Kingsland Arc: Chapter 29: The Abyssal Descent
The carriage ride seemed eternal, wheels spinning through sunlit grasslands until, at last, the road yielded to the brooding silhouette of Dearthwood Forest. Gnarled trees arched overhead, their twisted limbs scraping the ashen clouds, and a hush pressed down—a silence thick with secrets. The air grew colder, laced with the earthy musk of rot and rain-soaked leaves.
Chou slid from the carriage, pushing his hood back. His leather armor creaked as he squared his shoulders, jaw clenched with anticipation. He handed the grim-faced driver a single silver coin, its chime disturbingly sharp in the stillness. As the carriage trundled away and vanished into the shadows, a collective sense of isolation settled on the party.
Chou turned, his brown eyes glittering with steely resolve. He raised his fist. "Alright, everyone! This is it. Our first quest as the Shadows of Wrath. We'll carve our legend here—together."
Ronin's heart thudded beneath his tunic—a rhythm in sync with quiet dread and excitement. He adjusted the twin blades at his hip, feeling the subtle pulse of their weight. Rafaela, green robes half-lost in gloom, offered a shaky smile, knuckles whitening on her staff. Yue Xin slipped her hands into fingerless gloves, her gaze tracing patterns only she could see in the darkness.
With a single, bracing breath, the party pressed into the forest. The tangled underbrush clawed at boots and hems. Shafts of weak sunlight flickered, then vanished entirely under the ancient canopy. Muffled footsteps crunched over damp detritus. Tension was a wire strung between them—every proximity alarm, every distant caw of a raven, set nerves alight.
After hours of wary travel, the trees thinned. The cracked cliff face ahead revealed a mouth—jagged and hungry. The Whispering Abyss Dungeon. A shiver crawled up Ronin's spine as cold, fetid air rolled out in slow, languid breaths. The shadows here seemed sentient, watching.
Chou inhaled, letting his hand rest on his broadsword. "Remember the plan. We stick together. Rafaela, support and healing. Yue Xin, crowd control. Ronin, you're the vanguard—let's not take unnecessary risks. We get our mana stones from the third floor, then out."
Ronin grunted assent, green eyes scanning the maw. He could feel the demonic pulse in his blood—an uneasy itch beneath the obsidian collar he wore. They stepped forward, boots echoing faintly as the gloom closed in behind.
Inside the entrance, darkness pressed in—so total that the faint, iridescent runes of the central stone circle seemed to float in empty space. They paused: breath visible, silence profound except for the distant drip of water.
Chou gestured to the ring of blue light. "Teleportation circle. It's how we descend—keep close."
A guttural cry erupted from the shadows. Goblins—three, hunched and sneering, clutching jagged spears—skittered into the faint light. Chou's broadsword was already arcing. Ronin moved like shadow: Sei and Kuro flashed, one goblin disarmed, another knocked flat, the third cringing as Rafaela's staff flared, drowning it in white light. Yue Xin's magic lanced forward, green bolts dropping them, dazed but alive.
"Nice teamwork!" Chou grinned, flushed with adrenaline. "Ronin, you're a blur. Rafaela, perfect timing. Yue Xin, you never miss!"
Ronin pressed his palm over his heart, savoring the camaraderie—a sharp contrast to lonely sparring drills with Baelish.
The party stepped onto the rune-etched platform. A shimmer of energy. In a blink, they were on the second floor—air colder, the silence sharpened, only their breaths sounding real. They crept along slick-stone corridors. Ronin shivered: dampness crept into his bones, and he swore shadows moved at the edge of his sight.
Stone Golems—hulking guardians—blocked their path. Ronin met one's charge, parrying with reinforced arms, muscles burning until Yue Xin's magic froze its joints. Chou's blade struck the next golem as Rafaela's whispers sealed wounds with healing light. Dire Bats swooped from above—Chou hacked one from the air, Rafaela's aura sent the rest scattering into darkness.
After a narrow passage, the ground sloped down into the third floor's vast cavern. Strange fungi, blue and sallow, oozed light from cracks in black glass walls. Countless mana stones glittered above and below, mirroring stars in an alien night.
Chou gaped, lips parted. "Unreal…there are more than enough mana stones."
"Let's be quick," Ronin whispered, gut already tight with unease. But for a moment, euphoria won; they filled reinforced bags, the axes sparking as they prised crystals from obsidian.
Yue Xin stood watch, brow creased. Rafaela, eyes darting, never let her staff drop. Still, something felt wrong—a sour taste in the air, a subtle vibration through the soles of their boots.
A sudden THUMP. Then another—louder. The very chamber seemed to pulse, as if a heart beat somewhere deep below.
"Company!" Yue Xin snapped, whip-fast.
From the tunnel's shadow, hobgoblins emerged—huge, angry, crude weapons high. They fanned out…then parted.
Lumbering into view was a Goblin King, its massive frame swathed in fetid rags, a jagged wooden bat in scarred fists, a rusty crown clamped to its brow. But what chilled Ronin was the look in the monsters' eyes: not bestial rage, but pure, unmasked fear—not of them, but of the darkness behind.
"A Goblin King? They don't come up this far," Rafaela breathed, voice shaky.
"It means something's driven them up," Yue Xin muttered, already gathering mana in her palm.
"We don't have time!" Chou barked, sword flaming in his grip. "We take them, get out!"
Rafaela's magic shimmered—a golden barrier forming—while Ronin tensed, calling forth a ripple of obsidian fortification along his skin.
"Take the king, I'll handle the others," Ronin growled.
He blurred forward—blades moving in efficient arcs, each movement honed: disabling, disarming, not killing unless no choice. A hobgoblin swung; Ronin ducked, pivoted, cracked its wrist with the hilt. Another lunged—Ronin caught it with a shoulder, so hard it rebounded off stone.
Chou and Yue Xin flanked the King. Chou met its battering club with furious, two-handed parries—his muscles screaming—buying Yue Xin time to cast. Vines erupted from stone, wrapping the Goblin King as it howled, voice echoing. Chou seized the instant, broadsword descending like a sunbeam—a spray of embers, then the crown split, the King falling with a dull, monumental crash.
"Gather the stones! Fast!" Chou ordered, panting.
As they scrambled, a new, more violent tremor split the ground. Dust choked the cave. Fissures crawled across the obsidian, veins glowing hellish red. The ceiling cracked with a simmering groan.
"The dungeon's collapsing!" Rafaela cried, voice rising in panic as chunks of stone fell, sending shards skittering.
"We're out of time!" Chou screamed, sweeping up a sack over one shoulder. "Teleport circle—now!"
They ran—Rafaela and Yue Xin leaping stones, hair wild, faces streaked with grime and terror. But Ronin, panting, saw the glint of a forgotten bag.
Time slowed. Voices faded. His mind flicked with memories: Baelish's lessons, Freya's warnings, Chou's laughter at the breakfast table. But failure—leaving something behind—felt impossible.
"Ron! Leave it, MOVE!" Chou's voice cracked like a lash.
Dust seared Ronin's eyes. _Just a few more steps. Can't let them down now._ He hurled himself to the bag, grabbed it—the weight fierce—and turned as the floor shattered beneath him.
A glimpse—his friends, horrified, framed by the violet light of the circle.
"RONIN!" Chou's scream vanished in the howl of splitting rock.
Ronin fell—world tipping, tumbling, sensation ripped away. The last thing he saw was the mana stone's blue glow, swirling upwards in an ocean of black as the abyss devoured him whole.
Darkness. Silence, save for his ragged breath.
To be continued in Chapter:31