on their own.

Steve’s mannequin body led his troops directly, though the proto-gem wasn’t in the dummy’s belly. Treacle must’ve given Steve some chainmail because the plaster dummy was decked out for war. Much to Logan’s chagrin, Steve gripped a Crimson Coral sword, along with a silver buckler, which sparked with arcs of golden lightning—that was a well-crafted Treacle object without a doubt. Roy Boy was at Steve’s side, his second-in-command. The X-Man Centipede Spartan had his Crimson Coral wolverine claws out and his golden armor glittered in the firelight.

Those two led a minion army of spiders, tanks, flyers, and strikers.

Most of the spiders were killed by the Dungeonauts in the entrance room. The others were taken out quickly in the first room. It seemed the hellion imps had a taste for plaster, which spelled disaster for the spiders.

The tanks were far tougher. The upgraded Ugknot Calfling were twice as large as normal, thanks to the layers of rigid exoskeleton that must’ve come from Inga. The minotaurs also had four purple tentacles sprouting from their backs—Marko’s handiwork, no doubt. Each tentacle grasped oversized kite shields, perfect for creating a mobile defensive wall. But they weren’t all defense. Fulgur Apothos crackled across the metal gadgets they had tucked away under chitinous plates.

The aerial support element consisted of mannequins with luminescent moth wings, armed with wicked spike-headed maces that crackled with power. Inga’s spike flies buzzed around the winged lunar dummies. But even the flies had been altered. Oversized mandibles clicked open and closed, thick strands of saliva dripped down, sizzling when it hit the stone like acid. They’d been augmented with Fulgur Apothos, as well.

The strikers were strangest of all, though. They had the bodies of mannequins, but instead of heads, each had a writhing ball of purple tentacles, with the multiple magenta eyes and the many mouths of your typical eldritch horror. It was like Cthulhu had stopped in at a Macy’s to merge with the display dummies before taking over the world. They gripped Treacle-crafted crossbows in their plaster hands. Logan had to hand it to Steve—he might be an ancient evil, but he knew his way around a good minion. Those things were legitimately terrifying, and Logan had seen just about everything since coming to Shadowcroft Academy.

In that first room, the buggy Calflings charged forward creating an unbreakable phalanx with their colossal shields.

Chadrigoth directed his army of Hellion Imps, Unleashed Pit Spawn, and Dungeonauts to attack. The opposing forces met with a clash of shields, claws, horns, and fire.

Crossbow strings thwanged and enchanted bolts raked through the ranks of the Imps, ripping through leathery wings like tissue paper and punching through reptilian scales. Many fell lifeless to the red rock floor, hissing as the flames around their horns and claws guttered and died, plumes of sooty smoke wafting skyward.

Logan sent out a call to fall back, and Chadrigoth’s forces did just that. The heavily armored Dungeonauts retreated into a connecting hallway, defending the Unleashed Pit Spawn and remaining Hellion Imps from the volleys of crossbow fire. They entered into a cavernous chamber filled with several of Logan’s digestive pits and swaying forests of Truffles, concealing some of Logan’s minions. Once the Dungeonauts had fallen back into the center of the chamber, they posted up, forming into a concaved semi-circle.

Mannequins charged in, sensing victory.

Waddlers on Spore Wargs burst from the mushroom forests, a calvary charge to the flanks. Coral blades sliced into vulnerable flesh, though it wasn’t powerful enough to get through the enameled exoskeletons covering the Calflings. Thankfully, they also carried Blister Wart grenades: Gem-studded Puffballs wrapped with spongy blister wart caps. The Waddlers hurled them at the tanks. The puffballs erupted on contact and though the glassy shrapnel didn’t do much damage, the blister wart spores sure did. Eyes and lips swelled and an exposed flesh broke out in ugly boils.

Steve’s mannequin form howled in rage and brandished his Crimson Coral sword overhead.

