'That's enough. That's enough.' The dragon said as it lay down. It sighed and said, 'To think such tiny shoulders carry such a future.' With that the dragon dissolved away, leaving the parchment and mana gem.
The two casters went over to pick it up and Harley asked, "What's vacuum mean Mr. Evren?"
"It's a lack of air. If you were in a vacuum, it'd be like you couldn't breathe. It'd be good for putting out fires, or against something that couldn't move. I think it'll be useless against the dracoliches though." He replied.
There was still time left in the day, but they had decided to head up to Anbuton to rest for the day. When they arrived, many of the town's residents were surprised at their quick return but welcomed them back all the same. They split up to rest for the night and met up again in the morning by the teleport glyph to head down to the 141st floor.
They arrived outside the door and Evren made sure everyone was ready and pushed the door open. Inside was a pile of bones that covered a large area in the center of the room. As they approached, nothing happened. Evren walked up to the pile of bones and kicked one of the bones. Within the pile was a glowing sphere of a pale blue color. Evren looked back at the others a couple of them shrugged. Evren poured magic into his sword and slashed at the sphere, cutting it in half.
What appeared on the floor looked like a business suit. It consisted of a black silk jacket, a white shirt, and black pants. There were shoes instead of boots and a black cape that could be worn on the outside of the ensemble. As Evren picked up the pieces a black cravat fell to the ground. He turned back to the others and said, "Uhh, anyone want this?"
Harley said, "Why don't you keep it, Evren? I think you'd look good in it." Evren shrugged and put it into his backpack. He reached down and picked up the black mana gem and put that in his backpack as well. Together they moved onto the next room, and it was the same scenario, this time a set of hard leather gear dropped. The four rooms after were the same, no fight, no conversation and some armor dropping. Scarletite chain, scale, banded and plate armor.
On the 147th floor, when they opened the door, there stood the skeleton of a dragon. It turned its head towards them, its eyes a sickly shade of green. Before anyone could do anything, it roared, spreading its wings out and bringing its face down towards them. "Looks like a fight" Evren said as he charged forward. Since he had gotten the shield and after seeing its performance with the drakes, Evren had taken up the position of shielder for the group. He stood front and center and attracted the attention of the dragon while everyone else surrounded the dragon to cause damage to it. With Evren's sensory field, he could tell what everyone was doing and could give everyone directions when needed.
Harley and Fletcher started attacking the chest of the dracolich, to break a hole in the rib cage. Walter did the same from up close, avoiding the tail and legs. They had decided that Isobel's attacks would be less useful during the fights against the dracoliches, so they gave her Fletcher's old bow to help with the damage from the rear. They all focused on the same spot, using magic when they could to try to increase the damage.
Evren side stepped to get the dragon facing away from the others. He had cut up the skull of the dracolich considerably and fully had its attention. If it swiped its claws at him, he could stop the swing by bracing himself, and if the dragon tried to bite at him, he'd step forward and to the side, pushing the head away.
The dracolich pulled its head back, a swirl of magic and flames appeared in its chest. Evren stepped to the side, further away from the others and set his feet as the dragon's breath came towards him, Evren poured magic into his shield and enveloped himself. When the breath was finished, Evren's shield was steaming and he came out swinging, taking one of the fangs of the dracolich off in the process.
As the dracolich was now facing away from the ranged attackers, the occasional arrow would strike the magical core of the dracolich. They didn't shatter it, but small chips and dings could be seen on its smooth surface.
Harley called out 'explosion' and Walter covered himself with a 'shield.' The explosion hit the ribs where they had been doing damage to it, shattering two of them in the process. The dracolich faltered, and Evren used that opportunity to use his shield to bash the face of the dracolich to keep it focused on him. The dracolich roared at Evren and using that opportunity, Evren cut off another fang.
Walter stabbed in with his sword as he poured magic into it and once the tip entered the core, he chanted 'cut' slicing the core in half. The bones all collapsed on the floor before dissolving. What was left on the floor was a white robe which seemed to sparkle in the light. Evren held it up to Harley and asked if she wanted it.
"Oooohhh, that's pretty. Can I really have it Mr. Evren?" she asked.
"Yes, Harley. It's all yours." Evren said as he handed it to her.
With a small applaud and a 'yay!' Harley took the robe and slid it on. She turned in place and said, "How do I look? Do I look like a magician? OH! Wait! 'Flame.'" She held the flame in her hand and made a pose. Isobel clapped and everyone complimented on how she looked.
Once they had calmed down, they moved on to the next floor. They pushed the door open and made their way inside. The dracolich was standing in the center of the room staring at them. It didn't make a move, neither did they. After a few tense moments a low rumbling occurred from the dracolich with a voice full of contempt following.
'Humans. To think that you would be our savior. For you, I must die? Don't be ridiculous.' The dracolich looked away and scoffed. After a few tense moments, the dracolich sighed, 'The humans on the southern continent can be saved. Pull back the goddess's puppets and the remaining soldiers of that country won't be strong enough to continue their campaign. The ones elsewhere, if you wish them to live, and I don't understand why you would want that, you must pull them back before setting them free. Otherwise, they would be a body without a mind.'
