Marcus was currently building a simple shelter. He used his little hand axe to cut some low hanging branches, then laid them across roots of a large tree that were sticking out of the ground. The roots were about waist high on Marcus, he would later discover they were called buttress roots. They would occur mainly in nutrient poor soil, or when the root system of the tree was shallow. This provided him with a perfect place to build shelter for the night.
After weaving some tall grasses in between the branches, his ceiling was complete. If anyone was there to see it, they would laugh at how it looked. It was definitely amateurish, it barely held together, with large gaps. He tried to fill the gaps with the tree's large leaves, hoping that if it did rain that it would be enough. Thinking that it was good enough, he turned his attention to the rabbit that was roasting over his campfire.
He managed to kill a rabbit while cutting the branches for his shelter. It was completely an accident, he was chopping away at a particularly large branch. The noise he generated scared a rabbit out of hiding, at the same time the rabbit took off, the branch broke free. It came crashing down, right on top of the escaping rabbit, breaking its back. Marcus ended its suffering with his axe, and thus dinner had found Marcus.
Sitting on a protruding root, he took the rabbit from over the fire. It was still sizzling, what little fat the rabbit had was dripping from the meat. A slightly charred smell wafted into his nose, he had cooked it just a little too long, burning the thinner parts. He took a bite, grease getting trapped by his beard, and enjoyed the gamey flavor.
After finishing the rabbit, he went over his supplies, he would be tackling the nest early in the morning. He was only about an hour's walk from the ruins. He had gotten a hand drawn, rough looking map from the Association president. It just showed the landmarks in relation to the ruins, it actually took him a better part of a day to find it. Whoever had drawn the map didn't put any distance markers between the landmarks.
Before he had left the city, he went on a shopping spree. After everything involving his mission escorting the merchants, the bonus, and the winnings he got from the scammer, he had a little over seven gold coins to spend. The first thing he did was upgrade the head of his hammer to steel. He paid three gold coins for the materials and the forging, he even paid an extra twenty silvers to have the bear carving applied to the new head. He had the carver make it look more like a forest bear, to remind him of his first kill with the hammer.
Then he paid an armorer two gold coins to add steel plates to his leather armor. This added a substantial amount of weight, but Marcus couldn't tell the difference. He had made sure to dull the luster of the metal, he didn't want to be a shiny beacon. The steel was about a quarter of an inch thick, much thicker than typical armor plates. The armorer questioned Marcus many times, making sure that he understood that the armor would weigh upwards of three hundred pounds. Marcus of course reassured him that that was what he wanted, all the armorer could do was shake his head and continue working.
Clair had given him two more high quality health potions, even against Marcus's wishes. He tried to convince her that she didn't need to gift those to him, he could pay for them with his own money. She was very adamant about it though, finally Marcus gave in and took them. The potions were worth at least one gold coin a piece, so they were very extravagant gifts.
Finally, he managed to find an enchanted items store. There were not very many in the city, not only were enchanted items rare, they had the price tag to go with them. Marcus paid ten silvers to have the amulet that he had gotten from the magician he killed, appraised. It turned out that the amulet was a tool that allowed you to see better in the dark. While wearing it, all you had to do is say the words of power, per visionem nocte, then the amulet would activate. The magician most likely had it for any night missions that they did.
It was only worth about three gold coins, it was one of the most commonly enchanted items, used a lot by mages and mercenaries alike. Marcus decided to keep it, although he had already bought some flammable jelly used to make torches. The jelly had cost ten silvers, so he was hurt a little about the unnecessary spending, but he was sure he could use it for something.
He had bought other odds and ends as well, more jerky, another rope, more oil for his weapon and armor. He was well prepared for anything, at least he hoped he was. He would find out tomorrow morning, when he dove into the ruins. It was getting dark out, so he decided to rest. He wasn't worried about wild animals, if they did happen to stumble upon his camp, he was sure they would be no match for his new steel warhammer.
......................
"Forgive me sir, I failed you." The plain man said, bowing once again on the polished hardwood floor.
"You failed, in what?"
"The man you commanded dead, he's still alive. I failed you." The man said with undertones of warriness.
"How is that possible? You told me he was poisoned, that he had no chance of survival. Are you telling me that you deceived me?" The silver haired man said, anger raising in his voice.
"No, he was poisoned, but he somehow survived. He was seen making several stops at shops and smithies. There is no question, he still breaths." The man paused, waiting for a reply.
The silver haired man took a deep breath and thought for a moment.
"I'm not an unagreeable man, I believe that there was no way that you could have expected him to survive, if what you said was true. That being said, I do not like having loose ends. Fix this mistake and you will be forgiven, but remember, you only have one more chance. Do you understand?"
"Thank you sir Allister. May I request a budget for dealing with my mistake?"
"You may have fifty gold to use as you see fit for dealing with your failings, that is all."
The plain man nodded his head and stood to leave. As he approached the door, Sir Allister spoke again.
"And remember, Ackley, this is your last chance. Failing twice in a row is unforgivable."
Not saying anything, the plain man exited the room. He had to make sure that he didn't fail this time, if he did it would be his body that the guards would find in a ditch. He would have to hire someone professional to deal with the man named Marcus. He somehow miraculously survived the poisons, how he did not know, so now it was time for a different approach.
.........................
Marcus was standing before the ruins that were indicated on the map that he had. The map indicated that the ruins were next to a small mountain in the shape of a dragon's tooth. He thought that the description was a little embellished, the mountain just looked like a particularly thin and pointy mountain top, but it was up to the cartographer he quessed.
