The three of us stood before the ruins, preparing ourselves before we entered. It probably wouldn't be wise to sprint in and get clobbered by stone golems all willy nilly, after all. 

The ruins were... A little underwhelming, to be honest. I'd had expected something more grand, more imposing, more whimsical. It was smaller than I'd hoped, too. Maybe it continues underground? That's probably it. 

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what these ruins were. I mean, they have to be ruins of something, right? It's not like whatever ancient civilization or eccentric architect built this thing with the intent that it'd be ruins, y'know?  

The building was oddly bulbous, but with a flat base and top. It looked kinda like a pot. A weird pot that curves in on the top, and flattens. Also it was pretty overgrown, lots of plants, moss and stuff, growing all over it. That part was kinda cool, add a few points for that, if nothing else.

What's the point of this building? And why build it here, in the middle of the forest? 

"Right, Michaus, you mentioned golems, but is there anything else we should know before we head in?" S asked. Anyone else getting a little deja vu?

"Well, the normal stuff, really. You've gotta always keep an eye out for traps, always! Maybe some other basic dungeon-ey monsters and whatnot... The golems should be the biggest thing, though!" Michaus explained. 

Huh? Hasn't he been here before? Shouldn't he have, like, disarmed the traps by now? Or at least know where they are? And what's with all the ambiguity with the stuff inside? Do things just, like, wander in? 

Wait a minute... He mentioned that the golems weren't there that one time he came in, meaning that if they're currently a threat, they must have come back somehow. Huh. How'd they do that? Do they breed? Ugh. I really don't want to imagine what that's like... But I also kind of can't help it. Eh. Ee. Oo. Eek. 

I'll have to ask how all of this works later. 

In the mean time, I have to stop thinking about other meanings for the term 'rock golem'. Eh. Gross. 

"Right." S said. He stretched for a moment.  Michaus did the same. I'd also join in, but, y'know, injuries. Man, these are convenient! Aside from the incredible pain, at least. 

S turned to me. He looked concerned. I think I know where this is going.

"Right, Beyes... Are you sure you're okay to go in? You don't have to..." S began.

"S, I'm fine." I said. I'm good! I've come this far! You've already asked me this!

"Well, if you're sure... Right! Let's head in!" S said. 

"Yeah! I'll lead!" Michaus said, pointing his sword forward. S readied his blade. I... Grabbed my sickle tighter. I should think of a cool pose for this sort of thing.

Man, S is really sensitive about these injuries. For the guy that pushed me into fighting giant wolves and moving trees, he gets really squirmy about a couple cuts! 

Or... is that really what he's concerned about? I mean-

"Hey, you comin'?" Michaus said, derailing my train of thought "Let's go!"

"Oh, uh, yeah, coming." I said. Eh, whatever. Dungeon time!

The entrance to the dungeon was basically just a big hole in the side of the pot-building. It was actually a little surreal, steeping into the thing. It almost felt like I was stepping through time. The outside showed clear signs of age, all those little cracks and the plants growing all over, but the inside almost felt new. Sure, it was incredibly dusty, the place was probably an asthmatics worst nightmare, but other than that, what little invasive plants were able to weasel their way in were limited to that little area in the doorway where the sun shined. It was an odd feeling, to be sure.

And odder still was the interior itself. The only thing this room had was a staircase in the very middle leading underground. That's it. The room was entirely empty other than that. Just a dark circle with a hole on the side, and one in the middle. At least the stair case was lit with torches.

Wait, what? How are those torches lit? 

"Thing's might get darker as we move go deeper. Either of you use fire magic?" Michaus asked. 

"No, don't think so." I said.

S didn't respond. I guess he doesn't. 

"You guys should probably grab torches, then." Michaus suggested, grabbing a torch of his own from the wall. 

Well, that sure sounds like a good idea, being in the dark in a place like this ought to be uniquely terrifying, but... "Not sure having an exposed flame near my sweatshirt would be a good idea."

