by Matthew Peed
I rubbed my eyes and looked ahead, not even beginning to wonder how someone such as myself with zero connections might achieve any of that. I needed to survive today to begin with. Just the thought that I might finally be able to stab the man who’d ruined my life made it hard for me to control my claws.
“Anything the reports might have left out, Erica dear?” Kyle asked as we stood in front of the manor entrance. I had been through it enough that it almost felt like home by this point.
“Not much. Just that the traps like to change. And the first boss is a unicorn, but given how it recently lost to that one party, it might have changed how it fights.”
“Yes. I read about what they did. Not that I have to worry about that,” Kyle said with a grin. I couldn’t tell if he really took his telekinetic abilities for granted or he was just that confident in himself. Probably a bit of both.
We made our way into the dungeon, and just like the last time I had dived with them, Kyle’s party, or rather Kyle, made easy work of the first floor. If he couldn’t outright crush the enemy, he could easily hold it in place for one of his goons to tear it apart. I prayed that we weren’t irritating Azaria too much with his methods.
While they were taking care of Starburst, I quickly grabbed the doll Azaria gave me. Kyle was quite enjoying torturing the unicorn as it struggled against his telekinesis. The other men were having some trouble getting near him to deal a fatal blow. I stepped back a few inches and placed the doll in my collar. With a glance, I was confident that no one saw me.
“Azaria, this is my target. Think you can help me on the next floor? I just need a moment,” I whispered.
“That’s the guy? Too much hair gel. Yeah, I’ll figure something out.”
During the brief exchange, one of Kyle’s goons launched several arrows into the unicorn. While most went right through the plush, one took him in the eye, and he collapsed to the side. The next five minutes were spent with us watching Kyle tear the unicorn apart slowly enough to keep him alive—or whatever it was that the toys were.
Kyle gloated, “I don’t see why this dungeon has been giving everyone so much trouble. I guess I’m just that much better than everyone else.”
The four men nodded mutely, while I voiced my agreement as enthusiastically as I could muster. I must have done a decent job with the praise, as he looked quite proud of himself. I needed him to get down to the next floor and deep enough that he couldn’t run when I went to strike. As long as it was empty words, I would say as many as needed.
An amulet dropped from the boss. We wouldn’t know what it did until we got it appraised by someone with the appropriate talent, but it was no doubt a reward. I was sure Kyle would have taken it instantly had it not been a rainbow-over-a-cloud design. He handed it to me wordlessly.
We made our way down to the next floor. This was the first time I had gone this deep, and while I knew from the person who’d managed to escape that it was a cave system, I still wasn’t sure what to expect, considering Azaria leaned toward cute with her creations. I wasn’t disappointed.
Where one might expect gray stone from a natural cave system, the walls had been painted pink. There were cute decorations on them and lining parts of the floor. In some sections, it looked like a child had played around with some chalk. It didn’t feel like something Azaria had done though, so I figured it might have been one of her toys.
Keeping my eyes open for whatever Azaria might have set up, I followed as the party made its way deeper into the floor. The survivor from the last party claimed the bear monster had appeared soon after they’d arrived at the floor. It had already been a few minutes, and we hadn’t seen a single one of the toys.
“Think it was a party feud gone wrong?” one of Kyle’s goons asked after another five minutes or so.
“Can’t say it would be the first time, but I have a feeling that’s not the case with this,” Kyle replied with a smirk.
We soon found ourselves in a large circular room that had several paths we could take. One of the goons raised his hand for us to come to a stop. It was the first time he had done anything other than kill a toy since we came in.
“What is it?” I asked, unable to help myself.
“Time for some fun,” whispered the Azaria doll.
From each of the tunnels, even the one we had just come from, two teddy bears each entered the intersection. Once they were fully in the cave, the paths closed with a bang. It was the first time that Kyle actually looked nervous. I supposed that even his ability had a limit to how many targets it could be used on at once. The teddy bears all extended their arms like they wanted a hug and started moving toward us.
“What do we do, boss? According to the woman, attacking one is what caused it to transform.”
“You can give it a hug if you want!” Kyle shouted. Then he pointed his hand at the closest bear to himself. It floated in the air, and I saw part of it twist as if someone was trying to pull the head off. It wasn’t having that and started to expand before our eyes, Kyle’s telekinetic ability having less and less effect on it as its mass increased. It was still made out of fabric and was able to stretch with the pull.
Like a chain effect, all the bears in the room started to explode into nothing short of full-on grizzly bears. I grinned, as I knew my time had finally come. While the bears charged the various goons, I moved over to Kyle and his main bodyguard. They were freaking out as four of the bears charged them.
I got behind the main bodyguard and pulled my cleaver from my Storage. Hefting the weapon above my head, I brought it straight down on the bodyguard. The wicked blade carved a path through his body with little resistance until I hit chain mail or some other armor piece under his clothes, which slowed it down.
