Journey Through the Underdark - Eric EarthScorn Book 1 - Chapter 10 (Patreon)

To the others, the cavern was a dimly lit expanse pocketed with bubbles of light. For Eric, with his DarkSight, it was the same as everywhere else; bright and easy to navigate. Despite the clear distinction in vision, Eric hesitated as much as the other boys before stepping forward into the unknown cavern.

As soon as Eric could reasonably break away from the group, he did so. Given the current animosity of the group, he was not eager to be alone with them without the minor safety of NorthSpear’s supervision. Add in the potential for deadly monsters or sewage, and Eric was making a break for an unoccupied section of the cavern immediately.

As the young Wizard moved through the cavern, he tried to step silently. The hunters who infrequently visited the inn had told him stories of how to creep in the underbrush. To Eric’s dismay, he sounded hopelessly loud. His distraction in trying to stealth through the scraggly brush cost him the capture of the first Shield Rat that he came across. His foot that he was confident he gently placed toe then heel first, brushed against a bundle of fallen and dry plant stems to a loud snap and crackle. The noise scared a long-limbed rat that suddenly jumped from the brush and away.

At the sudden movement, Eric paused and looked around to see where the other boys were. Most were still on the first large island of stone that could be reached from the cavern’s wall. Eric had passed that first island and continued on beyond even the second significant break in the sewage, moving on to the third island. The bridges of stone, obviously Wizard made, were gently arching things and lacked rails or supports. One look at the sewage and Eric was not eager to pass over one while any of the other boys were nearby.

Watching his feet, Eric tried to hold the cage up above the waist-high plants, eager to move silently and attempt to surprise another rat. If he could get closer before he made any noise, then the rat should use its shield spell instead of trying to run. At least, that was how he had interpreted NorthSpear’s instructions. He could hear the others beating at the ground and bushes trying to surprise any hiding rats that were on the island. While it might take more effort, Eric guessed that could work as well.

Slowly slinking along, Eric looked for any flashes of magic and swirls of color. If he could find the field of magic that seemed to hover over every living thing, then it would be easier to sneak up on a hiding rat. To his surprise, this seemed to work for him. With the cage held high and his body slowly stepping along, he avoided most of the dry scrub and was able to step silently. When he noticed a flash of sickly red color swirling at the base of one of the bushes, he paused and waited while hoping that the rat hadn’t heard him.

Staring, he was finally able to see that the rat was hunched up inside a nest-like bundle of reeds. Most of what he could see was one long muscled leg and a curled over tail, but it resembled the rat that had jumped and burst past him before. Eric grinned as he imagined how much longer it would take the rest of the boys to catch a Shield Rat given their bush beating method. Slinking forward, he tried to keep the sound to a minimum, even holding his breath at times. When the teen was within arms reach of the plants, the young man hesitated. Having spent so long silent, it felt wrong to intentionally make noise, but then he threw off his discomfort and stomped.

Within the next, Eric could see the leg flinch and coil, the tail spasming in surprise. A moment later, a twist of color pulled from the body of the rat, spun up into a circle with single-coil near the middle, and then shifted to a color that tasted like tar. The flavor of tar inside the color was exactly the same as that used to unlock the stone doors. The surprise of which had Eric glancing over toward the entrance. Chastising himself, he snapped his head back to the job at hand, he was here to catch the Shield Rat in front of himself.

Shaking his head at his easy distraction, he bent over the plant and brushed aside the reeds with a stick. Eric had seen plenty of rats in his time. The inn had more than a few in the cellar, and it had more than once been his job to hunt them down. The tricky bit would be scooping the rat into the cage, but Eric was sure that a few boys would have trouble just getting near the things. Terry had probably never even been near a real rat since he spent so much time with nobles.

The reed nest was quickly destroyed with a quick jab and flick of the stick, leaving the rat huddling wide-eyed in it’s broken home and hunched under its glowing shield. Before the animal could release its protection and flee, Eric dropped the open cage on top of the rodent and then tilted the pen. Awkwardly, the rat filled shield bumped forward and flopped around inside the cage.

Eric was almost too slow to stop the rat when it dropped its shield and scrambled towards the opening, but he barely was able to slap the door closed. At the noise, the rat tensed and triggered its protection again. Color swirled up, a single loop, and a flash to tar.

The odd bit was that the shield had only the color which tasted of tar. It lacked the notes of red and brown that NorthSpear had used to unlock the doorway. While staring at the rat, Eric considered. Was the red and brown colors a key, or was the shield spell the vital part to the doors mechanism? Now that he knew the colors were magic and the way it moved and changed was the way of spells, the different colors, shapes, and tastes fascinated him. Not that he particularly enjoyed the taste of tar, but if it worked to form a shield spell, he would use it.

