Adventure Log XIX
GOING UNDERGROUND
Carnochan lead the disgruntled party back through the lavish halls of the palace. The sweet-smelling air, plush red carpet, exsquisite wall art, and many ferns belied the undercurrent of danger that the Arkona family presented. The silence was finally broken as they passed the shrine with the four-faced goddess Chamidu holding her many weapons in her six arms. Byron asked the majordomo if he had any bichuwas in the place, as he’d love to see one in person, and possibly acquire one for Gina- when they find her. The Vudran weapon was a double-curved blade with a guard that made it difficult to disarm. The man was impressed with his knowledge of their weaponry, and said he’d have one ready for inspection upon their return from the labyrinth.
Eventually they arrive at a set of great double doors with yet another depiction of Chamidu riding the strange tiger with human hands for feet. With a flourish Carnochan flung the doors open, taking their breaths away. The sight within hardly seemed possible. It seemed a vast jungle, teeming with life. The sky above was a deep cloudless blue, and in the distance hazy towers rose above a verdant canopy. Exotic birdcalls filled the humid air, and the smell of exotic flowers was overpowering. Everywhere was a riot of colour, the party wasn’t sure what to look at first. Between brightly coloured tropical birds, petals of vibrant flowers, or the glittering multi-coloured tiles of a round fountain to the north, everything was beautiful and new to them. Around the fountain’s stone central pillar two statues of cobras entwined with green gems in their fanged maws. To the south was another fountain in front of which a large jade statue of an elephant was sculpted with trunk held high in their direction. It seemed from within the doors they’d come through were a large gate of an iron fence that ran around the garden, and after a few moments taking it all in they noticed how static things seemed and realized they had not been teleported, but rather, the walls were an incredibly realistic painting of a Vudrani junglescape. Carnochan waited for them to all be within before bowing and closing the doors behind them, leaving them to their mission.
Once alone they approached the elephant, as Glorio had instructed, and spoke aloud the phrase he’d given them: “Chimindu is blind.” The elephant did not merely slide out of the way- it fully animated. With a semblance of life it stepped aside, trunk swaying, to watch their next moves, revealing a pressure plate behind where it had been. Travis took the lead, standing upon it, and the platform the elephant had stood on spun with the sound of grinding stone. A curved passage appeared, opening to a circular staircase that wound down into darkness. The casters reflexively cast light spells, and most of the party began descending. Calli briefly hung back, concerned to be entering so willingly into an enclosed space designed to trap people within, but the importance of their goal and the assurances of her party overcame her childhood trauma and she quickly caught up again.
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The iron-framed stairs down reveal a grand grotto, many stone ledges emerging from the cavern walls were connected by rope bridges that descend to an expanse of water far below that made the damp room smell of the sea, and the air was much cooler than the steamy jungle above. The upper ledge directly in front of them was beautiful. A tableau of all colours of fungi, lichen, and mold. The fungi had been cultivated into symmetrical patterns, transforming the ledge into an underground garden. Lit sconces on the walls gave a gentle light to the path that wound through the garden and down to the water below that they heard lapping at some unseen shore. Behind them they heard the stone grinding as the platform above slid back into place, but Travis spotted a lever they could use to reopen it on their return, so onward they went.
Byron and Travis collected stones, potentially to leave a path in the labyrinth ahead. Concerned of traps in their path, he half-orc chucked a sizeable rock ahead of them, and the party waited to see what might react. Nightingale, Taylan, and Travis all felt an unnatural breeze as if something had flapped nearby, and Gale spotted a footprint appear in the mushrooms ahead. Before he could warn anyone, a vast cloud of spores erupted over everyone from one of four skeletons that appeared with the attack. Two ahead on the path, two somehow flying off to their right, the skeletons all wore old, rusted armor and carried similarly aged swords, and were completely covered in the same fungal varieties of the garden.
Nightingale pressed forward until he exited the cloud, setting off his arcane shield to help boost his armor class against the incoming attackers, but stopped short of entering either standing skeleton’s threat range. Travis rushed past and engaged with the skeleton in front of the magus who had sent the spores, his axe oozing acid and blazing flame, but it seemed to not notice the fire at all.
The other three skeletons then opened their bony jaws and more spore clouds descended upon the group as if propelled by ghostly breath. The first skeleton who had attacked breathed another directly into Travis’ face. Focker, Taylan, and Travis feel the toxic air settle in their lungs, causing a dull pain within their chests.