'I've said my piece, humans. Now, die!' It started to charge at them, Harley cast 'explosion' at the dracolich's skull, causing it to falter. Evren cast 'permafrost' on it, freezing the bones solid, but only slowing the monster down. Isobel and Fletcher sent arrows at its chest with 'discharge' on it, detonating them at the same time, causing the left side of the dracolich to crumble. Walter followed up with a slash to the core, slicing it and causing it to shatter. A voice could be heard screaming 'No' as the body of the dracolich dissolved.
A suit of chain armor appeared made out of adamantium along with the black mana gem and put both inside his backpack. The team checked their equipment and moved on to the next floor. Upon opening the door, the dracolich was there. It's face almost coming out through the doorway. With a voice that sounded like a hiss with an echo, it said, 'Inside quickly! You mustn't be seen!'
Evren looked to the others and stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind them. After the door was closed, the dracolich put its head up to the door, as if to hear if anything was on the other side. Once it was satisfied that it heard nothing outside of the door, the dracolich moved quietly towards the center of the room, the voice said, 'Come we must talk.'
When it reached the center of the room, it turned around and laid down on the floor so it's face was closer to the group. 'The goddess knows! She knows! She doesn't have an oracle to hear her words anymore. Hasn't since the campaign started. So, she tells the man in his dreams. Danger is coming. Danger is coming.' Suddenly the dracolich's head lifts up and looks around the room.
''Your head they will take,' she says, 'You must beware the group of seven.' The dreams! The nightmares! They make him afraid. Paranoid. Soon he will send puppets here. Here. Here, where? Not to the dungeon. No, the dungeon is safe. To the capital. The seven must avoid the capital. No, the seven begin in the capital. That is why he sends the puppets here. To stop the seven.'
'There is time to get to the capital. No, is there time? Across the sea he must send them, to the capital they will go. To the capital you must go. There, find the two who will join. One man, one woman. One of each, to keep the balance. Both good and bad. Both right and wrong. Both safe and in danger. To the capital you must go.' The dracolich looks around again and then covers its head. 'I've said too much! I've said too much! Come! Take the core. Silence me forever.' The dracolich grabs its ribs with one claw and tears them apart, exposing the core.
Evren put magic into his sword and slashed at the core, slicing it in two. The voice let out a sigh as the dracolich crumbled and dissolved into nothing. Laying on the floor was a set of adamantium banded armor, a design that they had never seen before. It covered the body completely and even had a demonic mask to cover the face.
Evren shrugged and put the armor into his backpack along with the black mana gem. Evren stood and started heading towards the door at the back. "Well, that gives us a lot to think about. It seems there's two more to enter our group that we meet in the capital."
Isobel spoke up, "I wonder if it is the same two that the dragons said we would meet with that would guide us."
Fletcher said, "Well, if one of them is good the other bad, that might explain why it said hanging from a tree. At least I think that's what it said. That whole rhyming stuff confused me."
Isobel laughed and poked fletcher in the ribs, "Then maybe you should read more poetry so you can understand it better."
Fletcher held his ribs and said, "Hey!"
Walter said, "If you two are done flirting, we've got one more dracolich before the lich."
When the group moved down to the 150th floor and opened the door, they saw the skeleton of a dragon lying in the center of the room in pieces.
Evren said, "This reminds me of the first dracolich."
At that moment, a wind began to pick up and blow around the room. At the center of the room, the bones begin to spin in the cyclone of air. Slowly the pieces begin to merge together inside and form the dracolich. As the wind died down, the dracolich fell to the ground with a loud crash. It was facing slightly to the side when it did, and it turned its body toward the group.
The low rumble was enough to feel deep into the soul. The voice that accompanied the rumble resonated with power. 'Cool entrance, wasn't it?!'
Evren blinked. He turned to look at Walter, who also turned to look at Evren, and they both shrugged.
'Oh, come on! You've got to have thought that was pretty cool.' The voice said.
Evren nodded and said, "Oh sure! Yeah, that was 'cool.'" He turned around to look at the others while nodding and they chipped in, agreeing with Evren on how cool it was.
'That's better. Anywho, I'm supposed to give some prophesy, but I'm not going to. I think it'd be much more fun for you all if you discover things on your own. Sometimes when you're told what's going to happen, your expectations betray you. So, I'm going to say for everything that's been said before, take it with a grain of salt. Listen to it, or not. That's up to you. It'll be fun either way.'
The dracolich then tilted its head down towards its chest and stayed that way for a while. 'I guess it's the privilege of the dragons to be able to end their own lives. You'll have to do it for me.' It said as it raised its head back up and shrugged. 'Come on then. Stab.'
Since the dracolich didn't open up its chest like the previous one did, it was difficult to reach, so Evren pulled out one of his spears and used that to crush the core. After the dragon dissolved, an adamantium full plate armor appeared along with a black mana gem. Evren needed help to get all of the armor into the bag as some of the pieces wouldn't fit without a little adjustment.
They then headed to the 151st level and stood outside the door for a while. Evren said, "Well, I don't know what's going to happen in there. Be on your toes." The others nodded and Evren pushed open the door.