While Eric was hunched over and watching the rat, staring in fascination at the hyperventilating creature, it ended its second use of the shield spell. Its wide black eyes stared into Eric’s own as its whiskers twitched, and lungs pumped at a frantic pace. To Eric’s surprise, he could see a small line of blue and yellow magic running through the rat’s body. This line of magic didn’t move or close into a spell. It merely lay within the rat without moving. Eric couldn’t imagine what it was doing.

His fascination with the small animal, as well as the swirling lines of magic, distracted him until he could hear the boys talking as they stepped onto his island. Eric knew that he might just be overreacting to Terry’s actions, but he still didn’t want to deal with the other boys. Eric slipped away using the odd stealth movements, which had proven effective on the rat. Though, it was just as likely the other’s noisy antics, which allowed him to slip past unnoticed.

Eric didn’t move too far into the cavern, he stayed at the edges of the light. He watched the others as they hunted rats and their occasional successes. Mostly, they failed. He had no intent to bring his cage near any of the empty-handed wizards. He was not eager to have NorthSpear point him out as a failure and the reason for another group punishment.

Keeping one metaphorical eye on the group of hunters and the on the rest of the cavern, Eric tried to practice with the shield spell. At first, he mimicked the rat’s shield perfectly. A loop of magic was pulled from his body, the eager puppy-like magic bouncing in his hand. Then it was looped out and into the small swirl which was returned to his hand. Only as it was reaching the rest of the magic cupped in his hand did he convert it to tar.

With a pop, a spherical magic shield formed in his hand, just like the one the professor had created. The shield produced a gentle white glow and felt solid in his hand. While he was looking at it up close, the magic suddenly shuddered, and the protection ripped along the line of the original loop as the bubble burst.

Glancing over at the other boys who were still far enough away, Eric ducked further into the weeds, then chuckled as he created another shield spell. It was so easy for him to see how it worked. The arc of the spell changed the size, while the little loop determined how much magic it could initially hold. With a new sphere in hand, Eric tried to trickle more magic into the loop. To his chagrin, the loop was on the inside, and his magic slid over it like water on glass.

Tilting his head slightly, Eric tried something slightly different this time. Instead of a single arc of magic, he looped it back on itself. Carefully, he left the tiny loop on the outside of the arc facing his hand. This time what formed was not a bubble, but a dinner plate-shaped glowing shield held fast into the magic in his hand. Pushing more magic into the little loop refueled the shield. Eric discovered that when the magic forced into the protection was anything other than the taste of tar, it would first have to be converted before the spell would use it. If instead, he used the flavor of tar directly, the shield would become stronger in some way that he could directly sense. It wasn’t just that it lasted longer, it was as if the spell became more real as well.

After his discovery, Eric had to move as the migrating boys were growing closer. Following along the wall of the cavern, Eric kept an eye out for any other creatures. While NorthSpear had said this level was the sewers and safe, he also said it was connected to the Underdark.

He had also lied or failed to mention things before.

At the edge of the last hanging ball of light, Eric paused at a rent in the cave wall. The sewage was moving through in a stream of slime, flowing into the tunnel. The liquid poured through the downward opening in the wall, the sludge lining the bottom of the passageway. This was the way down to the Underdark. Eric could see the dense magic flowing up from below in a mirror image of the sewage that was flowing downward.

Despite the danger and what he knew about the monsters and creatures that must reside below, he found the flowing colors fascinating.

Once, when Eric was little, a traveling merchant had passed through the town. This was a rare occurrence as most merchants purchased specific supplies from each location and transported it to some other place. This merchant was carrying his supplies on a horse-drawn cart, and his random wares were sold at each village he visited. During his visit, the wanderer had tried to convince Eric’s dad to purchase a pendant of crystal. Hung from a woven braid of steel, the crystal sparkled and reflected the light, shining it in every direction, always changing and never the same.

The magic flowing from the Underdark reminded Eric of that crystal as it spun and split the light. The beauty of the shimmering colors was magnified by tastes, sounds, and concepts. Each passing over the boy in a hypnotic swirl.

“Move it! Times up!” shouted NorthSpear, dragging Eric from his stupor. Reaching down and grabbing his caged rat, he turned away from the light show.

Avoiding the others, Eric returned to the entrance and paused to let others pass him, even ducking down to avoid groups of the others. Most of the young wizards had caged rats, but the few who lacked seemed angry. It was better to avoid a confrontation and arrive last, then to have his prize confiscated. Not that he apparently needed the rat any further.

The boys who failed to collect a rat were informed that they would later serve as targets for those who succeeded. The troop up the steps from the sewage cavern was a mix of palpable anger and anticipation. Those without rats were annoyed at the boys with them. Those with the rats were eager to attack someone just as the nobles had. To Eric, it seemed apparent that the training was designed to make them angrier and nastier.

This was useful for a War Wizard, as inspector Terms had said, but was that what Eric wanted to be?