by Allan Joyal
“Many, many,” the Mephit said. “Could feel her make them. Make one every ten day. Store most.”
“Not all?” Mardrew asked.
“Give to favored monsters. Put in items to become treasures. Most kept in treasure room,” the Mephit said.
“But you just said there was no path to this room. How did you find it?” Lewfeld asked.
“She send out call. Need monsters for dungeon. Dungeon not finished. Still growing. Stopped adding rooms because no monsters to fill rooms. I heard call. Found small crack in stone. Followed to room,” the mephit said.
“And she said no to you?” Lewfeld asked.
The fire spirit flared dramatically. Everyone took a couple of steps back as it sent a tongue of flame passed Lewfeld’s shoulder. “I no like water spirit. Water spirit already close to dungeon. Dungeon refused me. Told me to leave home and never return.”
“And yet you returned,” Lewfeld said angrily. He sounded like someone trying to avoid others thinking him a coward.
The spirit seemed to shrink a bit. “Home. Lost home due to dungeon. Want home back. Need dungeon gone.”
“And you said the dungeon was nothing but good,” Mordlew said scornfully while looking at the group of adventurers who had started to gather near the gatehouse. “You heard the spirit.”
“I’m not sure an inhuman spirit qualifies as a good judge of a dungeon’s character,” Gee’if called back. “And none of us will ever agree with you. Besides you are barred from entering the dungeon.”
Mordlew started to laugh. He pointed at the two wizards. The men had set several mana stones in holders on the ground and were carefully positioning them.
“That’s!” someone said with a gasp.
“You go too far!” Bezztol said as he strode out of the group of adventurers. “None of us agree to what you are doing.”
“I don’t care what you agree with,” Mordlew said as the two fighters moved to stand between the wizards and the adventurers. Mardrew and Mordlew moved to join them.
“Father,” Lewfeld said plaintively as his sister moved to stand between the two warriors. She had a frightened and resigned look on her face. “Why must we do this? Why can’t you leave all of this alone.”
“Feldmar was disgraced. He had a love and it was stolen from him by wizards. He had a daughter he never saw again because of wizards,” Mordlew said.
“So you are going to use wizards to do to his daughter what the wizards back then tried to do to his wife?” Salene said as she moved to stand next to Bezztol. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“It will allow us to return his daughter to his descendants. She could have helped us become kings. He could have been a king,” Mordlew said dramatically.
“It sounds like he was content to be a farmer,” Salene replied.
The wizards had finished placing their mana stones. Both of them were standing directly behind no less than seven stones placed in a crescent. Both began chanting as the fire spirit split into two parts. Those parts became roaring balls of fire hovering about three feet in the air right at the focal point of each crescent.
“What are you doing?” Bezztol asked. The adventurer put a hand on his sword. Mordlew and all his followers immediately drew their weapons and dropped into combat poses.
“Nothing you can stop,” Mordlew said. “Lewfeld. Get in line and help protect your legacy.”
“Father?” Lewfeld asked as he slowly drew his sword. “What is happening.”
“All you have to do is make sure no adventurer bothers the two wizards. They are going to open up a path to the chamber the good fire spirit told us about. The fighters and wizards will collect the treasure, and we’ll collect the soul of the dungeon.”
“Father!” Salene shouted as she drew her own weapon. “How can you be so inhuman?”
“To what?” Mordlew asked as the mana stones placed by the two wizards began to glow. They started as a pale white light, but the gems began to turn red and the light focused on the tip of the stones. “How can a dungeon even care about what is done to it?”
“Wait,” Bezztol said. “First you complain that your ancestor lost his wife, who he apparently cared enough about that when he had children later, he told them about her. But now you say his daughter won’t care what happens to her?”
“I will possess this dungeon!” Mordlew shouted enraged.
The light from each mana stone became lines of energy. They cut a path through the air into the balls of fire. The balls seemed to glow brighter and then two massive jets of flame roared towards the mountain side.
Every adventurer took a step back as the flames struck the mountainside. The hard granite started to melt as the flames burned into the mountain. A river of molten rock began to flow to the south, away from the wizards and the stand off between Mordlew and the adventurers.
There was a loud gasp from the adventurers.
“Stop him!” someone shouted as Bezztol and Salene charged.
Faestari looked away from the beginning of the fight to feel the effect of the flames. She was not sure how the wizards had managed it, but the flames were melting through the granite far faster than she would be able to repair or replace the melted stone. She checked and realized she only had a few minutes before the fire broke through and revealed her refuge deep in the heart of the mountain.
She took a moment to encourage the water in the pool to flow up to a hidden cistern. She also closed off her sleeping alcove, sending all but one of her stone rabbits to sleep behind the new wall. Finally she removed the stairway leading up to the treasure room. She then stood up and closed her eyes again to watch the battle she knew was being fought just outside her domain.
It turned out that only Salene and Bezztol had charged. The two armored men supporting Mordlew had split up. Salene was in furious combat with one wielding a massive sword that required two hands to control. She was dodging his blows as she tried to find a weak point in his armor.
