Duelling Dungeons - Book 2 - Prologue

So... Womby read through most of DD book one yesterday, and I forgot how much I loved the world. I did see 2-3 places where I want to make a couple touch-ups, but still the favorite of my fictions. Although this might not seem somewhat unrelated, it'll become VERY relevent quickly. Hope you enjoy.

The halls of the Black Sanctum echoed with the scream of something large and beastial. It was both a challenge, and a threat. ‘I am here.’

A moment later the ancient onyx wood doors of the ritual chamber shuddered, and cracked, as the creature threw itself against the barrier, desperate to get through. It had taken a dozen men to close those doors, and it would have taken a prodigious strength to open it again. 

To actually damage them? It would take a true monster.

Yet even as the last barrier to his inner sanctum failed, Nor’goth smiled. He leaned back on his obsidian throne and glanced at the hour glass in his oversized, leathery hand. They were already too late. 

The door shuddered again, nearly buckling with the force of the blow and a humungous bloodshot eye peered through a crack in the door. 

“I seeeee yoooouuuu…” the monster called. It smiled, revealing a maw full of crooked yellow teeth covered in blood. Its fetid breath was so bad that Nor’goth practically saw the noxious gases spilling out of the creature’s mouth.

As his elite lich guard started to back away from the door, trembling at the sight. Nor’goth sighed, Alyssa and Maril must have been desperate to send Indech to assault him directly. Although the Fomorian was strong, what made him truly formidable was the fact that he could inflict terror upon his enemies with a single glance, literally. 

Adventuring teams either had to have someone that could clear mental effects, or invest in some sort of magical protection, or they’d have to constantly fight their own instincts to flee.

Nor’goth’s troops didn’t have the advantage of magical protection, they didn’t need it, they had him. He reached out to his troops, and started digging through their minds. If he snuffed out the terror magic Indech would just use it again, so he went one step further and removed their ability to feel fear entirely. That would have been a dangerous move in reality, leaving permanent psychological damage to his men. But in the simulation? Well… at least the side effects wouldn’t be quite so bad.

Once he was done with the trolls, Nor’goth reached out further and did the same to the troops cowering outside the room. He’d given them very specific orders earlier, when the Formorian attacked they were to scatter and cower in the corners until he gave the signal. Now was the time.

Indech cried out in pain and surprise as the spearmen rushed him from behind, plunging their weapons deep into his back. It hadn’t actually been necessary for Nor’Goth to trigger them, even if Indech had broken in the giant wouldn’t have been able to stop what was coming, but since he had cards to play the withered psion was going to use them.

Nor’goth smiled as connected to one of the troglodytes outside, and watched the battle progress through its eyes. The misshapen underdwellers didn’t have a prayer against the giant. They were badly trained, armed with only the most basic equipment, and normally engaged adventuring teams as a horde. Two squads of the pitiful creatures didn’t have a prayer of bringing down a floor boss. 

They did have one advantage though, they were now fearless. The normally cowardly creatures charged forward, sinking their crooked spears into Indech’s back, and when he twirled about in pain and fury, they didn’t retreat. Instead they pushed the attack, repeatedly stabbing into the giant even as their closest allies were crushed by his club.

It didn’t take long for the psychic connection to get cut. The Fomorian might not have been the smartest creature in the world, but he realized there were far too many of the trogs to crush one by one. Instead he wound up and performed a single sweeping strike, scattering the tiny creatures around the room, battered and broken.

Indech turned back to the door, breathing hard, snorting in rage, and brought his battering ram sized club down once again. This time, the door shattered.

The Formorian stepped through the opening, shouldering the remains of the door out of the way, smiling maniacally. “Nor’Goth, you ghoul! I’ve come to end you!”

Nor’goth casually placed the hourglass in his hand back on the armrest of his oversized throne and looked down at the Formorian. 

“Good for you,” he replied dryly. “It was amusing to watch your progress up to this point. The queen’s loyal guard dog smashing his way through the Sanctum in a vain attempt to reach me. Did you have fun?”

