The Axe Falls -CH28- (Patreon)

Coughing, feeling as if he had a mouthful of dirt, Nick rolled to one side.

Or tried to, at least. Unfortunately there wasn’t anywhere he could go. Despite his attempt to move, he found that he could only barely shift his body around.

He was quite literally pinned beneath boulders, rocks, and earth. There wasn’t anywhere he could actually go as far as he could tell.

That was the best he could figure since it was pitch black and everything smelled like dirt. There was nothing to see, hear, or smell that’d help him.

“Hello?” he tried. His voice sounded like it didn’t go far, returning to him quickly along with his breath. Only for a small spray of dirt to dislodge from above him and spray across his face.

Nick felt like he was very much in a tomb of rock.

“I have no idea what happened, before you ask,” said Lucian, his voice held genuine concern. “My only guess is that someone did something to the Dungeon Core. I don’t know what, but something.

“They certainly didn’t clear the dungeon or anything like that. We would have just been allowed to leave after all the monsters just suddenly died. That would have certainly been bad enough for the city alone.

“Whatever this is… seems considerably worse. Or at least, worse to me. It’ll ruin the city’s ability to use the dungeon as a resource. On top of that, those who were in the dungeon are very likely dead.”

“Are we dead?” Nick asked, wondering if this was more than just being trapped.

“No. I’d know if you were dead,” murmured Lucian. “I always… feel the loss when someone in our family dies. Always. It’s a connection loss that I experience keenly.”

“Oh… okay. Good? Or… bad I guess for how you feel. Sorry, Gramps, little… little out of sorts here. Kinda buried alive,” Nick said.

“Perfectly understandable, my boy,” Lucian replied. “Let’s… do some basic information gathering first. Try starting up a Firebolt spell but don’t cast it. Let’s see where we are. I swear I heard a slight echo behind us but I’m not sure.”

Nick grunted at that but tried lifting up his left arm, bending it at the elbow. He didn’t feel it get stuck on anything until he nearly had it completely upright. His fingers brushed up against something quite hard and couldn’t go any further.

Gathering up his mana, Nick began casting Firebolt without a target. Which would really just create a ball of fire in his hand.

Within only a second, the spell formed and Nick could see his surroundings.

He really was in a tomb of rock and earth. He couldn’t see anything in any direction other than his stone coffin. From what he could tell, he’d somehow managed to land amongst the remains of stone walls. Likely from the floor he’d been on. They’d fallen in such a way to create a small pocket around him.

Turning his head he looked behind himself.

Then down.

There was indeed an exit to his tomb, though it was little better than a hole in the ground. One that led into inky darkness and had no light coming from it. Nor did were there any sounds exiting it, either.

“Well, better than here,” Nick said already coming to a final decision. The choice was simple and only required a little bravery.

Wriggling his shoulders and pushing with his boots, Nick began to slowly shimmy his way toward the hole.

Head first.

Unfortunately he would also have to go through the hole head first as well. There would be no opportunity to check out the hole. There wasn’t enough room for him to actually turn over.

“Kinda stupid to ask at this point, you seen End of the Line anywhere? Or my pack? If I can get the escape crystal that’d be handy,” Nick asked as he kept squirming backward.

“No, but at this point, that seems almost beside the point,” muttered Lucian. “It’s a tragic loss if it’s gone, but it’ snot worth your life. You are the only important thing here, Sire.”

Nick didn’t respond to that. Instead he just kept doing his best impression of a worm. Writhing and shimmying his way toward a hole he’d be face planting through.

“Remind me that after this, I don’t go anywhere without Ker,” Nick said as he felt the hole he was aiming for yawn out below the back of his head. “That nasty bastard would have already found a hole, shot through it, and started digging to get my dumb ass out.

“If only because I feed him god damned fish heads. That little shit would have just— eee!”

The hole Nick he’d been working toward was no longer a hole. It was a damn crevasse now.

Or so Nick noticed as he fell through it and saw it above him.

Falling for only a second or so Nick slammed right back down into the ground. Though this time he was face down rather than flat on his back.

“Guuuhh, shit, fuck,” groaned Nick.

Laying there, Nick felt like the ground he was on was actually quite flat and smooth. As if it were part of the actual dungeon.

Lifting his head, Nick realized he couldn’t see once again.

During the fall his spell had been snuffed out, leaving him in darkness.

“Okay,” Nick said, laying his forehead down to the ground. “So… we’re okay. Only lost a little bit of hitpoints. Right?”

Nick couldn’t actually see his status right now. One needed light to be able to see that. It didn’t actually produce it’s own light source.

“I don’t think so, no. Not from what I can tell but… I do need to see your status, too,” said Lucian. “I’m mostly judging from previous experience. Your health pool and the fact that we didn’t fall far… maybe twenty? We’re alright.

“The Draconic Regeneration will take care of it. We just need to focus on surviving and getting out of here. First and foremost, secure this area. Second, water. Third, food. Last, escape.”

“Yup,” Nick said, still staring into the ground and not getting up. His body felt heavy and he was hurting. It wasn’t terrible, but he felt like he wasn’t quite ready to get up emotionally.

