#Merry Critmas Nerdibranch!

[professor-rye]

Caleb was never a fan of splitting the party, but sometimes you get no choice in the matter.

Sometimes, magic would surge wildly and unpredictably and toss the disparate members of the Nein into entirely different rooms of the dungeon. Sometimes, he would be surrounded by his friends one moment, and then be dropped unceremoniously into a room with only Fjord to fill the echoing silence with him.

“Oww.” They had fallen from somewhere decently high. Not enough to kill them of course, but it was definitely enough to hurt. Caleb’s back ached as he rolled over, his entire body thrumming with the pain of their landing.

“Are you alright?” Fjord asked, just barely stifling his own groan of pain. Well, at least he wasn’t alone.

“Oww,” Caleb just repeated. Despite that, he moved to stand up, gingerly holding his side and looking around the room that they were in. A single square of light, some forty feet up, illuminated the small, distinctly empty space. There was nothing in the room save a single wooden door. The stone walls were perfectly smooth, all the way up, as if the space had been carved from one massive stone, as opposed to being built from bricks like the rest of the dungeon had been so far.

“Where do you think everyone is?” Fjord asked as he eyed the door suspiciously. He stepped closer to where Caleb stood, almost unconsciously closing the distance as he kept watch. Protective as always.

“It’s hard to say,” Caleb admitted warily. “I didn’t get a good look at the trap before it took us.”

“Well, it appears that–” Fjord lifted his hand in that way that he does when trying to summon his sword, and then suddenly stopped, his words interrupted just as his motion was. He looked down at his hand in confusion, and moved again.

“Fuck.”

Caleb didn’t need to ask what was happening. Dread quickly filled his heart as he flicked his own wrist, trying to summon his dancing lights. Nothing…

“Scheiße…”

“Well, that’s an unfortunate development,” Fjord muttered dryly, looking around with renewed vigor. Caleb did as well, trying to find any signs of arcane glyphs or mechanisms that could share any details about this anti-magic field that they now found themselves in. But the walls were still bare, all the way up to the bland ceiling.

They had definitely fallen more than forty feet, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the field stopped some distance up. That would have allowed for whatever magical portal had drawn them here. Unfortunately, without magic or any equipment, there was no real way to find out. He briefly considered asking if he could stand on Fjord’s shoulders, but the ache in his body convinced him that it would be a bad idea.

“I wonder if the others are in similar rooms,” Caleb murmured quietly, still searching around for clues, just in case. He was beginning to feel his anxiety rising in his stomach. He might be a squishy wizard, but he rarely felt helpless. But without his magic…

“I hope so,” Fjord said before stepping closer and resting his hand heavily on Caleb’s shoulder, grounding him instantly and reminding him to breathe. “It looks like there is only one way out, so why don’t we go ahead and go find our friends?”

Caleb swallowed thickly and nodded, grateful for the touch. Fjord did not comment on his rapidly paling face or difficulty breathing, though Caleb was certain he noticed the subtle signs of panic easily enough. But he didn’t comment on it. He never did.

They both turned towards the door in tandem, considering it for a long moment before Caleb stepped forward and began to inspect it. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he did find a trap, but he would rather not be surprised. Fortunately, it looked safe enough.

“I am no Veth, but I think we can open it without it blowing up in our faces,” he told his companion as he stepped back. “It also appears to be unlocked. Shall we?”

Fjord nodded, and with a decisive step forward, they opened the door. It was a bit anticlimactic after all that, as the door opened easily and no terrible traps assaulted them. Instead, they were faced with a deep hallway that stretched out into darkness.

Fjord started moving forward, but Caleb couldn’t help but hesitate. After a moment, the half-orc stopped as well, turning back to look at him in confusion. The anxiety that Caleb had felt when he first realized that he was without his magic hadn’t exactly left. It had just calmed down a bit. Now, it was back in full force as he was faced with the vulnerability in front of him.

“Oh, oh right!” Fjord said suddenly after a moment, glancing between Caleb and the darkness ahead.

“It’s fine,” Caleb insisted, realizing that there was no other way out anyway. He would just have to deal with being blind for a bit. And without any of his magic. Through a dangerous dungeon full to the brim of traps and monsters. All with the constitution of wet paper.

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