Yanking the weapon free, I turned to Kyle, who was still preoccupied with the bears that were nearly on top of us. With a rapid glance, I saw most of the other goons were busy fighting their own bears, which was to say they were running away from the bears by skirting around the room. I turned the Scales of Illusion off and placed my hand on Kyle’s shoulder, claws fully extended.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I said, not hiding my malice.
“What the fuck!?”
I felt his ability wash over me and grinned. The frog hearts I’d absorbed worked perfectly and counteracted his telekinesis. He couldn’t use it on my person, but that wasn’t to say he couldn’t use it on things around me. Here in the dungeon, I finally had him cornered and at my mercy.
“You have no idea how much I’ve dreamed of this. I hope you’re ready to die,” I said, licking my fangs for emphasis.
Blood sprayed over us as one of the bears ripped a goon in half a few feet away. Kyle had a terrified expression that I burned into my memory. I was sure it would warm my heart in the future.
With a small yell, he pissed his pants. “Fuck!”
“No, not anymore.” I whipped my hand out, claws leading, and easily tore his member from his body. That elicited an entirely new scream. I held his face and crushed the nasty thing into a paste right in front of his eyes. One of the bears stood watching next to us, and I tossed the barely recognizable object to it. It swallowed it in one bite.
“Please! I’ll do . . . anything! Money? Power? I can give you anything you want!”
“Power? I have that now,” I said, flexing my fist to emphasize my claws that now dripped with blood. “Money might be nice,” I started, and he smiled with a sliver of hope. “But with my power, I think money will be the least of my problems.” I lanced my hand down and stabbed his thigh. “Time for some fun.”
Chapter 33: Reunion?
Azaria
I watched as Lance tortured the man. I was glad to see my trap had worked as well as it had. The party just relied too heavily on Kyle’s power. Throw a lot of strong creatures at him, and he would struggle to resist them. I was able to see that when he was unable to hold Starburst for more than a few seconds at a time.
The third floor was set up in
way that each toy was about equal to a boss. The catch was that they had to trigger the trap. If they hugged the teddy bears, they would have been able to proceed with little trouble. I figured the stigma toward dungeon monsters would cause most people to attack first rather than try to see past the fact that they were in a dungeon.
All but Lance and the man named Kyle were dead by this point. Lance, herself, seemed to be greatly enjoying torturing the man. I never understood the appeal of torture, even after becoming a dungeon. I still felt it was better to end your prey’s suffering swiftly. I know the man had caused her a large amount of trouble, but still to do that to a man just seemed cruel.
A decent-size puddle of blood had formed around the pair from the many wounds that she had inflicted on him. I doubted he had much longer to live even if she stopped adding more injuries. I let another minute or two pass before I decided that was enough and tapped into the tiny doll on Lance’s person.
“Finish him,” I ordered. “I’m not a torture house, even if I am a dungeon.”
She pouted, looking at the doll, but nodded. She looked at the man, who was being held by one of the bears. Pulling her arm back, she shot it forward to impale his heart. I started to turn away, as that amount of force should kill him instantly. I felt a burst of Aether, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. It had come from outside the dungeon. The next thing I knew, I was in incredible pain as something tore through the first and second floor to reach the spot that Lance and her target were in.
The pain was bad enough to force me to the ground. Zaria rushed over and checked on me. I felt like a spike had been driven through my skull. “What happened!?”
Did Lance use that one ability again? But I was sure it came from the outside. I cast my vision around and saw the crowd of people were apparently shocked by something. Looking at Lance, I found a girl a bit shorter than her standing between her and Kyle. I moved my vision closer so I could hear what was going on.
“About time . . . you showed . . . up!” Kyle said through gritted teeth. I was impressed that he was still conscious, considering how wounded he was.
“You’re not the only one I have a contract with. You are the first to invoke the defense clause this early on though. It has only been a day.”
“I was set up by that bitch Erica and this whore.”
“Yes. Hello brother, or rather sister.”
“Hello, Sera. Mind stepping out of the way? I have some unfinished business with that scumbag.”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I have a contract with him. If you don’t want to die, step back now.”
“That’s not very family of you. You don’t mind that he attempted to rape and kill me and, failing that, ruined my life? Forcing me to take”—Lance held up her arms, showing her scales and claws. She had really started to look like a bunch of monsters that had been stitched together in a sort of Frankenstein fashion— “this form?”
The girl looked at Lance before she covered her mouth with her hand. The sound of cute laughter soon filled the dungeon. “I think it quite suits you. I wish you had found that power a few months ago. Then you might have been of some use to me.”
Lance audibly ground her teeth, which was quite loud, given how many fangs she had right now. “So I mean nothing to you?”
“No. Not really. Now, I have a few plans for the city and would like you to stay out of my way.” The girl reached forward and, much like Kyle had, made a gesture like she was gripping something.
Lance gasped and struggled, tearing her hands across her chest. Bloody gashes followed the path of her fingers due to her claws.
I tightened my grip on my violin as I watched the events taking place. While it might not be accurate to call Lance my friend, she had helped me through the first few weeks of this new life of mine. It wasn’t right that I had to sit there and watch her die right as her plan was about to succeed.
