[Kara] Chapter 19: Lower Tunnels (Patreon)

Arjin steeled her resolve as she followed after Kara, Angel, and Caius into the lower tunnels. And then she immediately regretted her decision. This was too much, all at once. She couldn’t handle it. Even her village of warriors hadn’t been this extreme in their training.

“But I guess this isn’t training, right?” Arjin whispered as she saw the bottom of the pit approaching.

Caius leapt off the ropes and landed on the rock ground from over fifty feet in the air without much trouble. Kara scoffed as she climbed down the rest of the way normally.

“Show-off,” she muttered.

“I’m just being efficient,” the elf replied with a shrug.

Arjin wasn’t here to do anything but watch. She was supposed to be a spectator— to observe how they fought, and to desensitize herself to the sight of seeing monsters die.

That very idea alone still made her stomach twist. Her breathing quickened as she recalled the little rabbit that was tied to a tree. She remembered the orc’s dead gaze piercing into her.

And she swallowed nervously as she reached the bottom of the rope.

“Are you alright?” Kara asked, placing a hand on the dark elf woman’s shoulder.

While the human’s body was lit ablaze, the flames shifted away from her hands when she touched Arjin. Although, there was still an intense heat emanating from her.

“I-I’m fine,” Arjin said as she swept her gaze over the dark surroundings. “Just nervous, that’s all.”

There was no light down here, apart from the torches the group carried, and the coat of golden flames protecting Kara. Even at the deepest depths of the upper tunnels, there had still been patches of glow moss or other types of luminescent fungi sprouting from the walls, illuminating the area.

But down here, there was no natural light source. Some of the monsters that lurked the lower tunnels were said to eat the glow moss, while others simply hated seeing light. So it was difficult to see anything.

However, there were clearly two main paths that could be taken, with a few smaller tunnels that split off in other directions. Arjin was almost certain she could see shadowed figures moving around those smaller tunnels. But it must have been her imagination as no one else seemed to notice them.

“So where are we going first?” Kara asked as she stepped up next to Caius.

“We’re supposed to do a sweep of the area near the entrance,” the elf said, placing a hand on the wall. His eyes shimmered softly, and there was a flash of light. “All we have to do is follow this route that the guard patrols normally take, and we’ll be done in about five or six hours from now.”

Faintly glowing markings began to appear on the walls of the cavern. They led straight down one of the main paths, before disappearing up ahead. Kara placed her hands on her hips and watched as the same markings made its way down the other main path back to this chamber.

“See? It wraps around back here.” Caius gestured vaguely around them.

And Kara nodded as she placed a hand on her chin. “I see, that’s pretty convenient.”

Arjin saw this too, and she felt some of the tension ease off her shoulders. At least they knew where they were going. So they weren’t completely lost in the darkness. She sighed in relief, only to recoil as something soft and wet touched her on the back.

“Wha—” She spun around and nearly screamed.

But she paused when she saw Angel nuzzling his two heads behind her. He was standing on all fours and gestured at his back with one of his heads. She eyed him curiously at that, and Kara spoke up.

“Just stick with Angel, Arjin. And then you will be fine.”

“R-right.” Arjin gulped nervously.

She heard the utlas bear whine. He lifted a paw and pointed her then at his back insistently. Her brows creased.

“You want me to… ride you?”

Angel nodded with a smile. Arjin pressed her lips thinly together, before she clambered onto his back.

“T-thank you, Mr Angel.”

She nearly fell off his back as he started forward. But she clung tightly onto one of his necks. He moved slowly to accommodate her, starting forward after Kara and Caius.

The group made their way down the large tunnel as Arjin felt the hammering in her chest start to calm. Even though she didn’t exactly feel comfortable in her current position, she felt safer. After all, she would be protected by a massive utlas bear if anything happened.

They continued on as Arjin glanced over her shoulder every once in a while. She hadn’t known what to expect when Kara invited her on this expedition. But she had expected it to be incredibly dangerous— she thought that they were going to have to be acutely aware of their surroundings. That she was going to have to help them keep an eye out for any ambushed by monsters.

But for whatever reason, Kara and Caius… didn’t seem to care about the threats lurking around the lower tunnels at all.

“So, Kara…” the elf piped up as looked back over his shoulder.

Kara raised a brow at that. “What’s up?”

“Do you have any hobbies?”

“Do I have hobbies? Uh… I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about that.”

“What about food? What’s your favorite food?”

“That’s—”

Arjin stared at them with round eyes as she overheard their conversation. S-shouldn’t we be quieter? the thought crossed her mind.

