9.- Where sound dies

The group advanced cautiously through the labyrinth of corridors on the third floor of the dungeon. The air, once damp and cold, was now dry and suffocating, as if all moisture had been sucked out of the place. It was a subtle change, but enough to set Sebastian's nerves on edge. There was no longer any dripping water, not the slightest sound, except for a…

"Halt," Roland ordered, raising a gloved hand. His voice, though low, resonated with authority in the unnatural silence.

They stopped dead. The silence that followed Roland's command was even more disturbing than before. It wasn't an absence of sound, but a presence. A presence that weighed on them, that pressed on their ears, that made them feel as if they were submerged in an absolute vacuum, a place where sound itself had died.

"What's wrong, Roland?" Liam asked, his voice tense. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his daggers. His normally relaxed posture had become rigid.

Roland didn't answer immediately. He was concentrating, his eyes closed, as if he were listening to something the others couldn't perceive. His face, normally serene and confident, was now marked by a deep concern.

"I… I don't like this," he murmured finally. "I don't feel… anything."

Sebastian looked at him, confused. "Nothing?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

Roland opened his eyes and looked at Sebastian. His eyes, normally a warm brown color, now seemed darker, almost black. The dim light couldn't penetrate them.

"I don't feel the dungeon's energy," he said. "I don't feel life… or death, it is as if we were in a void."

Sebastian didn't understand. "A void?" he asked. "How is that possible?"

Roland shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "But… it's dangerous. Very dangerous. It means… that something is blocking my Soul Sight. Something… or someone."

A chill ran down Sebastian's spine. The idea that Roland, the experienced and confident leader of the group, was scared, was deeply disturbing. If he couldn't perceive the danger, what hope did they have?

"What do we do?" Liam asked, his voice tight, breaking the silence heavy with apprehension.

Roland hesitated. "I don't know," he admitted. "We can't go back. And we can't stay here. We have to… keep going. But with extreme caution."

And so, the group resumed their march, venturing even deeper into the maze of corridors. The silence, now absolute, was more oppressive than ever. A silence that weighed on them, that pressed on their chests, that made them feel as if they were walking inside an immense tomb.

As they advanced, Sebastian tried to concentrate on his surroundings, looking for any detail that might be relevant, any clue that could help them understand what was happening. He observed the walls of the corridor, noticing that the dry, blackened moss, different from what they had seen before, seemed to wither as they passed, as if life itself were being sucked out of it.

Suddenly, a dry click echoed in the silence.

A metallic click, unmistakable.

A click that froze the blood in Sebastian's veins.

A trap.

Roland, with astonishing reflexes, reacted instantly.

"Look out!" he shouted, unable to pinpoint where the danger was coming from.

But, unlike other times, there was no immediate attack. No blades fell from the ceiling, no trapdoors opened in the floor.

Only… silence.

A silence even deeper, even more disturbing, than before.

"What… what happened?" Sebastian asked, his voice trembling, looking around, waiting for the attack that didn't come.

Roland, frowning, examined the corridor carefully. "I don't know," he said. "But… something has changed."

And then, they felt it.

A tremor.

A slight tremor at first, almost imperceptible, but one that grew in intensity, until it became a miniature earthquake.

The ground vibrated beneath their feet. The walls shook. And, from somewhere far away, came a sound.

A low, deep, resonant sound.

A sound like the beating of a giant heart.

Thump… thump… thump….

"Run!" Roland shouted. "Run!"

And, without a second thought, the group took off running.

They ran through the corridor, not knowing where they were going, just away from the sound, from the tremor, from the invisible threat that was pursuing them.

But the corridor seemed endless. And the sound, the heartbeat, grew louder and louder.

And then, they saw them.

Emerging from the shadows, blocking the way, they appeared.

Skeletons.

But they weren't ordinary skeletons. They were tall, thin skeletons, with bones as black as coal, and sharp as blades. Their eye sockets, empty and dark, seemed to burn with a cold and ghostly light, a greenish glow that resembled the runes in the corridor. And their hands, bony and sharp, wielded weapons that, although rusty and chipped, dripped a dark, viscous liquid.

Poison, Sebastian thought, horrified. Skeletons with poisoned weapons.

And, behind the skeletons, something else.

Something much bigger.

Something much heavier.

Something that made the ground shake with each step.

Golems.

But not the golems he had imagined, clumsy and slow.

These were giants.

Creatures at least ten feet tall, with bodies made of huge blocks of assembled stone, held together by a dark and palpable energy that manifested as glowing cracks in their joints. Their arms, as thick as ancient tree trunks, ended in closed fists the size of boulders, and their legs, short but incredibly powerful, advanced with a crushing slowness, making the ground vibrate with each step.

And, worst of all, were their attacks.

They didn't just attack with their fists. They also ripped pieces from the dungeon walls, huge rocks, and threw them with terrifying force and precision, as if they were living catapults.

"Skeletons and golems!" Roland shouted, his voice strained. "Markus, up front! Defend us from the skeletons! Liam, try to flank the golems! I'll cover you!" He paused, quickly assessing the situation. "Skeletons, agility forty, watch out for the poison on their weapons! Golems… slow, fifteen agility, but strong… twenty-five, maybe more. Defense… forty. Concentrate attacks on the joints!"

