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  [Sigurd]

  The stairs going down were just as icy as before, but it seemed like after the previous floors, everyone had grown more familiar with it and Sigurd felt that they descended far faster than before as it took barely five minutes to reach the entrance to the next level.

  This time, what greeted him upon reaching the last step didn’t fill him with shock, awe and apprehension like all the previous levels had, there was no epic visual to look at nor magnificent scale of the cave. No, this time, what greeted Sigurd gave him a relaxing familiar hug, a narrow tunnel stretched away, reminiscent of every single dungeon he had been in before. He sighed in relief. There was a sense of closeness and safety that being in a tunnel gave off, based off hundreds of delves and thousands of hours inside them.

  With a huge cavern, an attack could come from anywhere and you had to stay alert for it in all directions, you couldn’t just focus on what was coming up ahead of you. Thus, there was, less to focus on, less to be distracted by and consequently more safety, especially for the support members like Jenna, whose primary job weas healing up them all. Behind the shield of Jackson, she was pretty darn safe, and monsters would have to get through the front-line fighters to reach her. With a cavern that was not the case. So, Sigurd felt that sense of relief at the familiar wash over him and so it seemed did everyone else as they all relaxed slightly, postures shifting he could see.

  A cold wind blew out of the tunnel, which was saying something based on how cold it was anyway for the hairs on his body stood even further up as the cold crept along his spine, raising his hackles. A soft clicking tapping sound echoed out of the tunnel and what measure of comfort leeched away at the disquieting sounds and feeling emanating from its depths. He sighed to himself. Of course, this dungeon was unique, its normal tunnels would certainly not be like he had experienced before, of that he was sure.

  Still, he preferred this, there were only choices to make on where to go when you reached a fork in the path, but with a cavern you could go anywhere, see anything, do more and see more. Frankly, it was overwhelming, most everything about this dungeon had been overwhelming. So, the sight of a narrow tunnel that restricted all of these things was a breath of fresh air in spite of whatever trickery and danger this new feature presented.

  It seemed Sebastien had been having the same thoughts as he quickly reminded everyone that this was an odd dungeon and to be on the lookout for anything, no relaxing was the message, and Sigurd planned to follow that to a tee.

  “Everyone, stop a sec…” Seb commanded. “It’s a tunnel now.”

  “Yep, like normal,” Kael muttered back.

  “So, something is probably up with it? Some trap or quirk that’s going to be really dangerous. So, we need to be especially aware until we uncover it. Ok?” he said nodding to himself as if puzzling it out then and there.

  Sigurd nodded and the others replied similarly. Seb smiled.

  “Things are getting harder now and if the dungeon continues for a while longer, then we’re going to have to turn back. We really aren’t prepared for a long hardcore delve, so I’m not going to push the boat out too far this first time. Frankly, I get the feeling that we’re not going to complete it this time anyway. Which is probably a good, as a group we’ve been searching for another dungeon to project and this one is unique enough and out of the way enough that it won’t be too crowded for a while.” He continued.

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  “Sounds fantastic” Jackson replied in his gruff voice.

  “Yep” Lore chimed in.

  Jenna just nodded in her typical quiet manner, and Sigurd kept silent as well, not knowing if he was included in the proposal for further delving. He felt like it had been going well enough that he might be invited, he hoped so at least, this had been a lot of fun.

  The fact that this was the dungeons’ first level that consisted of this normal tunnel, raised the question of why? Why now? And what was going to screw them over?

  What was different now? What was the trick with this floor? He wondered to himself, the questions floating rounds his mind, no answer was forthcoming.

  Taking the first steps felt like bursting a balloon, their conversation at the entrance having increased the pressure enough that Sigurd felt nervous.

  But, thankfully as soon as they walked forwards, he felt that excited adrenaline rush that always accompanied exploring that push through a dungeon surge through him. Sigurd relaxed and embraced it, knowing that it would keep him sharp.