Things had been going his way, now they weren’t.

Again.

With a groan, Nick got to his feet. Holding up his left hand he summoned up a Firebolt spell.

He was in what looked to be the remains of a room. One that had been made out of shaped and polished stones for an extravagant look. There were also bits and pieces of wooden furniture, curtains, and even decorative pieces that’d likely been on the wall.

“I don’t remember the look of any of this,” Nick muttered, slowly looking around the area.

Finally, he looked up.

The ceiling was actually mostly intact. Only the part he’d fallen through appeared to be broken. Everything else was fine.

“Nor I,” replied Lucian. “Though… if this room did not fall any further, despite the rest of everything crumbling away, does that mean we’re at the bottom of the dungeon?

“If this is the lowest floor, it had nowhere to collapse to. That’ll be a very long trip up and out of here. Nor should we expect help from the outside.

“If this really is an indirect attack, anyone who attempts to rescue us would become a valid target. This is only the start of their action against Fash more than likely. Not the end.”

Nick grunted at that and slowly inspected the debris. It was a lot of broken furniture he could use for a few things, though not many.

Primarily a club. Second to that, firewood.

He imagined it would very likely get quite cold down here now that the dungeon had failed.

There was only one door that Nick could use from here as the other led to a boulder with dirt filling in around it. There would be no exploration in that direction for the time being.

Holding the improvised club that’d most likely once been the arm of a chair Nick went through the door. The Firebolt in his left hand continued to slowly swirl and spin on itself in his palm, giving him more than enough light to see by.

In the next room he found a woman. A female adventurer.

Or at least, half of her.

The top half of her was stuck under a great deal of loose earth. Her leather covered rear end down to her feet were visible. The reason he’d assumed it was a woman was the tight fitting leather pants and the fashionable knee boots that he could see of her.

Both were things he’d only ever seen on a woman.

Except it looked to be as if it were too late for her already.

There was no signs of life coming from her. Her body was limp where it lay. Her legs splayed out against the ground in an awkward way. As well as the fact that her left leg was quite clearly broken with some bone jutting out from her thigh.

“Hello?” Nick asked, moving up next to the back-end of the woman. Setting down his club he hesitated for a second, before he lightly poked at the top of her back. It was the highest he could reach of her and had exposed skin.

Again, there was no response from the woman.

“Uh… she’s dead, isn’t she?” Nick said more to Lucian than himself. Reaching up he began to poke the dead woman much more firmly in the back and hips.

There was no response from her. Her skin also felt rather cold to the touch. On top of that her skin even had a grayish color to it.

“I do believe so. I can’t imagine someone just laying there quietly with their head stuck in the dirt,” said Lucian. “Normally I’d recommend pulling her out just to make sure but… there’s a risk that in doing so we could cause a further collapse of the room. If she’s not responsive, we can only assume she’s not amongst the living.”

“Pity, cause that’s a great ass,” Nick said and then moved his hand around the vicinity of said leather clad posterior. “I mean, look at that. Mm.

“Its an ass that I could only with Iris had, just so I could have it. Looks like Claudia’s rear end. Except I can’t touch hers. I wonder what it’d be like to spank it.”

“Don’t spank it,” Lucian warned in a tired voice. “It’d be disrespectful to the dead and… honestly that’s somewhat disturbing. One shouldn’t ogle the dead.”

“Oh… yeah, you’re right,” Nick said, moving his hand away.

Then before his brain could process it, he slapped the dead person’s rear end anyway. There was an audible crack from his hand making contact which faded away to nothing.

“Really, Sire?” asked Lucian who then sighed. “Let’s just move on.”

Nick shrugged then patted the dead woman on the lower back.

“Sorry, couldn’t help it. I’ll say some prayers at a temple for you as an apology,” Nick said and then picked up his club.

Suddenly, the hips began to move. Then one of the legs lifted itself and braced itself against the ground. The broken leg hung there after a moment of it moving around, apparently the owner realized they shouldn’t mess with it.

There was a muffled voice from under the dirt. Followed by the waist and lower end wriggling around.

“Uh, she’s not dead?” Nick asked stupidly.

“Maybe she was unconscious and your… slap… roused her?” Lucian suggested.

“Yeah, well, let’s just leave her there,” Nick said, wondering how he was going to get her out of the dirt. “I’m not trying to make a pseudo-harem here. I still need to find Iris and Claudia. I don’t need a third lady hanging around.”

“What? You’re an idiot, Sire,” Lucian said with some surprise. “Just because you work with women doesn’t make it a harem.

“It’s a wonder your father didn’t curb your attitude more forcefully. Just… grab her and get her out. You probably have enough strength to just pull her free.

“If she was stuck more than that kind of force, she’d already be dead I’d imagine.”

“Uh huh,” Nick said and then sighed. Unsure what to do since the moment he grabbed her he wouldn’t have any light to see by, he just went for it.

Getting behind the woman he put his hands on her hips after extinguishing the spell.

In the dark, with his hands on her like this, Nick was suddenly reminded of being with Iris the night prior.

