Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 372: A Hole

We carefully approached the unexpected hole in the mountain while readying ourselves for combat. I formed the runes for a shield in my mind, in case I needed it. However, there was no reason to suspect that the cause for this hole was still around.

"Does anyone hear anything? Or smell anything?" I asked.

"There is something." Garm's left head said, while sniffing the air. "Perhaps some undeath? Or simply death." The right head added.

We were getting close now but we did not hear anything. When we reached the hole we peered inside.

"I think the natural tunnel starts about 5 metres in. Someone made an additional exit to an existing tunnel." Skadi said, while studying the rock.

"I wonder why?" I said, while peering into the hole. You could not see much since the natural tunnel ran parallel to the mountain face. However, even I could smell something now.

"It definitely smells like death. Hm, there is also something I don't know. Perhaps acidic?" Garm said.

"Like an acid spitting crawler?" Helena asked.

"Could be but I have no reference." Garm replied.

"Ok, let's tie down our horses here and have a look inside." Skadi suggested.

The hole was wide enough for Garm to enter and he took the lead. Cassie summoned a flame in her hand to provide some light and we followed him. Once we were through the new opening we found ourselves in a wider tunnel. Four people could stand next to each other and the stone was unusually smooth.

Of course, it was not just the rock that was interesting. "I take it this is a dead tunnel crawler?" I asked, while pointing at a corpse.

Inside the tunnel, just around the corner to our left, was the sign of a fight. There were parts of ant-like creatures lying around. One was almost whole, or at least the front was. The head did look like an ant, just slightly more sinister. The mandibles looked like they could crush your arm and the whole body was protected by plates. It seemed like those monsters were naturally armoured. You could also see smaller holes in the rock where acid might have dissolved parts of it.

But the monsters were not the only dead. The bodies of people were here as well. Mostly dwarves and humans who fell to bites or acid. Their gear was badly damaged but all of them had been equipped with weapons.

"So, a group of adventurers got ambushed and fled by blasting through the wall of the tunnel." Rose said.

"Something is off." Hatsumi stated.

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Suddenly there was a crunching sound in the dark. I summoned my shield… And I stared at two glowing eyes. Purple eyes.

Nyx had snuck slightly deeper in the cave and started chewing the leg of a dead bug.

"Really?"

Nyx kept chewing. The other cats walked over to her and started eating bug parts as well. "There is acid in those monsters!" I said.

They kept chewing.

Garm sniffed one of the legs, then his right head took a bite. "Not too bad." The left head said, while the right head was chewing.

"Koyuki, did you notice that while all of us prepared for an attack when we heard the sound your undead did not?" Skadi asked.

"We have an easier time keeping track of our colleagues and were simply aware of Nyx' position." Kaito stated. "However, I do agree with Hatsumi's assessment that there is something off."

"Really?" I asked.

"Their gear looks a bit old." Helena stated.

"Eh, you look at that, I will try to get some juicy bits!" Cassie stated while grabbing some bottles from her pack.

"Don't hurt yourself while you harvest the acid." Skadi warned.

"Don't worry, I have a mighty durable spellblade here to help me!" Cassie replied, while grinning at Skadi.

Skadi sighed. "Sure…"

While the two of them harvest crawler parts I examined the humanoid corpses. "This axe is rusty. They did not take proper care of their weapons."

"Have you tried raising the corpse?" Hatsumi asked.

"It does not look like a great corpse. Look, there is a big hole there." I pointed at the stomach. Then it clicked. There was a hole in the stomach but the usual leakage was missing. I immediately tried to cast a raise undead spell to confirm my suspicion. It did not find a target.

"They were undead!" I concluded.

"The tunnel crawlers were fighting undead? So you think an undead blew a hole into the wall?" Helena asked.

"That would mean a tier three undead, a tier two would not be that intelligent. Unless it was an accident." I said.

"Hm. The smooth surface of this tunnel probably means that the crawlers created it. Or at least widened it. This must be close to their territory. The hole here could mean a lot of trouble." Helena said.

"So a tier three undead ran accidentally entered crawler territory, got swarmed and had to flee?" Skadi theorised.

"I could use a few bombs to collapse that entrance." Cassie suggested.

"Not a bad idea. The last thing we need is crawlers swarming the woods. They don't build nests on the surface but they might come out to hunt if this hole remains. But that still leaves the undead problem. You think there is a tier three running around?" Helena asked.

"It would fit. Of course, I have no idea what kind of tier three but it seems to have a small following of lower tier undead." I concluded.

"Do you think it's friendly?" Rose asked.

"Most undead are not as nice as you." Helena replied. "It could have created those corpses by killing people."

"True but they could have been bandits." Rose replied.

"I am certainly interested in finding it and talking to it. I have never talked to a natural tier three before." I said.

"Meow!" Nyx objected.

"You can hardly claim that we talked to the Devourer." I countered.

"Meow!" Nyx insisted.

I ignored the feline who went back to munching on corpses. "Anyway, let's see if we can track the tier three. Sadly the crawler corpses are all too damaged to be useful."

"Snacks are useful." Garm stated.

"Hm." Kaito said, while looking at a corpse. Goro walked next to Kaito. His neck ignited with blue and formed the head of a wolf. The incorporeal head bit the corpse and blue flames spread around the body. Slowly the corpse dissolved as it was consumed by frostfire. Then Goro's neck sucked all the flames back into his body.

"Goro can devour." Kaito stated.

It had been quite the impressive display for a tier two. I wondered how effective he would be in actual combat.

"I don't want to alarm you but I can hear something that sounds like bugs crawling along the walls. And it sounds like a few of them." Garm said.

"Uh, if we are in their territory that could be bad. So, about those bombs…"

Cassie grinned.