“Yeah. But I mean, how does it work?”
“It sounds like some kind of emphatic link tying all of you together. I mean, you share his strength, speed, healing, and even his dark vision, apparently.”
Tom nodded in the dark. “So… magic?”
Rita and Vick groaned audibly as Levy smiled at the shorter man. Shaggy just snorted and kept leading the way down the tunnel. It was at a steep angle and the dirt was pretty loose. So keeping his footing was pretty tricky. Of course, his black and white vision in the total darkness wasn’t helping things. But he didn’t want Levy magically lighting their way. She would probably tip off whoever or whatever was down here.
“I don’t think it’s truly magic. My husband is a Mutant. So since he accepted as part of his pack, you share in his abilities. Which is probably a precursor to becoming a full wolf.”
“Yeah, I get all that, boss lady. But What I wanna know is how? I mean, he asked us to be part of his pack. We get these snazzy new tattoos, and then I can dent metal with my fist. How the hell does that work?”
Shaggy turned and grin at his wife. Her purple eyes stared daggers at him in the dark. He wisely turned back around and tried to choke down a chuckle. She had been the one to start answering Tom’s inane questions. Now she was scrambling for answers. How do you explain in-game mechanics to an NPC? Lots of gamers had tried to, but sometimes it was like talking to a wall. Most modern NPCs were programmed to ignore in-game systems. But outliers like Tom happened. But most ignored them and just gave excuses. His wife had brought on this headache herself.
“PHEROMONES!” Levy suddenly shouted.
Shaggy felt his pack mates jump slightly as Tom turned questioningly to Levy. She looked like she had solved a puzzle as she continued.
“His pheromones! Once you accepted his invitation, something in his pheromones must have marked you for future transformation. The longer you spend his presence, the stronger the connection gets, right?”
Shaggy had to stop and turn as his pack mates were now listening closely to his wife’s explanation. All three of them nodded in the dark, and Levy grinned. Her white the shinning in the dark.
“So his mutation must be preparing all of you for the change by inundating you with his scent. So the longer you stick with him, the easier the change will be.”
Rita and Vick nodded slowly. Taking his wife’s words at face value. But Tom was rubbing his chin and tilting his head, trying to parse everything out. Finally, he raised his head and stared at Levy.
“So… magic?”
Shaggy couldn’t help it. As Rita and Vick snorted and Levy’s face fell, he started moving again and cackled loud and long.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-”
That is until his foot hit empty air, he went tumbling end over end. His face slammed into dirt as he went spiraling down the new incline. Shaggy tried to reorient himself as he fell, but he couldn’t get his legs under him or get a grip on the walls. Even with his claws. They just sliced large gouges in the dirt as he continued grunting all the way down. Soon enough, Shaggy’s face slammed into a dirt floor for the last time and laid there trying to get his bearings back. Everything hurt, but it was slowly healing back to normal. That is, until something sharp and jagged pierced his arm.
“Ggagk-ka-tuth!” a small voice snarled as Shaggy bounced to his feet.
He was still woozy from the long ass tumble through the dirt tube, but he knew when he was under attack. His body jerked sideways on instinct, ripping the knife from his shoulder, and stood. He felt the displaced air as something whizzed by him. More angry chittering was followed by more flying weapons coming his way. A few even stabbed into him as he shuffled around, trying to dodge. Once his eyes stopped twirling, Shaggy could finally see that several small creatures were tossing wooden spears at him. The dark-metal tips of the spears gleamed in his vision as he finally could get out of the way.
He was about to charge the little buggers when they threw the last of their spears and scurried down a side tunnel. Shaggy got a look at long lizard-like tails on short, stubby bodies. He thought he recognized them from other fantasy type games, but with his head still swirling, he put that to the side. He needed to get his bearing.
Shaggy did a quick spin and took in the short room he was in. Aside from the circular slide-tunnel he had come through, there were several more. The kobold-looking things had scattered amongst the various dirt openings, and Shaggy didn’t want to follow. At least not without his party. He bent down and picked up a spear and looked it over.
It was fairly primitive. The black metal tip was held on by a tan colored rope and it wasn’t even buried in the spear's wooden shaft. It was like the little monsters had strapped a dagger to a stick with rope. He examined the cave as he waited. But soon his ears picked up the sound of grunting coming from a tunnel. Shaggy moved over to it and waited.
