The Innkeeper

267 Bare survival

They had suffered a cave in, were lurking in the layer of two incredibly strong beasts and had their entire bodies cindered, which is exactly why Barry was not at all concerned that he was buck naked, carrying another unconscious naked man through the darkness.

But while he slowly explored the tunnel, looking for a way out, he did not know that they were probably the most relaxed in the entire forest right now. However, such good luck would not last much longer. With the two Druks gone, for a while the underground tunnels were filled with peace. But, as perceptive as they were, the numerous creatures that the Druks had suppressed, and were subsequently kept away from the spirit well, began to detect their absence.

With such a once in a lifetime opportunity before them, how could they remain calm for long? At first, Barry was only assaulted by some of the unusual rock monsters that could even escape his detection. Fortunately, while their camouflage was immaculate, their strength was well within Barry's capacity to face. It was when Barry started to see strange insects that the situation took a turn for the worse.

A millipede with a massive body and each leg the size of Barry himself suddenly dug out of the roof in front of Barry and paused for a moment as it scanned the two humans. It considered whether to stop its journey for a snack, but then continued to dig downwards, its tunnel collapsing behind it.

Ants that came all the way up to Barrys waist started to appear in the tunnels, scurrying around as if searching for something. They were still ignoring them, but Barry began getting more and more nervous. It was only a matter of time before some decided to attack him, and while he could hold his own for now, he would easily get outnumbered.

It was while Barry was having this crisis that Lex, who had been asleep so far, suddenly opened his eyes. His instincts were screaming death and time was too short to communicate.

Flipping over, he fell out of Barry's grasp and onto the floor, immediately employed Falcon's relief and bolted while dragging Barry behind him.

An evil, gut wrenching screech reverberated through the tunnels, as if mad that its ambush had been detected, before a bony, metallic creature fell from the ceiling right above where the two humans had been.

"Bloody hell!" Barry exclaimed as the hairs on his back lifted and he felt the malevolent hunger the creature looked at them with. "Guide me," he said, as he took over running once again, and lifted Lex on his back.

Initially, a deep part of him was feeling like some kind of savior for bringing the wounded Lex with him, but now he knew well enough that without Lex's keen sense for danger, he may not even get out.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Lex did not notice that despite his current situation, he was not in any pain. This was not a result of any mystical magic, in fact, all his nerves had burnt and so he could not feel anything. It was only when he tried to speak, but no sound came out, that he somewhat realized that his body's condition was not the best.

Still, now was not the time to waste on stuff like that. He patted Barry's left shoulder to let him know to turn left, and thereafter started communicating through taps. While his physical condition was far from ideal, his instincts for danger were as keen as ever. This was not to say that Barry was unable to detect enemies with his own spirit senses, but just that in this situation Lex served as a better compass.

He was not guiding Barry towards the outside, he had no way of knowing that, he was simply guiding him on the path that felt the least dangerous. But as the current situation was far from ideal, they still ended up encountering some enemies on their path.

This was when Barry showed his real ruthlessness. He had no time for a careful, drawn out fight. He used the most direct and overpowering methods to bulldoze his way through any obstacle.

There was another earthquake, and despite himself, Barry paused to look at the ceiling. Even the many monsters and insects that were fighting paused, though for entirely different reasons. Up above, on the ground, the war had begun.

Since he made the first move, Goli caught Karom unprepared and managed to deal a considerable amount of damage. But Karom had a strategically superior position that made it easier for him to retaliate. While the 'bro' was not able to drive out Goli's invading forces, he could easily counterattack while he defended. The matter was as simple as hurling a massive boulder off the cliff. Just the force generated from gravity was enough to deal considerable damage.

The quake that they felt was the result of one such attack. The insects and monsters, however, were not responding to a call for arms by Goli. Instead, they, or at least the leaders for their respective colonies, were realizing that the situation might be more beneficial than they thought. Unlike the beasts, the insects, or Gu, did not have a cooperative relationship with the Trelops. A situation in which the Trelop was distracted was the perfect opportunity for them to plunder.

Lex suddenly squeezed Barry's shoulders hard, a sign that they were in intense danger. And indeed, the moment Barry began running once again, a cacophony of celebratory shrieks filled the tunnels and chaos erupted.

The insects were not even chasing after the humans anymore. They were outright destroying the tunnel walls and eating any ores or roots that they discovered. Of course, if Barry and Lex came their way, they were more than delighted to add them to the menu.

Tunnels started collapsing left and right, and more quakes seemed to follow. Suddenly, when Lex went from squeezing Barrys shoulder to digging his nails into him, he knew the situation called for drastic measures.

"Hold on," Barry yelled, and activated a technique he was trying to avoid using. A violent surge of spirit energy erupted from Barry and coated the two in a bronze light. Like a bullet, Barry shot directly upwards even as the ground collapsed under him, and instead of crashing into the ceiling, he fell into the rock as if he were diving into a pool.

They were moving at incredible speeds, but the already wounded and exhausted Barry could maintain the technique for only a few seconds, bringing them much higher and closer to the surface.

Once the technique ended, Barry's legs crumpled as his exhaustion caught up to him. But instead of falling on the ground, Lex swapped positions and put the man on his back. Not wasting any time, Lex began running.

His skin and nerves were burnt so he could not feel the warm breeze, and his nose was broken so he could not smell the scent of burning wood, but his vision had improved - though he hadn't realized that yet - and even in the darkness he could see the grooves of the rocks in the tunnel walls. For some reason, looking at them and observing the shape and direction they were bent in, he could determine the direction the tunnel met the surface.

He did not know the nuances behind why he knew this, but he was not in the mood to question anything right now. He attributed it to his instincts and ran for his life.

But, just because he was the one running now instead of Barry did not mean the insects disappeared, or ignored him. That would have been too coincidental and fortunate. No, the chaos was only increasing and the attacks Lex faced were even more numerous than Barry had.

But, instead of facing them head on, he did something that would surprise even him when he thought back to this moment later on. He started dodging his enemies with the precision and accuracy of an American football player dodging tackles.

He swerved just enough to dodge a scythe-like claw, jumped just high enough to avoid a biting ant and evaded just enough to feel the wind of an attacking monster, but avoid its body. For a moment, Lex even felt like he heard thunderous clapping of a crowd. Then his mind connected the sound not to a stadium crowd, but the thumping sound of a marching army.

Lex saw a part of the tunnel collapse, and light shone in like the rays of salvation that would rescue them from their plight. With skill Lex had no right to possess, he dodged every attack - well not really, he just couldn't feel pain so he had no idea that he had actually been struck a few times - and finally exited the accursed tunnel.

But what lay awaiting him was not salvation. It was a horde of massive ape like beasts, equipped with wooden spears that might as well have been small trees.

Then, as if he had not just walked into an enemy force that could eliminate him, Lex looked at the nearest beast and somehow, in a croaking voice said, "Quickly inform lord Goli! Karom has invaded the tunnel from the underground and is taking the spirit water! Send your armies underground, we cannot let the enemy succeed!"

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