Calli began playing on her Eagle’s Harp, the slow scales gaining speed until haste is cast upon The Flowers, and she ran along the path trying to get out of the dangerous air but only finding a spot where it’s thinnest, not gone. To avoid having to take it in, Byron donned one of the Red Mantis masks the party had looted, and also began making his way to where the air was less polluted.
Taylan, still choking on the spores, was able to exit the clouds entirely, and sent a flurry of snowballs at the nearest flying skeleton. The small drake, also struggling, joined Taylan outside the spores and just focused on trying to breathe. Nightingale felt the cloud get into his own lungs, and launched into attacks on the first skeleton. His rapier expertly slid between bone and settled inside the breastplate of the creature before blasting the thing to pieces with his signature shocking grasp. Returning to a ready stance, he stepped closer to the second standing skeleton. Travis also turned his attentions to the remaining standing skeleton, giving it a taste of his acidic axe, but it was able to jerk unnaturally out of the way of his further swings.
The flying skeleton Taylan had attacked took it as an invitation, and landed next to him on the ledge, swinging his rusted sword at the small half-elf and giving him a pair of nasty cuts. The last flying skeleton made a gesture at Travis and for a moment it felt as if he was being compressed somehow, but the spell wasn’t able to take hold. The skeleton Travis had attacked retaliated with its own blade, stabbing forward in two quick motions, one a near-miss and the second finding purchase in green flesh.
With a lifetime of breath control from singing lessons coming to surprising use, Calli kept out the toxic air, and began weaving inspire courage into the music she played for the team. Seeing Taylan being attacked on his own further back in the path, she dashed back through the overlapping clouds to be nearer them. She would be able to heal, or draw focus as an alternate target.
Byron had seen the gesture the flying skeleton made at Travis, and not wanting to leave the magic user unchallenged, made a bold choice. He ran and lept off the ledge at the skeleton, who got a sword up and slid the edge along his reaching arm, drawing blood. Byron, unable to make his initial grab at the collar bone, was able to hook on to the skeleton’s hip bone, and after a brief and frantic scuffle between the two successfully climbed back up its body, holding it in a tight grapple and trying not to think about the ninety foot drop into the water below.
Finally catching a gulp of clean air, Taylan cast fly on himself and outmaneuvered the skeleton to get past him, leaving Calli and Focker behind. Focker repositioned himself onto Calli’s shoulder’s, saying he wouldn’t leave her behind- unlike some. Taylan apologetically called out that he had a wife at home to think about.
Nightingale made a barrage of attacks against his skeletal foe, who was sprightly even in death, but managed to land his fourth attack and dispatched it as he had the one before. The electrical burst sent bits of bone and lichen flying. Freed of melee, Travis turned to run back and assist Calli, taking out a whip token as he went and sent it careening at the flying skeleton. It sprung into action, wrapping itself around the creature and pinning its arms to its side. He got to the bard and the drake and stood tall between them and the skeleton that had been attacking Taylan. The skeleton made a similar gesture the other had tried on him, making him feel the strange squeezing pressure, but again shrugged it off. Calli sand a whistle note, high and piercing, and made a few of the mushrooms on the skeleton pop with her sound burst.
The flying skeleton made a weak attempt to cast, but between the whip and Byron wasn’t able to complete the arcane gestures required, and in frustration flew a further five feet straight up in the air. Byron held it tight in his thick legs to free up his arms, and began raining hell with his fists upon it. Bone cracked and fungi flaked under his assault. Taylan focused on the grappled skeleton and sent eye beams of magic missile into it, causing the already damaged bones to give up entirely and burst- leaving Byron free falling through the air. Taylan had the idea to fly directly into him, bullrushing him on to the far slanting path, but got his aim wrong. Byron’s long arms caught the half-elf by the neck as he passed, sending him off-balance, and the two spiraled out of control through the air. Taylan’s momentum had gotten them to where he was hoping, thankfully, and they landed roughly together on the downward winding path against the cavern wall in a bruised, but breathing, heap. Nightingale followed the path down to check on the crashed compatriots, taking a potion of restoration on the way to help undo some of the damage the fungi had done, and handing a spare to Taylan when he reached the two men.
