“Are you sure we’re ready to do this” I mutter to the man standing in front of me, knowing that we have to. We have to walk into the dark tunnel leading into the dungeon if we are going to have any hope of saving him.
It happened weeks ago, our last adventure into the dungeon had been disaster. Constantly we were triggering traps and hounded by the creatures living in the dungeon. We barely got away, but not without losing Derf in the dungeon during our attempt to flee. We knew that he would likely be left alive and that we had to go back in soon to have any chance to save him.
Standing outside the tunnel that was the path to the fort was the only way that we had found so far. Our small party was composed of six members. The three leading our party as we enter the dungeon were three dwarves an adventuring noble, and two of his friends. Dressed in thick plate armor there was little hope for us entering the fort quietly this was something we knew would be a risk as we walk through the halls. All of the dwarves were armed with battle axes. Kilar was the main voice of the group when it came to their choices. They were the ones that were the best fit to look for the secret door that lead into the dungeon that we had found previously. Following them behind the dwarves were two humans; one of which we simply referred to as “Cookie” for his obsession over the treat and the other was a quiet man who never shared his name but was someone who we knew we could trust over the past adventures. Cookie was a tall fighter with a long sword and a rapier resting on his belt. The other man had also carried a long sword at his waist. I was pulling up the rear with my claymore resting on my back waiting for the moment conflict would break out. The blade resting across the chainmail amour.

As we slowly work our way down the winding halls our hands begin to shift towards the pommel of our weapons. The torch in Cookie’s hand was casting a gleam on our gear as we warily work our way through the dungeon. We take turn after turn. Left, right, right, left. Each turn could bring us closer but just as easily take us into an ambush waiting just around a corner. Walking down to the end of a hall is a single door. Those leading the party through the halls immediately choose to open the door into the next room.
The door opens into a wide room with weapons lining the wall of the room. The weapons ranged from axes to swords and even polearms. Along with the room being torch-lit unlike the rest of the dungeon. The most defining feature of the room was the ten-foot tall giant clad in armor as black as night. In his left hand is a shield that has a blade jutting out of the center and attached to his is a black claw attached to his hand as he charges us. Immediately our weapons are in our hands ready to fight off the giant.
The long reach of the giant forces us on the defensive but we have to press on. The raw strength that the giant swings with makes any match of strength of conflict a guaranteed loss. We quickly move to surround him with our superior numbers to chip away at him as the fight drags on. The swings of the giant’s claw rend through our armor thankfully just landing grazing blows. As we maneuver around both the claw and the bladed shield to surround him the giant continues to focus on fighting the dwarves with their battle axes.
Shifting around him we begin to gain an advantage with him unable to defend against us from all sides. As the fight drags on we begin to gain the advantage in the fight. Wounds on both sides build up. As time passes the swings of the giant begin to slow down as we continue to press our numerical advantage.
When the fight finally ends we know that we have to flee knowing that the noise from the battle will have been heard throughout the dungeon will have drawn the attention of everything else. Quickly we barricade the door behind us as we hear voices on the other side. The moment we finish barricading the door with anything we could find in the room we begin to hear pounding on the door. We immediately begin our search for any other possible exits in the room. Finding only smooth stone on all of the sides of the room we continue our search. We know there has to be another way out. There was no way for that to be the only entrance to the room. The door hadn’t been tall enough to fit the giant through. Hoping to find some sort a secret door or mechanism to find some way out of the dungeon.
“Over here” A cry calls out from the other side of the room. Looking over my shoulder I see Cookie standing by a now opened passage way that may be our only chance to escape the dungeon before the door breaks down and we get swarmed in this room. The passage is dark beyond the light of the torches in the room. We all dash towards the passage hoping that we can find some way out on the dungeon before we get over run by the numerous creatures living here. Grabbing a torch as we enter the passage we run through the halls hoping that we can find an exit soon. Running down the halls we surge around the corners and though intersections hoping for some way out. Straight, left, left, right, straight right. As we round the last corner we find ourselves no longer running on the stone from before but now over dirt. As we make it to the end of this path we reach a dead end with a single wooden ladder leading up. Standing at the base of the ladder I look up and only see darkness above us.
We stop at the base of the ladder and look around hoping that there is some other possible path. The ladder is the only choice we have left. I pass the torch to cookie and begin to climb up the ladder. The wood groans under my weight as I climb into the darkness. After climbing up for a short while I feel something bump against my head and move slightly. Reaching up with my hand I push against whatever is above as it begins to push up and over letting light stream into the shaft. I keep pushing against the trap door now that I realize that we have found a way out. The sunlight from the evening sun streams into the shaft as I climb out and call down to the others that we found a way out of the dungeon.
The tunnel opened up into a field that was surrounded with trees at the edges. As we begin to file out of the tunnel we search around the area to see if we can determine where we are located. After looking around the nearby area we find the original tunnel we entered in nearby. We look back at the tunnel knowing that we have to keep going back in to have any chance to Derf from the creatures living there. Every failed attempt does give us a better understanding of the layout and a better chance at saving him though.