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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/RangerFrank on 2025-05-12 17:13:27+00:00.

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TL;DR on where I have been: Family vacations/graduations led me out of town. IRL issues conflicted with the last post, as did my own mistake. All is well now, and we are back to our regular schedule.

If you were stressed...my bad. But a good reminder to join the Discord, I keep everything up to date there, so drop by for the notifications and the community :D

Kaladin Shadowheart’s POV.

What? Where am I? What—what happened? I remember being with Ms. Taurus at camp in the forest, then a sudden fog rolled in, and that was it. So how am I—

“Finally awake, Kaladin?” Bowen asked as he sat at a fire with his back to me.

I looked around, and we were at the back of a stone cave. It was much darker here, and it didn’t appear we had retreated to the first floor. But at the camp, it was just Bowen, a sleeping Ms. Taurus, and myself.

“What happened?” I asked, my head pounding and my mouth dry.

“To summarize quickly, we were separated into two groups of two and two groups of three and moved to two distinct areas on the second floor. Your two groups faced a forest that was overtaken by a fog that would put you to sleep but had a minimal amount of monsters while our groups weathered a blizzard with many Yetis pouring out,” Bowen explained.

“I see…so Sylvia must have cleared our floor as the fog wouldn’t have put her to sleep and…” I trailed off.

We got incredibly lucky. How in the world were we meant to beat that fog? Was there something we missed on that floor?

“Varnir and I managed ours,” Bowen filled in while still having his back to me.

“Then what’s the situation now?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing my head.

“We all took a set of stairs downward in our respective areas that appeared after defeating the floor boss and arrived together on the third floor,” Bowen said.

“From there, we have worked our way through this floor and discovered two major issues, and we have overcome one of them.”

I took out some water from my ring and sighed as I quenched my dry mouth. “Just how long have I been asleep?” I murmured.

Bowen hummed to himself and shrugged. “Difficult to say, but at least a day,” he said.

“So the first issue. I assume it has something to do with a cave system and monsters?” I guessed.

“That would be correct. This cave system is filled with a unique type of monster. To describe it best, it's a giant-shelled creature with razor-sharp claws capable of cutting out these tunnels. These monsters lay in wait and attack alone with overwhelming speed. But Tsarra and her illusions have made quick work of them, baiting them out of their hiding places. Although these creatures have tried to collapse two tunnels so far,” Bowen went on to explain.

“Then there is something more out there?” I asked.

Bowen nodded. “Correct. Beyond the cave system is a far larger problem looming over us. Since you haven’t been to Krunbar, you may not know, but inside the mountains are immense ravines that can be found underground. The Dwarves use these ravines to build forts on one side called bastions. They are typically connected via bridges to the other side of the ravine,” he said.

“And if it were as simple as being empty, then we wouldn’t be here,” I added.

“Correct. The bastion is manned by many undead and is showing signs of intelligence. They are firing arrows and using strange magical weapons we have not seen before to hold us at bay. A frontal assault may be impossible. Currently, we are looking for alternative routes through the caves, but our efforts so far have amounted to nothing,” Bowen said with a sigh.

Strange magical weapons?

“I see…what are the odds we found an alternative route?” I asked.

Bowen shook his head and said, “Nothing but wishful thinking, in my opinion. It was the only option while we waited for the two of you to wake up.”

I went over and sat down by the fire. Bowen had his eyes closed, most likely concentrating on his Golems somewhere in the dungeon.

“Is the bastion still in good condition? Or can it be blasted through?”I asked.

“Well, you can see for yourself. I’ve alerted the others. They should be making their way back down.”

—

“Are you feeling better?” Sylvia asked me in a low voice as we walked down the narrow tunnel into the darkness.

I looked ahead at the single flicker of light and the faint movements of Tsarra’s illusion as it led the way. “Yeah, I just needed some food and water. Thankfully, that’s all. Things could have ended up far worse if it weren’t for you. Thank you for saving everyone,” I said earnestly.

