They hit the ground with a splat.
"What just happened?" Tyson asked as he tried to brush the mud and moss off his already gross clothes.
"That," Oriana pulled a dead vine from her hair, "was a God."
Malric and Tyson both turned and stared at Oriana.
"A real God?" Malric croaked, rubbing his wrist once more.
"Yes," Oriana answered as if seeing a God was an everyday thing.
Malric leaned against a tree and slid down the trunk. His gaze became unfocused as he looked at the muddy ground.
Tyson still considered Malric his friend and he felt bad for him.
"Start talking." Oriana snapped, looking at Malric.
Malric shook his head, like he was coming back from a bad dream.
"I… I don't exactly know where the tunnels are," he rubbed the back of his head.
If Oriana herself was a blade, Malric would be cut in half right now.
Tyson wanted to step in, but Malric had backed himself into a corner, he would have to get himself out of it.
"But!" he got out before Oriana could make a move, "but I've heard stories… seen maps. If they are where I think they are, I can find them."
Oriana's eyes narrowed. "If you're wrong, I'll use your bones to dig your grave."
"I get it." He swallowed hard.
They set out following Malric's lead as he tried to navigate the dense fog and marsh.
Many F and E grade monsters tried to ambush them; Tyson was forced to fight them off.
"It would be faster if you just killed them." He said as he cut a pig sized rat with horns in half.
Oriana smirked, "I need you to grow, and you won't if I do all the work for you."
Every now and then one of the creatures would drop an opal, Tyson had plenty now, and they were starting to get heavy in his small pack.
"Must I pick up every opal that is dropped?" He groaned.
Malric was quick to jump in, "I will gladly take whatever Opal's you don't want." Green flashed across his face.
They continued, Tyson fought off creatures, Malric started talking more, clearly trying to get back on Oriana's good side.
"You know, you are probably the most powerful user in the kingdom, maybe even the world." He stated.
"I'm not a user." She said as she swiped at a thick branch that blocked their way. The fog seemed to grow more and more dense, and a sickly stench invaded their senses.
Tyson made sure to ask what she meant by that, later.
As they pushed through another patch of thick branches and dead bushes, they stumbled into an open clearing. In the center was a hole, a broken stone archway in ruins around the hole.
"I think this is it." Malric said as he walked toward the hole. The stench intensified with each step.
"The smell is intolerable," Tyson said as he tried to cover his nose.
"Get over it." Oriana said as she jumped into the hole, landing on a set of stairs that spiraled down.
The stairs seemed to spiral forever, and after an eternity they finally found the bottom. A long tunnel of stone went straight, soul fire lamps lit the walls.
Soulfire has always fascinated Tyson, it is a source of light that never goes out, unless done so on purpose. If left, it would burn forever. It wasn't necessarily a fire, despite its name, it was like a ball of white light made by users with a soulfire rune.
The tunnel seemed long, they couldn't see the end or any other passages, so they started walking. Nothing happened for the first hour of their walk, then they came to a split in the tunnel.
Oriana closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She opened them once more, "left." She said as she faced the left tunnel.
Tyson took the lead and headed down the tunnel, he heard a snap, and a hard shove from behind, he fell face first, his knees hitting the hard stone floor before he caught himself. The pain shot through his legs.
"What was that?!" he yelled, the anger and pain fueling his tone.
He looked up and saw an axe buried in the wall, right where he was previously standing.
"That," Malric said, "was me saving your ass."
Tyson got up and dusted himself off. His knees were bleeding through his torn-up pants.
"Someone set traps, either we aren't alone, or the last people to come through didn't want anyone following them." Oriana said as she studied the makeshift axe trap.
Tyson was now reluctant to lead the group forward. He nearly died. Again.
Ever since meeting Oriana, his life had been at stake around every corner. He was getting tired of it.
He led them down the tunnel some more, and they ran into two other traps, a tripwire that released a couple of darts with poison on the tips and another axe falling from the ceiling. They were easy to spot once they knew what to look for.
They came to a large opening, and an empty chamber that felt colder than the rest of the tunnels. Soulfire lamps lit up the entire opening and, in the middle, sat a figure. Tyson turned to leave, but Oriana blocked his path. A smile on her face.
"This should be interesting." She said.
The hallway behind them rumbled and a gate slid down, blocking their exit.
The figure stood, it was a giant armored man, no skin showed, just armor. Everywhere. Its black visor hid its face, but faint purple orbs shined through the slits.
Its black armor gave off a powerful aura and the massive axe that materialized from thin air, erupted with power.
***Malric***
"A Black Knight?" Malric whispered, dread washing over him. Legends spoke of them as remnants of a forgotten war, undead arbiters of divine will. He never believed them to be real.
Until now.
"How is this possible," he whispered.
This was an A-grade threat, he remembered reading about it when he was younger. His memory rune didn't serve much purpose, but it helped him with details.
"We can't fight this, Oriana." He said urgently.
Before she could answer him, the knight spoke. Its voice a deep rattled strain, like it pained it to talk.
"Hand of Death." The knight bowed. "I shall assist you." The knight lifted its massive axe and slammed it down. The floor split beneath them, and the trio plunged into swallowing darkness.
Malric woke, coughing. Dust settled around him as he looked around.
"Tyson… Oriana…" he said, his voice dry.
His eyes landed on a lone figure standing a few feet away, staring down at him.
"Where is Tyson?" he asked.
"he's not far, I can feel him, but we need to get going." Oriana answered, lifting Malric to his feet.
***Tyson***
Tyson woke, he didn't know how long he had been out for, his body was sore from the impact.
"Hello?" he coughed as he gathered himself.
No answer.
He studied the small room he had landed in, it was dark, one lamp dimly lit the corner, below it an archway.
He moved toward it when a voice from behind stopped him.
"Who are you?"
He slowly turned, his hand moving to his sword.
"Don't" a sharp female voice said.
When he completed his turn, he was met by the looming threat of an arrow. The arrow itself wasn't wood or steel, but a swirling strand of white, black, and grey energy, burning without flame. It hovered inches from Tyson's face, whispering like it had a mind of its own.
He slowly raised his hand in surrender.
"If I have to ask again, your head becomes target practice." Not a threat, but a promise.