Homidae

A mysterious telepath contacts Aaron asking for release from imprisonment

8.

Homidae

 

They proceeded very cautiously into the room labeled ‘Homidae’, for they suspected that it would be like the previous two rooms that they had explored.      The smoke from the Dragon’s fire burned their eyes and tickled their throats, but was slowly diminishing.    Aaron was not sure how this was possible.   Perhaps Helios had worked out some sort of ventilation system to bring fresh air into the complex.

Their eyes could only just make out small platforms throughout the room which were undoubtedly display stands for more of Helios’ collection.    But nothing stood on the stands that they passed and they did not stop to try to read Helios scrawled writing on the placards at each platform.

Lighting came from the same type of glowing squares set high above in the ceiling, yet in the smoky environment, it gave off an eerie twilight-like glow to the room.

“This room is not as large as the last one.”   Lysa whispered, staying very close to him with her sword drawn.

“No, but I worry about the reason that those display stands are empty.   If that staff deactivated the magic in this room as well, then there may be all sorts of humanoid creatures lurking around here as well.”

“Perhaps there is an exit on the other side of the room, which they fled through when the Dragon and Roc fought… if not before then.”

“That is sensible to me, but if they are a collection of various humanoid races like I suspect, then they may not get along with each other any better than the larger monsters in the big room next door.”

“They may have had to put their differences aside for a time.”   Lysa suggested and that rang true to his common sense.

“With that Purple Worm’s body blocking the other exit from the big room, we really don’t have any choice but to head this way.”

“I understand, Lord.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m being foolhardy.”

“Why would I think that?”   Lysa laughed.

“I feel like I haven’t made the best choices recently.”   He admitted.

“Such as what, Lord?”

Before he could respond, he almost fell over a figure lying on the floor.   They knelt down and were surprised at what they found.  

It had a slightly larger, muscular human shape except for the head and long tail of a man-sized lizard and a reptilian skin.  

“One of the Lizard-folk.” Lysa said in wonderment, for they were never seen in this part of the world.

“I’m not sure what happened to him.   Perhaps the smoky air got him, but we’d best be careful.”

They proceeded forward, but only a few yards away was the sprawled out form of a female Bugbear.     She was on her back, with her eyes frozen in a horrified look.   A wicked cut had nearly chopped her head in two.

“That’s a sword or axe cut.”   Aaron told his squire.

“Great, whatever did it is armed.”

They crept forward now, glancing all around with their ears straining to hear any sound.    But the room was silent.     

The smoke began to clear enough that they could breathe easier and see slightly better.    About halfway across the room they began to see bodies littered all around.    All the forms were humanoid in size, but were from a vast variety of races - some of which neither Aaron nor Lysa had ever seen or even heard of before.

There was an Ogre, a Troll, one of the creepy Illithids with their head like an Octopus, and even one of the mysterious shape-shifting Dopplegangers.   All of the creatures seemed to have died differently.   Some were stabbed or cut, others chopped or slashed, still others seemed to have been smashed with a hammer or a club.      Several had no signs of what killed them, but had terrified expressions on their faces.

There were perhaps twenty to thirty humanoid creatures, most of them near a doorway set into the wall on the opposite side of the room.      Many of the creatures had died fighting, for they had been displayed by Helios in their natural garb with weapons.

As they neared the doorway, a strong feeling of evil overwhelmed Aaron and Lysa’s senses.  Without a word between them, they hesitated, glancing at each other.  

* You don’t want to go into that room.*   The thoughts came into both of their minds so strongly that they twirled around, unsure if someone had spoken the words nearby.

“Who’s there?”   Aaron demanded.

* That room holds Helios’ collection of undead and a demon he imprisoned long, long ago.    When the restraining field failed, they all reanimated.     Most of the undead rushed in to this room and encountered the humanoids that were reanimated as well.   They killed each other, while the demon waited, then finished off the few that remained.*

“Who’s there?”   Aaron called out, scanning the room to find the sender of the telepathic communication.