She also didn’t think that this was the place to have a casual chat at all. Not just because it would attract the nearby monsters, but also because it wasn’t appropriate. How were they going to be prepared for an attack if they were too preoccupied with their talk?

But neither the human nor the elf seemed to share this concern. They continued their discussion like they weren’t alone in the lower tunnels and potentially surrounded by monsters.

“Uh, I like burgers, I guess,” Kara said as she scratched her cheek. “But mostly because it’s cheap.”

Caius eyed her curiously. “Is that some kind of human dish?”

“You can say that…”

“I always see you eating troll cuisine. Do you like it that much?”

“What are you, a stalker?” She rolled her eyes back at him. “It’s not bad— it’s certainly way better than some of the things I had to eat when I was wandering the Xor-In Mountains with Angel.”

“Dark elf cuisine is pretty good too,” Caius said simply. “But I rarely ever see you eating it. I always see you at that food stand eating skewers of centipede eyes or lizard soup.”

Kara gave a half-hearted shrug. “I like Issa, and she gives me free food sometimes.”

“You mean that troll lady who you’re always talking to?”

“That’s her.”

“Interesting…”

There was a moment of silence as the conversation seemed to have died down. Arjin was glad that it was over. She felt like she could relax again. However, Kara and Caius spoke up again, at the exact same time.

“What makes you like—”

“Why are you asking me—”

They paused. The two of them looked at each other, waiting for the other to continue. Caius gestured at the human to go ahead first.

“No, no. I want to hear what you want to say,” he insisted.

“I mean, I was just asking why are you asking me all these questions anyways?” Kara asked as she scratched the back of her head.

Caius came to a halt as he tapped a finger on his chin. He seemed to think about it for a moment, before he opened his mouth.

“That’s because—”

And right as he started, the ground before him exploded. Arjin reeled back, nearly falling off Angel. But she managed to catch herself as a plume of dust and debris shot into the air. A giant worm that was dozens of feet long and at least five foot wide shot up into the ceiling.

Kara tensed, looking prepared for a battle. But Caius cleared his throat and continued speaking casually.

“That’s because I want to get to know more about you,” he said as he wagged a finger at the human.

She narrowed her eyes and watched as the giant worm vanished into the ceiling. “What was that?” she asked, completely ignoring his question.

Caius tilted his head back. “That was a goler. They’re not dangerous monsters at all, don’t worry. They’re good at digging tunnels due to their earth magic, but they tend to only feast on moss and fungi, so they wouldn’t attack us unless they feel threatened.”

“I see.” Kara nodded as she placed her hands on her hips.

Meanwhile, Arjin was still shaking at what she had seen. She barely caught a glimpse of the monster— all she saw was mostly a blurred figure, moving so fast she couldn’t even register it. But her fingers still remained trembling as she tightly clutched onto Angel to not fall off.

“But while we shouldn’t be worried about golers,” Caius continued as he walked around the hole on the floor. “We should be worried about why any golers are even at this section of the lower tunnels.”

“What does that mean?” Kara asked, trailing after him.

He shook his head. “Golers tend to keep to the deepest parts of the lower tunnels because they’re scared of people. If they’re here, that means they must have been pushed back by other monsters.”

“Which means that we should keep an eye out for these other monsters. Got it.”

“Exactly.” He snapped his fingers approvingly.

The group pressed on. No one said anything for a few minutes. Or maybe it had been more than a few minutes. It might have even been an hour. Arjin didn’t know. But eventually, Kara spoke up again.

“I like reading.”

Caius blinked at her, and she lowered her head.

“To answer your first question— about my hobbies— I used to really like going out to the nearby park to read books back home.” A small smile spread across her lips.

“You do?” The elf crossed his arms. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. I heard that human cities have entire buildings dedicated to books.”

“They’re called libraries. And yes, we do. Although…” Kara trailed off.

“Although?” Caius peered at her.

And she shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

The two of them remained silent for another long moment. Arjin thought it was because the conversation ended. But apparently, that wasn’t the case.

Kara and Caius came to a sudden halt as Angel removed his staff from his mouth. The three of them looked straight into the darkness up ahead, seeing something which Arjin couldn’t. She leaned forward, before she heard the soft clicking of footsteps.

“What is that?” she asked apprehensively.

“Giant centipedes,” Kara replied as her hands were wreathed in flames the shape of claws. “Infants… and some of them look like Lessers, too. Angel, stay back and support with your magic.”

The utlas bear nodded as he backed away. Arjin blinked, confused about what they were talking about. She couldn’t see anything—

Until she did. Her eyes widened as she saw dark brown creatures skittering rapidly towards the group from the ceiling. There were dozens of giant centipedes, most of them half the size of a person, but some were even as large as even Angel.

