by TJ Reynolds
She nodded, a crooked grin on her face. “I’m not complaining. That fight, though, nearly overwhelmed us. How many more monsters do you think live in this dungeon?”
He shrugged. “No clue. I don’t even think these were ever minions, to be honest. In such an important dungeon, I’m willing to bet the Brintoshi cleared the entire thing, just to be certain the treasure was all removed.”
Rhona considered it and found she agreed. “Yeah, I mean, muskrats, bats, and carp? What if these were just common animals who were in the dungeon before or found their way here after?” She pointed to the circular pool the battle had been waged around. “Could be that was a carp pond meant as a food source.”
“Would explain the low ascension levels as well,” Kai added. “Though that might have more to do with the oversaturation of ether in this dungeon.”
Rhona pushed the topic aside for a more practical matter. “Real question is, Kai, do we keep going?”
He rolled his eyes and laughed. “Can we turn back? I mean, you saw how much Progression we gained. This might be our last battle before we head back, Rhona.”
Her face split into a grin. “Was hoping you’d say that. Let’s get moving, then. Don’t know how much further we have to go.”
The two roused the dragons from their rest and moved toward the exit tunnel.
Chamber by chamber, the group traveled through the epic dungeon.
Most of the dungeon was empty, but they happened upon another frantic battle when they came across two more bat-filled caverns.
Further down, Kai was nearly swallowed whole by an immense slime monster.
His glaive was completely ineffective, but Freya charged in and melted it away with a Fire spell. Rhona was impressed with how she guided the spell close enough to harm the monster but not cook Kai alive.
The dragons were definitely advancing in skill and power.
Kai spent half an hour ridding himself of the residual slime that coated his body and armor.
Despite his obvious frustration, the young man kept his cool and even allowed the others to make a few jokes at his expense.
As he finished pulling on his armor again, Kai gave Rhona an odd look. Thoughtful, he said, “Hard to explain it, but this whole dungeon is breaking my heart… This is the most powerful dungeon we’ve been in. Who knows what ascension level the Earth Core here reached before it was destroyed. And yet we aren’t even fighting real monsters!”
Kai searched the ground at his feet. Then he looked up into Rhona’s face with a sad smile. “Insult to injury, ya know? I think my father’s dungeon deserved so much better than this fate.”
Rhona thought about the issue from his perspective. This isn’t just another adventure, she mused privately. Kai is reclaiming his inheritance, and the experience isn’t at all what he expected.
An idea occurred to her that seemed hopeful enough to speak aloud. “Kai, when this is all said and done—when we’ve defeated the abyss monsters, and restored every Earth Core we can find—maybe we can come back to this place and make it into what it once was. A place for the dragons and men and Earth Cores who rule Anvar to speak and debate.”
Pointing up, Rhona added, “Those halls we first entered, they reminded me of the public forum in Creshon. They were designed so that a great host can come together and negotiate. We can restore that vision again someday. I’ll help you do it, Kai. I promise.”
Kai’s brows lifted almost imperceptibly.
Vulnerability flickered in his eyes for a moment, and then all of his vast stores of resolve returned like a cloak wrapped around his very being. “Thank you, Rhona. You are right, of course. All that befell the dragons and their Earth Cores lacked the dignity they deserved. Come… let’s do what we can to amend this tragedy.”
So on they drove, deeper into the dungeon that could have become Kai’s home, had the world not fallen apart.
Rhona watched as Kai fought with more determination than ever. As the group crushed a flock of ether-blighted swallows, Kai commanded his dragons like they were soldiers in his army.
Delving deeper, Rhona helped him cut through a small army of moles next.
The battles were intense, and left all involved exhausted and covered in a multitude of injuries that might have snuffed out their party’s will had it not been for Kai.
He was resolute, an iron fist binding them all together.
After recovering from yet another battle, Kai healed them all and led them down a final passage. Beyond, a fierce glow of ether shone out almost blindingly, silhouetting Kai’s form as he stalked ahead of Rhona.
If only he could see what I see now, she thought as she watched his cloak flutter behind him, dungeon-forged armor gleaming with pale blue light. He’s become the bold adventurer at last, and yet, something much greater.
Rhona strode into a wide antechamber and pressed her hands to her mouth.
In the far distance, lit up by a pillar of golden sunlight, the Earth Core dais stood.
Kai turned on his heel and stared at her a moment.
She could feel his desire to share that moment with her.
Rhona smiled at Kai and walked toward him.
Then, weaving her fingers through his, she moved with him into the core room.
15
A Burdened Body
Kai
Like a savage drum pounded with heavy hands, Kai’s heart thumped in his chest.
The dais rested a hundred feet before him, but he could not see the Earth Core.
He glanced around the core room, squinting to peer through the fog of gathered ether. The energy was so thick he couldn’t make out the walls of the chamber.
There was only the dais, ethereal light spread all throughout, and in one far corner, a brighter glow emerging from a depression in the floor.
Kai waved the others to follow as he walked toward the whatever was glowing so fiercely.
The Earth Core, he assumed. It must be the Earth Core.
