The next several hours were spent hunting down as many of the cocoons as we could find. This was made easier when I figured out the pattern of their placements. The Infernal, or rather then Dungeon Boss, hadn’t set them randomly. They had been laid out in a complex geometrical pattern I believed to likely be a pentagram. A Tek Priest would likely have been able to tell for sure, but I was confident in my deduction.

  I put up a hand to shield my eyes from a gust of wind that blew bitter tasting dust into my mouth and eyes. When I was able to open my eyes again, I gazed out across the landscape and could just make out several beacons of purple light denoting the distant Fel shards. We had managed to gather 15 of them so far. The barren and blasted landscape had little to hide. We fought the Murk Imps that were guarding the cocoons with great success and a growing pool of experience points were my reward. I would soon hit Level 13.

  Bluntly, the encounters with the Murk Imps were simple. I could have handled them on my own, but as time was not on our side I found that with Consecration, the Angelic Guardian, Octave and Curmlough pitching in too the Imps often dropped in minutes. I would then place the cocoon into my Inventory and we would move on. The greater challenge were the frequent packs of Murk Ogres, but they too were within tolerable range.

  “There is something strange up ahead,” Octave said after we had just cleared another Murk Imp pack. I looked where the Cherub indicated and squinted.

  “Some sort of growth?” I murmured. “It’s just lying on the ground there?” What I saw was a bulbous, white mass that reminded me of the lumpy mashed potatoes the cook sometimes made at my Father’s request. These were much larger, easily the size of a sheep and there were about a dozen of them. I slowly moved closer until I was within range of using Lore Sight.

  Infernum Maggot

  Level: 20

  Lore: A later stage of Murk Worm growth that requires pupa maturation within a Tier V or greater Shadowmurk sector. If a large concentration of Murk Worm larvae are unable to find a host, they may bind to one another to advance to this stage.

  Advanced Lore: Are considered both Infernal and Abomination type monsters. Possess the Shocking Grasp ability. Weak to Piercing attacks.

  “Guardian, focus on Piercing attacks. Octave, don’t spare the arrows. Curmlough, stay back here with me. They seem able to do electrical damage, but I don’t know their range.”

  “Those feelers sticking out of their bodies probably have something to do with that,” Octave said and I had noticed the strange tendrils wriggling like dozens of long fingers from the Maggot’s bodies. Then, I saw a tiny purple bolt of lightning arc between two tendrils upon the largest Maggot’s head.

  “Yes, I believe you’re right. Let’s avoid getting hit by those disgusting things. Go!”

  The Angelic Guardian stomped forward, its footsteps leaving deep imprints upon the ground. The Maggots made no move to engage, but just remained as they were. I had no clue which end of them was which as I could see nothing to indicate where their heads were. As the Guardian reached the first maggot and brought its sword down in a devastating slash I allowed myself to think for a moment this was to be another easy encounter. Then the creature exploded.

  Purple lightning flashed and I was struck in my hip by an arc of lighting. The blast blew me off my feet and tumbled end over end to crash into a desiccated tree. I heard both Octave and Curmlough cry out, but my body and brain were scrambled as tiny arcs of purple lightning traveled up and down my body.

  You have taken 30 points of Electrical Damage!

  You are stunned!

  You have taken 11 points of Blunt Damage!

  You have suffered the Concussion debuff! Wisdom reduced by 10 for 4:59!

  “Mir have mercy!” I groaned as I tried to sit up and failed.

  “Help!”

  “Curmlough!” Octave cried.

  “Guardian,” I coughed weakly. “Protect us!” I had no idea if my commands were being carried out or if my summon had even heard me. I was in a state of disarray and I was hurt. I had let overconfidence put us all into terrible danger.

  Gods, give me strength. Get up!

  I pushed myself up to my feet and finally took stock of the situation. We had all been blown off our feet by the electrical blast when the Angelic Guardian had destroyed one of the maggots. The Guardian was still standing, but there was a deep black scorch mark on its chest and when it moved I noticed purple lightning still playing across the surface of its armor. I quickly checked through my recent notifications and saw what I was looking for.

  Angelic Guardian takes 55 points of Electrical Damage!

  Angelic Guardian resists stun!

  Angelic Guardian has suffered the Shock debuff! Dexterity reduced!

  “Wik take it!” I noticed my Guardian appeared to be moving slower as it was surrounded now by the maggots that were using their tendrils to repeatedly use Shocking Grasp upon it again and again. Curmlough was also in trouble. The Satyr had been knocked down a small incline into a shallow gorge where another group of six Infernum Maggots had been out lying out of sight. I saw one of the maggots reach out towards Curmlough with its tendrils, purple lightning spitting between them.

  “No!” cried Octave who began rapid firing arrows into the maggots in the gorge. Curmlough had backed himself against the rock wall, but he would need time to climb out. If he could. I snarled in frustration and a growing sense of panic.

