RAVEN'S GAMBIT | Part 23: The Crushing Depths
Thirty-one remained.
That number had become a chant in Raven’s mind as he sat perched atop the Citadel, black eyes watching from a perch between this world and others. Thirty-one sparks of defiance.
Thirty-one torches resisting the darkness of White Plume Mountain. And now, as the heat rose and steam hissed, even that fragile number was about to diminish.
The surviving heroes licked their wounds, gathered what treasure they could, and turned north—away from the death-strewn chamber where a werewolf's blood now painted the walls. The eastern door was left behind, and with it, the ghosts of Lira, Whisper, Talia, and the others.
They followed the hall until it was blocked by an imposing iron door, thick as a bank vault.
Hachiro Noboru tested it first. It didn’t budge.
“This is going to take some effort,” he said evenly.
Thog Skullsplitter stepped up beside him. “Let’s try together.”
With a groan of old hinges and stubborn metal, they forced it open.
Ten feet beyond: another iron door.
They opened that one. A third followed.
The third opened to a corridor of rising heat, like the breath of a buried furnace.
They pressed forward and found themselves in a surreal space: a domed chamber, glowing with flickering light. The walls weren’t stone. They were water. Living water. Arched above, shimmering and alive, it held back the crushing weight of an enormous underground lake.
Bones littered the floor.
A massive boulder rested in the middle of the dome.
“This feels like a trap,” Thog growled.
Dr. Elias Finch examined the strange liquid walls. “We’re inside some sort of membrane—don’t disrupt it. If it breaks…” He didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
The boulder moved.
Chitin snapped and legs unfolded. The giant crab, easily fifteen feet across, rose with a grinding screech, red eyes glimmering in the dim, luminous blue of the dome.
Thog and Hachiro didn’t retreat.
They charged.
The samurai slipped on the damp floor, crashing down.
Thog’s axe hacked deep into the creature’s leg.
Theron Blackroot’s Eldritch Blast hissed across the space, singing a line across the shell.
Elowyn Mosswhisper, blood still fresh from her fallen wolf, turned to retreat—but halted. The doors were too dangerous to leave closed. She rushed back to the first and held it open.
Agent Marcus Virelli joined her, keeping the second door open.
Kaela Virell’s Magic Missile streaked forward, hammering the beast’s carapace.
Khopesh slammed into it, shoulder first.
Tavrix 'Whisper' Malen cast Whelm, but the crab’s mind barely registered it.
Brother Tetsuro Iron-Mind charged, naginata slicing.
Brock ‘Bull’ Dawson helped Elowyn at the doors. Lin of the Whispering Wind, weakened but determined, hurled her own Magic Missile.
Marcus 'Tank' Rourke held the third door.
Kaelen Thornstride charged with a short sword and hand axe—and fell beside Hachiro, cursing.
Seren Willowmere, healer, backed away—sensing the scale of danger.
Jahari 'Duststep' Malek joined the fray, blade flashing.
Magic Missiles streaked in from Kael the Ember-Eyed, Kaelen Firebrand, and Elric Duskwind. Thalia Emberbranch helped the fallen to their feet. Trix Vorn and Elaren Duskroot gave tactical orders, staying back. Shino of the Whispering Leaves stood silent. Taya Vex, Bran 'Brick' McGraw, and Kael 'Fingers' Vire held their positions.
Tessa 'Quickfingers' Vell began wedging doors open with tools.
Then the crab struck.
A pincer the size of a man clamped around Thog Skullsplitter.
It sheared him in half.
A second pincer snapped—Varek Duskwither died instantly, split from groin to throat.
Hachiro Noboru, covered in Thog’s blood, screamed a warrior’s cry and lunged with his katana.
Theron’s Eldritch Blast lit the creature’s underbelly.
Kaela, Lin, and Kael the Ember-Eyed unleashed another volley of magic missiles.
Khopesh struck but found only thick shell.
Brother Tetsuro carved a slice in the monster’s claw—but it wasn’t enough.
Kaelen Thornstride and Jahari slashed and stabbed.
Then Elric Duskwind—perhaps overzealous, perhaps desperate—launched an acid orb.
It missed the crab.
It hit the ceiling.
The membrane hissed and melted. Boiling water sprayed downward.
The crab screeched.
Brother Tetsuro and Khopesh were scalded. Hachiro winced, burns rising on his arms, but didn’t back down.
Thalia Emberbranch rushed in to help—and was hit with hot steam, searing her skin.
Then the crab struck again.
Tetsuro Iron-Mind was cut in two.
Kaelen Thornstride followed him in death.
Only Hachiro remained in the beast’s face.
He screamed in fury, ignoring the pain, and drove his katana between the beast’s eyestalks.
The blade punched through brain.
The crab shuddered—and died.
They found treasures among the debris: gemstones crusted with salt, a ring of protection, a magical dagger, a potion glowing with silver light.
They also found their dead.
Four more had fallen.
They carried them back—through the doors, through the spinning tunnel, past the flooded halls and the bones of the sea hag.
They buried their dead beside the others.
Now just twenty-four remained.
And still, White Plume Mountain waited.
And Raven… watched.
From his perch at the Citadel’s edge, he whispered a single word to the wind:
“Soon.”