Surviving the elements, part two

We wandered for hours. To describe the place as a maze would have been an understatement. Passages sometimes narrowed so much that we had to walk sideways through them. Other times they opened up into complete caverns. I so neither evidence of erosion nor evidence that anything had been carved by hands, human or otherwise, was present. There were no stalactites, stalagmites, no pools of water--we were in a cave but saw none of the normal features of a cave. It was as if someone had opened up a tunnel under the earth.

I cut marks at every intersection. That quickly became pointless. I turned at one point to look at the last set of marks. I could barely see them through the haze of dust in the air, but I didn’t see them for long. Something emerged from the wall. It was about as wide as a barrel. It had dark green skin with brown splotches, almost like it was wearing forest camouflage. Three arms and three legs jutted from the sides of its body, each spread evenly around its body. Its head consisted of a single, large mouth. It moved through the rock like a fish moves through water, and it moved right over the marks I made. It stepped into the open air and hesitated, as if examining the area (though it didn’t seem to have any eyes). After a moment, went across the corridor and into the other wall. The marks on the wall were removed by its passing.

“So much for that,” Anna said.

We pressed on. I hoped we weren’t going in circles. I hoped we would find another glyph on the floor. There wasn’t one in the place we landed. I assumed there would be different ones in each node, allowing travels to move back and forth between the nodes. After a few more hours of wandering, I started to remember that old saying about “assuming.”

At one point we wound up in a room full of stalagmites. There were maybe six of them, all near the middle of the room. I moved toward them, my sword in hand (after hours of holding it, it still didn’t feel heavy).

Anna put a hand on my arm. “Wait a minute. Look at this.”

“What?”

“Those rocks,” she said. “They don’t look different.”

“You mean the stalagmites?”

“Yeah, whatever. Those rock column things. Look at them.”

I looked closer. She was right. The rock was a dark brown, which I guess is “rock” color. The color varied across the surface—darker in some places, lighter in others--but it was the same pattern everywhere. They looked as if they were painted, or the patterns you’d find on an animal, like a zebra.

So, the last part was right.

Something shot out from the pillar of rock and past my head. I realized that it was aiming for my head and would have hit my head, but I had moved so fast I hadn’t realized what happened. I side-stepped twice, avoiding what I now knew were tentacles—tentacles that came out of stalagmite.

The sword hummed in my hand as I ducked and dodged. I thought about removing one of the tentacles that reached for me. Next I knew, one of the tentacles lay on the ground next to me.

An arrow landed dead center of the closest stalagmite. Purple pus poured from the wound. The stalagmite groaned as it continued to thrust large tentacles in my direction. I cut off another and stepped further back. I tried to take out another, but my arm wouldn’t move. I felt tightness around my chest as I was lifted in the air.

I had backed up in the wrong direction, toward another stalagmite.

If the thing could pick me up in my armor it had to be damn strong. And damned hungry. I struggled to get my sword arm free. It pulled me closer. A slit in the stalagmite opened up, revealing a mouth with lots of teeth. The creature hissed violently as it pulled me toward a mouth that wasn’t quite big enough to swallow me whole, but with teeth sharp enough to get the job done eventually.

Three hours materialized in its “head”. It didn’t stop. Another arrow whizzed past as Anna tried to shoot at the tentacles. She called my name. I think at that moment we both realized there was little we could do.

I saw a flash of metal, and then I fell. I managed to roll with the fall. I rose, shaking off the tentacle as blood poured from the severed wound. I brought my sword to the ready.

Saul stood before the creature. He hacked at it like a mad woodsman. I joined him. He concentrated on the body while I hacked at the tentacles. I concentrated both on avoiding the tentacles and removing them. As a result, I moved with precision, dancing like a ballerina as I moved from one tentacle to the next.

Saul sank his sword to the hilt just above the mouth. The thing moaned. It felt like the bass guitar at a concert. We backed away and watched as the stalagmite shuddered and collapsed. Blood oozed from its many wounds. After several moments, it collapsed like a deflated balloon.

“That was interesting,” Saul said. He faced me. “Still getting into trouble I see.”

Anna collided into him like a train, nearly knocking him over. She wrapped her arms around him, both laughing and crying. He returned the embrace, lifting her off the ground.

“Thanks for the help,” I said.

Saul put Anna down and faced me. He held out his hand. “What are friends for?”

I shook his hand vigorously. I can’t tell you how good it is to see your friends again.

Just one more to go.

Surviving the elements, part one

It wasn't long before I found Anna.

From the top of the artificial mountain where I materialized I strode with confidence down the side. I escaped one hell and landed in another, one from which there might not be a way out.

One that might have already killed my friends.