Sebastian, feeling panic completely overtake him, was paralyzed. I can't fight this, he thought. I'm not a warrior. I'm going to die.

But then, he remembered.

He remembered Roland's words. Intuition. Connection. Energy.

And he remembered, also, something else.

The Shadow Nettles.

The plants he had used to repel the Shadow Rats.

The plants that, perhaps, could be useful again.

"Roland!" Sebastian shouted. "The Shadow Nettles! They might…!"

But his voice was cut off, drowned out by a deafening roar.

One of the golems, the largest of all, had ripped a huge chunk of rock from the ceiling and was preparing to throw it.

"Look out!" Roland shouted, too late.

The golem threw the rock, with brutal force.

The rock, the size of a wagon, flew through the air, describing a deadly arc, directly towards Sebastian.

Sebastian, seeing the rock approaching, knew he didn't have time to dodge it.

He was dead.

But then, something happened.

Markus, with a roar that rivaled the golem's, stepped between Sebastian and the rock.

He raised his shield, not to protect himself, but to protect Sebastian.

The rock impacted the shield with a deafening crash, a sound that resonated in the dungeon like thunder.

The shield, reinforced with metal and magic, held.

But Markus, Markus, did not.

The impact was too strong.

Markus was thrown through the air, like a rag doll, and crashed against the corridor wall, with a sickening thud.

He fell to the ground, motionless.

"Markus!" Sebastian shouted, horrified.

But there was no time for lamentations.

The skeletons, taking advantage of the distraction, lunged at Roland and Liam, attacking them with their poisoned weapons.

And the golems, the golems, kept advancing, throwing rocks and creating tremors with each step.

Sebastian, feeling despair overwhelm him, knew he had to do something.

Something fast.

Something desperate.

Something that could change the course of the battle.

He ran to where Markus had fallen, ignoring the growls of the skeletons and the tremors of the ground.

He knelt beside the warrior's motionless body, and, with trembling hands, searched his bag.

He took out a handful of dried Shadow Nettle leaves, and, without a second thought, threw them into the air, right in the middle of the fray.

The leaves, being light and dry, dispersed quickly, creating a cloud of irritating dust that spread throughout the chamber.

And the smell, the acrid and pungent smell of the nettles, became present.

And that smell, that unbearable smell, had an immediate effect on the skeletons.

The skeletons, who had been attacking Roland and Liam with blind fury, stopped dead. Their screeches turned into groans, and their bony hands went to their empty eye sockets, as if they were trying to protect themselves from the smell.

"It's working!" Sebastian shouted, with a mixture of relief and surprise. "The smell of the nettles repels them!"

But, as with the rats, the effect on the Golems was nil.

Liam, taking advantage of the fact that a golem was distracted crushing a skeleton, climbed onto its back, and with all his might embedded his daggers in the creature's neck.

With a crunch, the stone gave way, causing the golem to lose its balance and collapse.

Roland was still fighting, now alone, against another golem, the fight looked very uneven.

Sebastian had one last chance.

He remembered the sleeping mushrooms from his previous encounter, and sprinkled them with oil, then threw them at a golem and set them on fire with a flint and a rock.

The golem was engulfed in flames, with almost no reaction, however the smoke began to spread.

Roland, noticing this, slashed the golem's leg and ran to get some air away from the smoke.

The golem, confused, went after him, when it came out of the smoke, a skeleton lunged at Roland, however, he managed to react in time, kicked it and cut off its head with his sword.

Liam was busy with two other skeletons, which pounced on him, however the boy managed to jump dodging them and causing them to hit each other.

The burning golem, with its heavy gait, advanced, however, the smoke expanded, and when the skeletons inhaled the smoke, they began to cough and stagger, falling to the ground, unconscious.

Liam took the opportunity to cut off their heads and end their threat.

Roland, for his part, faced the last golem, dodging its slow but deadly attacks and dealing cuts with his sword, however, the damage was minimal.

Sebastian noticed this and ran with the jar of Mandrake sap, gave it to Roland and shouted. "Spread it on your sword, quickly."

Roland ignored him, and spread the contents of the jar on the sword.

Roland launched into the offensive once more, this time managing to deliver a cut that went through the golem's leg, causing it to fall.

The golem, once on the ground, was an easy target. Roland, with a battle cry and channeling all his frustration and the memory of the failed training, raised his sword, now impregnated with the Mandrake sap, and brought it down with all his might on the creature's head.

The impact was devastating. The stone, already weakened by Sebastian's dust and cracked by previous attacks, could not withstand the combination of Roland's brute strength and the debilitating, now amplified, effect of the Mandrake.

A deafening CRACK echoed through the chamber, and the golem's head split in two, like a ripe watermelon. Fragments of stone, splattered with a dark, viscous substance that was not blood, but the magical sap that held the giant's pieces together, were thrown in all directions.

The golem's body, deprived of its control center, collapsed heavily, raising a cloud of dust and debris.

And, finally, silence.