Focker continued to cough up spores, but bravely held up the sharp tip of his tail, ready to try stinging the last skeleton if it got to close, though he needn’t have worried. With two solid swings Travis chopped it to pieces, and it crumbled to the ground. Calli unrolled a scroll of restoration, intending to aid the suffering little drake, but Byron- back on his feet again- told her to hold off. They decided to save it, and he ordered the drake to stay out of harms way until he recovered on his own. She gave him gentle scritches, instead, and said he could ride on her shoulders to save his strength for a while.
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The party took a moment to regroup and let the spore clouds settle harmlessly to the ground before continuing their downward journey. The path spiraled fifty feet downward before they reached the first rop bridge across to the next ledge. It swayed alarmingly but by taking it slowly, one at a time, they crossed without any trouble, and found a door set into the wall on the other side.
Byron listened at the stone door and heard nothing on the other side, so in he went. A single bed and a few shelves were carved into the walls. Animal figurines crowded the shelves, with material for carving them laid against the western wall. Travis joined the big man to better investigate what they’d found. Among the clever little pieces were three that seemed extra special: a blue coral gecko, a fire pelt cougar made of redwood, and a golden flame drake with pearls for eyes. He’d heard tales of puzzles that required special keys to unlock, and took the trio in case they were what was needed at a critical point in the labyrinth.
They reached the next rope bridge right away, which led down to another ledge with nothing of interest, just the wide empty cavern wall. The final bridge took them to the floor of the cavern. They could now see the full rocky beach of the sea cave where the ocean lapped gently. A single wooden pier stood with a shallow barged docked, a single lantern hung on its mast. They could see the cave emptied into the sea to the north, and Byron sent Focker to check which direction it faced. He returned quickly explaining he could see the far shore of the mainland across the water to ahead, and open sea to the left. This was a perfect smuggler’s hideout. Travis checked over the vessel to ensure it was sea worthy, in case they needed an alternate escape route.
Further along the beach, tucked under the ledges, were a giant pair of wooden double doors. As with all the other doors in the palace, they showed an intricate carving of the goddess Chamidu rode her strange tiger. Glorio had said the entrance was hidden, though, so they took time to examine the walls for anything they may have missed, but coming up empty they gathered to listen at the wooden doors. Gale and Taylan make out a deep gravelly voice on the other side saying, “There, my pet, isn’t that better? Are we less itchy now,” followed by an unusually loud snake hiss. They retreated from the door to have a whispered tactics discussion, and Calli said they should continue as they started. Diplomatically.
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The doors opened into a cathedral-like chamber with a grand domed ceiling sixty foot above. Four braziers lit it, and it was without any benches or other concessions to comfort. The floor was made of tan marble, and six statues of tiger-headed men stood in recesses along both sides of the room. Three more statues were up a few steps to the pulpit on the far side of the room. The central figure was larger and held in front of it two lances draped with flags: the left being the Korvosan flag and the right bore the Arkonan coat of arms. In the center of the room were two enormous cobras, one shiny from a fresh molt, with a tiger-headed creature with backward-bending fingers stood between the two slightly further away, seemingly having been in the process of eating the shed skin. Calli recognized it as a Rakshasa, a fiendish, evil creature, that is notoriously hard to damage.
It snarled at them, “Intruders to our temple? Destroy them!” Pointing one of its strange fingers, a bolt of lightning streaked into Byron.
Byron, enraged at the immediate damage, activated his flaming gauntlets and ran straight for one of the snakes. It lunged a strike at the incoming man, but missed and ran snout-first into the shiny marble floor, leaving it slightly off-balance. Byron manages to get in a solid punch that burned a gnarly hole into its side. Behind him Travis drank a potion of bark skin and carefully moved into the room, staying just out of reach of the snakes.
“There’s been a terrible misunderstanding,” Calli protested while inching her own way further inside, “Glorio sent us down here, we’re not here to intrude!”
The tiger-man smiled cruelly, “If Glorio truly meant you no harm he’d have warned you not to come through those doors, as none may enter this holy space.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” With diplomacy off the table, she made a small nod and flourish with her hand. Looking into his eyes, her own flashed with power, and with a simple, “Thank you,” the power suddenly flashed over his as well as the charm monster spell took hold.
He nodded, “Of course. Your respect is noted. You I will allow to live and leave unharmed, but the others must die.”
Taylan took hold of Nightengale’s arm and they vanished from the spot, reappearing directly behind the Rakshasa.
