FHC Chapter 44: Enter the Brimstone Cavern (Patreon)

They looked horrifying. It took me a second to understand my summon's surroundings, but the thing that attacked it clambered over its fallen companion to rush at my summon. My vision went dark as the ground swallowed its vision. A new sight replaced it, one muted and grey, like the world but in negative.

My wolf moved away from the creatures made of burning embers and dim coal. Their eyes were pits of red-hot flames that flared malevolently as they raised their picks into the air. The connection didn't transfer over sound, but I imagined they were screeching to the skies, sounding as creepy as they looked.

A long tunnel eventually led into a narrow opening that broke away into an expanse of trees. Through the rush of black and white, a lone spot of grass nestled next to a bent trunk looked lighter than the rest. I saw it leap and dive back into the normal world. Colour returned, and I closed the connection.

The connection told me where my summon was, so I sprinted in that direction. The forest came to life with sounds, but I ignored them to glide between the trees. At one point, I saw another deer, twice as large as the last, that stamped the ground at my passing.

I kept moving until my wolf popped out of the underbrush and came to a stop by my feet. It had taken damage; its size diminished by a few inches. I rubbed its snout and then turned to find a figure in red hopping out of the tree line.

Alice rocked back on her feet and glanced at the wolf. "He's smaller. Did you find our prey?"

I shook my head at the directness she displayed. "I think so. The strange voice in my head said prey... I don't know what they are, but think of little humanoids made of burning coal and rocks."

She frowned. "Elemental? That's unusual, especially a fire and earth-based one next to a forest."

"Know what they are?"

"No," she shook her head. "Most elementals I've encountered were the friendlier wind variety."

Well, now what?

"Do we find Devon?"

"Why would we do that?" she asked. The look she gave me was one of disbelief. "He sent us on a hunt. Let's complete it."

I flexed my fingers. "And we're looking for a child."

Her face lost the eager, almost bloodthirsty look and morphed into one of deadly seriousness. "What incantations do you know? Astra must have taught you one."

I chuckled darkly. “A fire incantation.”

If she felt a certain kind of way about me using fire sorcery, she didn't show it. "I only know a concussive one. But I have an ice-based system skill."

Now that, I want to see.

I commanded my wolf to guide us, and we started following it. As we launched into a run, I turned to Alice. "Effects?"

She brushed her hair out of her face and threw up her hood. "Short range, cone where I aim. Freezes most things solid in a wave of frost."

A part of me recoiled at the amount of excitement I felt at the thought of seeing cool magic despite the dire situation. For all we knew, we could go in and find a roasted child's corpse.

The realization dimmed my exhilaration, but I felt heat in my chest begin to spread down my limbs; it was a listless feeling that made me happy to run.

Damn. I'm eager for the hunt.

I bit my lip and tasted blood. The taste of pennies hit my mouth, and I let it douse some of the giddiness inside my head.

Only one thing to focus on. Cut the crap, Cain.

—---------------------------------------------

Following my summon, we stopped next to a crack in the earth on the side of a mountain. The way forward was blindingly dark, the sunlight failing to reach through the crevice with bits of rock shading the hole.

Alice reached into her satchel and pulled out two glass vials. They contained muted blue fluid and what looked like a wad of spiderwebs near the top.

She handed me one and pulled at the cork of her vial. The cork came loose, and the wad fell into the liquid. She quickly re-stopped the vial and shook it. When she did, the vial began to glow like a glowstick and became increasingly bright.

With the fantasy equivalent of a glowstick lit, she placed it around her belt in a slot made for the vial. She turned and motioned towards the one in my hands.

"Do what I did," she instructed.

I repeated her actions and had my own light source attached to my belt.

She pulled out her axe and nodded. I let my summon sink into my shadow, ready to protect me while we dived into the cave. She went first. I wanted to argue against it, but she had the bigger weapon and the wider-ranged skill.

I conceded and stayed close behind. Whatever attacked us in there, I would be ready.

