Chapter 11

Opal held up her hands and showed all the gold she had filched from the adventuring team as they looked to pick up what had been scattered across the shore.

“That’s ... a lot of gold.”

“Hmmph, I’m the one who has to carry it.”

“You did say that was what you were good at.”

Opal set her lips in a line but didn’t reply.

“We’re going to follow them, I want to see what else they do, and I want information about other adventurers so we’ll eavesdrop when we can, though this lot seem, ah, a bit clueless.”

“I’ve never seen such a useless bunch of idiots in my life,” grumbled the Goblin.

“I doubt we saw them at their best. They made it this far down into the dungeon so they are likely fairly high level.”

“Mmmm.”

They set out after the adventurers using the boulders for cover as they went, but not before Opal pulled off the note on the alligator, balled it up, and threw it in the lake. They kept their distance but not far enough that Rain couldn’t over hear the group.

“This place where we’re headed, you’ve been there before?” asked the Satyr.

“Yes,” replied the man. “A couple of times. It’s easy pickings for leveling if you know what you are doing and I do know what I’m doing.”

“You’ve already lost one of your axes so excuse me I have my doubts about that.”

“Funny words from an Elf that got blown off his ass and nearly broke his only shield. If you must know I am perfectly fine fighting with one axe.”

“And Belle?”

The Satyr drew a shorter blade from a smaller sheath below the one that had contained her long sword. She spun the broken sword and the shortsword, one in each hand.

“I’ll manage.”

The Elf threw his hands up in the air. “Fine. Don’t blame me when things go wrong.”

“We already did that when you blew half our loot into the lake.”

“Not my fault!”

“Oh, it most certainly was.”

“Like you lot would have come up with anything better to remove it. We were going to lose some of the gold no matter what.”

“We could have prepared! I don’t know, maybe you could have covered in something to catch the gold before touching it, look I-”

“Shh! Did you see that?” said the Satyr.

“What?”

“ ... I ... I saw something, a black-furred thing in the shadows, behind us.”

“I don’t see anything...”

“I’m sure there was something. Let’s Just take care, something might be stalking us.”

The axe-wielding man grunted. “We’ll report it when we get back to the guild but It’s probably one of those wild dogs, they like to follow adventurers, got black fur, not a threat.”

“I don’t know ... I’m sure it was bipedal, it was walking on two legs.”

“Yeah, yeah. The place is just through here.” The man gestured before leading the group inside a crack in the cavern’s wall.

Opal leaned back as she watched them go in.

“They almost saw you. You gotta be more careful.”

Rain grunted in reply.

The pair followed the team through the crack, though a craggy tunnel, and then down where it opened up into a massive cavern. Rain looked on in awe at the underground forest that was revealed. Shallow rolling hills gave the appearance of waves as the ancient treetops fell and rose, mist climbing between the slopes. The jagged ceiling was marked with a spattering of minor crystal as well as carpets of glowing moss giving the cavern an ethereal atmosphere. They’d come out on a small open plateau that overlooked all this, ahead the adventuring team had begun to climb down.

Opal suddenly grabbed his paw and dragged him down behind a rock.

“It’s just a forest, why are you staring? They’re gonna see you just standing there like that.”

“It’s a forest, underground!”

She gave him a curious look. “So? That’s pretty common for dungeons.”

“Uh, right.”

The pair dropped down from the shallow plateau and slunk into the woods, then came to a slow stop as the adventuring team stepped out into a clearing.

Ahead of them, dotted across the grass, were several enormous seven foot tall mushrooms. Fat white trunk like bodies with blood coloured caps and black markings. They seemed to shift slightly in the breeze, which was odd Rain realised as there was no breeze.

The Elf spread his arms. “There’s nothing here! Gods what a waste of time!”

“Oh shut up already. Look.” said the man. He picked up a rock and tossed it overarm at the nearest mushroom where it glanced off its side. The mushroom shuddered to life and stood up upon a pair of chunky stump legs before spinning around looking for what had attacked it. Two beady black eyes fixated on the team and the mushroom roared, a long vertical line splitting down its middle to reveal a maw full of jagged triangular teeth.

The mushroom charged. It was shockingly fast on its stumpy legs, nearly as fast as a Human running, using its sheer strength to propel itself.

“Oh great. Now we’re hunting vegetables,” grumbled the Elf.

“What vegetables are you eating that have teeth!?”

The man spun his axe and readied to take on the oncoming mushroom, the Satyr and the elf stepped up either side of him and the Half-elf held up her crystal tipped wooden staff behind them, its tip swirling with oily colours.

The man roared and swung his axe. An arc of fire exploded from its edge and slashed into the mushroom carving and burning a long wound up its trunk.

The mushroom stumbled and the Satyr danced forward on nimble hooves, her blades spinning through the air eager to dice and slice. She came into contact and the short stubby arms on either side of the mushroom were severed and flicked into the air and then with a thunk thunk thunk its cap started to fall to pieces as metal met shroom flesh.

The mushroom slowed and then ponderously toppled over.

“You see? It’s easy! Just don’t let them get a bad angle and they’re easy experience!”

“Yaha!” cheered the Satyr standing on top of the fallen mushroom.