The spiral trail continued around the side of the faux mountain, giving me a view of all sides of the node. This had to be the air node. A biting wind cut through my clothes. My hands cracked in the dry air. Above me there was no sun. The light seemed to come from the entire ceiling. It reminded me vaguely of the fluorescent lights in the office back on Earth. A feeling of nostalgia over came me. I wondered what everyone thought of my sudden disappearance.

Finally, I reached the base of the mountain. Looking at it from here, it stood only some three hundred feet in height. Not exactly a mountain, but it was carved to look like one, replete with snow and ice.

At first glance the ground looked natural. In places, though, I could see where someone had smoothed the surface. Regardless, there was no clear trail. I could see maybe a couple of hundred feet in any direction. Beyond that images were hazy, like heat waves off a car dashboard, only there was no heat in this place. I tightened my cloak around me and headed off in any direction.

After about half an hour I nearly tripped over something. Looking down, I saw a corpse. There was virtually no decay, but the moisture had been sucked out of it by the terribly dry wind. The land seemed to be sterile in regards to bacteria and anything else that would consume dead flesh, but the wind destroys everything, given enough time.

The rib cage and arms looked crushed, as if something had fallen on the poor bastard. Whatever had crushed him had been moved. I shivered again, but not from the cold. There was something in the air node that was large enough to move whatever crushed this man. That or it was big enough to actually do the crushing.

I saw a glint of metal near the corpse's extended hand. I knelt. The smell of death was faint, but not overpowering. I carefully uncurled the corpses fingers. They cracked apart like old kindling, and the remains of the fingers were swept away in the wind. In his broken hand rested a sword.

I picked it up. Dirt caked its exterior, but as soon as I held it in the wind the dirt fell off it like water on teflon. The weapon probably hadn't been cleaned or oiled in many months, if not longer, and yet it looked brand new. It felt incredibly light. I've held katanas that felt heavier. I gave a few practice swings. It felt like practicing with a toy.

Magic, I thought. That or someone came down here with a toy sword.

I found the scabbard lying nearby. I grabbed it and sheathed the weapon. When it sank home the area around me grew dimmer. I drew the sword once more, and the area brightened. Light didn't seem to emanate from the weapon.

I sheathed the sword and tied it around my waist. I took out the tarnished, black cloth and spread it open. It took a moment to keep it flat in the wind, but once it was open it did not blow away. Debris blew into the hole, and I set my old sword inside quickly before the hole filled up with dust and ice. I grabbed the edges of the cloth and the hole closed. I folded it and put it back in my pocket.

"Thanks pal," I said to the corpse. I frowned. Audry would have my hide if she knew I was being disrespectful to the dead. Not to mention it was just plain wrong.

"Sorry friend," I said. "I wish I could do more." I patted the sword. "I'll put this to good use."

See, that's why I'm not a priest.

I walked with my head tilted low. Ice particles in the wind cut my bare skin like tiny knives. I tried to keep the hood of my cloak covering my face as much as possible, but it wasn't enough. I doubt I could survive in this place for long. I shoved the thought aside, thinking of how long my friends had been here, or somewhere just as harsh.

A large shape loomed in front of me. It looked like a cliff face, or perhaps another mini-mountain. Then I realized it had legs--legs with large claws.

I looked up from under my hood. The claws were attached to large, scaled feet. Those in turn were attached to scaled legs, which were attached to a rather large, scaled body. Towering over me was the largest fricking dinosaur I had ever seen. Scratch that, I've never seen a dinosaur. I mean the statues of dinosaurs they have in museums. And I'd never heard of a dinosaur that had white scales.

Eyes bigger than my fists looked down at me. The things head was monstrous. White scaled lined everything. Teeth jutted out from a maw that could have swallowed me whole. Large, white horns protruded from the back of its head. The creature stared at me, breathing slowly. Its breath fell upon me and stunk of rot, and to top it off it was colder than the surrounding area.

The corners of the large mouth curled upwards. "Hello human." The deepness of its voice made my body vibrate. It was like listening to my neighbor's stereo. "By chance are you a lackey of that silly priest upstairs? What's his name?"

A talking dinosaur, I thought. Otherwise known as a dragon. A white one, which meant they loved the cold and they were mean as hell. Man, I'm so screwed.

I struggled to remain calm. "Was," I corrected. "His name was Hedrack."

"Was?" the dragon asked. "Ah, someone penned him in the dead book, then. You?"

I nodded almost imperceptibly. He noticed anyway.

"Good," he said. He snorted several times, a sound that might have been a snicker. "That creature has promised much and delivered nothing."

He waited for a response from me, but I said nothing.

"There is an air of honesty about you," the dragon said. A white dragon, I reminded myself. A creature that can turn me into a popsicle if it sneezes. "If the high priest is dead then I am no longer needed here. I will make you the same deal I made the last one."

