Chapter 29 by Zurai
Do you make it inside?
Yes
You slip inside the tunnel as the two guards really get into their brawl. Yells and shouts and the sound of giant fists striking thick flesh provide more than enough noise that you don't even bother trying to move silently, and you're far enough from the fight that you can't make either of them out beyond shapes in the mist so you feel safe that they're unlikely to see you. The mist thins out and vanishes completely within four meters of the tunnel entrance, which shouldn't have surprised you given that it thinned considerably in the buildings outside. One thing you didn't count on, but should have, is that the tunnel is only dimly lit from a series of widely-spaced gems near the top of the four meter high walls. The effect reminds you a lot of the lighting in movie theaters when the trailers are playing: just barely light enough to allow people to enter and leave without killing themselves on the stairs. The problem is that if there's anything in the middle of the path, you're not going to be able to see it. The light just barely illuminates the walls themselves, everything else is pitch black. You could maybe make a makeshift torch out of some cloth and a wrapper from a centaur ration or something, but the light would be far better at showing everything down here exactly where you are than it would be at letting you see any better. Nothing for it but to soldier on, then.
As you advance farther down the tunnel, it narrows perceptibly, and there are side passages which branch off at irregular intervals. Part of you wants to explore one, but the very existence and scope of the main tunnel makes you believe that the heart of the city is going to be straight ahead of you somewhere. This isn't an actual dungeon, constructed to be confusing and hard to navigate and to protect the boss while it schemes nefarious schemes. This is part of a city, a grand avenue leading into an underground facility of some kind. You didn't see any large government-style buildings out in the city proper, though of course you didn't explore it very thoroughly and could hardly see the next block over so you might have missed one. Still, there's going to be something important at the end of this road, and you're determined to find out what it is.
You lose track of time in the darkness as you slowly, quietly, carefully sneak your way down the middle of the road. Eventually, the tunnel narrows down until it's no more than a hallway, and soon enough that hallway ends at an archway. Well, this has to be it, you think, and step through. Inside is a large but not massive circular chamber, better lit than the tunnel outside but still dim. The floor is some sort of mosaic and there are several exits aside from the one you just came through. That's not what really attracts your attention, though. Somehow, this room is absolutely covered in leathery-looking vines, very similar to the ones on the Boar Manikin, and at the center of the room and an absolute tangle of vines is what looks like an altar. It's hard to tell because the vines encase it almost completely, but there aren't many things that are large, flat, rectangular slabs of stone. As you watch, the vines twitch and pulse, the movement emanating from the altar and spreading out across the room, almost like a heart pumping blood to the rest of the body, but much, much slower.
You don't know what exactly is going on here, but you can make an educated guess. The vines are too similar to the manikin for them not to be related, and the way they pulse makes you think that they're drawing power from this room somehow. Fortunately, you already know that these things burn. You're afraid to go too far into the room for fear of stepping on or tripping over a vine, but you carefully maneuver yourself as close as you dare to the center, then raise your hand and begin chanting.
When the stream of flame shoots from your hand, instead of concentrating it on a single spot, you sweep it in broad arcs across the entire altar. The reaction is immediate. The vines convulse and then begin to writhe and pull free from the walls with loud pops. You duck under a vine which drops from the ceiling and cast Flame Jet again, pouring fire onto the altar. More and more vines pull free from the walls, but in the light of your spell you see that some of them have fallen limp and lifeless. It's working! you think to yourself, and you allow a small bit of hope to creep into your heart.
That's when the vine wraps around your chest from behind and yanks you off of your feet. The fire from your hand vanishes as you lose your concentration on the spell, and then you're slammed into the wall at high speed. Pain bursts across your consciousness and all the breath leaves your body. Another vine wraps around your leg, then another grabs the opposite arm. Within moments dozens of vines are wrapped around you and you are completely immobile. Then they turn you to face one of the exits of the room and you see a tall, thin humanoid standing there, its hands outstretched and glowing a sickly green laced with pulses of darkness. Its androgynous features would be beautiful except for the look of utter hatred marring its face.
"And lo do I spy a funny little rat, creeping through my door. Feisty little rat, it was you who burned my boar." Its fingers twitch and the vines holding your arms and legs begin to pull in four different directions. Pain races down your limbs as the pressure slowly increases. "Clever little rat, evaded all my patrols. Cunning little rat, bamboozled both the dakhols." Again its fingers twitch, and this time a vine wraps around your tail and then another around your dick. These, too, begin to pull. "Naughty little rat, sneaked into my bower. Stupid, stupid little rat," the figure hisses, "thought to gnaw away my power!"
The figure pulls its hands apart in a dramatic gesture and you scream as your flesh is stretched to the limit. A vine snakes its way into your mouth and down your throat but you hardly notice as you feel your tail rip free of your body. The pain is so immense that you truly don't even feel the vine which violates you down below. Then you feel another pop and, mercifully, everything vanishes into blackness.
You have died.
Paths of the Chosen
A LitRPG CHYOA
You are chosen to alpha test a brand new Immersive VR MMORPG, "The Realms". After you create your character and log in for the first time, however, you find that instead of a VR game, you are instead transported to a world very much like a game, but with very real stakes. You have been Chosen by one of the Powers of this world as a pawn in a game much bigger than any you thought you would ever participate in. Do you have what it takes to walk the Path of the Chosen? Inspired by the Chaos Seeds novels, TheDespaxas's The Gamer, and a wide variety of games and books. This story is also being posted on Royal Road and Scribble Hub.
Updated on Jan 24, 2022
by Zurai
Created on Jul 26, 2019
by Zurai
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