* The undead were dispelled as soon as they were destroyed.    That was one of Helios’ arcane safeguards to keep them from reanimating later.   The demon fed on some of the remaining dead and tried to use its innate teleportation ability, but was surprised to find that it no longer possessed that power.    Something had changed in this world since it had been imprisoned.    Now it is searching for a way out of this prison.*

“Who are you?   How do you know this?”   Aaron asked again.  

* I was imprisoned here as well, long ago.    I know of the demon in that other room.   It will appear as a handsome male when it sees your lovely squire is with you.   You have heard of an Incubus?  It is very much like that, but more powerful.   If your squire goes into the room with you, it will seduce her and then use her to assist it to kill you.   Beware!*

 “Who are you?”   Aaron called loudly, frustrated at the whole conversation.

*I cannot help you, Duke Aaron, for I am still imprisoned in the final room, which is entered by a door in the other end of the room where the undead and Demon were displayed.   The field holding me was different than that which held the others.*

“What are you?”  Aaron now just asked in a normal voice.

* That is not important, Duke.    The demon is particularly diabolical and would rather trick or seduce than fight hand-to-hand.   It will read your thoughts just as I can, though it will not be able to read them until you are within sight of it.     It can change its form, so it may try to appear as a beautiful woman.    Your father’s sword is enchanted, so it will be able to harm the demon.    But be certain that Lysa does not go with you into that room.   She does not have an enchanted blade and she would be the one the demon would target.*

“How can I trust what you say?”  Aaron asked.

 * You have no reason to, for theoretically, I could be the very demon that I am warning you about.  But I will give you information that neither you nor your squire know.  You each possess bottles that you found in a chest in a room with the animated metal constructions.  Those bottles are magical; they were constructed by Helios for one purpose - to hold a monster.*

“What?”

*  The bottles were how he would trap and transfer his creatures.    Pop the cork on one of the bottles and toss the bottle at the demon and it will be shrunk in size and reappear in the bottle.  It will not shatter if the bottle is empty.   But you must cork it very quickly or the enchantment will fade.   Once it is imprisoned in the bottle, it will be unable to escape and will be in suspended animation.    The bottle has to be shattered from someone outside the bottle before it will go free.  But be careful, for each magic bottle is as fragile as any normal bottle when it is holding something within.   It can imprison the demon, but you can’t let your thoughts betray you when you encounter it..*

“You expect me to trust you, and I don’t even know who you are?”

*If you and your lovely squire want to escape this dungeon alive, yes, I think you should trust me.    Remember what I have told you and use the bottle, but guard your thoughts.     I will speak to you again - in person- in the room on the other side.     I won’t be able to communicate with you telepathically once you enter the room, or the demon will detect this.    So good luck.*

For a long moment Aaron and Lysa waited, but no further telepathic thoughts came to them.

“Lord, you surely aren’t going to trust this woman!”

“Woman?”

“The lady who communicated telepathically.”

“How do you know she’s a lady?”

“You couldn’t tell?”

“Well… no.”

Lysa shook her head in disbelief, “At any rate, you don’t know anything about her, such as whom or what she is.”

“We know that ‘she’ is obviously something powerful and potentially dangerous, or Helios would not have imprisoned her.”

“Why trust her then, Lord?”

“If she’s trapped here as she claims, then she will want to be freed.   So she would need us for that.”

Lysa frowned, “I’m unconvinced, sir.   It sounds like a trap to me.”

“You could be right, but what other choice do we have?”

“You could let me go with you into that room!”

“But if our mysterious telepathic communicator is telling the truth about the demon, then you’d be in great danger.”

“Don’t you think you will be in danger as well?  That is a demon in there, Lord!    Have you ever encountered a demon?”

“Well-“

“Then for Yesh’s sake, don’t go in there alone!”   She grabbed his arm pleadingly.

“Lysa-“

“Lord, please!   I don’t want something terrible to happen to you.”

 “Trust Yesh, Lysa; He’ll certainly preserve me against a demon.”

She looked at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid, “Lord, do you really think you can do battle with a demon?”

“I hope to avoid that, Lysa.    Remember what our telepathic friend said about the magic bottles.   I plan on using it to capture the Demon.”

“Sir, you don’t even know if she was telling you the truth!    It could be a ploy just to get you in there, so she… or the demon… could kill you!”

