Story- Deal with the lingering ice creatures

 

Even with the most dangerous opponents having fallen in battle, there are still a surprising amount of ice creatures that need to be destroyed. It’s entirely a preventative measure, but you can’t shake the feeling that if it isn’t done there could be another wave of them attacking the group. After a while it starts to feel ridiculous how many of these strange organisms there are, and for each one you crush with weapons or shatter with magical abilities two more seem to take its place. You continue down one of the many connecting tunnels to the main chamber, focused on the task that was given to you by Vinta.

 

Many were hidden away under piles of rubble, likely lying dormant until the door had been opened in hopes to ambush whoever would dare venture into this place. As you and your group destroy more and more of them, one of you points out something that you hadn’t quite noticed before. From your repeated fights with them, it almost seemed like their actions were automated. Their movements were always similar to one another, save for the larger foes that seemed to act with something akin to a sentience of their own. But why they acted in such a similar manner never crossed your mind. And why would it, truly? Before, there were more concerning things to worry about than how an ice creature might have moved. And even when defeated, the outcome always was the same.

 

The member in your group mentioned something about what comes out of them when killed. That wasn’t news to you, considering that to kill one they have to be injured in such a way that the main “core” of red liquid within their frozen bodies is ruptured and drains. But they continued on to mention that none of you truly knew what the red stuff inside them was, or how it worked. It seemed to power them and keep them alive, yes, but that would only make sense long term if the source of magic they were originally created from was nearby. Everyone knew that King had made these creatures to guard anything he claimed to be his, but at this point in time he was nowhere near Aldebast. They would all need something like gemstones to continue holding King’s magic at this point, and that was something none of them seemed to have. There was nothing around to power and control these creatures after King had left them behind, let alone this many of them.

 

You destroy another one, eyes narrowing as you find yourself more focused on what happens when you do so. This time, you notice something you had not paid attention to before. As the creature’s body lay broken before you, the ice crumbles away and the familiar reddish ooze leaks out of its form. Instead of pooling beneath it, the ooze starts to rise into the air, vanishing into small wisps of crimson smoke. And then, as you stare intently, you notice one wisp of smoke that is a lighter tone from all the others. It’s a golden strand of light that seems drawn to the core at the room’s center, and it slowly floats into the air in that direction.

 

So focused on this strand you are that you barely have time to react to the sudden earthquake beneath your feet. You scramble to remain standing, looking up as a sound comparable to thunder resounds down the tunnel you and your group have entered. A bright light and a wave of energy rushes towards you from the center of the core chamber, and you raise a hand to shield your eyes from the sudden flash.

 

In your group’s moment of hesitation, another batch of ice creatures moves towards you to attack. You all draw your weapons, prepared for another fight, when suddenly they all seem to halt in place. Then the light subsides, one by one they each collapse into piles of ice and you watch as each of them sprout one of the same golden wisps of light you had noticed before. They all float past your group, heading down the path you had entered and towards the core itself.

 

Clearly nothing you and your group have done thus far could have caused this, so you’re left to wonder exactly what happened. At the very least, it means your job is finished, and you decide to head back to the base camp. Upon your return, it is quickly clear that whatever had happened to the creatures around you seems to have happened to anyone who had gone down other tunnels to defeat them as well.

 

Return to the camp.