The tunnel led us deep into the mountain and began to widen until we could comfortably walk two abreast. As we moved deeper, the air grew steadily warmer. The stone started to shift in hue from grey slate to a darker charcoal-colored rock. On the left side was a streak of rust-like stone that shined in the dim bottle lights.

When our light revealed an open expanse, we slowed and prepared ourselves.

We moved into the open cavern with silent footsteps and tried to peer into the darkness. So far, we only saw an empty cave with the usual pointed outcroppings.

I moved closer and lowered my voice to a whisper. "From what I saw, this should be the spot. I don't see anything, though."

She nodded and pointed deeper. We spread further apart; she went right, and I went left. I crept close to a large chunk of stalagmites that rose over six feet. The stone itself looked near black with exposed smooth bits of brown.

The long, pointy spires weren't smooth; the necks of the spikes were almost lumpy.

I placed my gloved hand on the stone and slowly lowered it towards the base where it was attached to the floor.

Hot, I can feel it through my glove. They have to be nearby, but where?

Alice examined her set of stalagmites but didn't seem to find anything relevant. I removed my hand and backed away. The far walls had no exits, leaving the entrance we came from as the only way out.

I was half-ready to scratch my head.

My gaze moved from the ground below and up to the ceiling. It was about ten, fifteen, or twenty feet above us. I kept searching but found only jagged rock and thick stalactites.

Pausing, I moved to where one of the stalactites had a particularly strange-looking tip. Unlike the rest of the spires, it bulged around the base and thinned until it expanded into a clubbed end. Now that I had noticed the strange design, I spotted more in clusters, each coming in pairs.

"Hey, Alice. Look up. Does that look strange to you?" I asked as I pointed to the ceiling.

She trailed my finger to another pair of chunky stalactites and moved closer. "Strange. Different from the others."

"Yeah, you notice how warm everything is? Think that's related?"

"It has to be. I don't see where they could have gone though. What you described doesn't sound like a full earth elemental, so they shouldn't be able to move through stone."

Move through stone? Yeah, how the hell are you supposed to fight that?

She walked deeper, and I felt my cloak flap lightly, smacking the back of my leg. I glanced down.

No wind.

I looked up, and my heart skipped a beat.

The stalactite pair was no longer mere stone. The dark black lit up with veins of glowing orange and dull red. And with two pairs of eyes, a blazing ember in the shape of two eyeholes glared down from above at the unsuspecting huntress.

"Alice!"

She rolled away as the stalactite shot to the ground, sending up a layer of dust that blocked my sight. A few smaller rocks hit my chest but bounced off, and I raised my arms for protection.

Another large crash sent up even more black dust, and I moved away, raising my hand.

The sound of grinding rocks disturbed the silence, and I held my axe up.

I watched as the pile of burning stone rose into the facsimile of a humanoid. The cave lit up with the fire flaring between the chunks of stone flesh.

"Alice!"

No reply.

I gritted my teeth and held my axe tight as the creature took a single step. Its knee bent at an odd angle before realigning into place. The elemental creature opened its mouth, revealing a glowing hell pit lined with jagged points.

Its eye flared malevolently and then turned. I heard the sound before I saw it. A shockwave of cool air blew apart the dust cloud in a wide arc. Like a surging tide, a layer of frost and ice crystals coated the two monsters. The orange glow dimmed, and the cave darkened.

I didn't get a chance to look for the huntress as she came rushing towards the nearest monster. She swung her heavy axe with both hands, using the flat side of her blade. She hit the legs and blew the rocks away in a shower of sparks and broken crystals. Liquid fire oozed from the stubs as the frozen half crashed to the ground.

She turned to attack the other, but a spinning object flew from the left. It clipped her cloak, but she managed to bend backward enough that the attack missed and embedded itself in the ground.

Alice hopped away and came to my side as we felt more impacts beneath our feet. Clouds of dust rose, and nearly a dozen creatures shambled into view.

When one approached the steaming companion, still frozen like a statue, it placed two red-hot hands against the ice. The frost melted away, and the monster's coal orbs lit up.

I gripped my axe. "What now?"

She raised her arm and smiled. "We fight!"