But when he looked down into the shallow pit, he saw only the bloated body of some unfortunate creature. Lying on its back, roughly man-sized and with a humanoid body, the being shone like an ether-blue sun.
Kai held up his hands to shield from the light and inspected the monster.
Kobold Scout
Ether-Bound
Golden 1
Perhaps sensing their presence, the creature turned its swollen eyes on Kai. Kill me, it said in his mind. Please, kill me.
The thoughts were faint, but the will behind them distinct and clear. This being had endured in this place for far too long. Somehow, the ether had filled its frail body to bursting, transforming it into a vessel to house the dungeon’s loose energy.
In no way could Kai imagine a more burdened body, a soul more bound in agony. He looked to Rhona, confusion, guilt, and despair in his heart.
Her eyes were wide in shock, hands clutching her stomach.
Did you hear that? he asked her with a thought.
She nodded. Do it Kai. End the poor thing’s suffering.
Kai sighed, then aimed his glaive and thrust. The blade struck the kobold’s skin, but rather than pierce through, only a thin scratch marred the monster.
He tried again, using much greater force.
His blade pierced the kobold’s gut this time. Kai withdrew the blade and watched in horror as the wound sealed instantly.
The kobold’s mind pleaded with him wordlessly.
Sweet Briga, Kai thought. How long has this wreck been down here?
Aiming his glaive downwards, Kai activated Flame Spear. The Fire spell blasted the kobold, but its wounds closed immediately after. He tried twice more in quick succession, but it was clear to see the monster was simply too saturated with ether to be so easily killed.
Without hesitating any longer, Kai commanded those around him to lend their strength in the monster’s demise. We must strike at the same time, he said in their shared minds. I think all of us will be needed for this grim task. Remember
, mercy is not always so easy to look upon.
Anatoth and Freya, use your spells. Rhona, I want you to use your spear skill, and Greg, your most powerful javelin skill. Hazel, stab the kobold in its heart with your talons.
Calreem, should the monster not die immediately, activate Heavenly Harvest. If we weaken it enough, your spell should release it from its suffering.
Glancing from one of his followers to the next, Kai asked, Does everyone understand?
One by one, they nodded.
Kai waited until Hazel touched the kobold’s chest with one long talon. He pressed the tip of his glaive beside it, then counted aloud. “One! Two! Three!”
One talon and one glaive pierced the kobold’s heart.
Kai’s Flame Spear burst inside the monster at the same time that Rhona’s Tiger Spear lanced through its abdomen.
Greg’s etheric javelin struck home as well, and twin gouts of raw power, one ice and one flame, ravaged the monster’s body.
Still, the kobold stared at Kai in unending agony.
“Now, Calreem!” Kai screamed.
The white dragon unleashed a pulse of light, and as the spell washed over the kobold, its mouth yawned open, and the pain finally left its eyes.
The kobold’s body shuddered and started to flash.
Kai tore his glaive away and bellowed, “Get back!”
As one, all in Kai’s party retreated.
Kai was five strides away when an explosion rocked the core room.
A cascade of icy energy shoved him forward, and he tumbled to a standstill on the dungeon floor.
Then he cried out as a river of ether rushed into his core. On it went, flooding his body with years of stored ether, making him clench his teeth and writhe in ecstatic pain.
A few tortured moments later, the stream cut off, and Kai stared up in wonder.
The air in the dungeon was no longer completely saturated.
It had the dim glow of any other dungeon.
Kai sat up, aware of the pressure in his chest. He’d filled his core at last. Viridian ascension was waiting for him.
He sighed in relief when he saw Rhona rise, Greg following soon after.
His dragons stared wild-eyed at him, most likely needing reassurance after such a disturbing and strange experience.
Kai stood and approached the pit.
He found the kobold’s corpse withered away to little more than charred bones. “I know that wasn’t an easy thing to do,” he said in a hushed tone, “but imagine how much worse it would have been for us to leave the thing as it was.”
When nobody responded, Kai decided to move matters towards a less disturbing subject. “Anatoth, what is the state of your core? Are you ready to ascend to Golden?”
Yes, Elder Dragon Kai. My core is full at last.
The others nodded that they too were filled to the brim with the dungeon’s released ether.
Kai pointed back toward the antechamber they’d come from. “Go. Sleep while you can and ascend to Golden. And do so with a sense of gratitude, not only for the monster we killed but for the dragon and Earth Core who once lived here as well.”
The dragons assented and shuffled out of the core room.
Kai rubbed his face, suddenly feeling tired and depleted.
A hand fell on his shoulder. “It was the right thing to do. I’d have ordered the same.”
“I know,” he replied. “Thank you for saying so.”
Rhona looked him in the eyes and flashed a weary smile. “Come on, Kai. We should explore a bit before we ascend ourselves. Who knows, maybe we can learn something valuable.”
Kai nodded, then the two began to search the room.
The first place Kai looked was the dais itself.
His heart twisted in pain when he saw what had become of the Earth Core. Where he’d expected to find shards of a shivvered core, Kai found little more than dust.
Whoever had destroyed the Earth Core had pounded it into tiny fragments, breaking it down into sand and rubble.
“Maybe this is why the ether released throughout the dungeon in such concentration,” he mused aloud. “Not sure what to expect, but I have to try, right?”
