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35. Top of the List
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 16:00:06 +0000 UTCThe doors clanged open again. A rope unspooled into the darkness. “Wait long?” Isa asked.
“Just long enough.”
The rope went taut. Isa tightened her grip on it, leaning her weight against the rope to make the job easier. A pale hand gripped the edge of the pit. She reached down, offering a hand up. “Come along, my sweet.”
A bloodied, slippery hand gripped hers. A very dead Mae, cataracts forming in her eyes, met Isa’s gaze. Isa jolted, surprised. Her grip slipped.
“Don’t let go of that zombie! I worked hard for that!” Levi shouted from the depths.
“How many are there?” Isa asked. Recovering from her shock, she gripped Mae’s hand firmly and lifted her out of the depths.
“Two more. One of ‘em’s special.”
The rope grew heavy. Piri climbed to the top and reached for Isa’s hand. Grunting, Isa hauled her free. “One more?”
“One more. Special one.”
The rope took weight yet again. It was less heavy than the first two times. This time, a skeleton reached for her hand. She lifted Roan’s skeleton over the edge and found herself facing… something.
Isa furrowed her brows. “What the hell is this?”
“A slombie.” The rope trembled as Levi climbed up it. A moment later, Colin followed him up. Standing beside his masterpiece, Levi proudly gestured to Roan. Brown slime clung to his bones, not quite coating them, but present. “A slime-zombie!”
“Why?”
Levi tutted. He shook his finger. “Everyone thinks of zombies as disposable minions. And they are! But what if they were more than disposable, weak minions? What if they could also hide a secondary attack? A zombie, infected with a slime… think of the possibilities. I can control the skeleton, and the skeleton is coated in a slime that dissolves pretty much everything. Isn’t that crazy overpowered?”
“Won’t it dissolve the skeleton?” Isa pointed out.
“It will, which is why they’re still disposable minions. But hey! If I can’t tame a slime, this is the second best thing. And… that’s not even the best part.”
“No?” Isa asked skeptically.
Levi stepped back. He patted Colin’s shoulder. “Show her.”
Colin lifted his staff. A beam of golden light streamed from its tip and drew a small circle on the wall.
The Roan-zombie swayed toward it. The slime lifted off its bones, craning toward the gold light.
“That’s enough for a demo, thanks, Colin,” Levi said.
Colin nodded and lowered his staff.
“See? We can control the zombie for macro-movements, and control the slime for micro-movements. It’s the ultimate weapon!”
“It is definitely a thing you can do,” Isa agreed.
Levi shook his head at her. “Where did you learn all this modern slang? Honestly.”
“I didn’t live in a hole the whole time after I arrived in this world. I probably know more otherworlders here than you knew people back in your world.”
“Doubt it, but I guess it’s possible. Anyways. The point is, we were just chilling in that pitfall trap, minding our own business, when suddenly the Death Cultists’ goth wannabes dump these bodies down on our heads. The bodies of our friends! Dumped, unceremoniously, like so much trash!” Levi clenched his hand and gritted his teeth.
“That’s awfully rude of them.”
Levi nodded. He narrowed his eyes, glaring after the Death Cultists. “And that’s why we’re going to figure out where they sleep, and slit their throats in the night like the dogs they are.”
“With the…what was it. Slombie?” Isa asked.
Cracking a grin, Levi gave her a big thumbs up. “You know it!”
Colin looked at the slombie. He tilted his head. “It did start as a slombie, but it’s more of a skeletslime now.”
“Yeah, but sleleton is a terrible—” Levi paused. He pinched his chin thoughtfully. “Skeletslime…”
Isa interrupted him, rolling up the rope as she spoke. “Then I’m sure you’ll be happy to discover that I have already found their camping spot.”
Levi perked up. “Really?”
She held up the rope. “Where did you think I found this?”
“Oh, nice! Awesome! Wait… did you encounter them while they were still alive? Since you were going to their camp on the same timeframe where they were heading here to dump them,” Levi asked, gesturing at his new zombies.
“No. I presume they didn’t take them to the camp to kill them. They probably simply killed them where they encountered them, then tossed their bodies in here.”
“You know, that does sound shockingly reasonable.”
“Why dump the bodies?” Colin asked. He looked Piri and Mae over. “We’re in a dungeon. Couldn’t they simply leave them somewhere?”
Levi shook his finger. “That, my young Colin, is short-sighted. Just because we’re in another world doesn’t mean there isn’t some way to understand who, or what, killed a body. I mean, just look at them. Stabbed in the back, their throats slit. Tell me what kind of slime did that, huh?”
“Right, but who’s going to hold them accountable? The Death Cult police?” Colin scoffed.
Again, Levi shook his finger. “Short-sighted! Come on, Colin, you’re smarter than this. These people have friends. Family. I mean, look at Piri. You’ve seen Shaheed. Imagine if her dad found out she got stabbed in the back, and where, and decided to take issue with it. How do you feel about her dad hunting you down, huh?”
“I… yeah, I guess I wouldn’t be too happy about it,” Colin admitted.
Crossing his arms, Levi nodded. “There doesn’t have to be police for there to be accountability in the world. Now, sure, there’s less of it. But I mean, do you want to piss off a wolfman, or a clan of elves, or an… orc…?”
“Troll,” Isa corrected him.
“Troll? Really. Damn. My next guess was djinn, believe it or not,” Levi informed her. He turned back to Colin. “So yes, they could have left the bodies behind. But that’s a loose thread. You know what isn’t a loose thread? Letting a foul feeder dissolve them to nothing.”
Colin nodded slowly. “No, I get it. You were right, Levi. I wasn’t thinking.”
“I don’t get to hear those words often, but god, it feels good when I do,” Levi said, pleased.
“I wasn’t thinking?” Isa deadpanned.
“No, I hear those words from my mouth all the time. The ones before them.”
“No, I get it?”
Levi took a deep breath. He sighed. “Oh, Isa. You know what? I’m glad you stayed up with the times.”
“We made these kinds of stupid jokes back in the 1790s, too. We just spent a few more words getting there,” she said, shaking her head at him.
Levi clapped abruptly. “Enough chit-chat. Let’s get down to business. Isa? Lead the way.”
She saluted and took point. Levi and Colin followed her, with the three zombies trailing at the back. As one, they marched for revenge.
