This Used To Be About Dungeons полностью

“When do I start to play?” asked Verity, also whispering.

Alfric drew his sword, which produced arcs of electricity. He faced the door, got a grip on his shield, and steeled himself. “Now,” he said.

Verity began her song, a more focused one this time, with couplets about the springtime and the horrors that could lurk in dark places that the spring sun had not yet touched. It was a little morose, Alfric thought, but it made him stronger, and the actual words didn’t matter much, so long as they were helping Verity to focus on the rhythms and melodies.

Alfric waited at the closed door, sword drawn, hoping that nothing would hear the song and come through. In some dungeons, the first sound would send almost every creature running, all at once, to the source of the noise. It was rare, but he had heard of it happening, and if that happened in their first dungeon, well, that was a melee they would face down, but it was unlikely that he would be able to escape without serious injuries, even if the rest of the party acted as they should.

After a few minutes, he relaxed and lowered his sword slightly. There was no sound except the song.

“What does the sword do?” asked Mizuki. “I saw lightning.”

“It’s electric,” replied Alfric. “A fairly mild effect unless I use one of the charges and a good candidate for replacement. It was my father’s weapon when he went into the dungeons.” He went out of his fighting stance and turned back toward them, keeping one eye on the door. “You can touch it, if you’d like.” He held the sword out, and Isra tentatively stepped forward, pressing her finger against the blade for a moment, then giving a curt nod, her face expressionless, which Alfric found surprising. Mizuki frowned, looked at Isra, then stepped forward and touched the blade too, almost immediately leaping back and swearing.

“Tricks!” she cried.

Isra smirked, a playful, impish expression that was gone almost as soon as Alfric noticed it.

“We’ll be opening this door soon,” said Alfric. “When we do, there’s a good chance that something will come out. If it does, then I’ll cut it with my sword and try to draw it back so that Isra and Mizuki can get clear shots at it. If nothing comes out, we’ll be moving in slowly and cautiously, and I’ll be trying to bait out whatever lies beyond. Mizuki, you blast it the moment I’m free, but don’t be afraid to catch me as collateral damage if it comes to that. That’s what we have Hannah for.”

“I’ve got limits,” said Hannah. “Lots of limits, actually. Should have gone into it more on the way over, I s’pose.”

“Faster, please,” said Verity, who was still holding the song in her head.

Alfric nodded and pulled the door open with his off-hand, temporarily letting go of his shield’s handle.

The beast burst out almost at once, thrusting across the threshold and lunging straight for Alfric’s face. It was large, as thick around as a barrel, and long, like a snake, though it had a hundred small legs ending in cat’s claws and two enormous pincers on its front, which it was trying to close around Alfric’s skull. It was the same creamy color of a pale person’s flesh, with freckles no less, and when Alfric ducked beneath the pincers and stabbed it, its blood was very human too.

He backed up as he fought it, getting a grip on his shield and angling it more effectively. The rest of the party was behind him, and he whipped his head back toward them just once, to make sure that they were safe, as he’d said they would be. The beast opened its pincers wide and lunged at him once more, its sinuous body weaving back and forth to provide the propulsion. It got his shield and bore down on it, denting the metal, but while it was occupied with that, Alfric was thrusting his sword into its underbelly, which was exposed because of how it was lifting its forward section, and there wasn’t terribly much resistance. He quickly made a bloody mess.

There was a sudden and deafening blast, followed by an intense wave of heat, and the beast lurched to the side, losing its grip on the shield. Alfric moved forward and began stabbing it more, this time aiming for the head, but it wasn’t clear how much this was actually necessary, because the blast had torn out a sizable chunk of its midsection.

It took some time for the thing to finally die, and by the end of it, Alfric’s sword-arm was wet up to the elbow with its blood. He was breathing hard from exertion and took a moment to cool down. He looked down the hallway, tensed, then finally lowered his sword.

“Everyone okay?” he asked.

“What even is that?” asked Mizuki, looking down at the beast. Her hands were shaking.

“It’s a monster,” said Isra. She was outwardly calm, but she had a stillness to her that made her hard to read.

“You said we would be safe!” said Mizuki. “It could have killed us!”

“It didn’t,” said Alfric. “I didn’t even get hurt.”

“In what way was that like three raccoons!” shouted Mizuki.