Somnium Online

Living Shadows

Anne surveyed the remains of the skeletal dragon. "That was good work." She admitted.

Eric looked around. Finally, he spotted it. Hidden between two pillars was an old wooden chest.

They approached cautiously. "Do you think it's a trap?" Eric asked.

"Only one way to find out," Anne replied.

Eric cautiously opened the chest, hoping for gleaming gold and jewels.

Instead, he saw something that caught his eye even more. It was... a coat?

At the bottom of the chest was a crisply folded black coat. It was elegantly designed while also maintaining functionality. It had various buckles and straps.

Eric tried it on and found it to be a perfect fit. The interior was just as nice as the exterior. There were dozens of secret pockets and loops for hiding throwing knives of various sizes.

Anne whistled. "That is some impressive loot."

Eric was impressed, but also a bit disappointed. "Yeah, but isn't it just a coat?"

"Just a coat?!" Anne asked incredulously. "This is shadow armor! Its defense is off the charts, and it boosts your agility. Even more impressive, anything put inside its pockets is put in a shadow dimension allowing you to store a nearly limitless amount of stuff!"

Eric adjusted the high collar skeptically. "I don't feel too different."

Anne rolled her eyes. "You'll see what I mean on the next floor."

"Wait, you mean there's more?!" Eric exclaimed.

"Yeah, there are a ton of different floors in this dungeon."

"Well, then we should keep going right?" Eric glanced around. "So, where's the staircase?"

"Actually the staircase isn't in here, it's down the hall and to the right," Anne smirked.

They proceeded, as Anne said, down the hall and to the right.

The stairs were set in a plain rectangular room. In the center of the room, a flight of stairs spiraled downwards.

They descended the steps into the darkness, Anne's torch providing the only illumination in the thick darkness.

From what Anne's torch could illuminate, they were at the edge of a cavernous ravine miles deep.

There was a narrow stone bridge leading across the gaping chasm.

Eric studied the stone bridge. "This is totally a trap." He said flatly.

Anne nodded in agreement. "It's a trap."

"Luckily," Eric remarked lightly. "I can fly."

Anne laughed. "Your wind control is almost like cheating!"

Eric grinned. "Well then, shall we cheat?"

Anne wrapped her arms around Eric's neck, and he placed a hand around her waist. Then, he kicked off and blasted into the air. Wasting no time, he propelled himself across the chasm.

He touched down gently and surveyed the area. Behind them, dark shadowy tentacles reached up and collapsed the narrow stone bridge.

It rumbled as it broke into pieces and tumbled into the abyss.

"That's not good is it?" Eric asked nervously.

"Nope, that's definitely not good," Anne responded.

A deep rumbling sound erupted deep from within the chasm, and Eric felt the whole room shake.

Anne moved in front of Eric. "This just got dangerous, stay behind me," Anne warned him.