  Sure enough it did, and the group fell into formation and marched onwards.

  The icy floor slowed progress, but thankfully, as with the other floors, the ice was roughed up enough, or coated with snow deep enough, to ensure sufficient grip to walk on, though the ever-present threat of slipping was there.

  Looking around briefly as they walked, he noticed that the ceiling was of a rough, rocky nature and it somehow blended seamlessly with the white reaching tendrils of snow and ice that climbed up the walls in irregular patterns. It looked as if some spell had frozen the floor in an icy bath, an explosion of ice that had painted the world in white.

  The first chamber they entered was empty and it presented the option of three different paths, one that climbed off upwards to the right, another that sloped downwards to the left and then seemed to curve back to the right a short while later, the rest of the path being obscured by the tight turn. The last path went straight forwards, with no elevation change, before gently curving left so as to prevent us seeing beyond the start of the tunnel.

  Sebastien decided that they would go left, and always left, as was a good choice in any maze, just follow the left wall and eventually you would have explored every single option in the maze-like tunnel systems that dungeons typically favoured. Going right and only right would have worked just as well, but for some reason all delvers followed the left wall or walked randomly.

  They tentatively descended, hesitant with the sloping ground making the icy floor even more treacherous. Sigurd thought it could be a trap that would slide them to their doom, but it wasn’t, and they soon reached the turn that would bring them out of view from that initial chamber. Upon rounding the corner, he faced a short stretch of tunnel before another chamber, though this time the chamber wasn’t empty.

  Yellow glaring eyes stared the group down, oozing hatred and anger. Stark vertical slashes cut through the yellow, looking like portals to another world rimmed in red.

  They were big eyes, and the dark coat of whatever they belonged to showed harsh and patchy against the empty white background. The shape seemed slightly hazy as if whatever the creature was the world couldn’t capture it fully.

  From so far away Sigurd couldn’t distinguish its entire form, though whatever it was screamed predator. He was taken aback at just the eyes. A raw malevolence exuded from them that shocked him and Sigurd was nervous. He hadn’t ever been so nervous in this dungeon as he was now, and he couldn’t put a finger on why.

  Sebastien stopped them as they got closer in, within 25 metres of – the cat in fact – and Sigurd could see it’s feline shape now. It had black fur, dark as night, and interspersed with sharp white metallic spines, like those of a porcupine. A porcupine cat perhaps he thought to himself almost snorting aloud. It stalked backwards and forwards, moving around the chamber, but never taking its eyes off them as it glared its menacing glare still the form seemed to shift and undulate in an unnatural manner. Sigurd didn’t like this.

  “Right, it’s going to be fast as most cats are and those spines look wicked sharp so make sure to avoid them. Jenna, stay just inside the doorway on the left, Lorelei, on the right and rain down support for us please.” Sebastien commanded, receiving nods from the girls.

  “Jackson, I want you to charge forward and engage it, Sigurd and I will follow and then the rest of you will follow us and take positions. Kael, take the centre of the doorway to intervene on the girls’ behalf if you need to and Sigurd you go left when we enter and I’ll take right. Ok?”

  “Yep”

  “Got it”

  “Jackson, you need to be the biggest threat so as to force it to engage you first. Because I’m expecting it to be so fast, it’s important that you draw its aggro first otherwise it could get at one of the girls, so let’s let Jackson have the first damaging blow and then we will engage everyone.”

  “Sure, thing Seb” Jackson responded, and Sigurd agreed, it was a good plan.

  “Right, once the first blow is struck, Sigurd I want you to circle to the left to stop it rounding on us to get at the girls and I’ll take right. Once we split, that should give Kael and Lorelei attacking lanes between the tree of us to fire some ranged damage into it.

  “Got it”

  “Ok, On my mark.” Sebastien said.

  “Three”

  “Two”

  “One”

  “Go”

  Jackson roared and charged forwards. Sigurd following as fast as his short legs could manage.