A Light in the Dark Forest

"Are you alright, Master Nakata? I sense confusion within your emotions. An arrow from one of our enemies managed to find its way to your heart. Had it not been for your miraculous regenerative abilities, you would never have awakened again." He explained. "Allow yourself to rest and catch your breath, then we shall decide what to do with that lever at the far side of the room." He motioned towards the lever. "I see no other possible way of exit besides the way we came, but there is no telling what could happen if we pull it." In the meantime, he placed the mace he had retrieved and searched around until he found two long swords among the rubble. He was joyous when he found two matching sheaths that seemed to be in decent enough condition to use, and strapped them to his waist before sheathing the swords.

"Judging by the condition of these weapons and the two sheaths I've just acquired, they have not been down here for a very long period of time. There is no visible rust on the majority of the weapons and the sheaths are barely worn at all." He didn't voice what conclusion he had come to but it was rather obvious: much of whatever had happened here had happened rather recently. How it had happened he wasn't sure on, however. There were no partially-decomposed corpses or anything of the sort, causing him to theorize that, perhaps, the weapons were newer than the remains.

"If you truly had died, Master Nakata, you would not be alive right now. One does not simply come back to life, it is not possible without outside means. I find it more likely you simply had not been fatally wounded for long enough a period of time for you to truly die. Had I allowed the arrow to stay within your heart for too many moments longer, it is unlikely you ever would have recovered. But it truly is not relevant now, for you are alive and well."

Alistair was not so sure that pulling the lever was the wisest of ideas. Then again, he saw little they could do to actually take precaution in case it were a trap. They needed a way across the underground ocean, however, and short of swimming he saw little else that could possibly help them.

Nakata would find that the lever was nearly impossible to budge. Alistair made his way over to help, but even with the two of them they just barely would be able to pull it back. When they finally managed to do so, a large roaring sound was heard ad the earth trembled beneath them. The earthquake became so violent that even Alistair - with his near-perfect balance due to his incredible mind - could not stand despite the shaking.

The room otherwise had no noticeable change, but the room with the underground ocean now had a stone walkway that connected the two sides. The walkway, of course, was barely above the waterline and the violent tide caused water to often splash over it, making the walkway slightly slippery and dangerous. One wrong move, one could easily fall in.

—

Blast! They had managed to open the bridge! They would be there in no time! But his summoning was almost complete! His faithful servant from the outer planes would destroy them!

This island would be his.

When they had made it back to the previous room, they would see that the corridor they originally had come from had indeed caved in. It was no longer possible to to leave this place, it appeared. However, the biggest change would be the stone bridge that now spanned the entirety of the water, allowing passage to the opposite ledge. Alistair noted that it was now impossible for them to go back the way they had originally come in, but at the very least they could make it to see what was on the other side.

"We must take extreme caution, Master Nakata. Considering the dangers we have encountered thus far, there is no telling what awaits us next." He made his way over to the bridge but stopped before actually beginning to cross it. "There are no walls or anything else to grab onto. With the waves splashing over it in such a way, it could become very easy to fall in, especially if anything attacks us."

—

Yes. Any time, now. It would come forth. It would devour them while they tried to cross the bridge. They would stand no chance!

But it would be to his dismay when they started to cross and he realized that it did not come to the surface!

He swore loudly and grabbed his sword. Yes, the Flesheater. It was not of this world, he stole it from a being he had managed to summon. It was a long sword made of a material he was not familiar with, with a long, curved, serrated blade. The blade itself was black with red symbols he could not make out. Adorning himself in his brown robe, with a hood that shadowed his face, he made his way outside of his carved-from-earth home. Standing on the ledge that mirrored the one the intruders were coming across, he waited patiently, his sword in hand. The lights that could be seen from across the ocean were, in actuality, coming from carved out windows of what appeared to be a small house carved from the rock. It even had a functioning wooden door, and several rooms inside, including his summoning room.

He would take care of these intruders himself.

As expected from cliche villains, the robed man deflected the first arrow easily with his sword. Alistair held up his hand to stop Nakata from firing his second one. "I would recommend waiting before doing that, nothing will come of senseless violence. Besides, I would prefer we gain some information from him first."

The robed man spoke now. "You can't be serious! A couple of school kids are the ones that made it here!? How in God's name did you ever handle the illithids!? They should have sucked your brain dry! Useless creatures, all of them! Tell me, brats, what is it you want? Why do you insist on invading my home!?"

Alistair looked to Nakata then to the robed man. "We cannot engage him on this bridge, Master Nakata." He spoke softly. "It is too narrow, and who knows what he could use to knock us into the water. I am going to assume that he is the one behind the monsters, and thus anything could be lurking below..."

"If it comes to combat, allow me to parry his attacks while you shoot his openings. There is no need to play such dirty tricks." He said, before turning back to their adversary. "To be honest." He said much louder. "We were exploring. Teenagers, y'know?" He shrugged. "When we found scary monsters and other such things, we began to wonder what treasures we would find. And well, here we are!"

"You expect me to believe you were able to handle illithids, shock lizards, and undead despite being average, snoopy teens!?" He held his sword up in a combat stance now. He still had no idea why his last summon had failed, but surely he could take on a couple of stupid kids!

"Average? Hardly. As I am sure you know, there is an academy on this very island which instructs children who are.... gifted. Obviously, we are not your average teenage students. Preferably, I would like to solve this without combat, but I must say we cannot leave so peacefully." He pointed an accusing finger now at this robed man. "Your servants serve no purpose other than to harm the innocent. For what reason do you justify bringing them into this world!?"

"How I live my life is certainly none of your business! If you insist on being such insolent little punks then I'll - what?"

It was at that very moment that numerous tentacles - similar to that of an octopus but much larger in size - exploded from the murky depths of the underground ocean.

"Yes! You have come! My guardian!" The robed man yelled. "Come forth, mighty beast of the dark abyss! Des-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. A tentacle emerged from the depths and constricted him, clearly making him unable to breathe considering his face.

"This is bad..." Alistair said, drawing both of his swords. The head of the undersea beast finally rose, itself being perhaps as large as an ordinary household! It possessed no eyes or other such facial features, only a gray leathery body. However, at the very top of its head, opened a large maw with dozens upon dozens of large, razor sharp teeth. The tentacle carrying the robed man flung him through the air only to have him land in the exact center of the maw which closed in on him.

Now, with the man that summoned it gone forever, the large octopus-esque creature appeared to turn its attention to the other two. Tentacles large enough to stand on - were they to stand still - surrounded them on both sides.

"I hope you're ready..." He said in a perhaps annoyed voice.