I frantically thought about what I could do to help her. Glancing at my violin again, I realized that I hadn’t been using the magic inside it to the fullest. I wasn’t sure I would survive this, but it was better than sitting here and watching her die. Focusing on the doll under Lance’s collar, I sent her a message. Want me to save you?
I couldn’t be sure if she replied with how much thrashing she was doing as she struggled, but I took it as a yes. The dungeon magic seemed to agree, and my ethereal form gained mass as it took shape. I moved into the cave, grabbing Tenderheart in the process.
“That will be enough killing for today,” I said, floating behind Lance. I pulled the bow across the violin’s strings, and a wave of magic sliced through whatever was holding Lance. She dropped to the ground, breathing heavily in a puddle of her own blood.
“The dungeon I presume. Are you sure you want to interfere?” the girl asked, dropping her hand to her side. “I can make even your life difficult.”
“I’ve grown fond of Lance here. She has done me a great service over the last couple of weeks.”
“Very well. I guess there isn’t anything else to discuss.” She gestured and I felt something in my chest twist painfully, but disconnectedly as well. Like I didn’t truly need it. I grimaced and began a note. Streams of Aether ripped through the air as blades of wind.
The girl dodged them with ease. I directed the bears and Tenderheart to attack the girl while I distracted her with my magic. As I played another note, fireballs like the ones I saw the divers make streaked toward the girl. Her power extended further than just grabbing hearts, as it seemed she made the fireballs explode in midair.
The girl was flexible and dodged not only my magic but the swipes and lunges from the dozen bears. Playing several notes at once, I created steel wires that shot around the room in an attempt to trip the girl up. One of the wires caught her cape and tore a long gash, revealing her left arm and part of her torso.
I floated next to Lance as she pulled herself back up. “Go finish what you started.”
Kyle had been thrown to one side of the cave at the beginning of the fight. He was still alive but unconscious from the looks of it. Lance gave me a nod and started running toward the prone man.
I heard the girl click her tongue before she started moving even faster. One of the bears that was about to give her a bear hug exploded as she punched it. She slid to a stop in front of the prone man, and Lance was forced to come to a stop as well. The girl gestured again and Lance’s suffering resumed.
I played several notes to try to force the girl to stop, but she dodged them while focusing on her sister. I was thinking Lance was a goner when there was an explosion of Aether. It rippled off her as her body went through a change right in front of our eyes. It was like a demon had taken her place as her claws grew longer and she gained horns and wings.
“SERA!” There was an explosion of green flame around Lance as she flew forward. She slammed the girl into the wall, forming a small crater from the impact. There was a spray of blood from the girl’s mouth. Lance appeared to lose it completely as she brought her mouth down and bit the girl at the base of her neck. A small fountain of blood splattered against the wall.
The girl, Sera, wasn’t out of the fight yet though. She brought her foot up and kicked Lance hard enough to crack the new armor that had formed on her chest. Lance held the wound and breathed heavily.
“You really have become a monster.” Sera looked down at Kyle cowering next to her. “Sorry. I’m going to need your life. I’ll make sure the parties involved are reimbursed.”
She extended her hand, and Kyle’s chest burst as the heart flew into her grip. She brought it to her mouth and began to eat it without any pause or hesitation. I saw that Sera’s Aether surged as her wounds healed before our eyes. “That’s better.” She extended her hand again, only this time pointing at the wall. A chunk of stone tore free, and she launched it at Lance.
I played several notes rapidly, and a spike of stone erupted and blocked the stone in its path. The action earned a glare from Sera. Lance launched herself
through the air, roaring in the process. I was a hundred percent sure that her reason was completely lost at this point. Sera jumped out of the way, and Lance slammed into the wall headfirst.
Sera jumped and kicked Lance full in the head, launching her through the air. Lance used her wings to correct herself midair, then flew back into the fray. Clouds of purple gas and flames surrounded her, melting the ground and ceiling of the cave. Sera did her best to keep her distance but still suffered a few burns.
“I suppose this is my limit. Been a while since anyone has pushed me this far. I’ll let you live in acknowledgment of that fact.” An aura of Aether wrapped around her before she suddenly tore back through the dungeon in a completely different direction, causing me more than a little pain.
I exhaled in relief that the threat was gone. Lance was still lost in her blood or battle lust. She spotted Kyle’s body and rushed at it, then began to reduce it to a paste. I didn’t try to interrupt her and allowed her to get it out of her system. Finally, after about another two or three minutes, she breathed out a large cloud of steam and collapsed to the ground.
Her body started to shrink back to normal, but I saw that her skin was torn in places. It looked like whatever caused her to transform had been a double-edged sword. Blood rapidly began to pool around her as she sat back against the wall. I played a few notes that soon became a song, and I healed her enough that she didn’t die from the ability’s backlash.
Sending a glare at the two new tunnels that had been torn through my dungeon, I moved up to Starburst’s room. I accelerated the magic to re-create him. He groaned from the rushed return of his soul to the new body. From what he’d explained to me, it was normally like waking up from a dream when they were re-created.
