Sword and Claw

Book One: Chapter 6

Susie slowly pushed the door open and looked through. "Mmmmmmh. Just as I had thought. Nothing had changed."

Sora took a peek over Susie's shoulder, getting the view of the first chamber.

It was a large empty stone room with a floor, covered in square tiles. One pillar stood at the center of the chamber and four torch poles were around the pillar. At the back was another was two doorways, both facing the torches on opposite sides.

"Don't go to the left door," said Susie. "You will fall into a black pit of nothing."

"Good to know." Sora stepped forward, but Susie held out her staff in front of him.

"Wait! There are more traps in here!" she warned.

"What traps?" Paul asked.

Susie pointed her staff on the floor tiles. "The black tiles will fall down into pits of spikes when you step on them."

"But they are all over the floor," said Amy.

"The gray tiles we can step on. Just watch your feet." Susie jumped to the gray tile toward the first torch pole.

The gray tiles were so far apart, Susie had to leap far to land on one of them. Good thing as a cat, she could leap further from one position.

When she reached the right door, she peeked through it and turned around. "Watch your steps!"

Paul jumped across next. It was a surprise that he could leap far too. If nobody could reach as far as Susie, none of them could proceed through the dungeon.

Sora has no worries for himself. He could jump far as a wolf too.

"Here I go," said Amy.

After Paul reached Susie's side, Amy jumped across next. She landed on a black tile, but she quickly stepped on the gray tile before the black tile fell. That almost gave Sora a heart attack.

She continued past the torch poles and reached the right door.

"That was close," she said under her patting breath.

Susie turned to Sora. "Okay wolf face! You better catch up before we leave you!"

Why did she call him wolf face? Was that supposed to make him angry enough to jump quick? He started to doubt she was a good team leader.

Without feeling annoyed by Susie's words, Sora jumped to the first gray tile on the second row. He jumped to the left, to the right, and to the center near the pillar.

Susie held out her hands. "Don't touch-"

When Sora rested his left hand on the pillar to catch his balance, all the black tiles fell down around him. Only the gray tiles remained in their positions as if they were floating over the spikes below.

Susie slapped her forehead. "You idiot! I told you not to touch that!"

Sora glared at her. "You should have told me before!"

"Well, it has been a while since I been in here!"

Sora held onto the pillar. Large gaps were around him. "So what should I do now?"

"Just jump across quickly. The gray tiles will fall when you land on them."

"Oh, that is great." Sora looked around at the floor.

There were only three gray tiles toward the right doorway. He would need to make big jumps to reach the other side.

With a deep breath, he leaped to the first gray tile, close to the pillar. He landed on it with both feet. If his armor was realistically heavy, he would have fallen down.

He jumped to the second one, but barely missed as he grabbed on the edge.

"Come on, Sora!" Amy shouted.

Sora pulled himself up onto the tile. After he got on top of it, he stared at the last one near the doorway. It was three rows away from his position.

"Here I go!" Sora took one big leap over the large gap and barely caught the edge below the door.

"Whoa!" Both his hands slipped, but Paul and Amy grabbed his arms.

"Got yeah!" Amy shouted.

Both of them pulled Sora onto the ledge near the door, and then he sighed. "Thank you."

"We are a team, silly," said Amy with a cheerful grin. "We will always have your back."

Susie turned her attention to the next chamber.

The chamber was empty with one large square hole at the center. On the right side was a square archway with a stairwell behind it. Two torches stood on both sides of the archway.

"This chamber looks easy enough to get through," said Paul, walking into the chamber.

Susie grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back. "Wait! That pit is a trap!"

"What kind of trap?" Sora asked.

Susie pointed her staff at the square pit and blasted a yellow energy ball toward it.

Villa used Sun bomb!

Her attack touched the edge of the pit and exploded with a flash. After the flash vanished, a giant green snake emerged from the pit. It has golden fins across its slender back and two long fangs beneath its thin snort.

Basilisk

Level 25

HP: 250/250

The giant serpent hissed at the party without stretching over the stone tile floor. It was probably not long enough to reach the group from its position.

"That monster bit my ass when I walked past its pit," Susie explained.

Amy giggled until Susie glared at her.

"How strong is its attack?" Sora asked.

"Its bite is poisonous," said Susie. "But it won't kill you quickly. I advise we avoid its attack as much as possible."

"Can we move past it without getting bitten by it?" Paul asked. "I am very sensitive to snake bites."

"I am afraid not, but at least it didn't ambush us."

Sora glared at the snake monster. "Then we just have to fight it to move past it."