Previously on Centaurus: The band made their way into a dungeon deep deep in the forest. intent on looting it. Unfortunately a mimic Queen had other ideas and the band found themselves tricked and knocked unconscious, that is, apart from Fey. The Queen's curiosity in Fey's "uniqueness" proving her downfall and after some 'ahem' heated moments Fey was able to escape and rescue the rest of the band.
Now, Chapter 30:
Breathe.
Fey tried to calm her jangling nerves after their desperate flight from the mimic nest, a frantic scramble through pitch black corridors and the cold damp silence of the tomb-like dungeon. It had not been pretty. She was certain she was going to have some unfortunate bruises from crashing into unseen walls in the dark.
They had only stopped because they had come across a source of light, the only source it seemed. They'd stumbled into a room that was filled with a soft multicoloured glow, not from some luminous cave mushroom or moss or anything like that, no, the room was filled with treasures, precious gems that glowed in the darkness, thrown light glittering across gold.
Ellaria wobbled as Flora placed her on the ground, only just recovering from the soporific smoke. She blinked in the gloom.
"This is... What is this?"
"I, ah, think it might belong to the mimics," said Fey. "They like to pretend to be things right? Well maybe they have to remove the things they are pretending to be sometimes."
"Mimics..." muttered Ellaria as she followed Fey's finger pointing to one side where a number of wooden chests lay broken and shattered, their contents spilt across the ground.
"This is all that stuff... I think?" said Fey.
"I see. I suppose that all does make some amount of sense." Ellaria lifted a hand and a trio of levitating orange-red fireballs ignited, illuminating the mess of jewels and gold casually strewn across the floor, rather a lot more than first appeared.
Magic Mog stared around at the treasure.
"Er, is this... success? We... did it?"
"I'm not sure I can believe this, isn't this what we came here for? Just sitting here, out in the open like it was just casually tossed aside?!"
Lily who was picking around near the back suddenly lifted a limp teddy bear. A teddy bear with a red scarf. "Uhm, I think Fey might be right about the monsters using this as a storage room."
Lily focused on the bear, applying her abilities, and it struggled to life. The bear looked at Lily holding it then raised its bear arms and embraced her, seemingly excessively relieved that she was alive. As it hugged her a dozen more bears stood up from the gold and jewels then came toward the otterkin and hugged her legs. Lily looked a little bemused at the core of the teddy bear hug pile.
"I don't believe this, where's the endless boring wandering through miles of dungeon before we find a single bloody coin?! This just ain't right."
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Flora, especially after what just happened, we very nearly died. Speaking of which, how exactly
did
we get away?"
"Erm," said Fey, "I- I don't think that smoke worked very well on me? I woke up early, or-or something! And then I was able to free Flora, and then we escaped, y-yep! That's what happened!"
Ellaria squinted at the suspicious looking centaur nervously lifting and placing her hooves. "Hmm. for some reason I suspect there is more to that story."
"N-no..."
"In any case we have what we came for, it's time to leave. Now. Flora, if you would?"
Flora nodded and swept her hands across the room. Gold and jewels and jewellery and gems lifted up into the air and formed a stream that streamed into Ellaria's dimensional bag that she held wide, a river of glittering trinkets and baubles. It only took a moment to clean the room of everything of value.
Ellaria snapped the bag shut with a satisfied look. "I would have to estimate that this trip has been more than worth it and then some, how often do dungeon monsters conveniently gather all the loot together for you?"
"Hey, uhm, captain, doesn't that also mean those monsters know of this place? Like, might they check here?"
A scream of fury echoed down the distant dungeon corridors, just being heard where they were stood.
"Do you know what a jinx is Lily?" said Vivi.
"Wha- that's not my fault! That's not my fault! H-Hey!"
"Come, we're done here," said Ellaria, striding towards one of the exits.
"Totally a jinx," muttered Vivi.
"If you have time to complain Vivi you have time to move. Now
move.
"
They left. The last to leave were Fey and Ellaria and a few momentary blush inducing words passed between them before they followed, Ellaria taking the lead.
The band quick walked, or in some cases quick floated after the elf, fleeing from the distant echoes, traversing the maze-like dungeon corridors. The teddy bears spread out ahead of them checking the path for traps. There were no traps to be caught in however, or at least none that were working. They passed by a half dozen broken traps, their bronze mechanisms filled with silt and dust, bronze spikes hanging wonky and bent from holes in walls, chopping pendulum blades snapped and strewn on the flagstones, a layer of dust built up on their verdigris surface.
There were no functional traps and there were no monsters to be found. It seemed they were free to leave.
Of course, leaving the dungeon was easier said than done. They had been taken somewhere without knowing how they had gotten there and that was a problem.
"We could be anywhere!" wailed an invisible Kayla after a half-hour of walking and getting absolutely nowhere in the endless dark "How are we supposed to get out like this!"
"Well we just go up, duh. Look there are some stairs."
Vivi was right, they had come across a set of stairs and they promptly followed them up a floor. Unfortunately the next floor was just as maze-like and endless as the previous one, every stone and step completely unfamiliar.
That wouldn't have been such a pressing problem except that the screaming snarling was following them. Nearer and nearer it drew, an animalistic howl of rage that echoed from corridor to corridor.
"This isn't working. We should knuckle down and prepare for whatever the fuck that is," said Flora as they emerged out into a hall. "It's-" Her words died on her lips as the thing that had been following suddenly bounded out from a shadowed tunnel to the side. There was scant time to react, a cry from Ellaria, and then it was on them. A vast three headed dog, coal black fur, tiger stripes of hellish red, its trio of fanged mouths lunged forward. A giant cerberus.
Unfortunately for Kayla the cerberus hadn't realised she was there and it ran straight into the invisible otterkin. A scream was heard and Kayla went bouncing across the hall as the cerberus stumbled in surprise.
Ellaria took the chance and a beam of flame roared from her held together palms, lancing out and striking the monster, fire spreading across its body as it burn-
"Stop! It's not working Ellaria!" cried Lily.
Ellaria pulled the beam away as the last of the flames were being absorbed into the three headed dog's skin in real-time, its luminous red eyes glowing brighter.
