(Samuel's POV)
"So this Orc Chief came to know about this plot." I said to Oneth as we walked inside the cave, "How did he even know? I mean, what sort of connections does he have?"
We walked behind Sharn, who was looking around while holding a torch in her hand. She had pulled it out of her bag, which was prepared for her by her tribe members.
Oneth looked at me, "From my understanding, of the many Orcish Strongholds that are scattered around the Kingdom, there are a few that have direct connections to the Midnight Legion." She said, "I don't leave the Castle that much, so I wouldn't know exactly all of the Tribal Chiefs that communicate with the Legion Commanders."
"Would Rok'gul and Sharn's dad communicate?" I asked, "Is that how the Queen came to find out about this? And as for the chief, maybe one of the Legion members discovered this plot."
"Vakmu is the one with the details." Oneth said, "Let's-"
She stopped and flicked her tongue in the air in front of her, just as a serpent would. As she did this, I heard Sharn stop as well.
"Smell that?" Sharn asked, waving the torch in front of her, "You do, don't you?"
"Blood." Oneth said, "It's thick and pungent."
I placed my hand on the handle of the revolver, "Hm...."
"Oh." Sharn said, "Look at this."
I walked over to her, "What is it?" I asked, "Find something?"
In front of her, by the wall of the cave, I saw a pool of blood. At the center, the massive head of a brown bear sat with its maw open. It was completely covered in blood, some of it was due to its eyes having been carved out.
"A Great Bear." Oneth said, "It appears it was killed."
"How big are these things?" I said, "The fucking head is almost half the size of a regular bear!"
"It doesn't matter.....because something was able to kill it." Sharn said, "And it ripped its head off like nothing."
"Could it be your father?" I asked
"No." Sharn shook her head, "He wields a Greathammer, and this looks like something ripped the head off. The head looks intact, aside from the eyes. So he didn't kill it, there would be blunt trauma on the skull. And this looks quite recent too. If my father killed it, the blood should've been dried by now. This is just the entrance that leads to the ruins."
I looked around, seeing how the flickering light illuminated the dark cavern we were in. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, only the shadows caused by the torchlight.
"Whatever did this is near then." I said, 'Be on guard."
There was an unsettling clattering sound, following by loud rustling. I heard Oneth slithering closer to me, her tongue flicking in the air.
"Something's coming." She said
"Yes." Sharn said
I looked over to a tunnel, watching how a massive shadow appeared from it, shooting right into the ceiling.
"Whoa." I drew my revolver, aiming it up at the ceiling, "What's that?"
Sharn waved the torch upwards, illuminating the cavern ceiling. I saw the dark red carapace of a massive centipede that was coiling around the stalactite. It was clattering its mandibles rapidly as it slowly lowered its head.
"What the fuck is that.....?" I said, taken aback by the size of the creature, "A Centipede?!"
"Yes. That's a rather small one for its species." Oneth said, "The Colossal Red Centipede."
That thing looked to be like 10 feet long or even longer! And it's width was probably three or so feet, that thing was small?!
"Small?!" I said, looking at her, "There are fuckers bigger than that one?!"
"Stay on guard, there's more." Sharn said
"The fuck do you mean more?!" I exclaimed, "More of those fucking things?!"
I saw three more of those massive centipedes shot out of the same tunnel, circling us and coiling the stalagmites that were on the far edge. The torchlight reflected off their carapace, giving them an unsettling glow.
"These centipedes are small and young." Oneth said, "That means their carapace aren't as tough. I can easily deal with them by using fire magic."
"No need." Sharn said, "I'll handle them."
She walked over to me and handed me the torch. I took the torch and watched as she began to rub her neck, walking over to the centipedes that were on the side.
"You don't wield a weapon." I said, "Are you a mage, by any chance?"
"Something like that." Sharn said as she spat on the ground, "Now....."
I saw how she lunged at the nearest centipede, swinging her fist at its head. The moment her fist made contact with the insect, I saw pieces of the carapace and a gross green liquid splatter everywhere.
"Huh...." I said, "Okay then. I guess a single round of my revolver would've done the trick."
"Maybe. But then again, she might be quite strong." Oneth said
In an instant, she smashed the other Centipede with a swift punch. Then, without wasting time, she kicked the third one against the wall, causing cracks to appear. She stepped back from the disgusting insect corpses.
I heard a violent clattering and looked up to see that the one on top was shooting itself at Oneth and I.
"Oh." I said as I aimed my gun at it, "No, you don't."
Suddenly, a bright green light flashed past and the next thing I knew was that the centipede exploded violently, its carapace and gooey guts flew everywhere.
Oneth lifted her hand, and a circular barrier appeared around us, shielding us from the disgusting mess.
"You don't like insects?" Sharn asked as she walked over to us, holding her fist up slightly as it was glowing slightly, "Hm, that's cute."
I pointed at the corpses, "They're not supposed to be that big." I said, "Fucking insects should not be that damned big!"
"Hm, they're not big where you're from?" Oneth asked
"No!" I exclaimed, "And I am glad they aren't."
"Well, they're bigger in this realm." Oneth chuckled, "Best get used to it."
"Yea yea." I said with a frown, "Anyways, Sharn..."
"What?" She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "What do you want?"
"You're quite strong." I said, "Was that magic you just used?"
"Maybe." She said as she took the torch from my hand, "Next time I use it, pay more attention."
As she walked away, I felt as Oneth leaned closer to me, "You want her, don't you?" She asked, "Hmm....?"
I looked at her, "Not everything is about sex." I said seriously, "Get it together."
"In your case, it is." She said with a smirk, "Your System deems it so."
"Tch...." I said, "Whatever. I mean, she's strong and pretty."
"I don't hate it."