Snakes and Ladder-24

Chapter 24

My nose crinkles with the smell and I feel sweat trickling down in places. The whole situation has my senses just throbbing going from that all out fight to us moving through the halls and sort of calming down to this. My adrenaline is pumping pretty nuts and I feel like I mixed some of those wake up tablets they used to sell at some of the truck stops with Redbull.

Oh by the way Redbull is kinda ick.

Like they took Mountain dew and added medicine tasting stuff and then a bit of battery acid.

Deep breath Erendae.

There’s a creak to my left but up above me and I know one of the buggers is there. I cough and Kyte looks at me and I motion with my eyes and she nods getting it. Hey that was kind of neat…

Instead of swinging at the thing I slam myself into the row of boxes that’s beside me and where I figure the goblin is at. There’s a surprised curse sound from a couple of different voices and three of them fall off the crates onto the floor amongst us.

I never got that, I’d see the same set up home of TV all the time and no one ever hit the boxes the bad guys were on. I’ve been in lots of warehouses it’s really easy to fall off the top of a pile of crates.

I don’t waste time and I drive my blade down into a head and Kyte has these two daggers out cutting the other two up and there’s a scuffle as a four is running towards the exit behind us and the ranger with us does the whole nasty thrown hatchet into the back of the head thing. Sorry a throwing axe, it’s a lot different really and there must be a good amount of force those things build up because the goblin flew a good four feet after getting wacked.

We do a quick scout of the roof and the ranger is reporting in over the com and Kyte is prying open barrels and crates. The crates are full of crossbow bolts with nasty heads on them and the barrels have these things that look like a mushroom mated with a horse turd and smelled about the same.

“Ick, what the heck are those?”

Kyte shrugged. “Poison grenades?”

The ranger looked over her shoulder. “Blight apples.”

“Blight apples?” We both ask.

“It’s a goblin and orc food, they use them for rations it’s some kind of puff ball fungus they eat.”

Kyte’s sort of coughing at the smell. Me…well it’s actually slightly reminiscent of really funky blue cheese that someone is trying to serve you over top of a pickled egg.

“Oh yeah that could explain the way these things smell actually.”

Kyte’s nodding. “Let’s give it one more look before we rejoin the others.”

We give it another quick look over and we find a black wooden box with wax sealing it and some kind of mage sign on the top of it. The thing is gouged with knife marks that looks like the goblins were trying to open it.

I’m looking it over and from the wear marks on the wood it looks like it’s stored in a rack or was. Like one out of a set of somethings. We’re careful with it and it’s kind of heavy…and it clinks inside.

“I think these for were absconding with some of their masters money.” I rattle it again. Kyte’s frowning. “Why would the money be sealed like this why not in a larger chest?”

I’m looking at the box it actually reminds me like one of the boxes that poker chips come in from the casinos.

“It’s a payment or a payroll box. Food and ammo plus the large spot belong this is the ware house area, like shipping and receiving. This was likely to go out to whoever was coming in with the next delivery like a pay envelope.”

The ranger’s looking at me. “You think that the orcs and the goblins are that organized?”

“No, not likely because they’re hired muscle but even the hired muscle usually ends up knowing where the cash is hidden.”

I stuff the box into my pack. “There might be some clues to who else might be involved in here.”

“And if there isn’t?”

I grin. “I’m not opening that. I might know a few bits of magic but this stuff I’m going to leave to Shaya besides aren’t the spoils here property of the crown anyways?”

They both shake their heads no. Kyte says. “Not in the Darklands, there’s a certain set of laws about found relics but treasures are for those who found them by right of recovery.”

“Finders keepers?”

They both blink at me with that whole lost look.

“I’m not familiar with that one Lady Erendae.” The ranger says to me.

I smile because it feels nice to be called a lady even if he’s using the whole title aspect of it and not the common earth way of it.”

“It’s just Wren okay, I’m not of noble blood.”

“Oh, it’s just the company you keep…Wren…”

“Better, no normally being around the rich and powerful is not my usual place…uhm…what’s your name I never caught it.”

“Ryann.”

“Ryan, huh that’s a name from home.”

“No, Ryann stretch the ending.”

“Oh okay not so much from home then.”

He smiles and it’s nice actually. Not like the schooled faces I’m used to seeing he’s if an elf can have such a thing…he has a country boy face complete with sun bleached hair and a tan.

I’ve seen ethic colors but no real tans here. I wonder how long it would take a sylvan to sunburn?

“We should get moving and join the others.” I say getting things settled in place again. Ryann nods and slips past us taking the lead again. As we’re backtracking Kyte still looks over at me as we move through the tunnels.

“Finders keepers?”

“Oh yeah it’s a saying from home, pretty old though. I’m not even sure where it comes from but it’s Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.”

“That’s so odd…”

She has this look on her face that actually makes her nose look cuter, not like hot cute but the whole kid like cute. If Kyte was human she’d be the red headed nice cute girl just down the road.

“No that’s not odd it’s just the tip of the iceberg with my people.”

“Tip of…Wren what’s an Ice-berg?”

We catch up to the others and there’s sort of the same stuff. Rooms being used in the way that they’d be used for a military fort or base but with the horrible living habits of the creatures that live here.