Infants and Lessers. The same giant centipede, but in different stages of evolution.

They hissed as they dropped down from above, landing around Kara and Caius. But even before they could fully fall onto the ground, the elf shot them down mid-air with his arrows. His attacks smashed through their thick carapaces and pinned their corpses against the walls.

Those that made it down barely had time to pick themselves up before the ground beneath their feet shot up. Angel pointed, and pillars of earth smashed the giant centipedes against the ceiling, crushing them to bits.

And Kara took care of the rest, rushing forward as she cut down giant centipede after giant centipede with her flaming claws.

Arjin had tried to cover her eyes when the monsters first appeared. But she had peeked an eye out, before slowly lowering her hands. She stared at this scene in terror as the monsters were methodically wiped out.

“This is…” she started.

But she was interrupted by Caius who spoke idyllically even as he continued to fire arrow after arrow into approaching monsters.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to visit a library.”

“You have?” Kara asked as she felled one of the Lessers with a single slash. She leapt back from the collapsing monster. “I didn’t take you to be the reading type.

“Of course,” the elf scoffed, nocking a glinting arrow onto his bow. He fired it, and it exploded into a dozen needles of light that rained down on the rushing Infants. “My parents owned a few history books back home. I used to read through them again and again, even until I was twenty years old.”

Are they seriously continuing their conversation now?! Arjin gaped at the two of them as they continued to easily cull down the number of monsters.

Kara stepped on an Infant giant centipede, easily crushing it under her boots. “What about this— if you help me get to the nearest human city in the future, I’ll show you what a library is like.”

Caius chuckled as he continued to loose arrow after arrow at the monsters. “You do realize that humans don’t take kindly to my kind, right? They are more likely to let a dwarf or a dark elf into their city than someone like me.”

“It’ll be fine,” Kara said, waving a hand dismissively. She stared at the ceaseless swarm of monsters, before shaking her head. “You can just wear a hood or something to cover up your ears. No one will suspect a thing.”

“...I don’t really find that too reassuring,” the elf said flatly.

And Kara stepped forward as she brought a small sphere of flames to her mouth. “I suggest getting back, by the way.”

Caius blinked, then he immediately leapt away from her, landing next to Angel. The utlas bear slammed his staff to the ground and created a large wall to shield them from what was to come. Arjin opened her mouth to ask what was going on.

But she saw the flash of golden light coming from the other side. She heard the gust of air, followed by the cacophony of screeches from the monsters. An intense heat washed over her that evaporated the sweat on her skin as she stared at the radiant glow coming from the other side of the wall.

“W-what…?” Arjin looked on with wide eyes as the heat slowly dissipated.

Angel lowered the stone wall, and Caius rolled his eyes. Kara emerged from the other side as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Alright, that’s all the giant centipedes taken care of… for now,” she said simply.

Caius frowned at her. “Wasn’t that a bit unnecessary? We could’ve taken out all those giant centipedes on our own.”

“But this way, it was faster.” Kara smiled and started down the tunnel. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

The elf snorted, and Angel trailed after her. The group continued deeper into the tunnel as Arjin scanned their surroundings once again. But that was when she realized that the remains of the giant centipedes were gone.

That there was nothing but ash left behind.

—--

The group resumed their exploration of the lower tunnels for another half an hour before they encountered even more giant centipedes.

“Those are only Infants,” Kara said with narrowed eyes. She glanced back at Angel and gave a nod. “Do you want to have some fun too?”

The utlas bear perked up, before nodding eagerly with both his heads. Arjin immediately froze up as he stepped forward.

“W-wait, what about me?” she asked, looking around pleadingly.

Kara stepped back and helped Arjin off Angel’s back. “Just sit back and watch for now.”

The dark elf woman tried to steady herself next to the human. Caius folded his arms across his chest and watched with great interest as Angel bounded forward at the swarm of Infant giant centipedes. He growled ferociously as his staff flashed.

Chunks of rock and stone broke off from the walls and flew to his body, covering him in a makeshift armor right before he crashed into the group of Infant giant centipedes. They screeched as he ripped them apart with his claws. He tore through their soft carapace with his teeth, before he swung around with his staff.

It looked like he was just whacking them around at first. But then Arjin saw the way more and more bits of rock broke off from the surroundings, before she watched as they formed a giant boulder above him. He swung forward like he was throwing the boulder. And it fell upon the last of the Infant giant centipedes, wiping them out.

