Dreamer's Throne

[The passage to the basement has been unsealed.]

Cold air blew up the stairs from the basement, bringing with it the fog that permeated the Dream. Taking a small step back, Garrett’s nose twitched as the faint smell of blood drifted through the doorway. All around him the Dream Flowers waved their petals, enveloping the hallway with color that banished the creeping chill. Shivering, Garrett shook his head and turned on his heel. Part of him really wanted to go down into the basement to check it out, but his cautiousness won out.

Heading back to the Dreamer’s Throne, he sat down and sent his vision out to Gorn, who was deep in the basement. Without the seal that covered the basement door, Garrett was easily able to see Gorn and the others as they descended the stairs. Made up of nearly a dozen large chambers, the basement was a bit of a maze, but Gorn knew just where to go and he led the way with confidence. With flickering torches, the gang entered the final room where the tunnel down to the crypt had been created, climbing down the heavy ladder deeper into the earth. As Garrett watched, the fog was peeled back by the light coming from Gorn and Reeve, who were both part of the group. Nearly everyone else apart from Obe carried a Dream Flower as well, helping to drive back the fog and providing Garrett with clear vision.

Looking around the large chamber they gathered in, Garrett saw two passages that exited the room, one heading northeast toward where the crypt system was located, and the other going straight south. Both were blocked by thick metal gates, though only the southern gate appeared to be locked. The room, which was primarily used for holding goods that were being smuggled, was stacked high with the supplies they had stolen from the warehouses. Henrick seemed rather reluctant to get rid of them, which Garrett could understand.

There were very few goods coming into the city, and that stagnation meant that next to nothing was being smuggled since the guards were cracking down on the merchants who had access to goods. As soon as those bans were lifted, however, the Ghoul’s Tooth gang would undoubtedly be back at it.

“We’re hunting for loose ghouls,” Gorn said once everyone was gathered, “so stay on your guard. If we run into a nest, we’ll retreat, but if we find one or two, we’ll be attacking.”

Leading the way out of the northern gate, Gorn held his torch high, casting dancing light across the smooth floor. From what Garrett could tell, the passage had been dug out by hand, but the floor was clear of any debris to make moving goods easier. Passing by a few small carts that were pushed up against the wall, Gorn stopped at the first split in the passage, using his torch to light the passage that went to the right.

“Do you think they’ll be this far out?” Obe asked, peering into the darkness.

“It’s uncommon that they would come this far from the crypt, but we should at least check, right? We don’t want to leave our backs open if they’re hiding down one of these side passages.”

Shuddering, Obe agreed with a nod. Facing Ghouls head on was bad enough, but getting ambushed from behind? That was a death sentence. Following closely behind Gorn, he held his axe at the ready as they walked down the passage. Each step Gorn took was short, and his eyes constantly scanned the terrain, keeping a sharp lookout for anything out of the ordinary. He wasn’t actually expecting to find a ghoul on this expedition, but his experience had taught him that lowering his guard would just get him killed.

To everyone’s relief, the passage was clear, and once they had traced it all the way to its dead end they were able to double back, returning to the tunnel they had split off from. Continuing north, they soon came to another split and the process repeated itself. This time, however, Garrett ranged ahead with Observe the Dream to see if he could see anything.

Thick fog lay everywhere that Garrett, or one of the Dream Flowers, hadn’t been, preventing him from seeing anything. When the Dream Flower hosts were gathered together, however, the fog was driven back, giving Garrett clear sight. Even in the pitch dark, Garrett could see just fine with Observe the Dream, though it showed everything in black and white and shades of gray. One after another, the team explored the offshoot passages that extended from the main tunnel connecting the inn to the crypt system, making sure they were clear before continuing on their way.

Garrett hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary so far, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to look. After checking a short passage, Gorn and the others were about to turn around and head to the main passage when a small depression caught Garrett’s attention. If it hadn’t been for the light from Gorn’s torch failing to reach into it when he walked past, Garrett would have completely missed it. Following it for a short distance, Garrett realized he was looking at a small passage just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.

There’s something wrong with that wall.

Stopping when he heard the voice in his head, Gorn looked around, his torch casting light on the walls. Even looking directly at it, the crack was hard to see since it looked like a shadow being cast by the light. It wasn’t until Gorn stepped close that he realized what he was looking at. Obe, who walked up next to him, wet his lips nervously, shooting a glance at Gorn, whose face had gone pale. Both of them had better-than-average hearing, and they could hear the faint sound of scratching from the other side of the narrow crack.

“Are there really ghouls down here?” Obe asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Shaking his head mutely, Gorn was completely lost for words. Ghouls were a monster that spawned from the resentment that built up around the dead and were typically only found in the crypt system. To find a ghoul outside of the crypt was a major problem, as they reproduced quickly and a single one could easily overwhelm a dozen regular men. Strongly considering retreating, Gorn felt a surge of courage in his heart and his willpower grew firm.

All I need to do is determine if there is a ghoul here. We can handle a single ghoul.

While there shouldn’t have been any ghouls in these tunnels, if one had slipped out of the crypt, it had to be dealt with immediately before it could gather enough bodies to form a nest. Unaware of the Dream Flower fortifying his mental strength, Gorn took a deep breath and drew one of his daggers.

“I’ll check it out. We need to make sure there isn’t a nest.”

“Are you seriously going to squeeze in there?” Obe asked, looking at the crack in disbelief.

“I won’t if you are volunteering yourself,” Gorn retorted, rolling his eyes.

Squeezing his body into the crack, Gorn inched along it, his senses straining to detect any danger. Watching him from above, Garrett pushed Observe the Dream out to the farthest point ahead of Gorn that he could, watching as the fog thinned. The last thing Garrett wanted was for Gorn to fall into a nest of ghouls and get killed, so he was determined to help him as much as possible.