"Last one?" I asked. I held back my cloak and revealed the sword at my side. "Did he have something that looked like this?"

The dragon raised a horned eyebrow. "Looting the dead, are we? I suppose he didn't need it anymore. I should warn you, though. That trinket did him little good. I doubt you would fare better."

No kidding, I thought.

"What's this deal exactly?" I asked.

"Simple," the dragon said. It leaned over until I had to look straight up to look into its eyes. "Show me the way out, and I will let you live."

I smiled, trying to look calm (always hard to do when you're facing a dragon). "Well, I'd be happy to show you the way out. If only I knew where it was."

The dragon eyed me for several seconds, and then leaned back. "I believe you."

I didn't know if that was good or bad. If it was good, he'd let me go. If bad, he'd try and squash me. What were these guys in the monster manual? Chaotic evil, right? That meant he'd squash me.

"Unfortunately," he said, "that means you are no longer useful to me."

That meant it was squash time. Figures.

"You mean like the last guy who wasn't useful?" I said. "Tell me something Show White. Was the previous owner of this," I showed him the sword again, "facing you when you stepped on him?"

"Would it have mattered?" he said. "As puny as you humans are, it's virtually impossible not to crush you."

"Ah, screw it," I said. "Look, can we cut to the chase here already?"

"Cut to the chase?" It rubbed its enormous chin for a moment. "Ah, if you mean get to the point, by all means."

The dragon inhaled. It was like being on the business end of a gigantic shop-vac. My cloak swirled about me as I reached for my sword. Not that it would do much good at this point. The last thing I wanted was to be anywhere near this big guy when he let loose with the most monstrous halitosis imaginable.

On second thought, may being next to him was the ticket.

I ran straight for him just as he opened up and went "AAAHHHH!!!" The blast wave clipped me, only barely. Still, it felt far worse than the worst cold snap I'd ever felt back in Colorado.

I spun and struck his left flank. The sung as it cut the air, and it cut through the dragon's flank like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Unearthly sparks erupted from the wound, ending any questions I had about the magical nature of the blade.

The dragon roared as it turned. I slashed at its open maw and removed an incisor. I side stepped its claw and cut again, removing two of its digits. I turned and took another chunk out of its flank, just before his tail came at me like a scaled whip. I ducked and cut off the tip as it sailed by.

I side stepped every attack like a gymnast. I barely even acknowledged a bite or a claw or a tail or even a wing tip before side stepping out of the way. It had to be the magic of the sword. What the hell kind of weapons was this anyway?

The dragon roared. It was a sound from the depths of hell. The sound of every predator you can imagine sounding off at once, ready to charge you and gobble you up unless you get the hell out of there right away. I started to turn and run. I couldn't help myself. That's when I saw the red floor beneath me. It was red because of the wounds I had inflicted. Blood sprouted from those wounds like a fountain. It was like a bad Hong Kong martial arts film. Further away I saw a snake-like thing flopping around--the remains of the end of its tail.

Something snapped. What was I running from? I was fricking winning here!

I turned once more, just as I felt the rush of wind from the dragon filling its deep lungs. I moved toward it again, but it saw me this time. It angled its head appropriately. Like most of us, I doubted it would be affected by its own breath. That meant it was popsicle time.

I looked up just in time. The side of its head exploded in a shower of light. Its breath spewed harmlessly into the air. Water vapor froze and showered down on me as I continued my charge, right under its belly.

I heard the dull thud again as the dragon was struck by whatever it was. Its large belly lowered as the dragon dropped to all fours. I thrust my sword to the hilt and cut. Intestines and all sorts of foul dropped to the cold floor as I opened up the dragon. It stood and stumbled backwards, but the damage was done.

The dragon stumbled back, clutching its underside with its under side. It left a trail of gore behind it as it limped away. The side of its head looked like burnt toast, it was missing half of one paw, part of its wing was missing (I forgot about that one until that moment)...suffice it to say the thing was not going to last much longer.

"Your welcome," a voice said.

I turned, my sword ready. A figure approached me, holding a bow. The figure approached me, the face hidden within the hood of a cloak that was much too large. My savior, I realized. I wondered what kind of arrows could do that kind of damage, and I hoped I wouldn't find out the hard way.

I held my sword at the ready, but I soon realized I wouldn't need it. I could finally see under the hood of the cloak.

"Anna?"

She smiled at me and winked. She tried to look nonchalant, but even under the thick cloak I could see her shiver. She had cuts on her face, and I could see signs of frost bite.

"Hi John," she said. "Miss me?"

She dropped her bow and reached for me. She embraced me, squeezing so hard my ribs hurt.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Better than you, it seems," I said. "Its good to see you shorty."