There were only about two dozen of them, so they were easily defeated by the utlas bear alone. He let out a triumphant roar as he stood over the shredded remains of their corpses.

Caius whistled at that. “That’s impressive— isn’t Angel only in his second stage of his evolution? And isn’t he quite young too?”

“That’s right,” Kara said almost like a proud mother. “But his evolution is special. So that’s why he’s so strong even while so young.”

But she didn’t elaborate more.

Arjin chewed on her lower lip as Angel returned, shaking away the blood that was staining his fur. He came to a halt right before the dark elf woman, and she shrank back. She hadn’t expected him to be so wild. She waved at him hesitantly.

“...good job?” she said.

And the utlas bear beamed back at her. He lowered himself for her to hop onto his back as she sighed in relief. He was still the same Angel as before. She clambered on as the group proceeded further down the main tunnel.

But after that encounter, there were no more monsters to be found. At least, for the next few hours. So Kara and Caius continued their casual conversation once again, talking about their various interests and their personal history.

Some of what they chattered about was nothing too important or serious.

“Wait, you’ve seriously eaten a tarrantus before?” Caius asked, taken aback.

“No, I’ve eaten their eyes before,” Kara corrected him. “It gave me a stomachache, but it wasn’t that bad.”

“You’ve had it quite rough, huh? No wonder you’re fine with eating anything…”

“I mean, I won’t just eat anything. I’d eat it as long as it tastes like something, you know?”

But some of their conversations turned more serious. Arjin felt awkward overhearing it from the side, because it didn’t feel like it was meant for her ears.

“You’re from Catherine?” Kara exclaimed in shock. “As in— the fifth Sanctuary City that was destroyed?”

Caius rubbed his ears in response. “There’s no need to shout. And yes, that’s where I was born.”

Kara fidgeted hesitantly, looking like she was deliberating on whether she should ask a question. “So… have you, uh…”

“Yes,” the elf sighed. “I have met Dark Lord Adam before.”

“And you know that he’s… you know?”

“I know that he’s the one responsible for destroying all those cities, yes.”

“Oh, I see.”

Arjin furrowed her brows as she eavesdropped on what they were talking about. This was the first she had ever heard of this. As far as she was aware, even before she was evacuated from her home, it was a horde of mysterious new monsters called nightmares that were going around the Xor-In Mountains and destroying the cities.

But now, according to Kara and Caius, Dark Lord Adam was supposed to be involved?

“Isn’t he supposed to be—” Arjin started.

“Dead?” Caius said, finishing her train of thought for her. His neck was craned back to face her.

She paused, then immediately sputtered as she backed up. “I-I wasn’t eavesdropping at all!”

“Of course you weren’t,” the elf chuckled.

“Wait, what is going on Caius?” Kara asked as she crossed her arms. “How can Adam be dead if he is the one who’s destroying all these cities?”

Caius waved a hand dismissively. “Because Adam is not dead. What Arjin here heard was the official version of events that was disseminated to the public. Meanwhile, what Koros told you is a quick summary of the actual version of what happened.”

Arjin looked between the two of them, utterly befuddled. “W-wait, I don’t understand. Why would they lie about what happened at Catherine? If Dark Lord Adam was the one responsible… shouldn’t we deserve the right to know?”

“Well, what happened was that all the Dark Lords and Dark Ladies at the time gathered together when they discovered what truly unfolded in Catherine, before deciding that if the truth was revealed, the public would lose trust in them. So they lied. Plain and simple,” Caius spoke matter-of-factly.

Kara’s brows snapped together. “And Koros agreed to this?”

“He wasn’t the Dark Lord at the time, so he wasn’t responsible for that decision. But he has chosen not to go against the will of his predecessor by keeping it a secret even until now.” The elf’s eyes flickered towards Kara. “Although… he is pretty loose-lipped, as you already know by now.”

“Because he’s a good person,” she said simply.

“True, I definitely think Koros is great. But we should still do him a favor and keep it a secret.” Caius turned back towards Arjin and gave her a dangerous grin. “You’re not going to tell anyone what you learned here, are you? Because if you do…”

Arjin immediately shrank back and nodded.

Kara rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to threaten Arjin with violence, Caius. She’s a good person.”

“Perhaps she is,” Caius said as he drew back. “But I still don’t understand why you decided to bring her with us down here anyway. She hasn’t done anything at all.”

That made Arjin wince. But Kara was adamant.

“Arjin is only here to watch. That’s it.”

“I know, I know. You told me that already. But I still don’t really get what doing this achieves.” Caius strode forward further down the tunnel, following the marked path.

