by Sean Oswald
As she started to speak, Altracia cut her off. “No, don’t say things that can’t be. You and the stinky little goblin shall be safe for as long as your parents are still trying to find you. I shall even put you in the most special of rooms. You will be the only guest to have ever gone in there, but your goblin shall have to wait out here.”
Sara spoke up defiantly, “Then I shall be safe forever. My mom and dad won’t ever stop looking for me.”
Almost wistfully, Altracia said almost to herself, “Wishing and doing are not the same thing.” Then she said to the drake hounds, “Assume your positions. Place the girl at the back of this chamber and dump the goblin in the middle of the room.”
After that, Sara found herself pulled away from Krinnk. She was too uncertain to kick or scream as she was having a hard time being afraid of Altracia. Once she was set against the back wall of the cavern and all the guards had moved away from her, she noticed something. There was a small tunnel. It was big enough for her to easily crawl into, but grown-ups would probably have a very hard time fitting in it. Maybe this led to the special room. As is often the case with an eight-year-old, her thought and her action took place at the same time.
On the other side of the stone wall, a fully enlarged Dave, War Monster, and Rak’kar were pounding away at the stone wall. Emily had tried her Cancel Magic spell on it, but it had failed. Gunidar explained that the wall was an actual physical object that had been brought into existence by magic but was no longer itself magical. The physical efforts, however, were bearing fruit as the wall was riddled with cracks. The problem was that they were down to 19 minutes on the timer.
Finally, the royal mage said, “I have enough mana now for a spell that should finish what you have started, but it is Tier 4 and will require a fair amount of my mana. Sadly, I am out of mana regeneration potions. So, please decide if getting through the wall more quickly or me having mana when we get to the other side is more important.”
“Just use the spell. If we don’t make it through in time, then it won’t matter how much mana we have left!” Emily practically screamed.
Shaking his head, the mage began casting his spell. The cast time was nearly thirty seconds, but when it finished, the entire stone wall trembled and then melted as it was turned into mud. Everyone jumped back trying to avoid being splattered with varying degrees of success.
Without saying anything, Emily displayed her tremendous Agility by running up the side of the wall horizontally, far enough for her to then spring the rest of the way over the mud slick. The rest of them had to trudge through the mud, although Dave carried Mira to spare her from choosing between using her wind ring to fly or getting muddy.
Once on the other side, they set up their marching order again and started moving quickly. Emily was nervous when all of a sudden the signal she got about Sara’s location became faint. They quickly deduced that only a powerful magical source could cause that, which only put everyone on a higher level of alert, if that were possible.
Eight more minutes of moving as fast as they could while still keeping a limited lookout for traps had their already frayed nerves at the breaking point when it became clear that the room was about to open up into a large cavern.
Emily tried to rush forward, but Dave called out, “Stop honey! We have to do this right, or it could cost Sara her life.”
“Fine, but we only have about ten minutes left, so we can’t have some long planning session.”
“Agreed. We will go in with War Monster as the main tank. There is almost certainly some boss monster in there. Ro’Billo, you look for traps and then add damage when you can. Tode, you will first be on crowd control and slowing the boss. Add damage as you can. Steffen and Rak’kar, you handle any of the drake hound warriors that try to jump in. Likewise, add damage as you can. Emily, you are the primary healer of course with Mira as back up, and Gunidar, do whatever you can when you have mana, but if you have some items to use, this is no longer the time to hold back. Tabor and Jackson, I know you hate this, but your job is to keep the casters safe–especially the healers.”
Gunidar winced at that, but Dave ignored him and continued on, “I will be the backup tank and will try to add whatever damage that I can. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for those casters that we saw. If anyone sees Sara and can safely get to her, then please grab her. Krinnk, if you can without taking any risks.”
Tode said, “And what do we do if we get Sara?”
“We try to get out of here. The quest isn’t to kill the boss. The quest is to rescue Sara and get her to safety,” Dave said.
Everyone nodded and formed up before War Monsters started to walk towards the room. Seemingly out of nowhere, Daichi appeared and crushed a pair of drake hound warriors who were manning a ballista built into the wall. The angle it was at had caused them not to see it, but at this range, that likely would have caused the death of War Monster or whoever was first through the door. The elven monk’s attack had knocked them from their perch to the ground, and one landed with his neck at an awkward angle evidencing his death. The other warrior was busy trying to dislodge the smaller elf from his back as the life was being choked out of him by an arm around his neck. It was over shortly as the monk was clearly stronger than everyone thought when he broke his opponent’s neck.
The others ran into the room but stopped as Daichi screamed, “Beware, the boss is a drake!”
It wasn’t really necessary though as a few feet into the room what had appeared as a cluster of grass-covered ground stirred and rose up upon its four legs. Its wings flared to an intimidating size while her head rose up, and she began to suck in air. They quickly saw that Krinnk was trussed up under the drake’s black belly. Its green scales glittered, but what was most frightening was its open jaws.
