A Soldier's Life - 314 - Demonic Depths (final edit 8-4-25)

Chapter 314: The Demonic Depths A throaty roar of approvals echoed among the encirclement of Boutan orcs. They would have a new Supreme shor

Chapter 314: The Demonic Depths

A throaty roar of approvals echoed among the encirclement of Boutan orcs. They would have a new Supreme shortly, but Mynasha was not happy. “They have chosen Jhuarkasha to be their next Supreme,” she whispered to me.

“I don’t understand. We go in, cut some horns off some demons, and come out.” I thought we had all the advantages here.

“No. Warlord Rhuuk trained for years to fight the four demons. I never even studied them or how to fight them. We will need to consult with Glasha,” she said worriedly.

We had missed part of the next announcement as we had talked. The Elder finished addressing the assemblage. “They can enter anytime they wish, after sunset.”

“Where is the dungeon entrance?” I asked, leaning in.

“We are standing before it. That stone building was built over it. I believe there is a long set of stairs descending to it, but it takes an hour to descend,” she said as she scanned the crowd for Glasha.

“Wouldn’t that mean the entrance is in the Endless Dark?” I surmised.

“Yes, there are sealed passages to the Endless Dark near the dungeon entrance from what I know.” Mynasha found Glasha, and the crowd parted for us as we moved to her. Glasha’s face was unreadable, and with Tarnasha, we secluded ourselves further away. It looked like Rhuuk and Jhuarkasha were heading back to their longhouse to get supplies and prepare but they had not appeared shocked at the announcement of the third trial.

“What do we need to know?” I asked when we were clear of the mass of orcs.

Glasha did not have the same indecision on her face that Mynasha had. “On entering the dungeon, you will exit into the center of a massive chamber. Red glowstones embedded in the ceiling light it. Lesser creatures from the demon realm wander the main chamber. You will be fine if you do not draw too many to you.”

“I thought demons didn’t exist on Desia?” I questioned. I remembered that Khrusos had said the Titans had sealed the gates when they encountered a planet populated by demons.

Glasha nodded and responded in a serious tone. “True—to an extent. This is one of three dungeons on Desia that I am aware of that spawn demons. Even if they do escape the dungeons, they are sterile. Few ever reach the surface as the denizens of the Endless Dark wisely hunt them with a ferver.”

“Why don’t you destroy the dungeon?” I asked. If the demons were a threat, then it would make sense. Then, I recalled that the Caliphate harvested the horns to make the ink for their tattoos.

“It is complicated,” Glasha said slowly. I eyed Mynasha, who looked away guiltily. Glasha continued, not explaining. “The four demons are in four caves on the perimeter of the central chamber. Each cave glows with a different light: yellow, green, blue, and violet. Each of those chambers holds a different greater demon and will seal you in when you enter.” Glasha caught her breath, and I could tell she was anxious for us.

Mynasha still looked unsure of herself and the trial. “What of the demons? Do you know how to fight them? Will my lightning work on them?”

Glasha spoke slowly as she recalled the knowledge. “Unfortunately, the walls are lined with colored glowstones that will draw your lightning to them—any powerful spells actually. You can use it, but connecting to your target will be much harder. One of the greater demons is completely immune to lighting: the shadow demon. It is the most dangerous of the four. The other three are the ice demon, snake demon, and greater hellhound. All of them have horns, so any two will satisfy the Elders’ trial.”

None of those options sounded appealing, and I had not been educated about demons in Hound training. Glasha did her best to prepare us, lecturing us on how to fight the demons and what dangers to expect in the large cavern. We had hours before sunset, and we could gather all the useful information we could from the Chronicler and Tarnasha.

As we talked, the warlords and clerics started to break into groups and set up camps around the central building. Their slaves and attendants rushed in with tents and tables like they were throwing a tailgate. They clearly planned to wait here for one of us to exit in triumph.

The hours seemed to disappear quickly, and evening came. “You should go,” Glasha suddenly said as the sky was turning to dusk. “The hellhound and snake demon are your best choices.” Glasha was indicating a procession coming down the primary path. Warlord Rhuuk and Cleric Jhuarkasha were returning. I felt mildly prepared as I removed my fire cloak and handed it to Glasha. Mynasha handed hers to Tarnasha, and we walked side by side to the stone building to enter first.

One of the Elders, a gray-skinned orc with a hunched back and pruned features, held open the door on the side of the structure for us. Beyond that were steep stairs descending on worn steps. Blue glowstone sconces illuminated the stairs. I hadn’t known glowstones came in different colors. The stairs were barely wide enough for us to descend side by side, and each step dropped over a foot. As our boots scraped on the stone with each step, a slight echo traveled ahead and behind us.