And while Arjin didn’t say a word, she almost felt like she agreed with him. Even though she had been down here in the lower tunnels for a few hours now, she hadn’t contributed anything. She hadn’t been useful in any way.

She fidgeted where she sat as Kara slowed down to Angel’s side.

“Are you alright?” the human asked, looking at her kindly. “How are you holding up?”

“I… don’t know,” Arjin answered honestly.

Kara raised a brow. “What do you mean you don’t know?

And Arjin sighed. “I just— I just wish I was able to help. But all I can do is wait and watch as you guys do the fighting. I’m… hopeless.” She closed her eyes as she balled her fists over Angel’s furry back.

He craned one of his necks back to face her. He exchanged a glance with Kara who gave him a nod.

“That means you’re doing better already, see?” the human said, poking a finger on Arjin’s cheek.

Arjin blinked eyes back open. “I… what?”

“Look at you,” Kara continued with a smile. “You’re here talking about helping us. You’re not telling me about how scared you are of the monsters, and you’re not even screaming at the sight of blood.”

“I’m… not?” Arjin repeated after her.

And Kara nodded. “So exposure-therapy is working. Good job, Arjin.”

“That’s—” The former prostitute wanted to protest. But then she looked down at herself. She saw the blood staining Angel’s fur, and then she looked down at the palm of her hand. She wasn’t shaking anymore.

She wasn’t trembling in fear. While her heart was still racing in her chest, she didn’t feel the sense of terror she felt previously. Her nerves were more at ease than before. There was no longer a choking feeling tightening around her throat.

“You’re not going to become a full-fledged warrior in a day, but you’ll get there eventually,” Kara said, before walking ahead once again.

And Arjin looked at herself, practically in awe.

—--

The group continued for another hour, until they ran into another small group of giant centipedes. This time around, there were Lessers amongst them too. But Caius wanted to face them alone.

So Kara, Angel, and Arjin waited back as he ran into their numbers. They watched him tear through the monsters, but they were ready to intervene at any moment, in case he needed their help. And there were a few close calls.

A Lesser giant centipede managed to sneak up on him from behind. Kara clicked her tongue and called out.

“Caius—” she started.

But the elf easily flipped over the attack, unleashing a glinting arrow into the monster’s back and killing it all at once. She blinked, then watched as he finished off the rest of them. When the last of the giant centipedes were all dead, he casually strode back to them as he laughed.

“You don’t need to worry about me that much. If there were Juveniles amongst them, maybe they’d pose some trouble. But I was fine the entire time.”

“That was still dangerous,” Kara said as she eyed the corpse of the Lesser giant centipede that had snuck up on him. “What would you do if enough of them had gotten close?”

“Firstly, that was never going to happen. But secondly—” He drew a pair of glinting daggers from his side. “I have a contingency plan too.”

Kara’s eyes went wide. “Wait, that’s—”

“The Blink Blades,” Caius said simply.

“How did you get those?” Kara asked as she pointed at his weapons in shock. “Did you steal them from the vault?”

He smiled and sheathed the Blink Blades. “Of course not. Koros said I could use them for this little trip to the lower tunnels— in case I was ever in danger. So I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

He continued further down the tunnel.

Kara scowled as she trailed after him. “Why didn’t I get anything to help protect me?”

“Because you can protect yourself. And also, Koros thinks I’m a child, even though—”

“Even though you’re a grandpa. Yeah, yeah. I got that…”

The group pressed on. They had been following the markings for a while now, so it seemed they were soon going to be completed with their patrol of the area, until Caius came to a sudden halt. He frowned as he studied a pathway that broke off further to the side.

“This tunnel shouldn’t be here,” he said, rubbing his chin. “It’s not in any map of the lower tunnels I’ve seen before.”

Kara walked up next to him as she inspected the side of the tunnel. “So it’s brand new. Could it have been carved out by one of those giant worms?”

He averted his gaze as he stepped back. He looked uncharacteristically nervous. The usual grin he wore was gone. “Golers? No— they don’t dig through the earth like this. They use earth magic, so their tunneling is a lot more clean. This looks like it was dug out by force.”

“Like by those giant centipedes?” Kara surmised simply.

Caius nodded. “But that’s not the problem. Because judging by the size of this tunnel, it could only have been carved out by…"

He hesitated. Arjin and Angel exchanged a confused glance. And Kara narrowed her eyes at that.

“By what, Caius?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Caius took in a deep breath as his eyes fluttered shut. For a moment, he remained silent, then he turned to face her with a serious look, before exhaling slowly.

“An Adult giant centipede.”

Author's Notes:

4.7k words. What thonk?