Grand Game 313: Round Two (Patreon)

It took me longer than I expected to find the tunnel entrance.

From the outside the narrow slit leading into the swarm viper’s den looked no different from the hundreds of other crevices riddling the cauldron floor, and in the end, I had to resort to asking Ghost for help.

It got me thinking, too.

I’d entered Draven’s Reach through a secret entrance that led directly into the viper’s den, and if not for that happy fact, I was certain I would never have found the tunnel. The viper’s den was akin to the slime’s lair in Erebus’ dungeon, I realized.

It’s a hidden leg of the dungeon. A secret challenge.

Idly, I wondered if any other dungeon party had ever encountered the swarm viper. I shrugged away the errant thought. It certainly made the forthcoming challenge more interesting, but otherwise mattered little.

Dropping to all fours, I wriggled into the tunnel’s narrow opening and reentered the underground passage, welcoming the familiar darkness for all that it sheltered a dangerous foe.

You are hidden.

A predator on the hunt, I crept forward, mind focused and senses extended. As dangerous as the serpent was, it was just a beast, and like all beasts, it could be tricked and trapped, making me the deadlier predator.

Or so I told myself.

Closing to within fifty yards of my target, I drew to a halt and silently unsheathed ebonheart. Hefting the black blade in my right hand, I extracted an empty leather bag from my backpack. I was as prepared as I could be.

I glanced behind me at Ghost waiting near the exit. “Ready?”

“Ready,” she confirmed.

I turned back to where I knew my foe to be hiding. Exhaling softly, I set down ebonheart and, picking up a small pebble, flung it at the concealed creature.

A level 201 swarm viper is no longer hidden!

The elite emerged from the darkness, and just as it had done the first time, uncoiled with startling quickness to strike down the bouncing stone with a blob of green venom.

I didn’t wait to see what the serpent would do next. Retrieving my shortsword, I stepped through the aether.

You have teleported into a swarm viper’s shadow.

Your target has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

Sensing my presence at its back, the viper swiveled around. But it was too late. Ebonheart was already arcing downwards.

A swarm viper has been dealt a fatal blow!

There was no time to waste.

Dropping my sword—the soulbound blade would return to me of its own accord—I grabbed the viper’s two bloody halves and shoved them into the waiting bag.

The corpse had already begun twitching, but if my first experience with the creature was anything to go by, I knew I had a couple of seconds still. Clutching my left hand tight around the bag’s opening, I dashed for the tunnel exit, spinning psi while I fled.

You have cast windborne.

It was impossible to stand upright in the tunnel, so I materialized the ramp of air as low to the ground as feasible and flung myself flat down on my stomach to zip along its length. It was perhaps not the most comfortable way to navigate the tunnel, but it was the fastest.

The corpse’ twitching increased in pitch.

I had no idea if the ordinary leather bag could contain the viper’s clones once they spawned—I doubted it—but the bag made transporting the creature easier and would perhaps buy me a few precious seconds.

I reached the end of the windslide and, with my chin tucked into my neck, heaved my body over my head, letting momentum roll me a few yards onwards. Seconds later, I was back on my feet—still crouched—and with the bag securely fastened in my left hand. Not stopping, I crab-walked forward at the fastest pace I could manage.

The bag shuddered.

I was almost out of time. Keeping my gaze fixed on the tunnel exit, I spun psi again.

A swarm viper’s deathwish ability has been triggered!

The bag tugged violently sideways, nearly pulling me off my feet as something—two somethings—came alive within it. Grounding my teeth in frustration, I clutched at it tighter.

Damnit! I’m going to have to—

I broke off as I crossed an invisible line, bringing Ghost—waiting outside the exit—into range of my awareness. Without hesitation I completed the spell I’d been holding ready and blinked to her.

You have teleported 50 yards to Ghost.

Deathwish spell completed. A swarm viper has cloned itself.

A tear appeared in the bag and a thrashing tail thrust through. Winding back my arm, I flung the bag and its deadly cargo as far afield as I could. Not delaying to observe the outcome, I whirled about and fled in the opposite direction.

✵ ✵ ✵

Leaving Ghost to watch the escaping clones, I raced across the cauldron as fast as my feet could carry me. Only once I was certain the intervening distance was sufficient to conceal me, did I wrench to a halt and wrap myself in shadows.

