EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 65: Bleak Cave Barrow

Unlike the cave itself, the pa.s.sageway had clearly been made by someone or something. Unlike the naturally formed caverns that the wolves had used for their den, this pa.s.sageway had smooth stone walls, with crystal torches embedded in sconces along the sides providing light.

The pa.s.sageway sloped gently downwards, leading to a T-shaped intersection roughly fifty meters from the doors. Moving carefully, the group quietly crept along the pa.s.sage, careful to make as little noise as possible as they moved forward with weapons drawn.

Reaching the fork in the pa.s.sage, Eric cautiously peeked around the corner. Eyes widening, he retreated quickly, leaping backwards and beckoning for Mark and Griffin to do the same.

Looking at him questioningly, Mark was about to ask what was up when the clack of hard bone upon stone resounded through the pa.s.sage. As Mark and Griffin watched, a humanoid figure came rushing into the pa.s.sage, an enormous axe clutched in its hands.

The figure stood over six feet tall, wearing metal armour that looked old, but well maintained, and wielding a large two handed battleaxe. The battleaxe's shaft was engraved with celtic patterns and the axehead bore similar etchings across its metal surface.

However, by far the most striking feature of the figure was that its body was comprised entirely of bone and dried out flesh. Bits and pieces of flesh were missing, revealing the skeleton underneath, and where its eyes should have been there were only two globes of bluish flames, glaring balefully at the intruders.

As it rounded the corner, the figure let out a loud clacking cry, it's jawbone flapping up and down uselessly as it raised its battleaxe high and charged towards them.

Leaping backwards, Mark and Griffin both barely avoided the swing of the axe, the weapon creating sparks as it slammed into the floor of the pa.s.sage.

Raising his sword, Griffin attempted to take advantage of the draugr's missed attack, rushing forward to swing at its exposed torso.

Letting go of the battleaxe with one hand, the draugr met Griffin's attack with a shoulder bash, slamming into the fighter and sending him flying backwards. Landing heavily on his back, Griffin skidded across the pa.s.sage as the draugr gave chase, ducking underneath Mark's mace and backhanding him aside, sending him crashing into the side of the pa.s.sage as it charged towards Griffin.

Activating Dashing Cut, Eric rushed forward, his sword rising to meet the oncoming draugr. With a contemptuous sneer, the draugr brought the battleaxe up, blocking Eric's strike with the shaft, before slamming the b.u.t.t of the weapon into his stomach.

Winded, Eric fell backwards, firing a Wind Dart towards the draugr in a vain attempt to prevent the creature from attacking Griffin.

Ducking, the draugr avoided the Wind Dart, the spell flying past to strike uselessly against the walls of the pa.s.sage. However, this bought enough time for Griffin to struggle to his feet, raising his shield to catch the draugr's attack and deflect it to the side.

"We need to get out of here. Now," said Eric, rushing to Griffin's side.

"Agreed," Mark said grimly, holding his mace in a defensive position.

Working together, the three slowly began to retreat, doing their best to defend against the draugr's many and varied attacks. The undead creature seemed to have several different attack patterns, each more difficult to deal with than the last. Following the group, the draugr continued to harry them, its battleaxe taking large chunks out of their healthbars whenever it managed to fly past their defenses.

After what seemed like hours, the trio finally retreated past the metal doors. Coming to a halt just short of their position, the draugr glared balefully towards them, the flickering blue flames in its eyesockets flaring menacingly as it held its battleaxe in a ready position.

"Are we safe? Why'd it stop chasing?" Griffin asked, keeping his shield raised in front of him.

"I don't think it can leave the dungeon," Mark said carefully, rising from his combat stance as he observed the draugr.

Slamming the doors shut, Eric closed the dungeon, obscuring the angry undead from sight.

"Well that was terrifying," he said lightly.

Griffin nodded, "It didn't seem to have too much health. When I did finally land a hit, it took quite a bit of damage. It's just that its techniques were so much better than ours."

"Yeah I couldn't hit it at all. Its axe was always in a position to block my sword, and it seemed to know where I was going to fire my spells ahead of time. I think I only landed like one Wind Dart that entire fight."

"I can definitely see why this is a dungeon for five higher level players. There's no way we're clearing it with just the three of us if that's a normal mob in the dungeon," Mark added.

"Well at least now we know what we're up against. It looks like this is a dungeon full of undead. Makes sense, with it being a barrow and all," said Eric.

"Why does that make sense?" Mark asked curiously.

"Barrows are basically like burial grounds. It technically refers to the mound of earth over a grave, but it's usually used to refer to the entire grave. So if this is a barrow it likely contains the remains of long dead people. Or at least mostly dead people," Eric explained, shooting a glance at the door hiding the draugr from view.

"Ah cool. So we're basically going through an old indian burial ground, I'm sure that will be good for our karma," Griffin said with a sigh.

"Normally I'd say it's a game, what karma? But after talking to that wolf spirit, I think you might have a point here Griffin," Eric replied with a laugh.

"What do you guys want to do now? Leave the cave and go back to hunting for elites? Or what?" Mark asked, absentmindedly petting Ulfir who had nestled into the collar of his robe.

Checking something in his system, Griffin sighed.

"What?" Eric asked.

"I think we're going to need to head back to town for a bit. My shield is down to single digit levels of durability," Griffin replied, showing him his shield.

Eric winced, Griffin's once beautiful shield was now a mess of splinters and holes. Enormous gouges in the wood from both the Swordclaw's claws and the draugr's axe could be seen everywhere across its surface, and the metal boss was dented inwards.

The rest of their equipment wasn't in a much better state than Griffin's shield either, with huge tears in Eric's armour and Mark's robe, and small cuts and missing links in Griffin's chainmail. Their weapons were also in a similar state, with notches and dents present in both Eric and Griffin's swords. Mark's mace was the only exception, with only a slight bend in the haft to show for the use it had gotten in the last hour.

Checking the state of their own gear, Mark and Eric quickly agreed to Griffin's plan, leaving the wolf den behind as they made their way back to Tonbura Village.