Soon Levy and Rita came tumbling out. Rita tried to stand on dizzy legs as his wife crawled away, calling his name.
“Shaggy!”
“I’m here, love! Quiet down and get your bearings. We aren’t alone.” Shaggy moved to help his wife away from the tunnel entrance as more grunting was coming.
Shaggy had gotten his wife to the cave wall when Tom and Vick slammed into Rita’s tipsy body. All three of them went down in a mass of limbs, and Shaggy saw Vick and Rita go for their weapons. Thankfully, whatever link they all shared recognized friendlies. Tom, however, was in no condition to attack anyone.
“BLEEEERGH!”
Poor guy was laying prone with his body supported by his elbows. He disgorged the contents of his stomach into the dirt and rolled away from it, wiping his mouth. Rita and Vick tried to collect themselves as they moved away from their pack member. Shaggy spun again, watching each of the entrances into the cave. He was waiting to see if any more critters showed up. But nothing happened.
“What’s down here, love?” Levy asked as she used the wall to help her stand.
“I think it’s Kobolds. Bunch of little lizard buggers with shitty spears and little armor.”
“That... hrgk! Doesn’t make sense, boss.” Rita said, covering her mouth.
Vick picked up the conversation as Rita got herself under control. “Yeah, the Fae creatures have to stay in their own realms. They can’t last long outside their own plane of existence.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the two older members of his pack. But Levy backed up their statements.
“They have a hard time keeping their corporeal forms in this realm. Unless they are called, that is. So if there is a kobold infestation, then it means some magic-users using them for grunt work or something. Which makes sense. Kobolds aren’t smart, but they can be extremely loyal to their master.”
Shaggy rubbed his sore shoulder where he was stabbed. “Don’t they usually serve a dragon?”
Shaggy couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Sure, most games lately had taken the high-fantasy route. But he and his wife had never actually tackled a dragon. They were usually saved for end-game content. But he bet they couldn’t take one in a Super Hero setting.
“Shaggy…” Levy said in a warning tone.
“What?”
“I know what you’re thinking and stop it. A dragon is a pain in the ass here, the same as it is in any other game. My magic would be useless and any healing you have wouldn’t stand up to a dragon’s breath attack. Besides, it’s probably some jumped-up sorcerer. Most of the magical community use goblins and other simple fae races as cheap labor. Give them space and… food and they’ll work for you.”
Shaggy rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm. How viable is that?”
“Boss, you replace me with a goblin and Imma shoot you on principle.” Vick said.
“Not for me!” Shaggy back-pedaled. “For Under-Town! We could give the grunt work to goblins or gnomes or something and focus on expanding.”
That seemed to mollify Vick as Levy patted Shaggy’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t work. Goblin and kobolds don’t really work well alongside humans. It would be like you working in a fast-food restaurant.”
“That went fine!” Shaggy grumbled as Rita and Vick snickered.
The pair of them got Tom to his feet as Levy snorted.
“No, it didn’t. You spent half your work day eating hamburgers!”
“I was a growing boy.”
Levy waved a hand at him dismissively. As she did, a purple flame grew from her fingers, bringing the dirt cave into greater relief. Shaggy had to blink as color returned to his vision. Levy muttered a few words under her breath and cast her arm out. The purple flame shot forward, colliding with the walls alongside the four exits to the room. Levy huffed.
“Well, that’s just unhelpful.”
“Tracking spell?” Shaggy guessed.
“Kind of. It’s meant to seek magic, but apparently there’s magic down every one of those tunnels.”
“Exciting. So we pick one and start searching?”
Levy raised an eyebrow at him as her purple flame died out against the dirt walls. “You realize that some species of kobold can dig intricate tunnels systems, right? Some that even rival ant colonies.”
“Well, we have the time. Why not search them all?”
Levy actually smacked the back of his head. “We don’t have the time. We both have to work in a few hours. Sure with the time-dilation it’s a little longer. But I would like to shower before work. Get this new-pod smell off me.”
“Oh, yeah…” Shaggy rubbed the back of his head, chagrined.
“What about their scents, boss? Can you track the little buggers?”
Shaggy grimaced, but he blew out a breath before he took a long one in through his nose. The smell of dirt and blood filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes and tried to filter out the smells. The smell of sweat and bile filled the room they were in, but Shaggy quickly cut those off as the smell of lizard pervaded from the tunnels. But like his wife’s spell, it was coming from all four exit tunnels and even the one they came down.
