Chapter 28 Tension
The greeting from the Shelley Ghostly Swamps wasn’t pleasant—just as Em predicted.
She wasn’t surprised to see a horrific gateway made of human bones when Ming stopped them outside on the edge of the murky forest. The archway was built of crude, rusted pikes and moss-covered corpses.
Leaning inside the entryway, a skeleton grinned at the spear caught in its ribcage.
“Lovely,” Harry muttered as they passed the corpse.
Something reeked of sewage.
Em held her breath as she stepped after the others into the haunted swamp.
Any chirping birds or bugs fell silent. Her mind spun a dozen other stories she’d read with similar settings.
The greenish haze was as cliché as the rotten stench.
Hopefully, her new companions were original enough to balance the stereotypes surrounding her.
“I think the air is poisonous…” Marq let out an exaggerated, choking wheeze. He stopped along the muddy shorelines, clutching at his throat.
“Quit dying, Marq.” Harry nudged the massive barbarian forward. “It’s not good for you.”
Marq muttered something inaudible.
“About time something crazy or fun took place on this quest,” Sasha said. In the face of danger, and potentially encountering liches and ghosts, the dryad seemed to come to life. “It’s been getting too dull around here.”
Agreed.
“If we head to the southernmost dredges, we’ll reach Kriqir’s outpost in the Dinniman’s Dungeon,” Ming whispered as the team trudged their way through the sloshing muck.
One too many gnats whined in Em’s ears. Humidity and heat clung to her, drawing sweat from her skin, and slimy water soaked into the hemline of her dress.
“This is lovely,” Jane said, unfazed by the gnarled, gloomy scenery around them. The girl didn’t even have a drop of mud on her, unlike the rest of the interns who’d already been smeared in muck. “I could see a nice cabin getaway weekend trip out here.”
“You’re crazy,” Marq grumbled.
Harry glanced over his shoulder at Jane and instantly sneezed. She just blushed.
“Are they a thing?” Sasha asked Ming.
“Harry would go into Anaphylaxis shock if he had a relationship,” Ming said, too occupied in her crumpled map to be bothered to explain more.
Why couldn’t I get a damn allergy to romance?
Em snorted in jealousy. She swallowed back the urge to think too much more about Gair’s kiss at the Masquerade Ball or how warm and close Roden had come to her at the Long Rest Tavern.
That tugging void in her gnawed again, tempting her to bring back her original companions into her plot.
She could almost imagine Inky’s rebuttal about her Character Separation Attachment Disorder, even though the pen stayed silent in her pocket.
Mist choked the air, swirling past them as the group trudged through swamps. At any moment, a ghost could’ve appeared from the gloomy haze.
Em shivered. She’d never been one to handle anything close to the genre of horror.
A whisper tickled the back of her ear.
She swallowed to calm her racing heartbeat.
“What was that?” Harry paused, eyeing the others. “Did any of you say something?”
“It is the dead.” Ming’s eyes glassed over with sorrow as she surveyed the swamp around them.
“They whisper the names of those destined to join their ranks. Many people in Novella don’t become ghosts, but a few souls end up lost in places like here.
Often, any names that the liches or banshees whisper are about to die and be cursed to stay here. ”
“How sad,” Jane whimpered.
“Marq, say the name Marq please,” the barbarian pleaded to the fog.
“Wonder if old Faylorn ended up in a place like this, eh, sweetheart?” Sasha nudged Em.
“Don’t fucking say that!” Em shoved the dryad off her.
“Whoa, chill!” Sasha stumbled back, ripples of swamp water sloshing in her wake. “I didn’t mean any harm.”
“Sorry.” Em took in a deep breath, the bottle of grief corked in the depths of her soul threatening to pop free. Warmth flooded over her, tickling at her eyes—just tempting her to cry like a weak-ass bitch.
“A hiss and sigh swept through the swamp.
What was that?” Harry demanded.
The party froze, surrounded by dead gray trees, twisting fog, and mud. Their tense breathing was muffled by the thick air.
A slight tremble jolted across the realm.
Em staggered to keep her balance as the ground shook beneath her. Her feet nearly pulled out from under her as the world shifted and groaned.
Shit shit shit.
“Your Character Separation Attachment Disorder is becoming dangerous…” Inky sang out.
“Shut up,” Em snapped at the pen. “I don’t have the time right now. Focus on the Side Quest at hand and help us infiltrate Kriqir’s outpost in this swamp. I can’t have him invading Adventuras Island. Also, keep an eye out for any ghosts; don’t let them get too near us.”
