| Marcus stared at the mouth of the cave. Had been doing so for almost half the night now. The fire light from inside throwing shadows about. His men were inside, they stumbled on the cave yesterday. Darnius spotted it only because of the water that ran from under the boulder that covered its entrance. Most of the day was spent turning that boulder to rubble.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBJbuXXif8 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJa4ijbWRK Marcus, and the ten men he had with him had been out raiding a caravan this day. You see, Marcus is a bandit. Worse than a bandit, he was Marcus the Red, scourge of the Roman frontier. He had murdered, raped, and pillaged from the shores of Gaul to the sands of Persia. He struck fear in thousands the world over, and now he too felt fear. Stories told to him by his grandmother came back to him bit by bit.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnDfr5M1Sz 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk72BjQlt7 Stories from her childhood in the hills of Tuscany. About a cave that was the entrance to hell. The very maw of the earth, filled with devils and demons. Children her age would vanish from the village and their screams could be heard through the night. The village sent emissary after emissary to emperor Augustus. They were all ignored.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcKePTeOhl 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJD88SyVg9h Then, one day, a band of German mercenaries camped outside the cave. That night the fiends set upon the Germans. The mercenaries lost many men but pushed the devils back into the cave. They then rolled a boulder over the entrance.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7eeDRGtaW 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbrLr20y1E The reason for all of this coming back to him is that this is the cave.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJRbsdx6Aa 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFdhqCleXe "Marcus, what ails you? I wish to dice with Janus and win back my coin."447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2R402WluNW 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSaJqU1PPm "Of course, lets take the horses to yon copes of trees, tether them there and then retire for the night." Marcus said with a shaky voice. They walked toward the mouth of the cave and heard laughter and shouting as the men jeered each other over dice and ale.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwiDaRJKil 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70UAKTj5Y6 The light from the fire dazzled their eyes when they entered the cave. As their eyes adjusted to the glare all were shocked and swore on many different gods. The fire was so bright not due to wood, but because of the bodies. Two score men were strewn about the cave, all burning with a bright fire. Marcus and his remaining men could still hear them in revelry. As they took it all in the sound changed from merriment to that of slaughter. Screams of terror an clashing steal peeled through the cave.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs5O1VFiLL 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdX0gZ9Xkb Aurias was the first to come to his senses, he turned and ran for the mouth of the cave. Rocks came pouring down on him as he reached the entrance, crushing him. Nine others whirled around to see the rocks pile up and cover the entrance. Three others rushed to start pulling the rocks from the entrance when maniacal laughter split the air. The three laboring with the rocks paused in their efforts and looked about the cave. Marcus and the other five men had been busy making torches and these they waved about, looking for the source of laughter. Marcus's eyes wondered up to the ceiling of the cave where the great teeth hung from. On those teeth he saw skeletons hanging, pierced though rib cages by those teeth.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPbVoa1WNi 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYBrOBbDW4 Suddenly the men at the mouth of the cave gave a yell. The rock pile had somehow become a solid boulder again, trapping their hands within. Then the cave began to rock, as if an earthquake were taking place.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4S6yNN3zd 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbfiV3pcCW Marcus realized what was happening and yelled for his men to get back as he ran deeper into the cave. He slid down a long slope and when he hit the bottom he heard an unearthly crash behind him. The screams from his men reached his ears as the mouth closed and chewed them up. Then he was knocked off his feet as two others crashed into him. He could not see who they were, but he heard their panicked breathing. They stood and stumbled deep into the cave. Deeper they went when the cave walls seemed to suddenly start to glow. Talas walked toward the wall and discovered it was a fungus that grew there. He reached out and touched it. The other two saw him stand there, mouth agape and shaking. Smoke began to come from all over him as he seemed to melt. Soon he was a smoldering puddle.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmfXaL3OaQ 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWox411RsmN "I know, I know. Don't touch the walls." Dargus said as the two traded glances.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZp0rkkVKpR 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttne2l5JPR They walked further on, lighted by patches of the fungus. Turning a bend they saw a stunning sight. There was a slope that ran down to a large cavern. At the base of the cavern was a river illuminated by thousands of fungi. There where large mushrooms, taller than a man, that let off a red glow. It was an eerie mix of reds and blues that surrounded them as they walked down the slope.447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspYGJKm4sy 447Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfULRTTsPZf Cautiously they walked to the river, stepping over the blue fungus. As they reached the shore Dargus brushed up against one of the giant mushrooms. It released spores into the air causing both men to cough uncontrollably. The noise caused the other mushrooms to release their spores, a lot of them landing in the river. Bubbling up, the river released a foul odor into the air. So many spores filled the air that they could not see and they fell into the river. The river erupted in a great wave and bubbles. Slowly it calmed and in the slowing eruption two skeletons surfaced. |
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