Hello, Everyone!
Are you prepared for another part of our D&D adventure?
Currently, our heroes are going back from the dragon’s lair after managing to save the dwarven logger Fennec. In the previous chapter, they reached the underwater pass and the strange green portal where Mary’s familiar disappeared before. Aurum suggested to go in the portal and, wanting to be supportive, Mary said it was a good idea.
It wasn’t.
The moment the bard entered through the barrier, a shadowy creature went out. It attacked Mary, Bruno and Paulina and an underwater fight broke out. In the heat of it, Mary saw the end of the rope they’d tied around Aurum’s waist disappears into the portal.
Mary dove after the rope. She didn’t care that she had too little strength, she didn’t care that she was almost out of breath. She had to save her friend!
With her peripheral vision she saw Bruno and Paulina wave their hands frantically, watching her swim down. They even tried to catch her while she passed by, but she was too determined. She reached the portal, held out her hand and prepared for the unknown.
And that’s when Aurum came out and they clashed into one another.
All the air went out of Mary’s lungs. She managed to hold herself from breathing in water but panic overwhelmed her nonetheless. Suddenly, she didn’t know where she was, what she was doing, what was happening... She swung her arms around, kicked with her feet, tried to reach the surface without any idea which way it was…
Next thing she knew, she was up in the air bubble. Her arm was hurting. Aurum was holding it in one hand while keeping himself afloat with the other.
“Ow!” he protested. “Stop wiggling!”
He let go of her and pressed his forehead where a red spot was spreading from where Mary had collided with him.
“You’re alive!” Mary said, coughing. “You’re alive!”
Bruno and Paulina joined them and they all decided to swim back to the tunnel exit and talk on dry land. Once they had solid ground beneath their feet, Bruno turned to Mary, his eyes flashing angrily.
“Why would you swim towards it?!” he snapped. “Didn’t you see the shadow that switched with Aurum?”
“I… I saw it, I just couldn’t…”
“And why didn’t you Message us?” Paulina said. “We could have communicated underwater and avoided all this shit!”
Mary’d completely forgotten about Message. She’d forgotten about everything. She’d done one stupid thing after another and she just… didn’t… know… why. It was as if her brain was completely scrambled by the exhaustion and lack of sleep.
“These shadow creatures are from the Negative plane,” Bruno continued. “They come here when someone passes through to their world, and the living person can’t come back unless another exchange happens in the opposite direction. We barely managed to send Aurum’s shadow back, why would you risk taking out another?! Not to mention you were going to be trapped on the other side just as he was!”
“But… I couldn’t leave him, I couldn’t leave Aurum!” Mary cried out. “It was me who dropped the rope! It was my fault!”
“Hey! It was nobody’s fault,” Aurum said. “I admit, it was kinda freaky when I pulled the rope and saw its end come through the portal.” Mary opened her mouth to say something but he stopped her with a gesture. “But it was all well in the end. So don’t worry, ok?”
Mary’s lip quiverred. “Ok,” she squeaked.
The bard turned to Bruno and flung him an object.
“Here,” he said. “There’s our loot. See if it was worth it.”
Bruno held it in front of his eyes and turned it a couple of times. He inspected it thoroughly both with his own senses, and his cleric magic.
“It was on the body of a dwarf,” Aurum explained. “Skeleton, really. It looks a lot like your holy necklace but it’s kinda fancier.”
“Yes, it is,” Bruno said. “It’s a really powerful symbol of Ord. Contains his Blessing.”
“Is it the Artefact?”
The dwarf shook his head.
“Figures.” The bard shrugged. “Well, since it’s your god and everything, you can hold on to it. Hope it comes in handy!”
Bruno thanked him and put the amulet around his neck, tucking the old one inside of his backpack. While this exchange was happening, Mary couldn’t tear her eyes from Aurum.
“Your hair!” she whispered, pointing at it. “It’s… It’ gone white!”
“Wait, what? Really?!” Aurum gasped and pulled it in front of his eyes. “Oh! Oh. Oooh.” his tone changed from panic to confusion, and then to satisfaction. “It’s not all white,” he said with relief. “It’s just the one strand. It actually looks kinda cool!”
He told them about his dive into the portal. He hadn’t seen the shadowy figure on his way in, but when he passed through, the water suddenly turned icy cold. He was still shivering from it. Almost immediately, he felt a pull on the rope but when his body reached the surface of the portal, it was suddenly solid. As much as he pushed and pounded, he couldn’t pass back.
He looked around. Saw the silhouette of the dwarven corpse. The holy symbol was glowing in the darkness, as if summoning or encouraging him. He swam towards it and picked it up, then tried to go up to take a breath.
That side of the portal, however, didn’t have an air pocket. He’d swam for a few feet before realizing that, and he started feeling his lungs go heavy with the lack of oxygen. So, the only thing he could do now was head to the gleaming green circle and hope that this time he’d be able to pass through.
That was when he saw the end of the rope come out and, a couple of seconds after, the shadow creature swam past him. Suddenly, he felt like he could now go in the portal. He reached its green surface, slided through and crashed right into Mary’s stomach.
“You know the rest,” he grinned and rubbed his forehead.
Yaaay! They’re safe now! I’m so happy Mary didn’t go in that portal! It’d have most definitely spelled her doom. Her Constitution is so low that the amount of time she’d be able to hold her breath is laughable.
By the way, do you know what saved her in the D&D game? Her lack of sleep! :D If her speed wasn’t halved because of her exhaustion levels (two at this point), she’d have been able to pass through the portal, no problem. So, it turned out to be a not-so-bad thing after all.
Right?
We’ll see.
Until then, check out the next chapter. We finally get back to Gracklstugh and resume our original mission: find and save Bruno’s brother Saami!
See you then!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)