Their patience had finally paid off. Ash, Indas, Nerith and Nessa had not only successfully ambushed a squad of Dagolar's guards but by using their armor as a disguise, managed to infiltrate and quietly clear the underground watch post just outside Dagolar's domain. Now all dressed in metal scale and armed to the teeth they approached the huge, black double doors decorated with eye balls that seemed to move on their own accord. As they drew near all the eyes suddenly focused on them and after a few, disturbing seconds, the doors magically creaked open by themselves.
Gripping their weapons tight, the girls entered the huge hall adorned with iron cages all along the sides. Each cage contained various forms of misshapen beasts, often in a deteriorated or dead state, and beside each cage was a small table atop which sat parchments upon parchments of notes. Before Ash could examine any of them the doors suddenly slammed shut on their own, blowing out most of the lit candles and torches.
"Welcome," boomed a voice from the darkness. "What fine specimens all of you are."
"Show yourself and surrender, Dagolar. All your guards are dead!" threatened Ash.
"At least we hope all of the guards are dead," muttered Nerith under her breath.
The voice laughed as the room suddenly grew very cold. Dark figures began moving at the edges of the fire light, darker than the shadows themselves. One of them suddenly spirited towards Nessa who instinctively sliced through it with her sword. The blade sailed right through it as the creature touched her shoulder, like a freezing cold lightning bolt that suddenly sent her flying across the hall. Filled with concern her sister Nerith bolted right after her, with Ash and Indas following close behind.
"Fucking sorcerers," muttered Nessa groggily as she got back to her feet.
Ash saw another shadow racing towards Indas from behind her so she hurled her spear at it but missed, instead hitting one of few lit torches on the pillar next to it. Surprisingly, the monster seemed to evade not the spear, but the light itself as the torch fell to the ground. That wasn't enough to stop it though as after circling around the creature jumped onto Indas' back and using its painful touch, sent her screaming and stumbling forward into the darkness.
"Use the light!" screamed Ash as she grabbed the nearest lit torch and leaped to Indas' rescue - driving off the shadow creatures from her quivering, curled up form. They had got her good in those few brief seconds. Ash suddenly realized the room was growing brighter as Nerith and Nessa had begun lighting up the room with not just other torches but anything and everything that could hold a flame. She decided to do the same, taking her torch in the opposite direction as from the other two.
Just as Ash lit up her second torch she suddenly found herself standing in front of a bald, bearded man with a ludicrous mustache and a cruel smile, holding a large glass cube.
"SURPRISE!" yelled Dagolar as he opened the container towards Ash. Almost instantly a greenish slime sprung forth knocking her off her feet and to pinning her to the ground. To her horror, it also began to burn painfully as her armor quickly began to corrode and melt. She cried for help desperately as Dagolar just stood there laughing manically, watching as the slime began entering her mouth and covering her face - silencing her for good as it began melting her flesh.
"Ash!" yelled Nerith, as she and her sister rushed from the other end of the hall. They would not make it in time.
Dagolar's laughter was suddenly ended as Ash's spear flew into his chest, sending him sprawling back. It had been thrown by Indas who was by then, back on her hands and knees wracked by the pain caused by the shadow creatures. Dagolar's demise did cause the shades to dissipate, but the greenish slime which had just finished feasting on their friend was still in the room, slowly advancing towards the injured giantess.
Thinking quick, Nessa motioned to her sister to help with a nearby large, burning table that they tossed upon their liquid foe. Her guess was right in that the slime could not consume the flame which instead burned it into a bubbling mess before vaporizing entirely. Whatever means the smoke from the torches previously escaped the room was now overloaded, and the remaining girls began coughing from inhaling too much of it. With no time to spare the sisters dragged Indas back the way they came and into the sewer, leaving the bones of Ash behind.
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