Chapter 126: Pit

The Skull gangsters once again followed Garth back across the sketchy large wooden bridge. They returned along the same route as before, passing the strange market stalls that had been carved into the high rock walls. As they were passing through the market it seemed that there were now even more people crowded onto the narrow boardwalk. Where they were coming from, Alan had no idea, and he didn't have time to worry about it. Garth weaved in and out of the crowd far too quickly, like a snake in the grass, and it was hard to keep up with him.

Upon returning to the first cave, where their weapons were being kept, Garth was already waiting for Alan and the others. In his hands was Alan's trusty tactical Fireman's hammer.

"Here. Only you can have this back." Garth said holding out the weapon to Alan. "The rest will just have to wait."

"You mean I have to do this alone? Eh, shouldn't take long. How hard can it be to beat one measly creature?" Alan replied confidently taking the hammer. He gripped the handle tightly and immediately felt much more relaxed.

"Ha, if you think fighting a Twisted is easy, then are you in for a surprise." Garth said smiling for the first time today. "But I guess you are the type that talks by doing things. I guess I'll wait and see if you can back up that confidence."

"I will make it quick; you’ll see. Now lead the way to this Pit." Alan replied resting the hammer onto his shoulder.

"Fine. It is at the southernmost peninsula, in the very depths of the caves. Stay close, you all don't want to get lost." Garth said briskly leaving the cave.

Everyone hurried to keep up, again. It was unclear to everyone why Garth was always rushing so far ahead of them. It was as if he was trying to lose them all in purpose. Fortunately, this time there was no market area for them to pass through and the crowds were much thinner. They once again crossed high above the river water on an old rope and wooden bridge. This bridge was shorter than the former one and headed straight for the tip of the southern peninsula. The afternoon wind had picked up and the gangsters nervously held on to the bridge’s sides. All except for Alan, who was still enjoying the airy feeling.

This feeling would not last long. When they finished crossing, they found that the cliff side was dotted with numerous smaller caves and see-through, hollowed out portions. Clearly it was time to go underground again, a place Alan hated to go in.

"The Pit is near the bottom of this peninsula, nearer to the area were the two rivers meet. So, we won't need to go far." Garth called back over his shoulder. However, he didn't even bother to slow his pace as he started down a wide mouthed cave.

Alan and the rest quickly tried to catch up, jogging as they went. Luckily the cave floor sloped gently downwards, and they were able to catch up with Garth in the oddly well-lit tunnel. There were few divergent rock tunnels illuminated by the torches lining the wall that joined up with the main corridor, however, from the foul smell they had no intentions of finding out what might be down them. Occasionally an ill sounding screech or moan sounded from faraway from some unknown creature or possibly human.

Hemlock sped up to walk alongside Alan. His face gave away that he was nervous and on edge. "Bone Flayer, are you sure we are going to be alright? If something happened and you were injured or this is a trap, how will we escape?"

"It should be fine." Alan replied. Though he too felt concerned. "Nothing is going to happen, and we will be out of here in no time. Just have a little faith in your leader, ok?"

"What choice do I have?" Hemlock grumbled.

There was a slight bend in the tunnel, and they lost sight of Garth for a moment. The sounds of a distant crowd cheering could also be heard and with every step they took, it grew louder. Coming around the bend they saw Garth standing expectantly at an entrance with a grey tarp covering it.

"You follow me." Garth said pointing at Alan. "The rest of you go through here and watch from a seat somewhere. If there are any. Also, try to behave, you're still being watched."

"Good luck Speaker." Ashen One murmured walking past Alan to be the first to enter the tarp entrance.

Wind Talker followed quickly behind, as did the others. As they pushed back the grey tarp to enter Alan could see a large crowd of people inside standing while excitedly looking down at something far below them. What it could be, well, he was soon to find out.

"The entrance to the Pit is down the tunnel more. But first, to pick out a Twisted for you to fight. We will let the Beast Master choose." Garth explained as they continued walking. "Since you are trying to impress our warriors, you'll need to fight something challenging and showy. That is if you can handle it."

Alan normally would reply right away but being underground in an unfamiliar place and trying to mentally prepare himself, he only nodded in reply.

Reaching an area where the cave tunnel flattened out and narrowed quite a bit was where the animal smell grew even stronger. The unpleasant animalistic smell of blood, feces, and death. Also, there were now many jail-like metal doors lining the narrowing cave. From these doors’ small openings, an unknown creature would forcefully reach out with claws or talons and scream at them in an attempt to grab the two men as they passed. Both men ignored these idle threats and continued onwards.

Sitting at a splintering, round wooden table, eating what Alan hoped was a steak, was a huge fat gutted man. The man chewed so loudly that Alan almost assumed that it was pig, not a man that was sitting there. The fat man also kept constantly dabbed a nasty cloth on his sweaty bald head, while juice dribbling down his meaty double chin unchecked.

