NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 2706710" data-attributes="member: 3285">All That Glitters - Part 5c: The Hidden CaveBeldin surfaced with a gasp. Sinewy and strong tentacles had clawed at him, demanding he stay beneath the surface, threatening to rob his overtaxed lungs of air.  He never actually saw them--he couldn’t make out anything in the muck, even with Ilmarė’s fey light on his axe. But he had escaped and it was becoming clear the ss’ressen had not.  Beldin looked around, the light beaming a few pathetic feet ahead of him.  The entire cavern was filled with a strange mist, thick enough that he couldn’t make out the full size of the cavern.  If the echoing drips of water were any indication, it was very large indeed.The dwarf stumped out of the submerged tunnel, drizzling seawater.  He gripped his axe tightly, straining to listen in the fog but unwilling to venture further into the swirling haze.Then he heard it.  Something growled to his right, deep and low.  Something large.Where was Cal?  He began to wonder if the big lizard had drowned.  But he was so powerful; surely a few tentacles wouldn’t slow him down.Would they?Beldin unholstered his shield and lifted it up ahead of him.  The sound was familiar, but he couldn’t place it.The growling suddenly came from the left.  Something padded back and forth, moving with meaty thuds as its paws connected with the unyielding cavern floor.  It huffed and grunted as it walked, kicking up the mist.  When the claw swipe came, he wasn’t ready for it. It was from his right, opposite the noise of the beast.Beldin barely lifted his axe in time as the claws raked across the leather armor he wore.  After his near drowning, he had sworn to dress appropriately so he would never be in that situation again.  Beldin cursed his own wisdom; his trusty breastplate would have served him well.The boiled leather tore up in curls where the claw shredded it.  Blood welled up in the marks, but Beldin shrugged it off.  He’d been through worse.Beldin hacked at the dark shape, but it retreated into the mists.  The claw was covered with black fur, but that could be any of a dozen underground predators.  What was it that was stalking him? A troll? A demon? And where the hell was Cal?Pain tore through his musing as a claw rent through the back of his leather armor, from his left.  Beldin batted at the claw with the flat of his blade.  Was it just his imagination, or was it smaller?He thought of the others.  Beldin was a trained tunnel fighter, accustomed to dealing with large carnivores in tight spaces.  The others had no idea what they were in for.  They had to be warned…Something splashed behind him.Beldin whirled and lifted his axe high overhead with a shout.  The dwarf barely checked himself when it registered that the head he was about to cleave in half was that of a lizard.  A lizard he knew.“Cal!” shouted Beldin.  “Go back and get the others!”The lizard’s slitted eyes widened.  “But you are bleeding?”“I’ll be dead if you don’t get them!  Tell them that there are t—“Two huge paws circled out of the darkness and yanked Beldin into the mists.  Cal turned and dove back into the water.</blockquote>

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