The cobra to the right tried to snap at Byron like its mate had, but Byron caught the mighty jaws with his bare hands and wrenched the jaw from the skull. He flung it with disdain at the Rakshasa. The remaining cobra hissed and took a bite at him, scraping his flesh with fang, but failing to deliver any deadly venom.
Nightingale plunged his rapier into the Rakshasa, which he laughed at as if it hadn’t hurt him at all, but was not expecting Gale’s electric follow-up. The convulsions rocked through it, and it vanished from sight to retreat. Focker, staying out of the room as instructed but watching from the doorway, called out he’d moved to the left- the small drake could see invisibility. Byron tapped into his animalistic scenting power and was able to pinpoint exactly where he’d gone. The snake tried again to strike him as he moved away, but the pit fighter side-stepped again and it sped snout-first into the floor, fully stunning itself for a round. Having reached the spot the invisible Rakshasa was standing, he pulled back an arm and delivered a solid haymaker, feeling the impact he could not see.
Travis made his move, attacking the stunned snake with his acid-edged axe. In three huge slashes he’d cut all the way through, bursting out the other side of the creature as if he’d simply gone through a gory doorway. It fell in wet chunks behind him to splatter crimson across the tan marble.
Noticing a series of hand signals from Nightingale, Calli understood he was asking her to use her sound burst on the area, and she acquiesced. In order to hit the correct area, she hit Gale as well, and when Focker shook his head that the tiger still stood, she acted as if Gale had been the target all along. “How dare you all attack him, here in his temple? We shouldn’t be here at all!” The magical threads of her charm monster had been precarious, but remained firm. The combination of her convincing ploy coupled with not actually having done enough damage to hurt the Rakshasa maintained the spell.
Taylan sent a flurry of snowballs into the area, and though they hit they also didn’t seem to do much good. The party was running low on spells, and as long as it was invisible the melee fighters would have trouble, so Focker took the risk and flew into the room, breathing his silvery mist over the monster. The breath weapon had no effect, but served to allow the others to briefly see where he stood, slightly unsteady, between them. Nightingale, not wanting to risk missing an invisible opponent with his rapier, mimicked Taylan’s attack and sent another flurry of snowballs at the area.
They hear the thump of the body hitting the ground, and everyone converged upon it to make sure it stayed dead. They found it difficult to damage the creature, even unconscious, so Gale told everyone to stand clear, and sent a final shocking grasp into his chest, cooking it from the inside out.
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In the calm that followed Byron recovered from his rage, Calli collected the Arkona flag, Travis checked over the Rakshasa and found only a magical Kukri that they dropped into their haversack to sell in the future. They all then took time to go over every bit of the room looking for any sign of a hidden entrance to the labyrinth, but found nothing at all. Nightingale smacked his forehead and exclaimed, “The ledge before we reached the ground that we thought was a blank wall? It must be there!” They all groaned as they realized he was right.
As they’d been through quite a lot that day, they decided to barricade the temple doors from the inside and try to get some rest. Gale brought in some saltwater to boil off for salt seasoning, and applied it to snake meat he butchered and roasted for them all to eat. The barbarians moved two of the large Rakshasa statues in front of the inward-opening doors to seal them in. The group then began discussing what the potential connection between the Rakshasas and the Arkonas. It isn’t like Rakshasas to be beholden to anyone, they’re known as some of the most powerful beings of existence. So why would they be working with the Arkona family?
While talking about Vudra, Travis was reminded of a story he’d heard about it. Also known as the ‘Impossible Kingdoms’, Vudra consists of more than one hundred mahajanapadas: semi-independent kingdoms ruled by rajahs. These rajahs in turn serve the maharajah, an emperor-like figure descended from Khiben-Sald, who in his lifetime spent a decade as an honored guest of the ancient Garundi wizard-king Nex. A legendary figure who took over an entire kingdom.
Fed and weary, they split up watches and bedded down. Calli and Travis took the first shift. Everyone had just drifted off when they heard something trying to open the doors. They hear muffled cursing, and then the attempt redoubled, and the door started to move. Travis crossed the chamber and put his shoulder against the statues, adding enough opposing effort to keep it from opening. Closer he was able to hear multiple voices outside. Calli prepared to cast a silent image if they got the door open enough to look in to project the impression that the room was just empty rubble.