“So you think we should test them first?”

“The bottles?   How?”

Aaron took one of the bottles out of his belt pouch and uncorked it, then handed it to her, “Throw it at me.    If it traps me inside, then we’ll know.    The telepath said that if the bottle isn’t quickly corked, the one trapped within is restored.    So if it does work, don’t put a cork on it, okay?”

“I’m not going to throw a bottle at you, Lord!”   She protested.

“Lysa-“

“Oh, very well!   Hand it to me.”   She snatched it from him, popped off the bottle’s cork, then took a few steps back, and with an almost embarrassed expression on her face, just lightly threw it at him.

As soon as the bottle touched his leg, Aaron vanished and the bottle gently landed upright on the stone floor.

Lysa let out a slight yell of surprise, but rushed in and was amazed to find a miniature version of her Lord, in a frozen state like the monsters in the rooms, within the bottle.

She stared at him for a long moment, but just as she was about to set it down again, there was a flash within the bottle and Aaron was standing full-sized again, in front of her.

“Go ahead and throw it at me, Lysa.”   He said to her.

“Lord, you don’t remember?   I threw it at you and it worked!”

“Really?”   He exclaimed, “I didn’t feel a thing.    It was as if only a moment had passed.    So the telepath wasn’t lying to us.”

“She wasn’t lying about the bottles, Lord, but she could have lied about the demon or who she was.”

“She didn’t really tell us who she was.”   Aaron argued.

“Exactly - why not be forthcoming with that?    If she needs our help to be free, why not tell us more about who… or what… she really is?”

Aaron shrugged, “I don’t know, but the only way we’ll find out is to get past what is waiting in the room adjoining this one.     She is on the other side, so if we want to learn who she really is, we’ll have to get past what waits for us in the next room.”

“Waits for US, Lord.   US.”   She emphasized, “We’re a team, remember?”

“Absolutely.”   He agreed, “But if we both go in together and get killed, we’ve accomplished nothing.    Let me go in alone, Lysa.    You wait out here and have your bottles ready.    Listen, and if I seem to be in trouble, then you can come and assist.”

The girl frowned, “I don’t like that plan at all!”

“Well, it is the one we are going to try.   If that demon can read minds, then he’ll know there are just two of us, if we both enter together.   But if I shield my mind of thoughts of you, perhaps you will go unnoticed by him.”

“I don’t think it is wise to challenge a demon’s powers alone.”

“Lysa, that is what I intend to do.    Please; I think it will work.    I ask you to trust me, alright?    I still have my autocaster ring.    If I am seriously injured, I will be teleported back to Westmark.     But I don’t intend for that to happen, for I certainly don’t plan to leave you down here alone.”

“You better not!”   She responded weakly, “Lord, please, PLEASE be careful.    Suspect that everything you see could be a trap.  If I don’t like what I hear out here, I am not going to wait, but rush in to help you.”

“Very well.”   Aaron smiled at her, marveling at her loyalty, “You are quite loyal, my dear.”

Her eyes twinkled at his slipped affectionate term, “I won’t let anything happen to you, sir.”

“I know you won’t.    Pray for Yesh’s protection on both of us.”

“I have been praying since we entered this terrible place.”

“Well then, let’s see if we can find a way out.”  

 

Without further comment, Aaron picked up the bottle from the floor, took the cork from Lysa, and with his sword held in his other hand and a reassuring smile at his anxious squire, he walked toward the doorway into the room where the demon was said to be lurking.

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"It was slightly larger than human-sized with a muscular human shape except for the head and long tail of a man-sized lizard and a reptilian skin." This sentence is a little awkward to read and might benefit from a little adjustment.
"...neither Aaron nor Lysa had never seen..." This should read "...had ever seen..."
"“Who’s there?” Aaron called out, scanning the room to find the sender of the telepathic communication." This bit is still italicized in the original text.
"...would rather trick or seduce rather than fight hand-to-hand." You can remove the second "rather."
"...that neither you nor your squire do not know." You can remove "do not."

I don't like the looks of this...something terrible is going to happen, surely. You've done a lovely job of building the suspense...