Two hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

I turned around. It was time to see if my ploy had worked. Rising to my feet, I peered back the way I’d come. I spotted the torn leather bag immediately, and besides it, two serpentine forms snaking along in lazy circles. I sighed in relief. The clones had not slipped back to the tunnel as I feared they might.

“It worked!” Ghost exclaimed, approaching me. “They’re not going back.”

Smiling, I nodded. “It’s time for phase two.” Luring the swarm viper out of its den was only the first part of my grand plan, of course. The other bits, while less dangerous, were just as tricky and their success was by no means assured either.

Glancing down, I saw ebonheart had returned to its sheath. I didn’t draw the black sword, though. If the next part went according to plan, I wouldn’t need it. Dropping into a crouch, I retraced my steps back to the serpents while Ghost kept patient stride beside me. My targets seemed indifferent to their surroundings and hadn’t yet moved far.

Two hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

Twenty yards from the creatures, I stopped again. I was close enough. Drawing psi, I spun the weaves of a familiar spell.

You have cast slaysight.

A level 191 swarm viper has failed a mental resistance check!

A level 191 swarm viper has failed a mental resistance check!

You have induced 2 of 2 targets to sleep for 30 seconds.

Not taking the time to celebrate the spell’s success, I dashed out of the shadows and towards the two sleeping serpents. Without being told to, Ghost peeled off to her own position. She had a part to play, too.

In only a few seconds, I covered the intervening distance and stopped with brutal suddenness a foot away from my targets. After taking a moment to calm my breathing, I kneeled beside one of the unconscious clones.

For what I intended next, speed would not serve.

Reaching out with empty hands, I let them hover above my chosen target and glanced to the right.

“I’m in place,” Ghost whispered.

I nodded in response, not daring to use mindspeech this close to the vipers, no matter that they slept.  Spinning psi, I readied my next spell, then slid my hands beneath the serpent with glacial slowness.

The creature did not stir.

So far so good. Breath held in anticipation, I closed fingers about the viper’s torso and lifted.

The serpent rose easily to dangle bonelessly in my outstretched hands.

I exhaled in silent relief. Until this moment, I hadn’t been sure if the viper’s induced sleep would hold through my actions or if they would be constituted as hostile. But my plan had worked, and now phase two was well under way.

“Coming to you,” I murmured and shadow blinked.

You have teleported to Ghost.

I stepped out of the aether and into the bowels of one of the cauldron’s many craters. The spot Ghost and I had chosen was about fifty yards from the other clone and, more crucially, out of its line of sight.

Moving as carefully as when I’d picked up the serpent, I set it down and took a step back, studying it for a beat. In slumber, the viper looked helpless. Harmless. But nothing could be further from the truth. Drawing ebonheart, I raised the black blade up high and brought it flashing down.

One surgical strike was all it took.

A swarm viper has been dealt a fatal blow!

Turning my back on the slain clone, I exited the crater using windborne.

“That went well,” Ghost commented as I made my way back to the other still-sleeping clone.

I nodded. “Now we only need to do it a few dozen more times.”

✵ ✵ ✵

Deathwish spell completed. A level 191 swarm viper has cloned itself into 2 level 181 swarm vipers.

Deathwish spell completed. A level 191 swarm viper has cloned itself into 2 level 181 swarm vipers.

If phase one of my plan had been to lure the swarm viper out of its den, then phase two was separating the clones after each kill. I couldn’t do that indefinitely of course; there simply weren’t enough craters and other hidey-holes in the cauldron for that.

But that wasn’t my intention. My primary goal was to force the clones down to a manageable creature-level while still keeping them isolated.

Twenty-eight kills and about a hundred slaysight castings later, I accomplished what I set out to do. “How many does that make now?” I asked, sinking wearily down to the cauldron floor.

“Thirty-two clones, each safely tucked in its own crater,” Ghost answered promptly.

“And none have attempted to leave their new homes?” I asked.

“They’re content to remain where they are,” Ghost confirmed.

I had charged the spirit wolf with the task of monitoring the serpents—a task she was more suited to than I—not that it seemed necessary. Each ‘newborn’ clone stayed where it was, seemingly happy to let its prey happen on it by chance.

In fact, the only time I’d seen the vipers motivated enough to move was when they spotted a hostile or ran across one of their younger clones. And so far, I’d been careful to not let either of those things happen.

“Do we move on to the next phase?” Ghost asked.

“In a minute,” I replied, closing my eyes. “Let me restore my psi first.”