“It is 2,323 steps to the bottom,” Mynasha said softly. I heard the descent is not so bad; it is the climb after exiting the dungeon that is the killer.” She smiled weakly at her attempt at humor. I just nodded in return, more focused on the task ahead of us. The walls became a patchwork of different stones the deeper we went. A few stones ominously had ancient claw marks embedded in them. A massive hand of some monstrosity must have made them.

The descent went much quicker than I thought, and soon, we stepped onto a large oval landing with a familiar massive flat oily wall on the far side. Two iron doors dominated the right wall. Blue glowstones dominated the wall to our left, making the chamber bright but with an eerie blue light. “I have never been down here,” Mynasha stated in awe. “Those doors continue to the Endless Dark, but I was unaware there was more than one.”

I was focused on the dungeon entrance. “I have never seen a dungeon entrance that size before. It is large enough for a giant—or Titan—to enter easily.” Mynasha didn’t respond but looked apprehensive. Learning she was an otherworlder and yet being forced along in The Choosing had rattled her, not giving her time to process. Maybe she didn’t even want this anymore but was too overwhelmed to realize it. I was not a therapist, but we were too close to finishing.

The echoing footsteps above us indicated we didn’t have much time before the others caught up with us. I drew magebane and stepped into the oily surface of the dungeon entrance.

Glasha hadn’t done the chamber I arrived in justice. The cavernous ceiling stretched high above with large patches of red glowstones placed sporadically. A humid heat washed over us with the scent of the gym locker room. The terrain was modestly rocky, with patches of black lichen and yellow mushrooms. Glasha had warned us about the mushroom spores if you got too close. The spores would create a thick mucus in your lungs and in minutes you would suffocate you. The lichen was edible but didn’t have alchemy uses, at least, any that Mynasha knew of when I asked her.

Lesser demons dominated the red-bathed rocky landscape around us. A bulbous pig man that Glasha called a dretch was closest at just a dozen yards. They were hideous creatures, shorter than me by a head and ugly bulging veins along their rubbery flesh. Sporadic bristly hair made them high on the fugly scale. Its pig-like face turned to us, but we knew we were safe near the only dungeon exit. According to Glasha, there was a halo around the portal that the demons could not encroach on.

My vision caught the movement, and I prepared myself as Cleric Jhuarkasha stepped through. Warlord Rhuuk appeared behind him as the oily surface released him. My eyes locked with Rhuuk, and I could end this all now. His eyes betrayed his opinion of me. He may have been curious before, but now I was standing in his way, an obstacle to overcome.

I half-expected them to initiate something, but instead, Rhuuk pushed Jhuarkasha and irritably ordered him. “Go to the yellow chamber!” That cave held the snake demon, one of our preferred targets. We watched them move away from the oily door. Rhuuk led the way, cutting down two dretches with powerful swings of his large blade. The heinous creatures squealed in pain but were quickly silenced. We had been warned they could summon more of their kind with such displays.

“The hellhound then?” I asked Mynasha. We had planned on killing the snake demon in the yellow chamber as well, but would have to target a different demon, or steal the horns from the others.

Mynasha oriented herself to the distant violet glow on the wall—the opposite direction the other pair was headed. Purple was where the hellhound could be found. She disrobed to just a halter top and leather skirt.

Dungeons fed off ley lines, granting her almost unlimited aether during this delve. While her offensive spells might be hard to control, she had several defensive spells that would speed up our journey. I led the way and killed my first dretch. They appeared threatening with four-inch claws but were clumsy and surprisingly slow. With two quick swings, I opened its belly and then its throat. As its black lifeblood spilled out, I kneeled and retrieved the collector. At least I could gain something from this expedition. Soon, blue aetheric wisps started to be pulled from the corpse.

I was shocked to see that the essence that formed had spiraling white and blue smoke within. It was just a minor essence, but it was the charm affinity. I looked at the disgusting creature and thought nothing was charming about it.

“You got an essence?” Mynasha asked as I pocketed it.

“I did. I will not slow us down, but it would be a pity to waste the opportunity,” I said, standing. She wouldn’t object but looked surprised and didn’t need to know how special my collector was.

A humming sound echoed overhead. It was another threat from the large chamber: blood stirges. They were large, red, furry, bat-like creatures with a sharp, long proboscis. They were not dangerous for us, but if they did pierce your flesh, you would bleed for hours. We quickly tracked the trio of them descending on us. Mynasha’s lightning shield cooked them when they dove. The three smoking bodies thudded onto the ground, and she looked pleased with herself.