Bezztol’s opponent had a more traditional sword and shield. The two men were exchanging blows on their shields as Mardrew maneuvered behind the warrior supporting his father. It was clear Mardrew was trying to line up some kind of spell.
Faestari watched as the fighting continued. No other adventurer had stepped into the conflict although she could see Betrixy and Kalacho standing just ahead of the crowd. She wondered why they weren’t helping when Luniri dashed forward and made a clumsy lunge at her sister.
Salene dodged the attack and delivered a vicious kick to her sister’s waist. Luniri folded in half around the blow as the warrior chopped downward at Salene with a wild overhand swing. The young female warrior dodged by spinning to her right. She was facing away from both of her opponents when she planted her right foot and finished the spin with her left foot just above waist high. Her heel caught Luniri in the temple.
Luniri dropped to the ground. The warrior she was helping stumbled forward, taking five steps before he regained his balance. For a moment he and Salene were standing back-to-back as both tried to recover from the brief moment of action.
The fight between Bezztol and the other warrior continued. Mardrew had finally managed to move far enough to one side to have a clear view of the adventurer. He spread his hands and shouted something. Sickly orangish-green tendrils of energy emanated from his fingers. Several of them wrapped around the arms and legs of Bezztol, fixing him in place. The warrior facing him stepped forward and thrust his sword into the belly of the adventurer before stepping back to look over at Salene.
“Bezz!” one of the watching adventurers shouted. A loud roar of emotion came from the rest of the watchers. A couple took a step forward, but then a huge wall of flame roared up separating them from Mordlew and his defenders.
“Grab my daughter,” Mordlew said to the two warriors. “She’s at least seen this supposed dungeon spirit.”
“Father! You had a good man killed!” Salene shouted. The young woman stepped forward only to be seized by the tendr
ils of energy her brother was still producing. The two warriors quickly disarmed the woman and forced her to her knees.
“He got in the way,” Mordlew said absently.
The flame jets produced by the two wizards had cut a tunnel more than two hundred feet deep into the dungeon. Faestari could see that the mana flowing to the jets would keep them burning long enough for them to destroy the mountain. She walked towards the wall they would burst through and opened up an alcove. She stepped through the opening and began walking closer to the magic that was assaulting her domain.
At the same time Faestari reached out and closed off the chamber that held the giant crab made out of stone on the last inhabited floor of her dungeon. She brought that chamber down until it was just to the right of the path being cut by the jets of flame. She angled her movement to allow her chamber to meet with that one.
Mordlew had turned to look at Mardrew. He handed his wizard son a mana stone. “Make sure that doesn’t run out of power. It’s powering the wall of flame.”
“That won’t help if they walk around it,” Mardrew said worriedly.
“I surrounded them with the flame. And we know that Dared won’t bring his guards out. The few guards he has would be destroyed by the power of Rict and Rudct,” Mordlew said as he watched the flames burn into the mountain.
Lewfeld just stared at the damage being done. “Is this really necessary father?” he asked.
Mordlew backhanded his younger son. “Fool! Are all of my children except Mardrew weak-willed simpering idiots. Our ancestor could have been a king. He had the love of a being that could make anything happen. We have an opportunity to reclaim that legacy. We can reclaim what he lost and make it ours.”
“How? If a dungeon is a living being?” Lewfeld asked.
“How did we get that mephit to help?” Mordlew asked. “It is a spirit much like the dungeon soul is. Did you ever think about the power of magic.”
“So you’d enslave her,” Salene said bitterly. “Why not kill me. I’d rather die than see the dishonor you’ll bring to our ancestor. Did he not send his daughter away to prevent exactly what is occurring now?”
“He was a coward,” Mordlew said. “He could have prevented it. I’m sure of that. Now, I need to prepare the vessel.”
Mordlew pulled the black gemstone his son had carried into the dungeon from a pouch. He walked forward as Mardrew opened up a pack and began pulling out long staves made of a strange metal. The staves had a purple sheen to them.
Three staves were set up like a pyramid. Once they were placed to Mordlew’s satisfaction the stone was placed directly on the top of the pyramid. It was right over the edge of Faestari’s domain and she could feel mana clashing as the gemstone tried to absorb the mana surrounding it.
I need to work quickly,” she thought. She had reached the chamber of the stone crab and was now watching the flame jets continue to cut into the mountain. She was using some of her mana to absorb the molten stone. She planned to use the stone to repair all the damage once she had finally defeated Mordlew and his minions.
“Father, the wall of flame is dying,” Mardrew said worriedly.
“How are the flame jets working?” Mordlew asked the two wizards.
“Better than we expected,” One of the wizards responded. “We could probably cut through the mountain with just one.”
“Can we angle the other to stop the adventurers from charging?” Mordlew asked.
Faestari realized that if she did not act her friends just outside her domain would be killed. She grabbed the flame node below her and pulled on its power. The flame jets flared dramatically where the flame crossed into her domain as she fed more mana to the spell empowering them. She could hear the mephit’s screams of agony. The two balls of light shone so bright that everyone in the area had to cover their eyes as the flames made one final deep cut into the mountain.
The mephit died a moment later, causing the two jets of flame to stop. Faestari looked and could see that the flames had failed just thirty feet away from the chamber she was waiting in. She used her mana to open up a passageway and walked forward as she commanded the stone to cool.