Shaggy tilted his head and tried to find fresher scents. The air was thick with crisscrossing blue-green trails heading every direction. He picked them apart in his mind, taking multiple sniffs. Shaggy let his feet guide along each trail to its tunnel, but when a brighter trail came up, he removed the old one and followed the newer scent. After what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, Shaggy found the newest scent trail and opened his eyes.
“Here.” Shaggy said, standing next to the tunnel entrance second from the left.
Levy smiled at him as Vick and Rita readied their weapons. Tom grabbed a few spears from the ground and stretched the fingers of his gloved hand. The claws on the glove bobbed slightly above Tom’s hand. Shaggy grew his on claws and started down the tunnel. Levy said something, but a sharp twang and a rough punch to Shaggy’s chest drowned it out.
Shaggy glanced downward and spotted a black-metal knife sticking out of his chest. Growling, he ripped it out and tossed it aside. As he did, he noticed the bent, flexible bit of slim wood hovering at chest height. The bit of wood had been buried along the dirt wall and sprang out when Shaggy stepped into the tunnel. Sending the knife into his chest.
“Traps.” Shaggy said lamely.
Levy covered a chuckle. “Yes, love. Kobolds trap their homes. Also, any good magic-user would also cast various spells in their Lair to deter invaders. So, you know, be extra cautious.”
Shaggy gave his wife an incredulous look as he ignored the mental snorts Vick and Rita gave him down the pack link. He was many things. Cautious was not one of them. Levy shook her head and formed several hand signs. Once the rapid hand motions were complete, she threw her hands forward and a purple pulse went down the tunnel. Shaggy grinned happily as he stepped forward. But Levy gripped his shoulder hard.
“That will just light up the magical traps. Not disarm them. Also, if they are more powerful than I am, then the spell won’t work at all. So be careful.”
Shaggy nodded and smiled up at his wife. “It’ll be fine. What kind of traps can a bunch of tiny lizard build? Besides, with my healing, I’ll be fine.”
Rita sucked in a breath as Levy shook her head.
“I believe that’s called: Asking for it, boss.” Vick said.
“Yeah. But I mean, how does it work?”
“It sounds like some kind of emphatic link tying all of you together. I mean, you share his strength, speed, healing, and even his dark vision, apparently.”
Tom nodded in the dark. “So… magic?”
Rita and Vick groaned audibly as Levy smiled at the shorter man. Shaggy just snorted and kept leading the way down the tunnel. It was at a steep angle and the dirt was pretty loose. So keeping his footing was pretty tricky. Of course, his black and white vision in the total darkness wasn’t helping things. But he didn’t want Levy magically lighting their way. She would probably tip off whoever or whatever was down here.
“I don’t think it’s truly magic. My husband is a Mutant. So since he accepted as part of his pack, you share in his abilities. Which is probably a precursor to becoming a full wolf.”
“Yeah, I get all that, boss lady. But What I wanna know is how? I mean, he asked us to be part of his pack. We get these snazzy new tattoos, and then I can dent metal with my fist. How the hell does that work?”
Shaggy turned and grin at his wife. Her purple eyes stared daggers at him in the dark. He wisely turned back around and tried to choke down a chuckle. She had been the one to start answering Tom’s inane questions. Now she was scrambling for answers. How do you explain in-game mechanics to an NPC? Lots of gamers had tried to, but sometimes it was like talking to a wall. Most modern NPCs were programmed to ignore in-game systems. But outliers like Tom happened. But most ignored them and just gave excuses. His wife had brought on this headache herself.
“PHEROMONES!” Levy suddenly shouted.
Shaggy felt his pack mates jump slightly as Tom turned questioningly to Levy. She looked like she had solved a puzzle as she continued.
“His pheromones! Once you accepted his invitation, something in his pheromones must have marked you for future transformation. The longer you spend his presence, the stronger the connection gets, right?”
Shaggy had to stop and turn as his pack mates were now listening closely to his wife’s explanation. All three of them nodded in the dark, and Levy grinned. Her white the shinning in the dark.
“So his mutation must be preparing all of you for the change by inundating you with his scent. So the longer you stick with him, the easier the change will be.”
Rita and Vick nodded slowly. Taking his wife’s words at face value. But Tom was rubbing his chin and tilting his head, trying to parse everything out. Finally, he raised his head and stared at Levy.