The ruins were barely visible beneath the vegetation that had overgrown it. A few stone pillars were sticking out of the ground, vines growing up on them. It looked like a temple that had slowly sunk into the earth. Stone steps that used to lead up into the structure now lead into nothingness, the temple long ago being swallowed. Marcus was a little worried about the stability of the structure. The outer part of the temple had long past fallen, he didn't know what the lower level looked like.
He couldn't see a way down into the ruins, thick growth covered most of it, hiding any entrances. He poked around slowly with the end of his warhammer, hoping to find a way down. He listened carefully for any sounds that might give him any hints to what he was looking for. The sky was starting to brighten up as the dawn was giving way to day. Birds were chirping, the insects buzzing. Life was beginning to awaken in the forest.
Marcus was beginning to get a little frustrated. He wasn't told how the original explorer had gotten down into the ruins, that would have been very useful information to have. He'd been looking around for about an hour, his patience thinning. He sat down on a filth covered stone, wiping a few decaying leaves off the top before taking a seat. He took off his pack and set it beside him, he was going to take a little break and decide on where to poke around next.
Setting his warhammer across his knees, he took in his surroundings. He watched as a large beetle made its way over some vines in front of him. It looked like a Japanese beetle, with a shiny carapace reflecting light into a myriad of colors. Except it was much larger, maybe six inches long and two wide. Strong pincers adorned its black face, two compound eyes watching the path in front of it.
The beetle walked over the edge of the vine, becoming upside down as it walked along into the darkness beneath. The vines were covering a hole that he hadn't noticed before. There was a small gap in the vines, only big enough for a small man to wriggle his way into. Leaning forward to take a closer look, Marcus repeated the words of power to activate his amulet, "per visionem nocte".
Looking into the gap with his enhanced vision, Marcus quickly recoiled as a large, black snake struck out at him. He had managed to lift the handle of his warhammer so that the snake wrapped its many teeth around the handle. As the snake slithered the rest of its body out of the hole still attached to the handle, Marcus took a couple steps back.
The snake let go of the handle, realizing it hadn't bit anything edible. It watched Marcus, Marcus did the same, waiting for the other to strike first. The snake was about fifteen feet long, and as big around as Marcus's thigh, not a full grown mountain serpent, most likely half grown. It was still big enough to swallow a man whole though, if you let it.
The snake coiled its body, preparing to strike. Marcus lifted his warhammer in preparation, waiting for just the right moment. The snake shot forward, fast like a loaded spring suddenly free from restraint. Marcus was caught off guard by just how fast it was, swinging his warhammer, aiming for the snake's head, he missed.
The place he aimed for where the snake was, was nothing but empty air by the time the hammer passed by. The snake had lightning quick reflexes and had dodged the lethal blow. It bit onto Marcus's right shoulder as it was exposed after the failed strike, and hurriedly began to coil its body around him. Marcus could feel the snake's steel like scales, covering pure muscle, against his skin. The scales were cool to the touch, almost pleasantly so, the snake must have been cold from being inside the nest, underground in the cool depths.
He couldn't imagine how fast the snake would be if it wasn't slowed by the cold. Although the snake's head was big enough to fit his shoulder completely in its mouth, none of its teeth could penetrate the steel plates of his armor. From his chest to his knees, the snake was wound around him, not a gap could be seen.
The snake, assured of its next meal, began to constrict. Squeezing its powerful muscles, wanting to crush Marcus to death. Marcus on the other hand was somewhat enjoying the sensation, to him it felt like a cool weighted blanket was draped across his body. As the snake squeezed harder, Marcus's back popped, and a relief he didn't know he wanted washed over his body.
"Thanks for that! That felt great, hadn't had my back popped in forever." Marcus said with a smirk.
He'd played around long enough with his new masseuse. Taking in a deep breath, which should have been impossible for anyone else in that situation, he wormed his left arm free from the coils of the snake. Feeling its prey still breathing, the snake naturally constricted even harder, this made no difference to Marcus, it only felt like a little more weight was added to the blanket.
Reaching across his and the snake's body, he grasped the snake's head that was latched to his shoulder. The irony of what was about to happen didn't escape him, the snake was going to be killed how it was trying to kill Marcus, by crushing. In a quick motion, he closed his hand. He was only able to wrap his fingers over top of its head, but that was enough. With its skull crushed, blood coming out of the slits for its ears, it lost all strength in its body.
Sloughing off the limp coils, the snake's body hit the ground. Kicking around the snake with his foot, Marcus extricated himself. Then he dragged the body a little bit away from the opening it had come from. Pulling the hand axe out of his pack, he started to clear the vines away from the entrance into the ruins. Once the hole was big enough, he stuck his head into the orifice.
Even with the power from the amulet, he couldn't see the bottom. He took some of the flammable jelly, coated the end of a stick he had found, lit it and dropped it down the hole. After ten seconds, the torch hit the damp floor of the ruins. The fire flickered, then was extinguished by the moisture. He judged that it was about sixty to seventy feet down, just barely out of reach for his ropes. He had to wonder how the snake had managed to climb up the shaft. It was a mystery that would go unsolved.
If he used all his rope it would reach sixty feet, being unable to think of any other way in, and not wanting to go back to the city for more rope, he decided to just go down as far as he could and jump the rest of the way down. As far as getting back up, he would cross that bridge when he got there, surely he could find something to climb on once he was down there.
Tying the rope securely around the stone he was sitting on before, he began his descent. He had emptied his pack, only keeping some food and other essentials. He didn't have anything else to carry any loot that he might find in the ruins. He threw the empty pack down the shaft first, then he followed down the rope. Even without his pack, with his armor and warhammer, the load on the rope was not small. It groaned as Marcus lowered himself, hand over hand, down into the darkness.