The Terral Gate

Chapter 2

The group was still catching their breath from the fight in Brecken. Everyone had done their part in quelling the undead uprising. As Flooraxe had said, it was fortunate that they were all in town to help defend it, but the questions of why it happened and if they could really do anything about this looming barrier that enclosed the town burned at their minds.

No words were spoken at first while the group marched through the woods. The crunching of leaves and twigs, the clanking of metal armor and gear and the occasional sniffing sounds of the wolf that was accompanying the elf was the soundtrack of their journey.

“Ah...you’re welcome! Haha!” The hobgoblin had turned around to jump up onto a fallen tree backwards and was looking at Lodi. “For the shootin’.” Lodi smiled as he vaulted over the tree, landing with a grunt. He had thanked the creature over ten minutes ago.

“My name is Lodi,” he offered.

“Gerberkan,” the hobgoblin responded, “and you can thank me with beer if you want. I’m thirsty!” The hobgoblin turned to the two women and flashed a toothy smile. “And who are you ladies?”

The human was making a sour face at Gerberkan’s crude demeanor, but if she was considering making a remark about it, she was cut off by the elf.

“I am Mar’Jania. You can call me MJ. This is Bud.” She smiled, looking down at and patting her wolf on the head. It continued sniffing happily while they walked.

“Kat.” The human woman spoke quickly and said nothing else as if avoiding further conversation. This reset the mood of the group and they continued on without speaking.

Bud stopped. His ears perked up and his head turned. His eyes were fixed on something ahead and off to the East of the group. MJ was the next to notice and called the rest of the party’s attention.

“Do you see that?” She was squinting, but able to make out what had caught Bud’s attention. Lodi saw it too. Through the thick trees, barely discernable from the barrier illuminating and surrounding the forest, was a faint swirling pillar of the same red-orange color that went all the way to the top of the barrier.

“That must be the epicenter! This is where Flooraxe wanted us to go!” Lodi excitedly broke rank and started jogging straight towards the light. Gerberkan and then the others followed suit. They soon all caught up to Lodi, who had stopped dead in his tracks about 100 feet away. The trees had thinned out slightly, but this pillar of energy was in full view. Cast in dreary orange light was the unmistakable cobblestone entrance to an underground catacomb. Collapsed iron fencing, broken stone statues, and walls coated with dark moss greeted them as they approached the door cautiously.

“This place looks abandoned.” Gerberkan posited. “I wonder if there’s any booze down there!”

“I’m not so sure it is abandoned,” Lodi looked at Gerberkan and stepped up to the iron door of the catacomb, peering through the bars at the top. He then stepped back and motioned to the others. One by one, they looked, seeing that there was indeed faint torchlight at the bottom of a visible staircase. Lodi then pointed at the latch of the door. A massive, heavy lock sat firmly in place, daring someone to try and break it by force. Everyone was trying to come up with a creative solution to opening the lock, ranging from Lodi wanting to break the hinges to Gerberkan wanting to go home, when Kat stepped forward.

“Just hang on a second,” She reached into a pouch at her side and felt around before her hand emerged with some flimsy tools. She stuck what looked like a hair pin into the lock, followed by another device. There were some twists, some jerks, some clicks, and a few choice exclamations from Kat after failed attempts, but after a couple minutes there was a big sigh of relief. Kat stepped away, putting her tools back into her pouch. The lock was hanging freely open and Gerberkan let out a victorious cheer.