All those who had seen it before yelled out, “It sprays acid. Everyone take cover!” Those further back jumped to the sides of the tunnel hoping to avoid the spray, but the tanks and Ro’Billo were already in the room. War Monster raised his shield. Ro’Billo leapt to the side, rolled by, locked his hands behind his knees, and turned into a dwarven ball. Contrary to everyone else, Dave moved in as quickly as he could using a Lesser Repulsion to push himself forward while the beast was still sucking in air. Then, as the green acidic spray started to rush forth delivering its caustic payload, Dave was almost underneath the beast. He was taking a gamble but cast a Lesser Repulsion from each hand straight into its mouth. The dual casting almost didn’t take shape, but Dave wrestled with the magical forms forcing them into the shape he wanted so that the overlapping spells had double the pushing power right at the entrance to the open maw.
Everyone watched in awe as the waves of repulsive force held back the liquid death, causing the drake to gag on its own breath weapon. It was a freakish sight made all that much strange when some of the fumes made it past the waves of force and caused Dave to have his own coughing fit. There they were, hero and beast both reduced to a crouched position and gagging back gut-wrenching coughs.
The surprise move and its aftermath caused everyone to slow for a moment, but Emily quickly broke out of her shock and targeted Dave with regeneration magic while War Monster launched a shackling dark essence spell trying to prevent the beast from using its jaw to attack again. Tode’s slow spell landed a second later, and then, as the room seemed clear, all of the raid party started to unload upon the drake. The creature meant to be the final boss of the dungeon wasn’t putting up much of a fight as it was pummeled by spell and blade alike, keeping it unable to rise from the floor.
Inside the tiny chamber that no other living being had ever been in, Sara sat huddled holding her arms around her legs. The tunnel from the cavern into this room had been nothing but packed dirt, and Sara had it all over her hands and knees. Inside the room was another matter altogether. The room was a perfect circle exactly seven feet in diameter and consisted entirely of flawlessly polished magicyte crystals. All of the veins containing the power which brought this du
ngeon to life all fed directly into this room.
There, suspended in midair at the exact center of the room, was a six-inch wide floating orb. Sara didn’t understand that this was the true Altracia not the avatar outside. Nor did she fathom that it was controlling the dungeon, albeit still somewhat on instinct. What she did know was that she could hear the drake’s voice in her head giving her a play by play of the fight between the drake and her parent’s group.
She didn’t know how, but after a few minutes, she realized that the voice was not coming from the drake who was outside fighting, but instead from the radiantly glowing orb. Then she was distracted as Altracia figured out how to project an image of what was happening in the cavern onto the walls of the tiny inner sanctum. It was like the IMAX screen she had seen those old Disney movies on but even better as it was all around her. The images were not nearly so happy. She saw her dad get hurt but then recover. Bit by bit, she saw the drake being beaten down and yet took no joy in it.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” Sara cried out at the orb.
“It is as it must be. Adventurers try to conqueror dungeons to grow strong, and dungeons devour adventures to grow stronger. It is the great circle of life, to borrow a phrase from one of your memories.” This voice didn’t have the same passion that the drake had had, or perhaps it did, but only buried underneath.
“I will stop you.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Remember, you are only bait.”
“I’m not bait, I am a Nelson,” Sara cried as she lunged forward. Both her small hands closed on the orb, and she expected to be able to smash it into the wall. Instead though, she found it was quite immoveable, held in place by the forces of magic.
Where a warrior might have continued to struggle and strain muscle trying to destroy, Sara found another way. She was an eight-year-old girl. She was used to things being too big or too heavy for her. She was used to needing to find a stool to stand upon or a way to convince someone else to do for her what she couldn’t do for herself. So instead of being stuck in one mindset, she found another.
Her hope-filled attitude combined with a will to save her family reached out and wormed into the sphere. Then suddenly, a notification popped up before her.
Congratulations! You have formed a new Monster Friendship Bond with Altracia the forest drake become dungeon drake become dungeon core. Warning: This creature is dramatically more powerful than you in your current state. The balance of power in your friendship will be tilted towards the superior partner.
Due to this imbalance, gains you receive will be higher than normal.
* * *
Sara Nelson:
+10 STRENGTH
+10 CONSTITUTION
Formation of Wing Buds
Flight Potential (25)
Acid Resistance +50
Acid Breath +1, 1/moonrise 15’ cone 150-250 dmg+10/level in breath weapon
* * *
Altracia’s Avatar:
Max Tier +1
+3 INT, +3 WIS
ability for avatar to leave the dungeon
* * *
Benefits for other companions:
Krinnk the goblin scout:
+5 STR
Shaping Magic: +5
* * *
Snowball the thumper:
Drake scales
Acid Resistance: +50
Sara still didn’t know what it all meant, but she knew that she suddenly felt very different. Not only could she feel the difference in her body now, but she could also feel the link to the core.
“Please stop. Please don’t hurt my family,” Sara pleaded. This time she spoke with a newfound confidence. Her other two friends always were eager to do whatever she said. Krinnk practically stumbled over himself trying to please her, and even Snowball without the ability to speak made it clear that she loved being around Sara.
