studiobondurri 63. Under the Mountain, Part 9: Sunlight
63. Under the Mountain, Part 9: Sunlight
63. Under the Mountain, Part 9: Sunlight
“Alex, what’s going on?” Opal asks with concern.
The screaming is getting louder. “Let’s get out of here.”
I grab Spindle’s cocoon and strap it on like a backpack, with the silk adhering to my armor nicely. Taking my Kobold bride by the hand with Blood Star gripped in the other, I make an impromptu exit in the nearest wall.
The Lizardmen aren’t trying to get in the building now that Malik is dead and all the black collars are gone. Instead, there’s chaos as Lizardmen and Kobolds scatter. No, there’s something approaching organization. The Lizardmen are forming a barrier with their bodies while the Kobolds retreat in the opposite direction.
“Hey, you’re the aberration who killed Malik, aren’t you?” one of the armored Lizardmen approaches me. Actually, I recognize him as one of the Lizard-trans-men I spotted earlier. I raise Blood Star, and he raises his empty palms in surrender. “Please, help us!”
“Help you?” I raise an eyebrow in consternation at one of the reptiles who stole my bride and tried to kill me.
“Opal!” yells the red-scaled Kobold from before as she rushes over with the other scaly girls I recognize: blue, green, yellow, and orange. They’re all carrying at least one, even two or three eggs each bundled in their arms. A cadre of juvenile Kobolds follows close behind.
“Garnet!” my lizard wife embraces the other red carefully and takes one of the eggs off her friend’s hands. At this point, I know I don’t have much choice.
I sigh heavily. “Alright, what’s this about?”
“Servitors!” someone shouts from nearby. The chaos becomes a cacophony after that as battle is joined. The barricade of Lizardmen holds the line against a wave of skittering death as we watch.
Oh, fuck. The runic barrier Spindle and I crossed... it disappeared along with the black collars. Now, all the Servitors the Weblings amassed to conquer the region are flooding through the caverns to wipe out the lizard-folk.
“Kobolds, retreat through the eastern caverns to the surface! Lizardmen, to me! We’ll hold them off as long as we can! Miss aberration, please, if you came to save one Kobold, don’t leave the others to be slaughtered!”
Damn, when he puts it like that... I can’t protect her if we’re surrounded by hundreds of Servitors anyway.
“Opal, go with them! I can follow trails like a wolf, and I can track your marker.” She glances down at the heart-shaped tattoo (and the image of our infant Mandragora son inside) on her tummy. “I’ll find you!”
“Huh? Yeah.” I’m stabbing and twirling my spears as I talk.
“They’re going after you to retrieve your cargo. If you go the other way, they’ll follow you and lose track of us. Can you escape on your own?”
I bet he’s right. The Weblings would love to get their claws on Spindle now that she’s evolving. “I’ve got this. Go.”
If this works, it may be my and Opal’s best chance to survive, not to mention the lizard-folk refugees and our unborn child.
“Good luck... miss warrior.”
“It’s Alex!” I call after his retreating form as I smack down another five Servitors jumping at me. “Flou, give me an opening.”
The Red Slime spends two-thirds of her mass on a wave of spikes that clears enough of my assailants for me to turn and run.
Wolf Rush!
I can’t keep this pace for long, but I need a little breathing room here. As far as I can tell, the plan works, and the vast majority of the Servitors pursue me into the wrong tunnel. Dumb swarm beasts follow the critter in front of them rather than use their senses or logic to discern where the largest number of prey went.
Barreling through endless tunnels in the dark with a hoard of bloodthirsty buggers at your back really gets a gal’s blood pumping!
At last, there’s a narrow point I manage to squeeze through. Earth Magic seals the gap behind me as the lead Servitor sticks its leg through the opening, severing the appendage. I sigh, but not for long. The skittering sound of chitin on stone echoes throughout the underground cave system all around me.
I’ve got no map, no trail, and only a vague sense of where Opal is by her mark. Instead, I take a bet that I’ll find an exit if I keep going up. With Spider Climb, it’s possible.
My ascent isn’t without obstacles. Webs obscure the upper caverns, and I have to burn through them multiple times, causing more Weblings to scurry away in retreat. The coughing fit I have to deal with from smoking in an enclosed area isn’t fun. However, following the rising smoke leads me to the nearest source of fresh air.
And there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
Somehow, one way or another, I’m finally out of the fucking underground.