“What happened?” Mordlew asked. He was blinking his eyes trying to clear them after the assault of light had ended.
“I’m not sure,” one of the wizards said. “The spell’s power was suddenly boosted. I’m afraid the mephit has died, so we can’t set it up again.”
“We have to get the spell going! The dungeon avatar must be captured,” Mordlew said.
“Why?” Faestari asked. She had reached the mouth of the massive gash the wizard’s spell had created in the side of the mountain. Her stone crab was standing behind her, deep in the shadows where it should not be noticed. “Why must you try to destroy what little happiness I have found.”
“You are a dungeon you don’t know emotions!” Mordlew shouted furiously.
“Is that true?” she asked sadly. “Do you know so little of spirits? Or is it you think you know so much about them?”
“I will have your power and your obedience!” Mordlew screamed. He lunged for the black gemstone. As he touched it he whispered something.
A billowing cloud of mana oozed out of the gemstone just as the wall of flame finally died. The wizards who had been commanding the flames cutting into the mountain backed away from the palpable hate that filled the cloud.
Faestari stared at the cloud. “That is a lot of hate. Why do you think that will be effective against me?”
“Why would hate not be effective? All adventurers know that dungeons feed on their power. You hate and fear us,” Mordlew said. “Hate grants power, and it is power that will restrain you. Now I’ll add your power to that of the hate, and rule!”
Chapter 30: A Battle of Hate Filled Emotions
The black cloud blew directly at Faestari. It seemed to form into a man made from smoke and mists. Giant hands reached down to grab the elven girl as she stood in the entrance to the cave.
Faestari waited until they were nearly touching her and then dived to her left. Her stone crab rushed out of the cave. It’s giant pincers grabbed at the billowing cloud. Several pieces of the cloud were cut away only to slowly flow back towards the cloud.
“What is that?” Mordlew shouted.
The crab was managing to force the cloud of smoke to back away from the cave opening. Faestari stood up at the side of the cave as she spent mana to close the passage.
The two warriors stepped forward. They were careful to stay clear of the cloud while they moved into position to attack the crab.
The cloud of mana and hate struck at the stone crab. Its blow seemed to pass through Faestari’s massive defender without affecting it.
“It’s some kind of golem,” Mardrew called out. “We have to smash it.”
“How?” Mordlew asked.
A ball of blue light struck the right side of the crab. Its middle leg on that side broke off and fell to the ground.
“So it’s not completely immune to magic.” One of the wizards said. “I’ve always wondered just how powerful a dungeon can be. This will be an interesting opportunity to destroy one of the constructs a dungeon developed.”
The wall of flame that had formed around the adventurers from the town had almost completely dissipated. Faestari could see that many of the adventurers were down. The few standing ones were concentrating on treating the injured.
“Father, what did you do?” Salene shouted. Faestari could see that the young woman had twisted around so she could see the adventurers.
“Oh them,” Mordlew said. “I’m guessing the wall of flame came down. It was rather hot on the other side. They might survive. Not that it will matter. I’m taking the dungeon soul with me.”
Lewfeld got up and tackled his father. “Why father! Why?” the man cried.
Mardrew rushed forward and put a hand on his brother’s neck. He muttered a word and then pulled his hand away. A disk of about an inch thick came with him. Lewfeld�
�s severed head tumbled to the ground as Mardrew turned to walk towards their father.
“Father!” Salene screamed.
Mordlew looked back briefly as the crab started poking at the two warriors. He noticed the body of Lewfeld slowly collapsing to the ground. “Oh, him. I always wondered when he’d betray me. Not that he was my son anyways.”
“You said he was,” Salene screamed.
“I adopted him. He was found in the ruins of a village destroyed by orcs. I should have known that he would prove to be a coward,” Mordlew said.
Salene had tears in her eyes. She struggled to get to her feet. The orange-green tendrils of magic were still wrapped around her wrists and knees, making it difficult for the young woman to move.
One of the wizards moved deeper into Faestari’s domain. She was watching the stone crab, trying to reinforce it as it used its pincers to parry attacks from the two warriors. The wizard raised his hands. Both hands started to glow as he prepared a spell.
From just behind the wizard’s feet a small trapdoor, no larger than a foot on a side opened. A spider with a bright blue abdomen emerged just long enough to sink its fangs into the leg of the wizard. It immediately retreated back into the lurk it emerged from, closing the trapdoor as it vanished from the mountainside.
The wizard collapsed immediately. He screamed in agony just long enough to attract the attention of the other wizard.
Faestari picked up a rock and threw it at the second wizard. She used her mana to enhance the speed and accuracy of the stone. It caught the wizard right above his left eye. The wizard’s skull shattered and he fell to the ground.
“That should prevent any more spells on my defender,” Faestari said loudly.
“You will be mine!” Mordlew said. “Your spider can’t get past Rict and Radct’s armor.”
The stone crab reached out and caught the shield arm of one of the warriors. It started to clamp down, but the other came in and with a fierce overhead attack cut through the joint of the pincer with his massive sword.