Spike flies descended from overhead, swarming the Dungeonauts. Worse, Inga’s nearly invisible Tsuki ants dropped from the arched ceiling. They weren’t big, but boy there were a lot of them, and their mandibles were slowly but surely gnawing away the bony plates that protected Chadrigoth’s behemoth tanks. Meanwhile, the moth mannequins darted in on elegant wings and slammed the Dungeonauts with their spiked morningstars.

Even with Logan’s calvary charge, the Dungeonaut defense wall faltered and failed. Gaps opened in the line, exposing the more vulnerable creatures. Steve brought his sword swooshing down and Lovecraftian crossbowmen unleashed a volley of bolts, peppering the Unleashed Pit Spawn. Several of the buggy Calflings took the opportunity to charge; swords snapped out from their wrists and in seconds razor sharp blades cut down the dragon-dog monsters.

With a thought, a small squad of Kurrybooboos air dropped in from a series of tiny, pitted tunnels gouged into the ceiling. They floated down like celebration balloons, landing among Chadrigoth’s flagging minions. Light glittered around them in halos as they bounded along, mending flesh and healing the most grievously injured.

They were holding, but barely, and they couldn’t keep this up forever.

<I’m on it!> Chadrigoth barked in his head. His guardian form took off at a sprint, quickly leaving the inner sanctum behind as he drove toward the lava ravine on powerful legs. It was clear they would need the abyss lord’s personal combat skills to slow Steve and his creatures down.

If there was a silver lining in all of this, however, it was that Logan doubted Steve had the power to form two massive armies. Logan was guessing that Steve had skimped on his defensive forces, probably assuming that his traps would be able to hold off Logan and whatever offense he and Chadrigoth mounted.

Logan was just glad that they’d created the secret passageway, so an offensive attack was even an option. Chadrigoth figured he’d just march his army through Logan and Inga’s forces and waltz right down into the Winterdark Hall’s inner sanctum and win the battle. The abyss lord had zero contingency plans. Grow up rich, healthy, and strong and you’d assume you wouldn’t lose either.

<By the dipping sauces of Aldaleera,> Chadrigoth swore, <you were right. This is going to be tough! I’m just glad we’re doing it together, bro!>

Logan couldn’t contain his eyeroll this time. When this was all over and done with, he and Chadrigoth were going to have to have a long talk. Mostly about boundaries and how to form healthy relationships.

<At this point,> Logan sent, <we need to fall back the lava river ravine and make another stand. Your puzzle trap room should slow them down.

Logan had an idea.

Steve’s army had made it through two other caverns and were crossing the bottomless pit on the west side. The hellion imps jumped out from behind invisible walls, but Roy Boy was able to tear through them like a whirlwind in an Oklahoma trailer park. And anything Roy Boy missed, Steve found. The mannequin was hell on wheels with that coral sword. An imp leapt on Steve, and the mannequin’s shield buzzed and crackled with deadly electricity. The imp toppled, blackened into a single burned kernel of microwave popcorn.

Inga’s lightning spike flies and the moth mannequins easily repulsed the Unleashed Pit Spawn that came fluttering in on winds that smelled like roasted almonds. Meanwhile, Steve and Roy Boy charged forward along with a strike team—three tentacle-backed buggy Calflings, four moth mannequins, and five of the Cthulhu-headed crossbow dummies. That last of Steve’s minions still fought Chadrigoth’s forces on the bridge spanning the bottomless pit.

The strike team itself hurried from the bridge and sped down the stairs that dropped several flights before they entered the first trap room.

Logan focused his consciousness there, marveling as he viewed the room from above. He couldn’t believe that Chadrigoth had never used his Diabolis Puzzeleris Boxi trap before. You could do a lot with a puzzle box—just asked Clive Barker and Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies. Heck, if Logan didn’t know any better, he would’ve bet good money that Barker himself was either an adventurer who had been unlucky enough to cross paths with an abyss lord or even a dungeon himself. Actually, that last option made a certain amount of sense the more Logan thought about it.

But Logan didn’t have time to wonder whether Clive Barker was actually a traveler from another world—he had an evil mannequin to kill.