Frontier Online

Adapting Part 18

The darkness swallowed them as Syrna pulled the party into the gaping hole created by Rydr and the enormous ball that burst from the wall. 

Rydr nearly balked when she pulled them into the dark, but the nervous swirl of energy in his stomach abated a bit when he remembered that he wasn't alone in there. 

"Everyone in one piece?" Rydr heard Urginok ask his question from just a few feet to his left side, but when he turned to look, he couldn't even make out the shape of Urginok. It was like the abyss opened up to start questioning his well-being. 

Rydr absently reached up to rub his sore shoulder where the giant ball brushed against him and knocked out half his health points, "A little worse for wear, actually. Are the goblins still coming?" 

Now that he noticed, Rydr realized that he couldn't hear the sound of the rabid green creatures clamoring for their blood. In the upper left corner of his vision, the giant saw his health bar, which had been depleted by nearly half when the boulder crushed him, start to refill. 

The HUD was the only thing the giant saw in the darkness. He willed a few menu options in and out of existence to be sure he still could; their comforting green glow failed to provide any light, which interested Rydr.

"You already said that when you were face down on the ground, bro." The tank went quiet for a few moments, and Rydr was about to ask his question again when Urginok said, "You should check your notifications, man. The goblins are dead." 

Rydr blinked, surprised and pleased to learn that the immediate danger had passed. He could faintly hear Syrna, or who he hoped was Syrna, rustling around in the dark. 

A moment later, Rydr heard the sound of rock and metal striking together, and another torch lightly flared into life, illuminating the space around them. 

Rydr's eyes watered from the light of the torch, and he shielded his eyes against its glare. When his eyes adjusted to the new light, Rydr moved his hand and found Syrna crouched on the ground, the flint and steel in her grasp fading away into tiny lights as she stored them in her inventory. 

The beautiful blonde archer stood up and held her torch high, illuminating the space around them. A great, rocky wall seemed to stretch on forever until it disappeared into total darkness beyond the torch's light. 

Rydr chest tightened up with fear as he stared at the craggy face of the wall. The rough surface dyed the wall in a cast of amber fire and inky shadow. The shadows seemed to Rydr as if they housed every manner of ant-like tunnels. Where goblins would soon come pouring down like a waterfall of green death. 

Arctic talons gripped Rydr's chest, and he gasped, unable to breathe. His vision swam, but Rydr couldn't tear his eyes away from the shadows. They screamed at him, pressing against his senses, and every instinct in his body begged him to run. 

A drug-like stupor came as his mind started to slip into the shadows when they suddenly shifted, and the spot he'd been staring at turned to yellow fire-light. 

Syrna walked briskly to the craggy wall that quickly transfixed Rydr and sat on a low stone outcrop. The interruption lets Rydr rip his eyes away from the wall and take several deep breaths to steady himself.

At least one of us was a little prepared. Rydr was grateful that Syrna was a more methodical person than he or Urginok. They would have been left high and dry in pitch darkness without the clever blonde. 

Darkness is one thing...shadows, though...Rydr shuddered and suppressed the morbid urge to look back at the wall. He forced himself to find a distraction rather than follow that train of thought.