“You will have to write this information out for it to take place in the story,” the pen said cheerfully. “I cannot determine the sequence of events. Only an Author can.”
Dammit. Em fumbled to write in her journal and walk at the same time, nearly bumping one too many times into Marq’s broad back.
She ignored Sasha’s glare and struggled to stay focused on the exact wording she wrote out—careful not make another mistake like she did in Mercer Village with the orcs.
Marshy water soaked her boots, bits of dried leaves and mud squishing between her toes as she walked.
The wind chilled, sending shivers down her back.
Eventually, Em managed to write out her requests, although her handwriting was barely legible. Good thing magic didn’t judge something so trivial.
In the distant shadows of the foggy veil, shimmering figures drifted in and out of existence. Whatever ghostly beings hung within there remained invisible and out of their path, steering clear of the party, much to everyone’s relief.
Tree branches creaked in the whistling breeze. Crow wings fluttered, their angry calls echoing. Water rippled against the base of trees, engrafting green slime in the bark.
“We’re close,” Ming eventually broke the silence. “Keep an eye out for an old well… there should be a secret entrance inside of it to get into the Dinniman Dungeon.”
Sure enough, as if on cue, an abandoned, lopsided well sat in the middle of a grassy bank. The top pulley system and roof were long gone, nothing but the rocky, moss-covered basin remaining. A few cobwebs clung about the rim of the well.
They clustered together to peer inside.
Ming pulled out her wand and blew on it. The faintest yellow glow shone off the tip, illuminating the dark abyss extending into the depths of the well.
Marq let out a gasp and dropped to his knees in the mud. “Oh… my heart…” he moaned, eyes rolling into the back of his skull as he slumped against the stone well.
“Quit dying and get up.” Harry kicked the barbarian, and none of the others paid him any mind.
Marq scowled but obeyed, wiping grass and algae off himself.
“Anyone down there?” Sasha shouted into the well. Nothing but her own voice echoed back in a dozen different octaves.
Ming let out a puff of air before hooking a leg over the side of the rim. “Guess I’d better put my new levitation spells to use before we jump down in there.”
“You sure this is a good idea?” Harry asked.
“Sometimes life is like this dark hole,” Ming said, like she was reciting something. “You can’t always see the light at the end. But if you just keep going, you might come to a better place.”
“That’s not the quote,” Harry muttered.
“Want me to go first, Ming?” Jane offered.
“You aren’t even armed!” Harry protested with a sneeze.
Jane shrugged. “I’m not scared.”
“See?” Ming snapped her fingers at the other girl. “I’m telling you, Em. She’s got some sort of secret power or something she’s been hiding from us. It’s got to be the explanation for her bravery.”
Harry just sneezed again.
“I’ll go first,” Em said, stepping forward, tired of their bickering.
She propped herself on the rim of the well.
Nothing but empty air hung beneath her feet.
She curled her toes inside her soaked boots and chewed on her lips to hide her cringe.
The dark void stretching below her stared back.
A singular pebble fell from the edge of the edge, bouncing and clicking further and further and further down.
You’re the Main Character. You can do this. Show these interns how it’s done.
Ming flicked her wand toward Em, a dusting of golden shimmer puffing off the tip.
Lightness rushed over her. Em couldn’t help but laugh, air sweeping through her bones, a loose bubbliness rising in her joints. The new sensation of floating swept a rush of adrenaline through her veins. Without a second thought, she dropped over the ledge of the well.
Gently, like being lowered by a slow elevator, Em drifted down into the darkness. The silhouettes of her companions peering down shrank smaller with each passing heartbeat as she descended.
Before long, solid ground met her shoes.
“I made it!” she called up.
One by one, the others began to follow. Their whoops and cheers echoed throughout the funneled well shaft before they settled into the mud beside her.
In a flicker, Sasha and Ming both took a light potion. Their bodies shimmered with a silvery hue.
Nothing but stony tunnel walls and bobbing spiderwebs, which were tangled between tree roots, surrounded them. A perfectly predictable and stereotypical dungeon.
Wonderful. Em smirked to herself. Exactly what I hoped for.
“Harry, you’ve got your slingshot on hand?” Ming asked.
“Yep,” he said.
“Jane?” Ming asked.
“I’m here,” Jane shrugged.
“You ready with that secret power of yours if something goes wrong?”
“I don’t have anything, but sure,” the girl said, smoothing her frazzled hair from the descent.
“Marq, still alive?” Ming asked.
“Unfortunately,” he grumbled.
“Alrighty then!” Ming turned to Em, grinning ear to ear. “We are ready, Princess Em! Take us into our first official Side Quest. Let’s make it a memorable one!”