B2 Chapter 203: Infiltration, pt. 3
byAfter deciding to wait for nightfall, Kaius had returned to his watch upon the ridge. Seated quietly in the shadow of the boulder, he kept his eyes on the valley. As the early autumn sun had tracked its way down towards the horizon, more boggarts had appeared.
Raiding parties—more than one returning with the carcasses of their hunts.
Each and every one had a bugbear or two in their midst, directing their lesser siblings with disturbing intelligence.
By the time the amber cloak of the setting sun draped his back, the valley drenched in shadow, the incoming boggarts had slowed. When night finally fell, he’d made a count of seventy individuals, with an unknown quantity already inside the caves.
The moon had risen high in the sky by the time he had decided it was time for them to strike. With the fall of night, his darkvision came into play—the vibrant colours of the day washing out into a clear monochrome. Returning to the clustered boulders, Kaius nodded to his team, and they busied themselves with securing the supplies they would need for their assault.
Light was unneeded—they could all see in the dark to varying degrees. Ianmus was the worst off, his amulet only brightening complete darkness to a level where a normal man would be hard pressed to see more than indistinct shadows in the dark. Thankfully, his elven heritage and high mental stats had left him with sharp enough eyes that it was only a minor hindrance.
Their packs would be left behind. They’d stash them in their tent—which they’d pitched in a corner of the space in the middle of the piled stones. Hopefully, even if they were discovered, it would be passed over as just another pile of rocks.
The lighter they could travel, the quicker they would move if they had to. Potions were gathered and sorted—four mana potions, four health, and a couple of general purpose antidotes. Ianmus had them secured at his belt, though he’d taken a pair of health potions for himself and Porkchop.
They’d also bring a few rations. Not much, just a days worth of jerky and a single mundane waterskin—they could be down there for hours, and keeping their strength up would be important.
Kaius donned his cloak and pulled its draping hood over his helmet. No doubt there would be watchers in the cave, relying on firelight to see. A poorly timed glint of metal would give them away if he didn’t cover himself. Thankfully, it wasn’t the only protection they had against that eventuality.
Knowing they’d most likely be venturing underground, Kaius had been storing ash from their nightly fires for weeks. Every scrap of metal—artifacts, buckles, armour, and more—was rubbed down, obscuring their sheen as much as possible.
In silent unison, they left their packs and advanced. Hiking a good quarter league along the ridge, they moved to a relatively gentle slope that was absent of scree that Kaius had spotted earlier. It would have been far too risky to scramble down right outside the cave—if there were watches that he had missed, they would be spotted immediately.
Each step was still nerve wracking. Kaius took every stride with care, experience and Skill guiding his footsteps as he crept around brittle grasses and stray twigs. Even Porkchop, with all his impressive bulk, was like a ghost. The hunt was well known to him, and he moved with a silent grace that made his strength all the more terrifying.
Entering the treeline, Kaius kept his eyes constantly moving. Totally focused on their surroundings, his Glass Mind raced, working with Explorer’s Toolkit to catalogue every shrouded bough, pool of shadow, and shifting shape.
Potential points of ambush were highlighted, focused on, analysed, and discarded in moments as he guided them through the valley.
Soon, his vigilance was rewarded. Leaf litter—spread a little too consistently to be natural.
Holding up a hand for his team to halt, Kaius crept forwards, eying the disturbance. Toolkit had thoroughly looked onto it now, baying in his mind like a bloodhound on the scent of game.
Lowering himself into a crouch, he peered closely at the leaves. A dense mat of woven twigs was beneath them. Finding a lack of tripwires or branches held under tension in the surroundings, Kaius moved to a nearby tree and scooped a long stick off the ground.
Returning to the suspicious pile, he hooked his stick under the lip of the woven twigs, lifting them upwards.
It revealed a hole—as deep as he was, with stone-tipped spears lining the bottom. A pit-fall.
The boggarts had been building traps.
**Ding! Explorer’s Toolkit has reached level 45!**
“Traps. Pretty simplistic though—if this is exemplary of their work I should be able to get us to the cave without issues.” Kaius whispered.
His team nodded, and they set off once more with redoubled caution.
Kaius spotted four more pitfalls on their journey through the widespread trees—one of which had already been triggered. They’d approached that one, eager to see what the boggarts had been setting them for.
They didn’t seem like they were being used for hunting—not with the size of them, or the way they had been set at convenient routes through the trees. Unfortunately, the pit had been empty—though broken spears and the dried remnants of blood still lined the base of the pit. Whatever had fallen through had obviously been carted off as lunch.
As they drew close to the cave, the short trees that lined the valley floor grew even thinner. Artificially so—roughly hacked at stumps had taken their place. Kaius only hoped that the wood had been used for cooking fires, rather than fortifications deeper in the cave.
Despite going through the effort to create clear sight lines around the cave’s mouth, the boggarts seemed to have grown complacent in the safety of their new home.
The lone tree beside the cave entrance was empty, and he spotted no sign of fire inside the cave. Even if some of the boggarts had skills that let them see in the dark, none of them had been posted either.
He could see the cave’s interior just fine, and between Truesight and his Toolkit he had full confidence in spotting watchers if they had existed.
Approaching the cliff’s edge, they pressed themselves close to the stone. Kaius took the lead, with Porkchop taking the rear.
Shuffling right up to the edge, Kaius craned his neck to peer into the cave. His lips pursed into a frown—the cave was just as extensive as he’d feared. There’d been a thin hope that it would stretch back a handful of dozen long-strides before widening into an enclosed cavern.
It was not to be.
Instead, the fifteen stride wide opening expanded almost immediately to double that. The natural tunnel punched deep into the hillside, before it slowly curved down—into the belly of the world—obscuring him from seeing any deeper.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Even with his vision occluded, he still saw hints of smaller side passage winding off from the main cave. Cracks and fissures that could hold watching boggarts, traps, or grisly trophies.
Kaius pulled himself back, relaying his findings to his team. Getting a nod in return, they entered.
Taking his position at the front of the group, Kaius left his blade in its sheath. Even covered in ash, there was still the chance it could give them away, and he was more than confident he’d be able to draw it in time.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was defenceless. He had a full complement of spells already inscribed—Stormlash and Slip Step both, though he’d only taken a handful of the latter. If the entire plague did descend on their heads, he wanted as many casts of crackling lightning as he could get.
Step by step they crept into the darkness. Now that they were fully in the cave, the signs of boggart habitation were everywhere. Soot stains, claw scratched stones, bones, and more.




0 Comments