Wiz and the other humans awoke that morning stiff and sore from another night sleeping on the rocks. At least the humans awoke stiff and sore. Glandurg seemed as relaxed and fresh as ever.
Fresh was definitely something the rest of the party wasn’t. Wiz wondered why dungeon-delving games never said anything about what the participants smelled like after a couple of days of hard work and no baths.
After a quick breakfast of vegetable porridge everyone crowded around Wiz while he checked the locator crystal
“It says we go off this way,” Wiz told the others.
“How close are we?” Malkin asked.
Wiz looked back down at the crystal and frowned. “Still a ways to go.”
Danny looked down at the glowing object in Wiz’s hand “It doesn’t seem any brighter than it was when we started. Shouldn’t it get brighter as we get closer?”
“We still have some distance to cover. These caverns are big.”
“Are you sure this thing knows where it’s going?” Danny grumbled.
“It’s set to home in on Moira,” Wiz replied with more confidence than he felt. He was developing a nagging suspicion about where the magical compass was leading them. Either these caverns were much bigger than he remembered them or they were being taken on the scenic route. Considering all the stuff they’d run into so far that was a distinct possibility.
Or maybe there’s just a lot more stuff down here, he thought as the party moved along a tunnel as wide as a four-lane highway. I wonder how you estimate the monsters per square kilometer in a dungeon. Or should that be per cubic kilometer because the place has so many levels it’s really three dimensional?
The air was getting more humid as they went along. At first there was a nasty, cold clamminess that seemed to ding to them. Then it got warmer until all the humans were sticky with sweat Finally, after two more turnings into smaller tunnels they were surrounded by a thick, warm mist.
“I hear water up ahead,” Malkin said softly. Wiz nodded and took a better grasp on his staff.
Suddenly the tunnel opened out into a cavern. The far wall and the ceiling alike were lost in billows of mist. The sound of trickling, splashing water was loud before them.
They paused while Danny surveyed the area with his magic detector.
“No sign of anything,” he said at last. “Whatever’s up ahead of us is natural, not magic.”
“Natural hot springs,” Wiz said. With a gesture he increased the intensity of the light from the magical globe and the party stepped into the cave.
They looked around and gasped.
Brightly colored flowstone had congealed like melted candle wax in opalescent patterns. The fog and mist made the place look like a Hollywood soundstage.
“It’s beautiful,” Danny said softly. June said nothing, but clung open-mouthed to Danny’s arm, staring wide-eyed like a child on Christmas morning.
“Quite something,” Malkin said. Wiz looked back and saw her standing arms akimbo and feet spread. She was also eyeing the scene as if she was trying to figure out how to take the place home with her. Wiz decided that where Malkin was concerned, larceny was the sincerest form of flattery.
“Stay close people,” Wiz admonished. “Just because there’s no magic in here doesn’t mean there’s nothing dangerous.”
The room was not as big as it had seemed, being much longer than it was wide. The tunnel they had entered from angled in on the long side and in perhaps fifty paces they were across the room.
“Here’s your hot spring,” Malkin said, gesturing at a place where the water trickled out of the rock wall. From there it ran along the floor of the cavern and gathered in a series of pools before disappearing through a crack in the floor.
Danny mopped his sweaty brow on his wet sleeve. “Whew, this place is like a sauna.”
“Yeah,” Wiz said slowly. “Or a hot tub. Come on, let’s see how hot it really is.”
The water at the seep was scalding, but by three pools down it had cooled until it was just barely tolerable. Wiz stuck his finger in and nodded.