"Not bad for a human," she said. Finally she released me and looked in my eyes. "Please tell me you have some healing potions. And some food."

-------------

Anna found the bow along a cliff face not far from where I fought the dragon. When she heard the commotion she approached, and when she saw it was me fighting a dragon she figured a poor ol' human could probably stand for some help.

"I'm glad you made it John," Anna said. We were in a small cave she found earlier. It protected us from the worst of the air node. "I've been trying to get out of here for days. How are the others."

"Haven't found them yet," I said. "I was hoping you knew."

"They're probably okay," she said. She took another swig of the healing potion. Her skin already started to look better. "I haven't been able to find a way out of here."

"There has to be one. What if Hedrack or one of his buddies got stuck here by accident."

"Hedrack." Anna finished off the healing potion and started on another. "That bastard threw us down here without our gear. I managed to find this cloak and this bow. I also found these arrows."

She held them up. They were beautiful. Each one had intricate designs and runes I could not recognize. Whoever made them put a lot of work into them.

"They work pretty good, don't they?" she asked.

"Good enough," I said. I stirred at the fire she made. The smoke rose up toward the ceiling where a gust of wind carried it out of the cave. Pretty good little camp site. "How much of this place have you been over?"

"Lots," Anna said. She sat next to me and held her hands to the fire. The color had returned to her skin. Thank god for healing potions. "I think this whole place is on the edge of the elemental plane of air. If you walk far enough that way," she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, "you'll reach a cliff. I couldn't see the ground below it, and I can't see anything else except sky."

"So if we walk to far in the wrong direction we'll end up in the actual plane of air," I said. "Or fire, earth, or water."

"Yeah, I figured there were similar places for those," Anna said. "Is that were the others are?"

I nodded. "That's what Hedrack said." I nudged her. "We'll find them."

"Yeah," she said. She didn't sound so sure. To be honest, I wasn't either. "Look, this place is pretty safe. Lets get some sleep, and then we'll head out. I found something we need to take a look at."

The next "day" (there was no night here, so I didn't know how much time had passed) we gathered our gear. Anna grabbed her armor, her cloak, and other odds and ends from the portable hole. She kept the heavy cloak she had found. Her elven cloak was great for camouflage, but not for keeping in body heat. She threw in some gems she had found earlier and then I closed the hole.

We set out across the broken ground. We stepped around large rocks and chunks of ice. It turns out the node was a hollowed out pocket of ground. There were cliffs on three sides and a ceiling of sorts. It was almost like a giant shelf, with one end opening up into the oblivion of the elemental plane of air. Fortunately, we didn't head in that direction.

We walked along the edge of a cliff. After an hour or so, we came to a cave. The cave went deep into the cliff side. We continued on, leaving the howling winds behind us. I can't imagine how Anna survived here for as long as she did. That girl has more courage and fortitude than most of us can imagine.

"Here it is," she said. The cave tunnel opened into a huge cavern. Large icicles hung from the ceiling, and much of the floor was covered in ice...all accept one spot. A triangle some ten feet from point to point rested almost directly in the center of the cavern. Runes covered the inner edge of it, all carved into the stone. Not a speck of ice touched it.

"Interesting," she said. "Yesterday I tossed a stone in the middle of it. It was there when I left."

"So something moved it," I said.

I gingerly put a foot on the triangle, and then another. Nothing happened. Anna stepped on to the triangle with me.

"Don't wizards use stuff like this for summoning monsters and what not?" I asked. "And if so, should we be standing in it?"

Anna shrugged. "Nothing's happened yet. I...."

The triangle runes glowed brightly. I reached for Anna and headed for the nearest edge, but it was too late. A wall of light poured forth from the runes, surrounding us. I reached for the edge, wondering if I could pass my hand through the magical light. By the time my hand reached the wall, it was gone.

As was the cavern we had just left, not to mention the bitter cold.

“Okay,” Anna said. “Where are we now?”

The air was heavy with the scent of freshly dug earth. Dust hung in the most absolute still air I had ever seen. It was thick enough to tickle the inside of my nose. I hadn’t had an allergy flare up in a long time, I hoped I wouldn’t get one now.

We were still in a cavern, but not nearly as big as the one we just left. The walls and ceiling looked like solid rock in some places and like tightly packed earth in others. The rock consisted mostly of just that—rock. But I could see veins of copper, iron, and along one strip of the ceiling I saw what looked like emerald. Two large columns of rock connected the floor to the ceiling. They were interlaced with rock, earth, and various other minerals as well. The whole place was miner’s dream.

“Well, this sure isn’t Kansas, Toto,” I said.

“Never heard of Kansas Toto,” Annah said, “but I think it’s safe to say we’re in the Earth Node now.”