Tomb of Horrors
By Alecto Perdita
ygodrabble Challenge Name and Number: Trap, #035
Word Count: 591
Rating: G
Warnings: Character deaths, of sorts
Pairings: None

It was all down to them, the weakest and unlikeliest of their entire group. Though they were close to the end, Anzu doubted they would actually make it.

"You were supposed to check for traps," she hissed as she wiped her sweaty palms against her skirt.

"Why didn't you do it then?" Honda snapped.

The group lost Otogi early on- their friend was impaled on poisoned spikes in a pit trap. But for the greater good, they forged on to challenge Bakura waiting deeper inside the tomb.

"I was trying to keep us from being killed by that mutant gargoyle." Her magic had barely managed to overpower the creature in time, and she was quickly running out of spells to cast.

Jounouchi fell prey to another trap hidden within a silver treasure chest. They didn't dare consider any of the other loot lying around after that.

"This sucks so much." Honda was getting antsy. That was never a good sign.

Yugi's end was the worst by far. While trying to bypass a corridor through the ethereal plane, he was attacked by ethereal mummies that left him grievously injured with mummy rot. They had to leave him behind, and there was no doubt he would die a slow and painful death alone.

"You're running out of time," Bakura urged with a vicious smile from the other end of the chamber. The room was only ten-feet across, but they both knew a lot could be hidden in the distance between them.

"To hell with it, I'm coming for your head, Bakura."

"No, Honda, wait!"

But it was too late. As soon as Honda crossed the threshold into the chamber, the eight sets of double swords and shield decorations flew off the walls and attacked him. He didn't stand a chance against the magical constructs, and his thief was quickly shredded to pieces. She wished she had the time to mourn the last of her friends when Bakura suddenly appeared at her side.

"Your soul is mine, Anzu." Bakura the demilich smiled again with all teeth and malice. The jewels in his crown shone like stars with reflected light from the torches.

She shivered as the temperature of the room instantly dipped. It was all up to her now. She, not Yugi or Jounouchi, would need to save the world now. But could she beat Bakura without the help of her friends?

She had the initiative and took it without further hesitation. Bakura wasn't going to go easy on her. "I cast Cone of Cold."

"And I'm immune to most magic. You need a DC 23 Fortitude save to resist my Soul Suck."

Behind her, the rest of the gaming group sucked in and held a deep breath. There was nothing more she could do at this point, and she tossed the die onto the table. The silence was deafening when the D20 landed with a one facing up.

Jounouchi pointed a finger at Bakura and declared, "There was no way we could have won that!"

Bakura snapped his DM's book shut with a slight frown. "You're the one always complaining that my adventures are too easy."

"It's okay, Anzu, you weren't likely to make that throw. You needed at least a 19," Yugi sulked.

"The entire thing was a deathtrap. I didn't even get to do anything!" Otogi complained.

Honda sighed. "But damn, a critical failure?"

Anzu smiled brightly as she strung her arms around Yugi and Jounouchi's shoulders. "Don't worry, we did our best."

"There's always next time." Bakura's eyes sparkled.

Everyone else groaned.

Author's Note: The Tomb of Horrors is a notoriously hard dungeon crawl in Dungeons and Dragons. Hell, you can even be instantly killed if you try to enter the tomb the wrong way.

For those who are curious, the group is around levels 10-11 (3.5 edition) while attempting this adventure. I imagine their classes are as follows:
Anzu- Wizard
Yugi- Cleric
Jounouchi- Fighter (leave it to Jounouchi to pick the weakest class for bashing heads!)
Honda- Thief
Otogi- Ranger
And Bakura as your friendly neighborhood killer DM (Dungeon Master)