Michaus looked over at me, and studied my clothes. "Oh, yeah you do look especially flammable right now." 

"Right, looks like it's a good time to use one of... These!" S said, producing a yellow, bubbly potion from a large pouch on his belt. 

Oh, those things. Yeah, that should probably work. 

"Drink this." S said, handing it to me.

"Oooh! What's that do?" Michaus asked enthusiastically. 

"Should make him glow. Not sure how bright. Should be safer than fire, at least." S explained.

"Yeah, sounds good." I said. Alright, just gotta drink the thing. It's basically just a little vial of a fizzy lemonade-esque liquid. Well, a little yellower than the average lemonade. Like a brighter shade of piss. 

Ew. Gross.

Anyways, uh... Here goes, I guess. Down the hatch.

...

I struggled to get the cork off the top of the thing. I heard S snicker. Bastard.

I did manage to get it open. Eventually. And, maybe I was a little caught off guard when it opened, and maybe I almost spilled it on the ground. Maybe that happened. All of that possibly happening was enough to distract me from the piss thing, so I was able to get the thing down in one gulp. It was awfully bitter, and had a weird, tangy aftertaste. It went down easy enough, though.

I felt some strange sensation welling around inside me, similar to how it feels the instant before I cast some magic of my own, except this worked independently. I didn't have to do anything. 

Nothing happened, initially. 

And then I burped. After that, I started glowing. 

S chuckled. "Excuse you."

I looked down at my body, my hands. It was a weird sensation, for sure. I illuminated a pretty decent area around me. Not much else to say, really. It was a little creepy, to be honest. 

"Whoahhhhh! Cool!" Michaus said, enthusiastically.

I shrugged. It's cool, I guess, but a little unbecoming of a master of darkness. Beats being on fire, though. "Thanks, S."

"Right, no problem. Now, let's head down, yeah?" S said.

Everyone was in agreement, and we headed down the stairs and into the ruins proper. Michaus at the helm, S behind him, and I took up the rear. I was bright enough that Michaus probably didn't need the torch, but he carried one anyways, either out of habit or just because it looked cool, I'd wager. He did look pretty cool with it. 

I don't think we even got 4 steps down before our first interruption. 

"WAIT!" S shouted. Everyone stopped. "Right, tripwire, 3 steps down. Don't think it's connected to anything, but you might take a nasty spill. Everyone watch your step."

What? I looked 3 steps down from Michaus. I don't see... Wait, is that... Man, I can't even tell. I mean, I think that's it, but...

Oh, wait a minute, I can see the bottom from here. The end of the stairs leads down to what appears to be another room. Heh, I might not need to watch my step after all!

Oh, wait, there's no way Michaus isn't going to notice me stepping through a hole in reality that just appeared in front of him. Dangit. 

Guess I could just wait for them to get down there and warp behind them. Yeah, that works. 

Thus, I stood there. Stairs are dangerous for the injured, after all. Hah. Excused. 

It didn't take long for S and Michaus to get down the steps, and I don't think they noticed I stopped. They didn't mention anything, at least. I was a little concerned about them noticing my glow not moving, but I'd wager that Michaus's torch distracted them from that. There weren't any other traps besides that tripwire, so it didn't take them long. S did stop for a moment, near the bottom of the stairs, and looked around for a moment, but eventually shook his head and caught back up with Michaus. Wonder what that was about.  

Huh. Y'know, this is a pretty tame dungeon thus far. Well, I'm sure the crawl will get more exciting in a bit.  

Anyways, the two of them made it to the bottom of the stairs. They both seemed to ready their weapons. Oh, looks like they're about to start fighting. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

I warped down behind them. There was a short walkway before the next room, but we could see into it pretty easily. And, much to my surprise, the thing they were gearing up to fight was none other than the stone golems themselves.

Gee, that was fast, wasn't it?