Sylvia looked to the side and nodded as she mumbled, “Of course, what was I going to do? Just leave everyone?”

Of course not.

I smiled to myself and looked over to Cerila. She gave me a small wave, and I signed, <How about you? Are you feeling better?>

<Yes, just fine, actually. I woke up much sooner than you did. Sylvia must have protected us from the fog so we didn’t take as much in. But for some reason, I have been still feeling a little…sluggish.> Cerila signed with a shrug. 

<Probably just an after-effect. I’m also feeling that way.> I signed back. 

Lord Vasquez abruptly stopped us by raising his hand. He put his flaming fire orb to the ceiling and narrowed his eyes. We could see clearly that something had stopped trying to cut its way into the cave ceiling. Judging by the rocks on the floor, it had stopped long before it could carve out a hiding place.

Lord Vasquez put a finger to his mouth as he eyed Sylvia and me specifically before lowering the light on his spell. With that signal, I made my way to the front of the group. Varnir and I would use our spears to hold the creature back at first, while Lord Vasquez and Professor Garrison would dispatch it.

But that was only if I couldn’t deal with it myself.

I had felt rather useless in the dungeon so far. I ended up falling victim to a trap that put my life in the hands of others, and I wasn’t even able to lift a finger. I didn’t want to be a burden here, and I definitely didn’t want to feel helpless. Maybe I was venting my frustration. But whatever monster showed itself was going to be very unlucky today.

We crept as the illusion maintained a reasonable distance away from us. With a few more minutes of walking, it happened. It was sudden. In a flash, there was the sound of rock breaking, and the illusion, along with its light source, was snuffed out.

I rushed forward with Tsarra’s warning at my back. The tunnel was engulfed in the light from torches and my fire magic, and I could see the monster clearly now. It was well over six feet tall, walking on two legs with a grayish stoney shell along its body. Its head had two giant beady black eyes and a gaping maw of razor-sharp teeth. Antennae drooped along the side of its head and down to its large scythe-like arms.

What kind of demonic lobster is this? This looks like a fisherman's worst nightmare.

The creature’s head snapped right toward us and it was indeed as fast as Bowen had described. I formed my spell core and released it. A fist of earth came from the wall and tried to crush the thing, but it sprinted past, crawling across the wall and onto the ceiling at a blinding pace.

However, it was still a good distance away, and despite its speed, it was big, and this was a narrow hallway. It could only go so many places as it headed straight toward us.

I formed more spell cores, and it must have instinctively sensed them as it leaped off the ceiling. However, before it could touch the ground, the ground below it rose up and crushed it back up the ceiling, pinning it. But with a single swipe of its sharp claws it ripped the stone apart with ease.

Unfortunately for it, that was the least of it worries. As more earth moved to surround the creature it wasn’t able to stop it all. It focused on protecting its upper body, but as it moved, the earth below was swept away, and it tripped over itself and into a small hole.

That moment was enough for my Lightning Bolt to crackle off my spear and race straight toward the monster, hitting it directly in the chest. The creature didn’t even let out a scream as it fell over onto its back, and from a safe distance, I crushed its head with a rock. I went over to it and gave it a firm stab in the chest with my spear, just to be sure.

As they said, the creature was agile and deadly but not exceptionally durable. Magic other than earth magic seemed lethal enough to finish them off with a single direct hit. I inspected its sharp claws and nodded to myself. Those would cause havoc on anyone they touched. If it could easily slice through this stone, then iron or even steel armor wouldn’t keep someone safe.

Professor Garrison whistled as he walked up behind me. “You made that look easy,” he chuckled.

“I’ve had some good teachers in my time,” I said, whipping the purple blood off my spear.

Professor Garrison gave me a pat on the back and I asked him, “How much further do we have to go?”

“Mmm, about another twenty or so minutes of walking, I’d say, as long as those bastards didn’t collapse the tunnels,” he said.

We continued to walk down the dark tunnels, taking...

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