This place is a maze though or rather like a warren because there’s passages and tunnels her made for Goblins and I’m told Kobolds and we can’t leave these things not investigated even if they are mostly short cuts between other tunnels trust me going through tunnels that are only five feet high and three feet wide isn’t fun.

It’s creepy. And I’m so getting the whole concept of claustrophobia right now.

And I’m seriously having the size of the place really wearing on me. It doesn’t sound small but it’s pretty small when you’re laid down with weapons and armor and gear.

We come out to another larger tunnel and more storerooms and bunkhouses but the place is not as dirty but theirs is this really bad funky smell like a full outhouse that never got ashes or lime and lots of body odor and these other smells rancid grease, oily coal like scents and this smell that’s meat?

And in a few places there’s cooking areas and bones. There is nothing right about seeing bones that are from things that moved upright being gnawed on.

I’m not feeling good. The whole idea makes me feel ill.

We do a search and there’s the signs of this place clearing out in a hurry from us and we are able to make head counts or rough ones. D’oh-oh I should’ve thought of that.

Then we come up to a large set of metal double doors. And I mean a large set like twenty feet high and there’s a huge lock of some kind on them and they also meet together to form some sort of circle that’s a seal.

They’re trying the door and a few people got burned doing it and Illisia is looking things over and she orders everyone back. She takes a few steps back herself and points her rapier at the doors and she changes her stance and she shimmers but her sword glows and she moves her blade through the air and it draws out a circle of her own and she’s writing all these symbols with the tip of the blade that are shining blue and white in the darkness then she pushes at the circle she made with both hands and sends it floating into the doors and overlapping the engraved one there.

There’s a loud hiss and a scream of metal and a flash of energies as her magic broke whatever was on the door. The knights and other come ahead looking at her and her nods but sort of sags too. That was some pretty big magic I think it took a lot out of her.

They’re trying and trying to force the doors and they seem to still not be budging. I look them over and I’m not sure if my “Freightliner” spell will be enough to break through.

~I have you’re back love. ~

Shaya’s voice in my mind.

For a second or two I just bask in the contact and just let her and her love shore me up inside. There’s no words right now just us and the flickers of intimate times we’ve had and the deep feelings of promised intimate times together soon…soon to wash away all of this crap here together.

I can see her sort of or rather through her as she and Bhlaze dip down out of this heavy cloud cover that’s shrouding the top of this place and can feel her and his hearing focusing on the sounds of fighting. There’s a flicker of this link between her and him and she calls back for a fast retreat of the troopers down on the ground.

They come in at a silent glide like a hunting owl and then from like maybe forty feet away and above the goblins and the orcs there they fire. Bhlaze spitting out beach ball sized ball lightning bursts.

Kind of sort of picture a bomb that goes off but it’s like unleashing an electrical storm burst. I don’t see the effect past the flashes as she and he pull up and away. But she orders the troopers with her back in and to take the upper doors.

I feel them both climbing and banking and building power and sending it my way.

I look at the doors.

~Okay, I’m ready. ~ I think to her.

I’m still pretty sure the blast won’t bust down the doors but instead I put my hands on the doors and concentrate. The same spell minus the horn and the speed of impact. Instead I’m the truck and I’m running a heavy load in the back with lots of traction and there’s nothing like a rig other than maybe a dozer for pushing either.

I drop my spell into low gear and it’s like I planted my rig right up against the doors and start pushing my way ahead.

I get into it and I’m pouring sweat and I can feel the strain and the tires spinning every now and then but inch by inch it gives…metal creaking and then louder and louder and the lock starts to give inside of itself.
Then I plant a foot in a step forward and another and another until there’s a crack and I push the doors open like Aragorn shoving those doors open in the LOTR movies only I’m a busty girl in elvish plate armor instead of Viggo Mortensen.

I see orcs and some other nasties waiting for us with weapons at the ready and blaster and gun types of weapons being pulled and aimed at us.

I hear. “Wren Down!” from Illisia and she this swirling mass of flames pouring from her hands turning into a sphere that looks like a sun with it even having these micro flares coming off of it, the damned thing looks real.

There’s a boom from her as she lets it go and it knocks her off her feet with the kick and the thing sails past me as I drop and roll away. I’m ten feet from it as it passes me and I feel the heat from her fireball.

Then there’s this strange, strange sound like a whale might make it it’s being tortured and it gets snuffed out. And I see Illisia look of suddenly and something I can’t see hit’s her and blasts her back all the way to the far wall.

I turn to see what did it and there’s this thing, literally this thing in robes with odd symbols all over them and holding a freaky looking staff and it’s deep wet looking purple skinned with this head that looks like one of those things from the Aliens movies crossed with like a demonic squid.

It points the staff at us and the orcs come charging at us.

~Beloved…do it, they’ll not know it. ~

~Right! ~ I mean I hope we’re right and I sit up and I cut loose with my “Freightliner” spell head on into their charge.

Bodies go flying and there’s crunching and squishing sounds as you can well imagine a semi truck hitting a crowd. Then it hits the evil squid thing and he/it levels its staff and…

I get hit like I just drove my truck into a head on with another truck or a brick wall.

The backlash snaps me back on my back.

Oh this isn’t good.