The monochrome world of the Dream continued to peel back, revealing that the crack wound around for a considerable distance. Garrett could see a good distance ahead thanks to the strength of the blooms that Gorn carried, and as he inched through the crack Gorn felt as if he was able to sense that the path ahead was clear. It was slow going, and a dozen minutes had passed when Garrett suddenly saw some movement up ahead where the crack began to widen out. A small room came into view, and even though he was viewing it from the Dream, the sense of disgust that rose up in Garrett’s throat was palpable.

A tangled mix of rotting corpses lay piled together in the center of the room, easily reaching chest height. Some were barely more than skeletons, while others still had much of their putrid flesh attached. All of them were, without question, dead, but the half dozen monsters that perched on top of the pile were certainly not. Long, spiked fingers picked at the dead bodies as they sat on their powerful, clawed legs that promised intense bursts of speed. Despite their thin frames, Garrett could tell their muscles were packed with power.

Bulbous heads dominated by a wide mouth that nearly split their skull all the way around rested on top of their thick necks, and their large eyes darted madly in the darkness, looking this way and that. They were not large creatures, merely four feet tall, but the feeling of decay and death they gave off set Garrett’s senses tingling. Forty feet away, Gorn was still pushing his way through the crack when a sense of dread settled on him.

There’s a nest with half a dozen ghouls up ahead. If I keep going, they’re going to notice me.

More and more, Gorn had been getting these strange flashes of insight, and so far they hadn’t let him down, so he froze in place before reversing his direction. Wiggling his way back out of the crack, sweat beaded on his forehead as he imagined what would happen if the ghouls discovered him. Their smaller forms would allow them to pass through the crack much easier than he could, and if they caught up he would be a sitting duck. Unfortunately, what both Garrett and Gorn feared soon came to pass as Gorn’s knuckle scraped on a protruding rock, causing a few drops of blood to squeeze out of his skin.

The six ghouls suddenly looked up, their wide nostrils flaring as they sniffed at the air. Hypersensitive to blood, they detected the life-giving liquid almost immediately and with soft shrieks dashed toward the crack, swarming through. Garrett didn’t have to warn Gorn they were coming because the gangster could hear them perfectly clearly. Swearing, Gorn hurried to move through the crack, using his powerful strength to smash his way out.

Nimble beyond reason, the ghouls darted through the crack, their claws helping them find purchase as they crawled along the walls. It only took a few minutes before Gorn could see them, their wide eyes gleaming in the dim light filtering into the crack. Doing his best to speed up, Gorn knew he wouldn’t make it to the end of the crack before the ghouls arrived, so he shouted to Obe, letting him know what was going on.

“There’s a nest! Ghouls are coming, so take everyone and retreat!”

“Not a chance,” Obe spat back, his face so white it appeared drained of all blood. “If they get out of the crack, they’ll pick us apart before we can escape. Hurry up! We’ll block them here.”

Realizing the wisdom in Obe’s words, Gorn knew the only chance they had was blocking the ghouls before they could escape into the wide passage. Ghouls could treat any surface like flat ground, meaning it would be impossible to keep them contained once they made it to the wider tunnel system, and given their speed, it would only be a matter of time until they picked apart the gang. Glancing over his shoulder, Gorn saw that they’d almost caught up and swore. He still had almost a hundred feet to cover before he could get out.

Summoning his soul spark’s energy, Gorn got ready for battle. His only chance to defend himself would be to use his ability to try and slow them down, but once he was surrounded he was going to be a sitting duck. Far above him, sitting on the Dreamer’s Thorne, Garrett’s fingers clenched tightly at the arm rests, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a way to help. None of his skills were offensive in nature, and beyond giving advice and doing some scouting, he had no way to influence the situation.

With a shriek, one of the ghouls lunged toward Gorn, reaching out with its sharp claws to stab into his head. Responding with a surge of energy that reached out and slowed the attack, Gorn barely managed to get his dagger up in time to block the claws. The energy coming off his soul spark wrapped around the ghoul, buying him some time to continue his retreat, but a moment later the next ghoul was on him. Watching the furious fight from the Dream, Garrett’s palms grew slick with sweat, and he had to suppress the urge to jump up and run down there himself.

The ghouls, like humans, appeared clearly in the Dream, and though they lacked the soul sparks humans had, Garrett could see a glimmer in their heads that pointed to where they got their powers from. According to what he’d learned, all monsters had cores in their brains that held their strength and determined what sorts of powers they possessed. It was these cores, in addition to the materials of their bodies, that kept adventurers hunting for monsters.

Stabbing, blocking, and dodging as best he could, Gorn constantly moved backward through the crack even as he bombarded the ghouls with his rope-like energy. So far he’d managed to not only come through unscathed but also prevent the ghouls from surrounding him. He was only twenty feet from the exit, but his energy was rapidly draining and he wasn’t sure he would have enough strength to keep it up until he was out. Outside of the crack, the gang members waited nervously, their hearts in their throats.

Estimating Gorn’s chances of making it out, Garrett knew Gorn was going to fall short by at least ten feet. He could monitor Gorn’s energy usage, and his soul spark was almost completely dim already. And after he fell, the rest of the gang members would fall as well. Obe’s choice not to run was tactically sound, but only if Gorn could make it out alive. As soon as he fell, the ghouls would be able to overwhelm Obe and then pick off the others. Gritting his teeth, Garrett’s eyes narrowed.

If I want to turn this situation around, we’re going to have to make some sacrifices.

With no time left to consider his options, Garrett made his decision and spoke, his word echoing in the heads of all those down in the tunnels who carried a Dream Flower.

Hunt.