A familiar scene was unfolding in the sandstone cave. The six-armed creature dragged Bird and Leonis deeper and deeper into the darkness. The only sounds that could be heard were the slow and hefty breathing from its maw. An hour had passed since they left the exit room, and they were approaching the room where Bird and Leonis had awoke for a second time. The six-armed creature slowly passed by the markings they had made and crawled deeper into the cave.
Three Hours had passed since leaving the exit room. They were approaching the frigid room when the normal routine of falling asleep, being dragged, and then awaking broke. Something was off. One of the two sleeping humans had moved. The creature had felt the sudden movement, but it was far too late to react to what was in motion.
Bird had thrown his arm back as far as he could muster while being held by the oddly humanoid arm. He then slung his hand, which was holding Leonis's knife, as fast as he could into one of the creature's eyes.
"Yes! I did it! Take that, Sleeper!"
The creature dropped Leonis and flinched backward, standing on two of its arms, the other four scraped at the knife that was plunged into its left eye. While this was happening, Bird ran to Leonis and started violently shaking him.
"Wake up! Leonis, wake up! Come on!"
Leonis's eyes shot open and immediately locked onto the sinister creature that was squirming in the corner of the frigid room. Leonis looked like he was expecting to be woken up. It even looked like he knew that the creature would be wounded. What was going on? Why had Bird woken up? Why was Leonis so prepared?
A trap. It had all been a trap set by the two weak but cunning cave dwellers. Twelve hours ago, the two sat four rooms away from the exit to take a well-needed rest. The two were visibly nervous and shaken; they were about to confront a creature they had never seen and try to kill it while dodging heaps of fog that could put them to sleep almost instantly.
'Ok, we are just going to get in, evade the fog, and kill this thing. Like hell we are! How in the Cone are we going to pull that off?'
"Leonis, we need a plan badly."
Leonis stared at Bird for a moment and then replied
"What can we do differently? I mean, we are not exactly strong at anything."
"Exactly, we are not strong at anything, and you expect us to kill a creature capable of putting us to sleep without touching us?"
Leonis thought for a moment. Bird was right. How were they going to kill the creature? He had not thought about how they planned to kill it.
"So, what are you suggesting?"
Bird, unlike Leonis, did have a plan. In the hours they spent traversing the caves, he was planning, plotting how to kill the unseen creature. Thinking of a magnitude of methods to stop the unseen foe.
"I sort of have a plan, but it is kind of risky, so don't miss any details."
Leonis nodded, and Bird continued.
"I am naming the creature Sleeper for now. I don't think we should confront Sleeper; instead, we should be the ones to surprise him."
Leonis raised his eyebrow.
"How?"
"How smart could a creature this high in the Cone truly be? That being said, what if we let one of us be taken by the fog and the other act out a struggle? Fake, falling asleep, and then being taken while awake."
Bird took a moment and then added
"So what do you think?"
"How will we execute this? I mean, how is one of us going to evade the fog and trick Sleeper?"
"We just need to avoid the fog until the last moment and then pretend to be under its spell."
Bird collected his thoughts and then added.
"After entering the exit room, one of us should perch on the ledge to be above the fog. The other should be the one to trigger Sleeper's trap. Once the trap is triggered, whoever is on the ground will have to succumb to the fog to make the whole charade feel real. Then the person on the ledge will hold their head above the fog, and before it can get them, they will fake falling asleep. Hopefully, the fog will start to dissipate before it can reach their head."
Leonis didn't hate the plan, but there were a lot of gambles they would be taking with it.
"What happens after? You still have to fight Sleeper."
"But now we have the factor of surprise. The person who fakes their slumber will carry your knife. Upon the signal of reaching the frigid room, they will then stab Sleeper and wake the other person. And then, well, we fight."
The plan was rather simple, but for everything they had at their disposal, it was quite cunning and sinister, just as Sleeper had been to them. Leonis had his doubts, but overall, he had no rebuttal.
"Alright, we will do your plan, but who should be in which positions?"
This part of the plan had been stumping Bird. Leonis had much more fighting experience, and he was significantly stronger than Bird; he was a Scribed. These factors initially made Bird think Leonis was better suited for the stabber. But he was also still injured from their previous fight.
Bird pondered the question for a few more minutes and then asked Leonis.
"Who do you think should be the stabber?"
Leonis looked at his knife and then to Bird and answered.
"I think you should. I don't think Sleeper will expect the frail, skinny slab of food to fight back."
"But wouldn't your strength be a great help in stabbing its hide?"
"I think you should stab it in the eye. It's much more vulnerable, and it will partially blind him. After you stab him, you should immediately wake me, and in the midst of its frenzy, I will generate an orb of light and jab my finger into its other eye."
Bird gave his suggestion serious thought before answering.
"I will do it, but can you teach me how to swing a knife?
Leonis was shocked by his reply, but readily agreed to his request.
Leonis guided Bird to the middle of the room and steadily showed him the motion of swinging the standard combat knife. He then started to guide Bird's motions from behind him. He then guided Bird's actions like a jagged rock, stabbing and then swinging, turning and then stabbing. It was a rough stream of rookie and beginner attacks. Bird had not gotten to see Leonis fight with his knife yet, but with their short training session, Bird had been able to tell Leonis had taken lessons on the knife before. He was not a bad teacher
Leonis trained Bird how to properly stab for an hour before discussing a couple of more tactics and methods to kill Sleeper. It was finally time to execute their plan. Their hours of rest had come to an end. It was time to face the faceless.
It was time to trap Sleeper.