Eventually the group outside did get a look inside, and her spell went off. The majordomo Carnochan was leading them. “There’s no one in there. Bahol must have lied to us. But I can see statues against the door, so someone must be in there, surely! They might just be hiding, help me get in.” Efforts to push open the door continued. The scraping of the statues across the marble woke Taylan from his slumber, and Calli gestured for him to wake the others. One by one Taylan shook them awake, and in confusion one of them made a noise as they came to. Carnochan exclaimed, “I heard someone!”
Taylan gathered the others around him and set off his invisibility sphere. They stood in the center of the room and waited to see who would come through.
Three men and one woman eventually pushed their way inside, all wearing the livery of house Arkona. The woman spoke, “By the nine hells, Avidexu’s dead! Curse these humans! Bahol said he saw them down here, and they sealed the doors, so they must still be in here. Spread out.” The four of them spaced themselves across the floor, and began slowly moving through the room, seemingly not bothered by the dark.
The Flowers became a tightly-packed conga line with the thin hope of creeping between two of the searching strangers. They don’t get far. Unable to see in the dark like their opponents, Byron slipped on some of the dried blood from the earlier snake butchering, but managed to stay quiet. Calli slipped as well, stumbling backwards into Taylan with a small yelp of surprise. Taylan steadied her, uttering a “Gotcha,” before the whole team cringed at their blunders.
“There’s someone there! Grab them,” the searchers began grasping out, but as The Flowers were still invisible, they miraculously avoided capture. One by one they timed it perfectly, dodging arms until they were all out of the room.
They leave Focker behind to eavesdrop, hoping to gain more clues as to what they really are and who Bahol might be, and quietly retraced their steps up to the ledge with the blank wall. A frantic search ensues, but even knowing the entrance must be there, it was nearly impossible to spot. It’s Calli who finally found a button, hidden within the moss growing up the stone, that allowed them to push through into the secret corridor. A long tunnel wound away into darkness. They leave the door open a crack for Focker and wait on the other side.
It doesn’t take long before the small drake flew in, and they closed the stone door behind him. “They’re coming back! They seem pissed, and kept referring to that place as The Temple of Bahol, whoever that is. They’re going to talk to him now.” It occurred to Calli that Rakshasas sometimes set themselves up as religious leaders, being vain creatures they liken themselves to gods, and grow small cults who worship them.
They all waited in silence until the footsteps had passed, heading upstairs.
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Not wanting to venture into the labrynth in their current state, they wedged the door and bedded down again to try and sleep within the corridor. Calli and Travis again took first watch, sitting together with their backs against the stone entryway in the dark. Quickly the sound of the others sleeping returns.
About half an hour passed before they started hearing claws scratching on the other side of the entrance. A low, sinister voice spoke, "We know you're in there. We're not coming to get you, now. Vermanda will take care of that for us, and if she doesn't, Civit the lady of labyrinth will. Sssssleep well." The sounds made the hair of the two on watch stand on end, and Calli leaned to the side until she felt the reassuring bulk of the half-orc next to her. They kept absolutely silent, but the scratching sounds continued.
After another hour of the clawing, another voice spoke, “Maybe we could go in and kisssss you…” The duo listening tensed, Calli taking hold of a corner of Travis’ shirt like a nervous child, but when nothing followed but more scratching, they began to suspect they meant what they said the first time. By going through the door they’d crossed into another’s territory, and in spite of the taunting, the monsters had no intention of following them inside. The next voice to hiss through the door made Calli’s blood run cold. “Who is Rose? One of you dreamssss of her… dreamsss of her alive… we know she’ss dead…”
Somehow they’d gotten into Nightingale’s mind as he slept. This presented new dangers for them, but as it was still not an immediately physical one, they left the others sleeping. Calli’s free hand raised to touch her amulet of nondetection that she’d gotten for protection against Melyia, silently even more grateful for it. The scratching continued, but they would not be goaded into action. Feeling more sure they weren’t going to attack, and reminded of the night Rose died, Calli lifted her mouth to Travis’ ear and whispered to him. "Do you have all your memories now? From both sides?"
Travis sensed the younger woman’s fear, and took her hand from his shirt into his own hand. He whispered back into her ear, “Yes- I remember everything. It’s very….odd. Remembering memories from two different lives is…. difficult”
They took turns speaking like that, barely audible and directly into the other’s ear. "One life is hard enough, I can't imagine what you've been through. I'm glad you're here with us now. I want to start with that- I want you to know I'm glad you're here. You've done so much good, and saved many lives..." she squeezed his hand gently and took a deep breath, trying to shut out the taunts and scratching that continued over their conversation from the other side of the door.