"Beast Master! I have an outside challenger that’s going to fight. The Shaman say he needs to prove his worthy to receive our forces aid. Can you match him with a Twisted?" Garth called out over the sounds of creature noises and heavy chewing.

Looking up quickly the Beast Master looked up at Alan with unsettling piercing brown eyes. He looked over Alan twice before returning to his meal and his double chins wobbled vigorously as he spoke and chewed. "Three doors on the left. Fight that one. I'm eating so go and slay it already. ‘Burp’! For the Sun's glory!"

"For the Sun’s glory." Garth replied unfazed by the ill-mannered reply. He then continued past the fat man and headed for the indicated door. "Don't mind him. He's always like that, but he knows what he's doing."

"Are you sure? He's not doing anything but eating." Alan replied following close behind.

"Trust me, he's the best at choosing what someone is capable of fighting against. Now, let see what you are being paired up with." Garth answered stopping in front of the door Beast Master picked. On the door was a simple wooden board and on it was a solid black circle with lots of squiggling lines coming off it. Garth let out a whistle upon seeing it. "Good luck! You are up against a Land Octopus."

"I’ve heard of those, but never see one." Alan remarked. "Any tips?"

"I though you said you had this under control?" Garth said motioning for Alan to follow him. "Why do you want tips now? Are you getting cold feet?"

"Pfft, of course not. It's just that it never hurts to be prepared." Alan replied.

"Hmm, just try not to get caught by its many arms. It will rip you in half, given the chance. Hope that helps." Garth replied casually, before pointing at another gloomy passage. "Alright, now go up these stairs and wait for the gate to open. As soon as the gate does, get ready to fight. There will be no announcement or introductions."

"Got it." Alan answered patting the head of his hammer into his fist in anticipation. That tip wasn't all that helpful, but he ignored Garths lackadaisical reply.

Garth at this point turned to go, leaving Alan alone at the foot of the passage stairs. Coming from the top he could hear the excited sounds of the crowd, clashing of weapons and animals screaming. He took a deep breath and started climbing up the stairs.

Reaching the top, a thick metal gate blocked his path. On the other side was the Pit. Just as the name described, it was a wide sandy pit littered with bloodied and rotting animal parts, broken weapons, and uncountable red sandy stains. Surrounding the Pit was a metal dome enclosure, likely to keep Twisted out. Beyond was the crowd, hidden from sight due to the lighting only shinning onto the sandy ground from somewhere high above. In the center three men and a woman, all dressed in their crazy Sun People attire, were fighting several darkly colored Twisted. Alan knew these Twisted to be called Night Hounds.

The fight was seemingly reaching the end stages now. The Twisted were covered in dark red, black blood everywhere and appeared to be weakening. The Sun People, though visibly exhausted, were likely to going to win.

Just as he leaned the gate to watch more, a heavy chain rattling sounded out and another metal gate crashed on the ground behind him. Turning to look at it Alan sighed. "Well, there's no going back now!"

The cheering crowd broke out into an excited collective shout returning him to the fight. A Sun Person warrior had landed a death blow to the last Night Hound. Raising a bloody spear in the air, the warrior cried out excitedly back towards the formless crowd. A gate on the far side of the Pit opened and the warriors quickly jogged out. It seemed he was going to go next.

Alan gripped his hammer tightly, but he wasn't afraid. In fact, he was excited! "Let's hope this Land Octopus thing is worth all the trouble coming here. I want a good fight!"

Just as the gate that the Sun People left from closed, his own gate started too rapidly open. Ducking low Alan rushed out into the Pit. He headed straight for the center, all the while eyeing the other gates to his left. One of those was where the Twisted would appear.

Reaching the Pits center Alan stopped. Dropping his hammer on the sand he reached down to grab his shirt and took it off without hesitation. Doing so revealed his anatomically correct skeleton tattoo that covered his muscular chest and back for all to see. Now everyone would know who he was, a member of the Skull!

The sound of another chain and gate rising caused him to pick back up his hammer and prepare to fight. In directly in front of him a rusting gate slowly opened all the way, but no creature came rushing out like he expected. Then he saw it!

A long black and red edged tentacle slowly rolled out from the gates dark center. It grasped the top left corner of the gateway and was soon followed by another that came out to grab the gateways bottle right corner. Soon all eight black tentacles were spilling out and expanding out of the gateway, but no body had yet appeared.

From within the eerie darkness, a single round red eye flashed open to look directly at him. Then it dawned on Alan. The dark gateway was not due to the lighting, it was actually the Twisted's body. The creature leering from within was humongous!