  No! Remain calm. Tek, illuminate my mind. Wik, wrap my soul in cold dispassion.

  I cast Armor of Shadows twice, once upon Curmlough and then again upon the Angelic Guardian. I cannot explain my actions. I can only reason that both Tek and Wik heard my plea and together granted me clarity of thought and a heightened sense of battle awareness.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Curmlough was wrapped in shadows and with his enhanced Dexterity, practically leaped out of the gorge. I blinked in amazement as the Satyr was transformed into a tiny blob of shadow, but one with an enchanted Aulos. The sounds that issued forth as Curmlough began to play once his hooves were again upon the ground were frantic, but playful. Blue Chipmunks swarmed over the Maggots, which sent the monsters into a quivering frenzy as they tried to ineffectually shake the offending rodents off.

  The spell’s effect upon Angelic Guardian was remarkably different, but just as amazing. Armor of Shadows sized itself to whatever its target happened to be and swathes of black shadow wrapped around the Guardian’s plate armor in such a way that I wondered if armor could even be layered upon another set of armor? My worry turned to wonder as the cloth-like swathes of shadow seeped into the Guardian’s plate like melting butter. Silver turned to a deep black and shadows that leaked down its back gave it the appearance of wearing a cloak. Now the Angelic Guardian appeared more like an avenging spirit of darkness than a warrior of heavenly light.

  “Wow,” I breathed.

  The Guardian eyes glowed a molten gold and I swore I felt a sense of approval emanate from it.

  “Don’t just stand there, run!” Octave shouted. Seeing how I was too close to both the Guardian and the maggots I immediately saw the danger. Yet, before I ran away I threw a Consecration down beneath the largest concentration of maggots and then put on a burst of speed. Next, I cast another Consecration under the maggots in the gorge. Fortunately, the little bugs seemed stuck down there and even as they started taking damage they could do little else but twitch and squirm. I joined both Octave and Curmlough in hiding behind one of the desiccated trees just as a series of deafening explosions rang out.

  My friends and I were outside the two maggot death blast radiuses this time and therefore protected from the lightning damage. The sound of the explosions still impacted us roughly however, forcing each of us to cover our ears.

  “Ord have mercy!” I shouted.

  “What?” Octave shouted in response, but I shook my head and grimaced.

  Finally, the air settled and we each peeked out from behind our tree. The Guardian knelt in the epicenter of a circle of scorched ground, its sword planted face down before it, gauntlets curled around the handle. Smoke rose from its pauldrons and tiny lightnings played across the entire surface of the armor.

  “Is it…okay?” Curmlough asked. I looked down at his face, now cowled in Shadow armor.

  “Of course! Angelic Guardians are tough, as I was saying to you before.” Octave answered confidently.

  “True,” Curmlough admitted and we all emerged from behind our tree and walked towards the Guardian. Minor Sanctified Ward had been pushed to the limit and had been blasted away and I also saw the Minor Deathward had been triggered to keep the Guardian from being returned to the Heavens. I renewed Minor Sanctified Ward, but it would be a few hours before I could renew Minor Deathward as it had a cool down of 4 hours after triggering.

  “I think now would be as good a time as any for us to take a rest,” I said. The others nodded. I cast Minor Heal until the Guardian was at full health again. I also thought to try and loot the maggots, but there was nothing left of their corpses and no loot to be found.

  “I don’t think you can expect to loot anything not created by the Dungeon Core,” Octave said when he saw my disappointed face.

  “How did they get into the Dungeon then?” I asked.

  “The Infernal likely summoned them. It is an annoying ability many of the higher level ones have that they can summon a nearly limitless supply of minions.”

  “So that means we could be facing an army of them?” I sighed. Suddenly, I felt far more exhausted than I had a moment before. Octave shook his head.

  “No, because the creatures created by the Dungeon Core and those summoned by the Infernal might become at odds with one another. It’s likely the main reason why the Infernal made itself the Dungeon Boss. It wanted some control over the Dungeon parameters and didn’t want the Ogres smashing all of its summoned Imps into paste.”

  “So the Infernal doesn’t have complete control over this Dungeon is what you are saying?” I asked. Octave shrugged.

  “These Fel Shard things have clearly had a hand in mutating every creature in here and the Shadowmurk level rises the closer we get to the Boss. It’s hard to say exactly how much control it has. Maybe none? Infernals are all crazy after all.”

  I nodded. I had already received the notification regarding the rising Shadowmurk level, but had been ignoring it in the hopes that I would soon be able to use my ability to purge it from existence.

  You have entered a Tier V Shadowmurk, Sector 32SH45Z (Hadaeon’s Descent). WARNING! Shadowmurk Mutation time increased by 8%. 15 hours, 57 Minutes, 40 Seconds remaining. Exit Sector 32SH45Z immediately or risk permanent mutation! Mutation will be determined from Blight Map Sector list by Dungeon Boss.