Travis squeezed her hand back. A lump appeared in his throat and he simply said, “Thank you. I appreciate what you are saying. And one part of me is grateful for your kind words. But, well, life is different now- my life is different. I no longer see the world in black or white, good or bad. The world aint that simple. It’s complicated and messy. Before, one part of me would’ve been proud of our efforts. You know, helping people, helping Korvosa. But now….now I just feel numb to it all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll see this thing through to the bitter end. But I feel indifferent”
"I think you may just be in shock. Literally everything you knew has been shaken. Feels hard to reconnect after that. When you find people you cared for had been lying to you, that systems you thought you could rely on aren't what they seem. Hard to know what to trust, what matters. Give it time. That's what I've been told, anyway. You can figure out what you care about now. Because if you don't care about anything, what's the point in living at all? Might as well enjoy it while you're here. Things definitely are a lot messier than just good or bad. Which is why I wanted to ask... Do you remember if you were part of getting a fisherman named Jonas to make the false accusations against Archie? Or his death? Or the attacks on my life for speaking out? I wasn't brave enough to ask before." The incessant scratching on the stone behind them continued, with harsh taunting hisses promising death and torture. "Things are different now. I'd like to know."
"I don't know any fisherman named Jonas and I certainly had nothing to do with false accusations against Archie. Nor was I involved in any attacks on you. I'd tell you if I had. I'm sorry I can't give you any answers there. It must be hard not knowing. Sorry." He used his free hand to pat the one he held.
"I know enough, I'm just glad you weren't mixed up in it. It's nice to have something become less complicated for once."
They lapsed back into silence, holding hands through the ordeal. The more the monsters taunted about Rose’s death, the angrier Calli became, which served to burn away her fear. Finally it was Byron and Focker up next, and after quietly preparing them for what they were in for they made it very clear they were not to wake Nightingale for the final watch. There was no way he’d be able to listen to that without retaliating, and even if he could resist, he shouldn’t have to listen to it for hours on end. Byron agreed.
Calli remembered she still had some of the sleeping draught she and Taylan had acquired for the museum heist, and split it with Travis to ensure they’d be able to get to sleep in spite of the ongoing harassment. It didn’t take them long.
Byron took up the post sitting against the stone door, and chose a different method of dealing with the nuisances. He taunted them back, matching them whisper for whisper. “Good night Rakshasa, enjoy.”
“The glory daysss are behind you…,” they replied in a sing-song voice.
“Awww, is that the best you’ve got? Poor little tiddles. Look you stay there and I’ll put out a saucepan of milk for you.”
There’s a brief pause, as he’s the first to have addressed them directly, and then four voices all began hissing at the same time, calling his name. “Byron… BYRON… byrooon…”
He made nondescript “pstpstpstpst” noises, as if calling to a feline.
One of them returned, “We’re going to eat the one you care about, you know.”
“Let’s be honest, if you could catch a bit of fish you’d eat that, as well.”
There’s a hissing laughter before a voice said, “He thinkssss we’re catssss!”
“I don’t really think much about you, pussy,” Byron cut. He dismissed their attempts to unsettle him so well that after an hour of it they give up trying to engage with him. He gets a bit of peace, before they begin a new tactic.
“Shiv’s not gone, you know. We could get him back.”
“Shiv? I love Shiv. I miss him. Is that the best you’ve got? A cat would be better at this than you. They don’t even care. You all care too much. How petty are you? Look, you guys get some sleep. You’ll see us tomorrow.” At this even the scratching ceased, and the rest of his watch was peaceful.
Byron woke Taylan for the final watch, warning him not to open the door, not to wake Nightingale unless he really needs to, and let him know, “Just give them a bit of shit back, don’t be scared of them! It’s really quite fun.” He then returned to his own bedroll and immediately dropped back off to sleep without a care in the world.
The scratching resumed when the monsters sensed Byron returned to sleep, and since they weren’t able to penetrate anyone else’s mental defenses, they stuck to general promises of the certain doom they were to encounter within the Vivified Labyrinth. Taylan endured alone with his thoughts in the dark, terrified, and wishing he was still in the warm embrace of his new bride.
He hoped he’d see her again, soon.