ZEN - Part Two [COMPLETED] [#WATTYS2017]

Exit Dungeon Left

 Chapter 58 - Exit Dungeon Left

After the Sisterhood had freed the large, captive party from the extremely-sticky webs of metallic slik, Jessie and Mishone began to both create some baths and cook a massive feast, which the foods were mostly provided by their new, life-long friends.

The leader of the group, a short, stocky mid-thirties human man who wielded both a halbred and crossbow, took it upon himself to thank the girls dozens of times each, and once everyone sat down to a mighty fine meal, he began to recount their near-death experience.

It seemed they had journeyed down to the fortieth floor, where it was rumoured that a rare Boss had shown up. A highly-lucrative White Dragon.

These ice-type lizards were different from their kin, though. Instead of scales covering their bodies, they were supposed to have a dense fur that protected them from magic, blades of mithril and lower, and the leather of their wings was as thin as parchment, yet could defend almost as well as their hides.

Not to mention the fact that nearly everything about the beast could be harvested and sold for absurd amounts of money. Their meats were well-reknowned for being tasty and tender, their blood was used for powerful potions, organs could be dried and powdered for use in curatives, and the bones were carved by master artisans into intricate sculptures that were worth their weight in gold coins.

Basically, felling one of these monsters meant living a life of absolute luxury.

Unfortunately, by the time they got down there, the White Dragon had either already been killed, or had never existed in the first place, as all they encountered were a trio of Wendigo.

These monsters were demons born of greed and desire, holding an all-encompassing need to consume human flesh. And they could typically succeed in doing so, since they stood three metres tall, moved like the wind, and were as strong as any of the dragons that they were hoping to encounter.

The gaunt, emaciated beasts did succeed on breaking quite a few bones of their party, but one of their three healers was always able to put them back in the fight by the time the next briefly fell.

But their battle still raged for hours before they finally gained the upper hand. And from there, their victory was swift and merciless.

They didn't even take trophies from their kills, however, as it was a poignant superstition that all Adventurers followed. You did not take a piece of a personification of Greed, no matter how lucrative it might be.

Still, so as not to waste their trip due to a potential mis-understanding, they ventured down to the forty-second floor to take a peek into the Boss-room, but neither in there nor the floor above was there a White Dragon.

Dejected, but not entirely disheartened, the twenty-two person group slowly worked their way back up the levels, collecting as much loot as was safely possible, and once at the thirty-eighth floor, had finally managed to fill most of their porters' massive, enchanted bags.

Yet after stepping into an empty Boss-chamber, they simply thought that another party had just cleared this floor. They hadn't even considered the notion to cautiously look up at the ceiling.

As the leader tells it, half of their group had gotten coated in multiple strands of sticky thread while crossing the cavern, but they still didn't clue in to the fact that they were humped.