Rolling his eyes, Nick grabbed hold of the woman firmly, then braced his feet and starting pulling at her for all he was worth. The sound of earth shifting followed by what sounded like dirt falling from above as well as off the pile. Scattering itself across the stones.

The woman didn’t budge at first despite his best attempts. About all they managed to do was push her rear end into his lap. She was using her good leg to try and shove at the same time he was pulling.

Patting the woman on the lower back Nick, stopped and took in several breaths. The woman also went limp, apparently taking his touch as a sign.

“Okay, here we go,” Nick said, getting his hands back to her hips again. He gently pulled on her once, then twice, then a third time.

On the fourth, which he hoped she took as him trying to sign “go on three” he used every bith of his strength. Stretching his legs out to act as additional pulling force against her prison.

Then suddenly she came loose her bottom slamming into his stomach and sending them both bouncing across the ground.

They came to a rest not far away, tangled up in one another. It ended up with her head resting on his shoulder and her arm across his torso.

“Holy fucking shit bitch my god damned leg!” squealed the woman in pain. She’d gone tense and was rolling around a bit against him. “Oh that’s so much fucking bullshit that this hurts so bad, what the fuck?”

“I mean,” Nick said and then coughed twice. “The bone was poking out of it when I looked at it so yeah. You broke your leg. Bad.”

“Shit,” said the woman, followed by her going limp against him. “You’re not part of a rescue team or anything, are ya?”

“Nope,” Nick said between pants. He’d been straining with his entire body to get her out.

“I kinda figured,” she said then coughed several times. Followed by what sounded like spitting. “For a moment there I thought you were gonna have a go at me while I was trapped. Like something out of one of those smut-books my brothers read. Wasn’t much I could do about it with my head in the dirt.”

“Eh… honestly the thought didn’t cross my mind,” Nick said, staring up at the darkness with the woman still wrapped around him. “Sorry about the ass-smack. I thought you were dead.”

“You smacked my ass cause you thought I was dead? Oh, the pains fading a bit, that’s nice,” asked the woman in an incredulous tone.

“I mean, you’ve got a great ass. Was totally worth smacking, dead or not,” said Nick. “Though uh… you… don’t remember that?”

“No. I remember falling then… I remember my ass hurting and waking up. Guess my ass paid off for me then. Go ass, I’ll make sure to keep you all nice and firm,” said the woman. “Didn’t think I’d get to live because you were going hurty fun time on me, though. Glad to hear you liked my ass that much.”

“Err. I’m not really into hurting others. I’m totally up for spanking and some rough stuff, though. Dirty talk. That kind of thing,” confessed Nick. Then he realized he was talking about sex with a stranger who had a broken leg at the bottom of a dungeon.

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool. When we get out, I’m totally up for all of that if you are,” said the woman. “Sight unseen and whatever. Anyways.

“If we’re going to fuck when we crawl out of this hole, you’re gonna have to help a girl out of this one, to stuff your way into mine. I got a broken leg and all and could use your help. You help me, I help you? Get me out and away, I get you in me and off?”

With a snort that devolved into laughter, Nick couldn’t help himself. This was actually rather funny to him. She was straight up offering sex to help get her out of the dungeon and didn’t seem to care one whit about anything else.

“What?” asked the woman, pushing against his chest and then leaning up and away from him. He felt like she was trying to look at him in the pitch black darkness. “You could just say no. You don’t have to laugh about having sex to get out.”

“No, no, I’ll totally take you up on that offer,” Nick said, still laughing. “Sight unseen and all, just like you said. I’m not laughing at you, just our situation.

“It’s absolutely absurd. So absurd it’s funny.”

“Oh,” said the woman, then leaned back down onto him, sticking her head onto his shoulder. “Guess it is. Eh, I’ve been through some shit that was probably as bad as this. Maybe not, I dunno.

“Never had to barter my body off before but hey, alive is alive, dead is dead. Better to be alive and fucking, then dead and worm food.”

“Yep, got it. Names Nick. Nick Dal,” said Nick and then awkwardly patted the woman on the back with the arm she was laying on.

“Right, yeah. Names. Kinda hard to go from survivors to fuck-buddies without names,” said the woman, then she laughed and let out a strangled breath. “I’m Jessie. Jessie… Tiller.”

The way she said her name sounded like he should probably know her name.

“Famous, bandit, or nobility?” asked Nick, his arm now resting around Jessie’s shoulders.

“Kinda the first two? Mostly the second one but kinda the first one too,” admitted the woman. “Don’t worry, it’s all minor stuff. Theft, pickpocketing, robbery, that kinda thing. Nothing violent. I’m a Thief going toward Scout. So it fits, yeah?”

“Got it. Jessie the Thief,” repeated Nick. “Nick the Swordsman. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s later, Nicky. I’ll be your little fun-bunny and you can have as much as you can handle once you get me out of here,” Jessie said, then let out a soft whimper. “The pain is starting to come back for my leg though. Guess the shock or whatever is going away.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to get out of here with my shit all fucked up. Got any medicine or… anything? Egress crystal?”

Ah… here we go then. Magic in the dark and hope she doesn’t figure it out.

Goodie.