Rhona sighed but nodded. “Part of me thinks you need to save that Progression to ascend to Viridian. But if you can revive this Earth Core, it will be worthwhile.”
He removed his gauntlets and dug his hands into the fragments of glowing core.
Some had spilled to the ground all around the dais, and several inches filled the bottom of the large stone device. The core must have been massive, much bigger than Ban currently.
Closing his eyes, Kai dug around until he found a sliver of gemstone. He sliced open his palm and prayed to Briga it might be enough.
He felt his blood pour out of the shallow wound. He heard the crunch of grit as he pressed down harder, but he felt no rush of power leaving his body.
Desperate, Kai pushed harder, and a dozen tiny pieces of core punctured his hands.
Still, nothing.
Hot tears filled Kai’s eyes, and he growled in impotent rage. “Come on! Please!”
Kai pounded his fists in the debris of the once magnificent Earth Core until Rhona dragged him away.
“Kai, there’s nothing to be done! Its mind is either too broken to return, or it truly has perished… It isn’t your fault!”
A lifetime of pain writhed in Kai’s chest. He sobbed in Rhona’s arms, furious and heartbroken that after all he’d gone through, his power to revive shivvered cores failed him now.
Slowly, the anger cooled.
Slowly, his grief bled out.
Finally, he thanked Rhona and stood.
A calm spread across the tumult of his emotions. There’s work to be done, he told himself. I’m not finished with my duty. When I’m done, I’ll have time aplenty to weep.
Kai held his hands up before his eyes and nodded. With care, he plucked out the first of the gemstone splinters.
“Rhona, help me clean this up,” he said at last. “I don’t know what good it will do, but I know we must gather what’s left of it. I want every shard, pebble, and flake scrounged up and brought back with us.”
The two spent the better part of an hour cleaning up the remains of his father’s Earth Core, sweeping it into a pile. Then Kai cut a section of his thick cloak, and they wrapped it up and stored it away to bring home with them.
“This is good,” Kai said, patting the improvised bag with one hand. “Maybe Ban will know what to do with it.”
Rhona smiled at him. She rubbed her sternum absently, most likely feeling the same pressure there he did. “Shall we explore?”
Kai nodded.
The two walked around the periphery of the core room.
Now that the air was clear, an unending network of engravings had been uncovered. Kai studied the designs, hoping to learn as much as he could about the strange entity who’d made them.
He found images of battles fought, any number of monsters, and what looked to be the gatherings of men and dragons.
Rhona interrupted him a short time later, her voice filled with excitement. “A hidden chamber! Come, Kai!”
He jogged across the core room and followed her as she walked behind the false wall. The stone was cleverly overlapped so that unless you were looking at the gap from the right angle, it appeared to be part of the main wall.
Walking around the sheet of stone, Kai discovered a small chamber tucked inside.
They walked in together.
A small half-dome with no exit in sight came as a surprise at the end of a sprawling and dangerous dungeon.
One other feature stood out.
Spread around the walls in equal intervals were eight etchings. Their nature was immediately apparent.
One showed the writhing flames of Fire.
The etching beside it was a solid block that most likely represented Earth. Flowing ripples on the far side of the room depicted Wind, and beside it were the arcing waves of Water.
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br /> “The eight elements,” Rhona said in a muted voice. “Or am I wrong?”
Kai pointed to a few others. “These are less easy to identify, but the moon is most often associated with Abyss ether. Here, the sun would be Holy. I think you’re right, Rhona.”
She stared in awe at the final two that must be Niama’s Soul and Sheerda’s Fate.
The first was represented by a vortex that reminded her a little of a core.
“Do you think this is Soul?” she asked. “Maybe the symbol is that of someone’s core.”
Kai scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe. The last one is pretty obvious now that I think of it. Doesn’t that look like a sundial?”
Rhona examined the circle etched in the dungeon wall, its lines carved intermittently around, each marking an hour.
She took a deep breath and glanced around. “I think so, but Kai, what does this mean? I don’t think it’s just a shrine to the eight gods. It’s not very… shriney.”
Kai grinned at her odd phrasing and continued to look about the small room.
They might have gone on pondering their predicament if their good friend Bancroft didn’t decide to pop in and join the party.
“A puzzle room!” he declared in the bassy tones of his champion. “Or at the very least some kind of a locking mechanism.”
Kai spun to see the champion walking inside behind them. “So, you’ve decided to check in at last. What kept you so long?”
Ban answered without taking his eyes from the etchings. “Busy, busy! The life of an Earth Core, Kai. After that immense rush of ether, however, I simply had to see what you were about. I’m glad I did.”
“Locking mechanism?” Rhona asked, trying to help Ban focus. “You think this will open something?”
Ban blinked around with Greg’s black eyes. He smiled vaguely at the walls and ceiling. “I would hope so. My goodness, Kai. And you didn’t once consider calling me? What was the rest of the dungeon like? You must tell me.”
“We were busy,” Kai said mutely, not wanting to discuss the precise nature of the dungeon yet. “There will be time for you to explore when we’re done. What makes you think this is a puzzle?”
