The Path of the Adventurer

Chapter 11

The caves were so quiet, not even the sound of blowing wind was present. The scorching heat was enough to make one pass out.

Erion and his friends had been walking through the caves of the mountain for a long time. The darkness of the cave was uncanny, despite Huffey leading the way with a torch. "Hopefully we're going in the right direction..." Norder said.

"Sure is spooky, isn't it, Erion?" Tikana teased. "The darkness, the ambiance, isn't it scary?"

"I have nocturnal vision, you know." Replied Erion. "But still, this is kind of creepy!" He was mesmerized yet unnerved by the ambiance of the cave. Flashbacks of when he saw the frightening tapestry in Rith's attic returned to him.

Eventually, the cave's surface changed from natural rocks to man-made walls and floors. The stone walls had terrifying images of dragons carved into them akin to the tapestry in Rith's attic. The floor was similar, as its tiles also had freakish patterns carved onto them. As they wandered through the ruins, Erion listened for faint sounds, but there was still pervading silence. "I'm sorry to say this, but no matter how much I try to stay brave, I can't help but feel creeped out. I feel like something's going to jump out at us any minute, especially with the orcs and a dragon being here."

"We're all unnerved, or as you call it, 'creeped out', Erion." Magon explained. "No sane person would want to be in a place as dangerous and spine-chilling as this." His tone shifted from somber to positive. "But you're still persevering, and that's all that matters."

"Thanks." Immediately, Erion stopped as if he were frozen. Something was forcing his heart to dig out of his chest. "Everyone, listen."

"What is it?" Asked Magon.

"Drums." Erion stated. None of his allies spoke in reply, allowing the sound to be heard clearly. Faint drums played in the distance, accompanied by slightly louder, yet still faint, repetitive deep chanting in a harsh tongue. "Are those even orcs? They sound like ghosts moaning for help."

"The orcs are practicing their war chant." Magon replied. "War chants are an orcish tradition, according to an ancient book I read."

"You seriously think that's creepy? I think it sounds rather cool!" Tikana smirked. "I have no clue of what it means, but it totally gives us the notion of being in a creepy, dangerous, and spooky dungeon!"

"Just imagine waking up to that in the middle of the night; I'd need a new pair of trousers." Remarked Erion. "But at the same time, I wonder how that isn't waking up the dragon."

"Maybe they sell dragon-sized ear plugs somewhere!" Huffey joked. "Ye' never know!"

"We're in the place where Deadeye resides. The jokes can wait." Norder told Huffey.

"Right... Sorry, lad. I keep forgetting!" Huffey replied.

"Continue on." Said Magon.

The journey through the man-made section lasted almost as long as the natural section, yet the patterns in its structure changed as they explored it. They explored the long, empty, and scorching halls while the faint disturbing chanting followed them. Eventually, they came across rooms with skeletons lying on the ground and against the walls, tapestries resembling the one in Rith's attic, staircases, and lit torches. Eventually, they opened a large, rune-covered door to a large room with rubble walls, several decaying statues of Deadeye perched in the corners of the room, and most of all, a pool that was about sixteen feet in length, complete with scarlet lava. The pool had hints of solid rock, but it was mostly burning liquid. Sometimes, lava geysered into the air. At the end of the pool was a long black hallway flanked by two freakish orc-made gargoyles, resembling grotesque warthogs. The pool was the only way to reach the end of the room; there were no other alternate passageways they could take.