Not so with Altracia. This time, she didn’t feel the same passive response but, instead, an iron will.
“Oh Sara, thank you so much. You are my dear friend, and I will take care of you forever. You have given me more than you could possibly know in giving me your friendship.”
“Then stop this. They are still fighting, but you can stop this. Let me go out there. I will convince them–my mom and dad–to stop fighting too. They are the bosses. They can make everyone else stop fighting too.”
“It isn’t that simple, sweet Sara,” Altracia replied.
“But why not? We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
“Oh yes, you are my first and only friend. I didn’t even realize what I was missing before you.”
“Then please stop. Don’t hurt my parents. Jackson and Mira are out there too.”
“I no longer bear the hatred that I used to for the one known and David Nelson, but it isn’t as simple as you think. Don’t you remember, child, when I told you that we can each only be what we are.”
Sara nodded, unsure if the core could see the motion, but it seemed the right thing to do, as words evaded her.
“Hmmm, perhaps to borrow another memory of yours. The frog ought not to ask the scorpion why it stings him. For the only answer is that it is the nature of the scorpion to do so. Do you see now?”
“No, please. I don’t want them to hurt you, and I don’t want you to hurt them.”
“I can only be that which I am, but fear not for me. That shell they are fighting is but an avatar, a creature grown out of mana, meant to be a vessel for my will.”
Sara looked on in confusion, and perhaps sensing that, Altracia tried again to comfort her. “Don’t worry, we are family now. I will always take care of you. Together we shall grow strong.”
Sara slumped down then, grasping her knees again. Some faint bit of understanding sunk in as she remembered the parable of the scorpion and the frog. Maybe being her friend wasn’t enough to change Altracia like it had been with the goblin and the thumper. All she could do now was watch the fight between this new friend, who, through the magic of her class, she felt incredibly close to, and her family. There wasn’t any good outcome in her little mind.
Outside, the drake seemed to be failing bit by bit, but then one of the casters stepped out of a hidden alcove and cast a spell. Huge amounts of the ambient mana were gathered, and the drake’s wounds almost entirely closed as it was suffused in the power of the dungeon.
Tode yelled, “Don’t let up!”
Not that anyone needed the instruction as they knew that if the drake could be healed like this, then they might be in for more than what they had planned for. Dave simply shook his head. It wasn’t fair, but there was no use in complaining. He kept hacking away with his magical blade, the flaming power triggered and each blow knocked over two hundred health off in his enlarged size.
“I will try to charm the next one that appears, but they are powerful casters, so I’m not sure if I can charm them with anything but my class ability. Mira or Gunidar, do you have anything to charm the other?” Tode asked. Dave couldn’t spend much of his time listening, but he tried to hear the details.
He recognized Emily’s voice saying, “I have one spell that should work on my ring. I can only use it once a day, but it’s a Tier 5 spell.”
“Uh, well use that, because we are running out of mana. Not sure if we can handle another round of it being completely healed like that.”
As the drake was beat down once again, Dave saw Emily swallow their last mana potion. He had felt a bit guilty not giving it to Gunidar earlier but was glad that his instincts had been right. Always make sure the healer has mana. They were definitely getting the upper hand, but as the volleys of offense magic slowed, the drake was getting in more swipes of its deadly claws, each one ripping away hundreds of health. Even though its jaw was magically sealed and its movements were slowed, it was still just so powerful.
Dave realized he only had enough mana for one more mass enlarge and two offensive spells. The mana reservoir in his sword’s pommel was long since drained, and he was running down to on
e third of his mana. That was even with the mana that he had been regaining thanks to Ablative Armor. He had to make these count and was gonna have to depend on the others to get rid of the healers. Every attempt to shoot them when they popped out of their alcoves to heal the drake had failed. The angle they were at made it difficult to get a clean shot, and nothing that had hit them seemed to be instantly fatal. Each time one of the casters popped out to heal, they always seemed restored from any damage that had been inflicted the time before. Worse yet, there seemed to be an entire honeycomb of alcoves, and they popped out of different hiding spots each time.
There it was. Dave saw the drake shudder and collapse on its last sliver of life. The first healer popped out from his hiding spot. Dave only saw him thanks to peripheral vision. He saw the drake hound mage begin drawing in the light of ambient mana and charging his complete heal. From experience, he knew it only took 2 seconds. That must still have been enough time for Tode to activate his ability because the creature stiffened and then suddenly turned slightly and healed War Monster rather than the drake.
Dave smiled, and he swung down another blow on the fading drake. One down and one to go. Dave saw a flash of light from the other side even as he felt a healing spell from Emily hit him and restore some of the damage that had stacked up. Dave internally cursed. She must have been in the middle of a healing spell when her target appeared, and while using her ring only took a single second, it was still enough delay. The drake glowed, and most of its wounds closed. Fortunately, its minion seemed to be cut off mid spell because the normally complete healing didn’t finish up, and the drake was still showing injuries. Its black, caustic blood still dripped from minor wounds, and open patches where its dark emerald scales had been knocked off were still present.