“It wasn’t a vain attempt,” Indech roared as he raised his club and pointed at Nor’goth. “I have crushed your defenses and now, I will crush you!”

Nor’goth laughed, and even though it was a thin and reedy laugh it filled the entire chamber and sent a chill down everyone’s spine. 

“Do you know who I am?” the withered man asked, slowly rising to his feet. His fine black robe rippled as he stepped to the edge of his raised platform. “I am Nos’goth the ghoul king, first Viziar to the fallen one, lord of the black citadel.” He paused for a moment, locked eyes with the giant, before raising his voice and continuing. “I am Nos’goth the all knowing! And you are in my domain.”

“The lord of a broken ziggurat and shattered forces,” Inrech snorted. “Your friends might have been able to slow us down, but they were not able to stop us. You are defeated.”

Nor’goth smiled, his thin lips and pale skin were pulled tight over his face, so it looked more like some predatory grin. “Am I? I have watched your every move through the eyes of my allies, directed their every move. Did you really think that we fell for all your feeble tricks, and misdirection? I knew your plans almost as soon as you did! Do you know how easy it is for me to overhear your conversation with one of my spies, or pluck that information from your juvenile mind? It’s child’s play!

“With everything I know I could have easily countered your attack, crushed your forces, and led an assault upon the twin queens, but that would have been too easy. I wanted a true challenge.”

Inrech smiled hesitantly. “You lie. You barely have enough forces to hold the handful of floors you have left. Even if you defeat me, you don’t have enough men to push back against us. You can’t win.”

“If you were facing another foe, another dungeon, that would have been true,” Nor’goth muttered as he turned back towards his throne, grabbing the hourglass off his armrest. Twirling theatrically he held the delicate instrument aloft. “But you’re facing the Black Sanctum, and now… your time is up…”

As the last grains of sand tumbled through the aperture, and settled upon the bottom of the hourglass the chamber shook. The various lines and runes etched into the floor lit up with a faint red light that grew steadily brighter until the entire room was bathed in scarlett. Once it reached full power the magical array pulsed, causing the menacing shadows being thrown by the gargoyles and gothic architecture to dance, like they were alive.

“What is this? What did you do?” Inrech growled as he smashed his club into the floor, attempting to disrupt the effect. The floor cracked, under his assault, breaking up the array, but the magic continued. 

“You are too late,” Nor’goth declared, his quiet voice echoing around the room. “The ritual is complete.”

“What ritual?!?” Inrech roared.

“Why, the summoning ritual of course,” Nor’goth replied casually, turning back to his throne. “The one that adventuring parties come to disrupt, that would summon a horror from beyond. The one that is on an exceptionally long timer, to be fair, but will wipe the party if they do not defeat me in time.”

The ancient ghoul sat down, placed an elbow on the armrest, and leaned on his hand, smirking the entire time. “The one you failed to stop.”

Magic surged, creating a storm of black and red energy that swirled around the center of the room. Inrech covered his face, struggling to remain on his feet, while the lich guards were picked up and thrown like rag dolls. Half of them hit the walls so hard they instantly de-ressed, while the others were battered so hard they could barely move.

After a couple seconds the magic seemed to condense inwards, swirling faster, power slowly building until it couldn’t be contained any longer and the magic exploded outwards, snuffing the torches.

Inrech blinked rapidly to clear his eye then squinted into the gloom, desperately trying to determine exactly what had happened. Even with his dark vision, he couldn’t see more than a few feet into the darkness. 

Something growled, a low rumble that shook the giant to the bone, and there was the sound of something scraping along the ground. Whatever it was, it was unfathomably large.

“You defeat me?” Nor’goth said, his voice echoing out of the darkness a moment before a titanic dragonic maw shot out of the darkness and grabbed the Famorian. Inrech tried to struggle, smashing the head with his club as it slowly clamped down tighter and tighter. It only took a few seconds before he felt his bones break, and Inrech was ejected from the fight.

“You weren’t even worth my time.”