  Ignoring for a moment that if he were to mutate within this Dungeon that the nature of his mutation would be decided by the Infernal, the fact that it was a Tier V Shadowmurk Sector meant that even Condemnation might not have the power to save him this time, as Tier V was the ability’s ceiling.

  Send the Infernal and each of its minions back to Hell. I’ll sort the rest out one way or another. I won’t allow myself to become a mindless mutant. Ord, I am resolved.

  We rested until the cool down timer on Deathward reset and I was able to renew it upon the Angelic Guardian. In the future, I suggested to the others that we avoid the Infernum Maggots as they dropped nothing and their powerful lightning damage was too much of a risk. They quickly agreed.

  We racked up 8 more encounters with Murk Imps guarding cocoons and three more random Murk Ogre encounters. With our rotations now set and our trust in each other absolute (I reminded Octave how concerned he had been for Curmlough when the Satyr had been surrounded by maggots and the Cherub made a face like he had sucked a bag of lemons) and we continued onward.

  I managed to loot the Ogres after each encounter and if anything I would exit this Dungeon a great deal richer than I could have ever dreamed possible.

  You have looted 256 Gold, 22 Silver, 87 Copper

  You have looted [1] Totem of Wind

  You have looted [1] Totem of Earth

  You have looted [2] Stone of Clairvoyance

  You have looted [1] Book of Poetry

  You have looted [1] Boots of Defense

  You have looted [1] Ring of Shadow Shaping

  Steel-tipped Boots of Defense

  Grade: C

  Class: Any

  Level: 16

  Slot: Feet

  Quality: Uncommon

  Primaries: +5 Constitution

  Secondaries: +2% against Staggering attacks

  Ring of Shadow Shaping

  Grade: C

  Level: 17

  Slot: Finger

  Quality: Rare

  Primaries: +10 to all Stealth Skills

  Secondaries: Minor Shadow Shape

  Lore: This ring will allow you to shape a nearby shadow into something else. Example: a silhouette, a claw, a cloak.

  Advanced Lore: Duration of shadow shaping depends upon users affinity with Shadow.

  The boots were an upgrade to my Boots of Blight Warding despite the loss of the 5% of disease protection I had. Still, as long as I was within Shadowmurk I was loathe to lose even that. I put the new boots into my Inventory for now. The ring I equipped. I saw it as another upgrade to Fade along with my cloak. I was also curious about its other ability as well and decided to test it. I looked over at Curmlough who was still wearing the Armor of Shadows.

  “Curmlough, can you stand up for a moment? I want to try something.”

  “Um, okay.” He complied and I concentrated upon the armor. I grinned in excitement hoping my hypothesis was correct. I activated the ring’s Minor Shadow Shape ability and focused it upon Curmlough’s armor. In an instant, tiny spikes erupted all over the armor and I laughed in triumph. Even Octave looked impressed until Curmlough held out his arms to the Cherub.

  “I feel like we should hug out our differences.”

  “You can go hug a tree, Goat Face!”

  These two will never change. Still, it’s good to know they actually have each other’s back. Ord and Gor bless them.

  I checked my Inventory.

  You have stored Cocooned Corpse X 24.

  3 more of these and I’ll use Condemnation. It’s better to disrupt the ritual as soon as possible rather than try to locate all 54 of them. I’ll figure something out. Perhaps if I appeal to Sul he will…

  A great force slammed me into me forcing me onto the ground. I was stunned and I only just turned my head enough to avoid having my nose broken when I hit the ground. A terrible presence overwhelmed all my senses. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t pray or call for help. Whatever had hit me was pure evil. A feeling of helplessness like when I had been lost overboard upon the Orichalcum brought tears to my eyes. Then, I heard it.

  “AHH, THERE YOU ARE!”

  I was being lifted off the ground by some power. I groaned when I saw Curmlough and Octave also being lifted off the ground by the same power, but they were both unconscious. My Angelic Guardian was gone. I felt my hold upon it had been forcibly severed and it had been returned from whence it came. I was alone.

  Slowly, I was rotated clockwise until I faced a dark silhouette framed against the broken sky above me. I was floating towards it. It had the wings of a bat, but the features and body of a man. It was…familiar?

  “SO THE ANNOYING INSECT REVEALS ITSELF TO BE ANOTHER FALSE PRIEST? WHAT HOLE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING IN, BOY? YOU DARE DISRUPT THE HOLY WORK OF XAT?”

  That voice…it can’t be!

  It was. I saw its face. The face of one I had faced before in a Dungeon with a Elven Warrior of Ara at my side.

  “We killed you. How?” I croaked, my mouth dry.

  It was the Cambion. The Hellblade who had once kidnapped a Hierophant of Ara and had been vanquished with a sword through its black heart. The Hellblade sneered down at me and stretched out a clawed hand and took me by the throat. It began to squeeze.

  “NOW…YOU DIE!”