“So… magic?”
Shaggy couldn’t help it. As Rita and Vick snorted and Levy’s face fell, he started moving again and cackled loud and long.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-”
That is until his foot hit empty air, he went tumbling end over end. His face slammed into dirt as he went spiraling down the new incline. Shaggy tried to reorient himself as he fell, but he couldn’t get his legs under him or get a grip on the walls. Even with his claws. They just sliced large gouges in the dirt as he continued grunting all the way down. Soon enough, Shaggy’s face slammed into a dirt floor for the last time and laid there trying to get his bearings back. Everything hurt, but it was slowly healing back to normal. That is, until something sharp and jagged pierced his arm.
“Ggagk-ka-tuth!” a small voice snarled as Shaggy bounced to his feet.
He was still woozy from the long ass tumble through the dirt tube, but he knew when he was under attack. His body jerked sideways on instinct, ripping the knife from his shoulder, and stood. He felt the displaced air as something whizzed by him. More angry chittering was followed by more flying weapons coming his way. A few even stabbed into him as he shuffled around, trying to dodge. Once his eyes stopped twirling, Shaggy could finally see that several small creatures were tossing wooden spears at him. The dark-metal tips of the spears gleamed in his vision as he finally could get out of the way.
He was about to charge the little buggers when they threw the last of their spears and scurried down a side tunnel. Shaggy got a look at long lizard-like tails on short, stubby bodies. He thought he recognized them from other fantasy type games, but with his head still swirling, he put that to the side. He needed to get his bearing.
Shaggy did a quick spin and took in the short room he was in. Aside from the circular slide-tunnel he had come through, there were several more. The kobold-looking things had scattered amongst the various dirt openings, and Shaggy didn’t want to follow. At least not without his party. He bent down and picked up a spear and looked it over.
It was fairly primitive. The black metal tip was held on by a tan colored rope and it wasn’t even buried in the spear's wooden shaft. It was like the little monsters had strapped a dagger to a stick with rope. He examined the cave as he waited. But soon his ears picked up the sound of grunting coming from a tunnel. Shaggy moved over to it and waited.
Soon Levy and Rita came tumbling out. Rita tried to stand on dizzy legs as his wife crawled away, calling his name.
“Shaggy!”
“I’m here, love! Quiet down and get your bearings. We aren’t alone.” Shaggy moved to help his wife away from the tunnel entrance as more grunting was coming.
Shaggy had gotten his wife to the cave wall when Tom and Vick slammed into Rita’s tipsy body. All three of them went down in a mass of limbs, and Shaggy saw Vick and Rita go for their weapons. Thankfully, whatever link they all shared recognized friendlies. Tom, however, was in no condition to attack anyone.
“BLEEEERGH!”
Poor guy was laying prone with his body supported by his elbows. He disgorged the contents of his stomach into the dirt and rolled away from it, wiping his mouth. Rita and Vick tried to collect themselves as they moved away from their pack member. Shaggy spun again, watching each of the entrances into the cave. He was waiting to see if any more critters showed up. But nothing happened.
“What’s down here, love?” Levy asked as she used the wall to help her stand.
“I think it’s Kobolds. Bunch of little lizard buggers with shitty spears and little armor.”
“That... hrgk! Doesn’t make sense, boss.” Rita said, covering her mouth.
Vick picked up the conversation as Rita got herself under control. “Yeah, the Fae creatures have to stay in their own realms. They can’t last long outside their own plane of existence.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the two older members of his pack. But Levy backed up their statements.
“They have a hard time keeping their corporeal forms in this realm. Unless they are called, that is. So if there is a kobold infestation, then it means some magic-users using them for grunt work or something. Which makes sense. Kobolds aren’t smart, but they can be extremely loyal to their master.”
Shaggy rubbed his sore shoulder where he was stabbed. “Don’t they usually serve a dragon?”
Shaggy couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Sure, most games lately had taken the high-fantasy route. But he and his wife had never actually tackled a dragon. They were usually saved for end-game content. But he bet they couldn’t take one in a Super Hero setting.
“Shaggy…” Levy said in a warning tone.
“What?”