As I moved to use the collector, she advised. “You won’t get anything from them. They have so little essence it would be futile.”

I shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt to try.” The essence that formed was dark green and felt extremely satisfying. Quickness as very useful and made the pain of losing the healing essences to the titans slightly easier to bear. When I had three of the minor dark green essences in hand, I stood. Mynasha's skin was already coated in a sheen of sweat, and disbelief was etched on her face. “Guess Fortuna is smiling on me today,” I said dismissively.

I walked past her and soon found more dretches to cut down. It was like practicing against a training dummy with how poorly the creatures moved. They only had one unique attack, expelling a cloud of noxious gas that made you wretch uncontrollably. As long as you held your breath, it wasn’t even that great of a threat. Six dretches and six charm essences later, we encountered the third and final type of creature we were warned about in the primary chamber.

The small green demon was incredibly fast and more of a nuisance than an actual threat in the dungeon. They had a tail with a stinger that could inject painful poison, but they were opportunistic attackers, according to Glasha. If you get into a fight with several dretches, the green imp will turn invisible and try to stab you from behind before retreating. Their tiny claws couldn’t do much unless you were incapacitated. They would also steal from you if you were not observant.

She called them quasits, and this one was so intimidated by my stare that it disappeared. I immediately activated my aether sight. The quasit appeared as a shimmering echo of aether as it moved away. I didn’t give away that I could see it, not tracking it with my eyes. Another useful benefit of this spell form. “I will watch our backs when we are attacked,” Mynasha stated while looking for signs of the tiny demon.

“Not needed. Just keep a lookout for the blood stirges, and we will be fine. We are getting closer to the cave,” I indicated to the violet glow emanating from the wall ahead of us.

When I engaged a pair of dretches a few minutes later, the little invisible demon made its move. As I was cutting down the pig men, it attempted to rush in and stab me in the calf. I back swing caught the creature fully in the chest with magebane, cutting it almost in half and sending its broken body away in a heap.

“How did you?” Mynasha asked, staring at the tiny, broken body oozing dark blood.

I didn’t answer immediately, instead making sure the dretches were dead and kneeling over the quasit with the collector. As the collector worked, I explained. “Its invisibility was imperfect. Also, Glasha said they would attack when we were engaged, so I was ready.”

“How come I didn’t notice anything, then?” the cleric protested.

“I don’t know, but you should try using your lightning to see how it is affected by the glow stones,” I replied, taking a minor essence from the collector. It was unique and looked like a whirlpool of dark blood. It was slightly mesmerizing, and you almost felt like you were being pulled into the tiny sphere.

“What is it?”

“I think it is an abyssal essence,” I answered her. At least, that was what I recalled. The abyssal affinity was less demonic and more about spell forms that cursed or hindered a target. I stared a moment longer before pocketing the essence with the others. “Drink some water, and then we will continue.” We were both sweating in the hot, humid chamber, and I pulled a canteen to my hand. I used it to wash down one of the quickness essences, enjoying the tingly feeling spreading through my nerves.

I could tell Mynasha had a thousand questions, but her constant glances at the collector showed that she was smart enough to realize that the collector was more than it seemed. When we reached the violet wall, I had killed three more dretches, Mynasha had killed five blood stirges, and I had surprised a second quasit.

I was giddy at the essence harvest. All the dretches gave charm essences, and I think I figured out why. They could communicate with each other through telepathy. At least when they attacked in pairs or threes, I noticed they were coordinated yet didn’t communicate vocally.

One of the stirges gave a lesser healing essence instead of a quickness essence. But the real prize was the second quasit. It was a minor essence, but this lesser essence was milky gray. An extremely rare essence of aether shaping. This could improve my control over aether, and with enough of them, I could eventually trace spell forms in the air with my aether.

It was too precious to consume right now. I would consume it by itself after this was over. “What affinity does that affect?” Mynasha asked over my shoulder. She wasn’t being coy, as her face was clearly showing bewilderment.

“One of the magic attributes, I believe,” I answered as I pocketed it. I brought her attention to the archway a few yards away.

The archway was formed with blocks of deep purple glow stones. Deep inside the entrance, a monstrous black canine beast with fiery glowing eyes paced back and forth, waiting for us. I walked closer but did not enter. Ignoring the hellhound, my hand brushed the purple glow stones; the red ones in the ceiling chamber were too far away to reach, but maybe I could mine some of these…

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