RAVEN'S GAMBIT | Part 41: The Price of Vigilance
Tessa moved with practiced care, leading her companions single file through the narrow crawlspace. Each movement was deliberate, her sharp eyes scanning the cramped tunnel for traps or hidden passages. Her fingers grazed a seam overhead, and she halted. A hidden plug. She tapped the tunnel wall and whispered behind her, “There’s something above us. A plug, maybe an exit. Sir Cedric, you’ll suffocate in that tin can if we don’t get you out of this crawl soon.”
Sir Cedric, armor-clad and groaning with the effort of crawling, muttered, “I’d praise the heavens if this leads to anywhere I can stand.”
One by one, they climbed out of the cramped tunnel into a bare chamber. It was quiet, almost unnervingly so. In the center of the room were three ornate chests—one gold, one silver, and one oak reinforced with bronze bands.
Sir Cedric stretched and cracked his back. The movement echoed louder than expected.
“You should probably take that s**t off,” Theron said dryly.
Sir Cedric turned, brow raised. “My armor has saved more lives than your attitude ever will.”
Theron grinned. “And I’m sure the next trap will thank you for the warning.”
Back in the corridor, the eight efreeti stalked forward, having finally cleared the rubble from the false entrance. Their heavy steps echoed ominously as they approached a new doorway.
“There’s been movement here,” Sulkar the Ash-Hunter muttered, noting the dust disturbed by bootprints. “They’ve been this way.”
The lead efreeti, Zahur the Flame-Sworn, nodded. “Prepare yourselves.”
The moment they opened the door, a grotesque, horned figure lunged from the darkness—a four-armed, winged gargoyle with glistening stone skin and a gem-studded collar. Its shriek split the air.
The efreeti paused, momentarily surprised.
Velharr the Smokecaller smirked. “That’s one ugly statue.”
“Maybe it just wants a hug,” Rashoon of the Searing Grasp muttered, readying a spell.
Kazem the Flame-Tongue laughed. “Let’s not keep it waiting.”
The gargoyle rushed forward, but its charge went wide and it skidded, nearly tripping on its own talons. Four efreeti surrounded it—Zahur, Ifraka the Ember-Skinned, Sulkar, and Nadarus the Cinderfist—trading blows with the monstrous guardian.
Zahur’s flaming falchion bit into stone, sparks and embers lighting the room. The others slammed into it, doing some damage, but the gargoyle’s thick hide shrugged off much of their assault.
Velharr waited for an opening while Kazem began to sing a deep, warlike chant to bolster his comrades. Rashoon hurled scorching rays, one striking true but to little effect—the stone beast barely noticed.
The gargoyle retaliated with a savage fury. Its claws ripped into all four efreeti who stood before it. Zahur held the line, his expression grim. Sulkar was caught by a brutal bite and horned gore. He staggered.
Zayid the Brand-Bearer surged forward, replacing Sulkar in the circle. His vicious falchion—branded with the sigil of Keraptis—bit deep. The gargoyle roared.
“This thing fights like a demon,” Ifraka grunted, his arm bleeding from a claw swipe.
“You would know,” Velharr joked, moving in to strike.
Rashoon continued to cast, but his spells failed to penetrate the beast’s stony defenses. Zayid took another hit and fell, dying with his blade still lodged in the creature.
With fury burning in his eyes, Zahur pressed the attack, unleashing a final, brutal flurry that chipped and shattered the creature’s stone hide. With a final roar, the gargoyle collapsed.
Zahur turned on his surviving warriors.
“They ran. Ifraka and Nadarus—Plane Shifted out like cowards.”
Velharr said nothing, stepping back with a glance at the bloodied ground. Kazem stopped his song.
“I want those cowards disciplined,” Zahur growled, pointing his falchion at the exit. “Now.”
Velharr and Rashoon joined him. They Plane Shifted together, vanishing in a swirl of heat and smoke, leaving behind the corpses of a stone beast and a fallen brother, intent on retribution and licking their wounds.