“I know what you’re thinking and stop it. A dragon is a pain in the ass here, the same as it is in any other game. My magic would be useless and any healing you have wouldn’t stand up to a dragon’s breath attack. Besides, it’s probably some jumped-up sorcerer. Most of the magical community use goblins and other simple fae races as cheap labor. Give them space and… food and they’ll work for you.”
Shaggy rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm. How viable is that?”
“Boss, you replace me with a goblin and Imma shoot you on principle.” Vick said.
“Not for me!” Shaggy back-pedaled. “For Under-Town! We could give the grunt work to goblins or gnomes or something and focus on expanding.”
That seemed to mollify Vick as Levy patted Shaggy’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t work. Goblin and kobolds don’t really work well alongside humans. It would be like you working in a fast-food restaurant.”
“That went fine!” Shaggy grumbled as Rita and Vick snickered.
The pair of them got Tom to his feet as Levy snorted.
“No, it didn’t. You spent half your work day eating hamburgers!”
“I was a growing boy.”
Levy waved a hand at him dismissively. As she did, a purple flame grew from her fingers, bringing the dirt cave into greater relief. Shaggy had to blink as color returned to his vision. Levy muttered a few words under her breath and cast her arm out. The purple flame shot forward, colliding with the walls alongside the four exits to the room. Levy huffed.
“Well, that’s just unhelpful.”
“Tracking spell?” Shaggy guessed.
“Kind of. It’s meant to seek magic, but apparently there’s magic down every one of those tunnels.”
“Exciting. So we pick one and start searching?”
Levy raised an eyebrow at him as her purple flame died out against the dirt walls. “You realize that some species of kobold can dig intricate tunnels systems, right? Some that even rival ant colonies.”
“Well, we have the time. Why not search them all?”
Levy actually smacked the back of his head. “We don’t have the time. We both have to work in a few hours. Sure with the time-dilation it’s a little longer. But I would like to shower before work. Get this new-pod smell off me.”
“Oh, yeah…” Shaggy rubbed the back of his head, chagrined.
“What about their scents, boss? Can you track the little buggers?”
Shaggy grimaced, but he blew out a breath before he took a long one in through his nose. The smell of dirt and blood filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes and tried to filter out the smells. The smell of sweat and bile filled the room they were in, but Shaggy quickly cut those off as the smell of lizard pervaded from the tunnels. But like his wife’s spell, it was coming from all four exit tunnels and even the one they came down.
Shaggy tilted his head and tried to find fresher scents. The air was thick with crisscrossing blue-green trails heading every direction. He picked them apart in his mind, taking multiple sniffs. Shaggy let his feet guide along each trail to its tunnel, but when a brighter trail came up, he removed the old one and followed the newer scent. After what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, Shaggy found the newest scent trail and opened his eyes.
“Here.” Shaggy said, standing next to the tunnel entrance second from the left.
Levy smiled at him as Vick and Rita readied their weapons. Tom grabbed a few spears from the ground and stretched the fingers of his gloved hand. The claws on the glove bobbed slightly above Tom’s hand. Shaggy grew his on claws and started down the tunnel. Levy said something, but a sharp twang and a rough punch to Shaggy’s chest drowned it out.
Shaggy glanced downward and spotted a black-metal knife sticking out of his chest. Growling, he ripped it out and tossed it aside. As he did, he noticed the bent, flexible bit of slim wood hovering at chest height. The bit of wood had been buried along the dirt wall and sprang out when Shaggy stepped into the tunnel. Sending the knife into his chest.
“Traps.” Shaggy said lamely.
Levy covered a chuckle. “Yes, love. Kobolds trap their homes. Also, any good magic-user would also cast various spells in their Lair to deter invaders. So, you know, be extra cautious.”
Shaggy gave his wife an incredulous look as he ignored the mental snorts Vick and Rita gave him down the pack link. He was many things. Cautious was not one of them. Levy shook her head and formed several hand signs. Once the rapid hand motions were complete, she threw her hands forward and a purple pulse went down the tunnel. Shaggy grinned happily as he stepped forward. But Levy gripped his shoulder hard.
“That will just light up the magical traps. Not disarm them. Also, if they are more powerful than I am, then the spell won’t work at all. So be careful.”
Shaggy nodded and smiled up at his wife. “It’ll be fine. What kind of traps can a bunch of tiny lizard build? Besides, with my healing, I’ll be fine.”
Rita sucked in a breath as Levy shook her head.
“I believe that’s called: Asking for it, boss.” Vick said.
