We made it deeper into the frigid, misty, narrow dungeon that reeked of burnt rubber. The dungeon was damp, and I jumped to every droplet of water that fell on me. 

It was only until we could barely see until Hardstone ignited his torch. He waved it around to show 2 passages, both of which spiraled downward. 

“Is it usual for dungeons to be this quiet?” I asked, and in return came the same question, echoing in what was undeniably caves.

“Depends.” Whispered Hardstone.

We took the passage on the left, struggling to keep footing as he made our way down the slippery slope. 

The deeper we walked, the more I could hear faint whisperings deeper in the caves. I assumed the others have as well because they drew their weapons. 

Hardstone stopped, and before I could ask why, he pointed ahead of him. 

And there I saw 3 sets of green eyes lurk in the darkness ahead of us.

Julie readied her bow, and Daniel made his way to the middle of us. Hardstone waved me to stand a safe distance behind him for easy aid. 

We approached the sets of eyes until they disappeared. 

We continued on except even more cautiously, ready to fire at will if anything were to fall in our sights.

I thought it was reckless thinking, but I didn’t want to say anything either.

The walls grew further apart from each other, making a wider area for us to walk through.

And then…

“Gahhh!” someone- no- something shrieked in the distance. And just before we could exchange curious glances at each other, another scream followed. 

These screams didn’t sound humanlike to me- no, they sounded rough, rasp, and low-pitched. 

We walked more hastily, and the caves grew larger and larger until…

…

There was a large, round stage in front of us being well-lit by the plenty of crystal stones covered in webs.

And in the middle of the large, round stage was what looked like a goblin, frozen, and trembling at the sight above it. 

And with my very next step followed a head falling from above the goblin, landing right into it’s lap.

“They must be those eyes we’ve seen earlier…” said Julie.

I could feel Johnathan’s trembling hand rest on my shoulder, and Celie’s jumping on my feet from anxiousness to fight something.

Another head fell from above the goblin, except this time, it landed on his head, which must’ve sparked something because the goblin started running towards us.

“Take him out, Julie.” Hardstone ordered, but before she could release her arrow, something caught our eye.

Not just something, but something huge, black, hairy, 100-eyes, 8 long and thick legs, and almost the size of the caves itself. 

Holy… shit…

Julie, instead of shooting the goblin who ran right past us, shot at the monstrous spider, spewing white puss out of its large two pinchers, and that was undoubtedly the worst decision she’s  made since we met. 

“Onward!” Hardstone cried, readying to swing his ax at the spider’s legs. Celie followed behind him, and Johnathan may have ran away with the goblin. 

Countless, fruitless “HMMPHS!” came from Hardstone and Celie as they tried chopping down the spider's legs before it crawled up its webs and onto the ceiling. 

I ran into the stage to see if I could be of aid, and when I looked at the ceiling, I was absolutely disgusted.

Many corpses of what may have been goblins were caught in the webs, stuck on the ceiling. 

Before I could cringe, the spider lunged at us. 

I swiped my hands above my head, throwing the spider off target and leading it to crash into a few crystal stones. 

The spider gave it’s nasty purr and got back to its feet- or- er… paws.

Julie fired at will, somehow missing many of her shots. 

The spider shot pus at me, I dodged, and it just missed. 

I raised my hand and shot it downwards, and a gust of wind followed, ultimately pushing the spider back into the wall. 

Hardstone and Celie had just reached the spider and began chopping away at it’s tough shell, nearly falling off balance with every hit, but it all came to no effect. 

They hopped away just in time to avoid being crushed by the spider as it got up.

“We can’t get through it!” Shouted Hardstone, just dodging a shot of boiling pus that corroded the floor he once stood. 

I looked around to find anything that could kill it, and thankfully, I spotted a clump of sharp crystal stones sitting on the cave’s walls. 

“Move!” I demanded Celie and Hardstone. Hardstone reluctantly commanded unlike Celie who abided almost immediately. 

I stepped up, planted my feet as hard as I could on the ground, and lifted the now-flailing spider into the air with difficulty. 

“GAHH!” I shouted, feeling as if my muscles were about to explode due to the amount of mana intensity I was applying. 

*woosh*

*splash*

“YES!” Celie shouted in glee, dancing with Hardstone at the sight of the spider’s twitching coming to an end as it stuck to the crystal stones that pierced it. 

I sighed in relief as I went to approach the rest of the party, but then-

*rumble*

I fell?

I fell into a deep, dark hole that instantly closed up above me. 

My screams tried catching up to my fast falling, but ultimately failed until I reached the very bottom, just barely saving myself from hitting the ground hard as I slowed myself down just enough to only receive a bruise on my hip. 

What the hell happened? Where am I?

I couldn’t see in this newer, darker setting until a row of torches hanging on smooth-stone walls set ablaze, leading to a larger, scaly creature in front of me. 

A dragon?!

A bone white dragon curled on a comfy platform of silk, and with every breath from it’s funneling nostrils came a chill down my spine. 

I tried flying away but came to an immediate halt as I looked up. My very entrance was now gone, and I was left with one, disturbing question.

Do I have to kill this thing?