With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

18th August 2013
06:57 GMT -5

-into…

Huh.

A cave? No, the floor's clearly been levelled out at some point, though not paved or mortared, and glowing crystals have been placed in sconces along the walls. They're a rather pleasant deep mauve colour, though I know that there's no naturally occurring crystal in the universe that glows that colour without an external power source.

Pink kryptonite is lighter, and doesn't glow quite that much.

Air temperature is… Cool. Not fridge-cold, but certainly larder-cold. Air pressure… The air circulation is… Decent, though I can't hear any fans or pumps. I take a rune stone out of my harness and hold it out to one.

It's… Not sure, from the looks of things.

Huh.

Okay, put it back in the harness and listen. Nothing on radio, and whatever's cooling the place is interfering with infrared. No exotic radiation that I can detect. I'm… Holding off on anything that would require me to send a signal outwards, sonic sensors suggests… That there are other corridors around, maybe.

How did I get here?

Angelica burned Zor's holiday home with golden fire, which… Either tripped a trap or got his personal attention. I didn't see a spell or… Him, which suggests… Area effect trap? And Mazikeen and Angelica were in the area… Shouldn't have been anyone else around except… Animals? Not... Picking… Up any animals.

But I am picking up corpses.

I look right-. Yes, it's a bier, or shelf, depending on whether this is a morgue or a tomb. The body… Pale-skinned human man, dead for at least two days… Yes, the blood's settled. Signs of injuries suggest prolonged violence, with the fatal blow being… A large neck wound. Piercing. Spear? Horn, maybe? Teeth are in good condition, and the underlying condition suggests a good diet growing up. The fact that whoever put him here didn't leave him with a loin cloth suggests that this isn't an honourable interment…

Not sure.

Two more men in roughly the same condition. Then what appears to be an elf of the Tolkienian high man sort. Though I can't remember if Tolkien's elves had ears that extended well past the top of their heads or if they were more vulcan-like. This one has the longer variety, which I mostly know from Japanese entertainment. All naked and beaten… Those are whip marks.

Slaves, then.

Genetic analysis doesn't match any ethnic group on Earth. Either the humans or the elf. But at least they have genes. Alright, I should-.

"-from the cellars." Heavy iron hinges move as a door is pulled open. "The hydras are hungry. Druggoth, get-."

"Excuse me, sir!" I step out of my… Tomb annex? And into the central chamber with… Ah, the thing covered in frost is probably the source of the cooling effect. Looks like it's magical. Honestly, this place doesn't look very space-efficient, but maybe they use it as a barracks sometimes? "Could I have a moment of your-"

A pale-skinned male elf with dark grey hair stares at me. He's wearing trousers made from the skin of a scaled animal and has left his torso bare except for a bandolier of impractical-looking knives. There are a couple of spiky-looking tattoos on his chest and face, and he's staring at me with an expression of bewilderment.

"-time?"

He steps back out of the door. "Druggoth, we have a volunteer. Deal with it."

"Mister Druggoth?"

The elf pulls back out of sight, and… A mass of dull brown hair fills the doorway.

"Hello?"

The mass bends, and-. Oh, it's a minotaur! Ah. Sorry Ferdinand, it's a bullman. Or possibly a cowwoman who's really hit the weights. Probably-he gets a good look at me and snorts heavily. He's wearing a muzzle-. An iron muzzle, over his mouth, and it's chained around his head in a way which looks very uncomfortable. As he sticks his right hand through the doorway I take note of the thick manacles around his wrist, and-.

Oh, eurgh, his nipples are pierced.

"R-huh."

He snorts mucousfully and lumbers fully into the room, glaring at me.

"Are you an intelligent person, nod or shake?"

He steps closer, cloven feet clopping and-. Oh, he doesn't have a loincloth either! He's just let his belly fur grow long enough to cover his crotch!

Right. Ring check? I form a construct gauntlet for a moment and then dismiss it. Yep, still working. Kinetic barrier check? I tether a small stone from the floor and hurl it at me, the kinetic shield flaring for a moment as it hits. Yep, still working. Subspace arsenal? … No. Ah well, basic armour should be fine for now, and everything should be where I left it when I get back.

BOF!

Huh?

I look up… At the underside of the Druggoth's fist.

"R-huh?"

"That's not going to work. I apologise for intruding-"

Druggoth's other fist goes into my chest.

"-but if you could just show me the exit-"

Druggoth grabs… An axe from his rope strap around his waist that I was trying not to look at due to the hair curtain issue, takes a solid grip and then swings it into… My neck with impressive speed and accuracy. The kinetic barrier stops it with no difficulty, because while he's strong he's 'big bloke strong' and not superstrong.

"-I'd be grateful."

There's a brief moment of fear, and then he backs up and lowers his head.

"You realise this is dumb but they'll do horrible things to you if you refuse. Two taps for 'yes'."

He taps his left hoof twice against the floor.

"Understood."

I transition past him into the space through the doorway and slam the door shut behind me-. The bar is on the outside. Prison or slave quarters, then? Whatever, I stick the bar in place and turn towards the… Elf.

This place is a bit bigger than I thought.

The elf overseer has drawn a knife and is watching me cautiously, but ignoring him… We're 'outside', which is to say that we're outside the rock that the room was inside. We're still underground, but there's a stone brick wall in front of me with a window in it, and through it I can see…

A very big cavern.

It is a cavern, because I can see the rock pillars which are supporting the rock and soil above, but I've got no idea how something like that could form naturally and it doesn't look artificial. There are more glowing crystals to provide illumination, though it's a little hard to tell how big things are without a reference. Closer, it looks like… This is part of a city? Build into the side of a gigantic.. stalagmite..?

"Halt, invader!"

I turn-.

Oh, good! People who can answer questions!