Dungeon at War: Dark Dungeon 03

by D. R. Rosier

  “Very well, I’ll write up a note and have it delivered. What about Levin and Karl, they okay with this?”

  Diana snorted, “They’ll be okay with it. Trust me.”

  He wasn’t sure what that meant, although he did suppose the Duchess was quite beautiful, and her companion was even more so. He supposed when he was younger he’d have jumped at the chance to join a party with ladies like that in it. Just as well he hadn’t, Liren had been worth the wait.

  Liren said, “Wait, aren’t they nobles?”

  Diana nodded with a small mock innocent smirk, “Yes, I do believe they are. Minor houses but noble sons, although with the light affinity they won’t inherit. It’s why I picked them, or one of the reasons. Noble and peasant adventurers don’t really mix in groups, mostly because if they ended up in bed together it would cause a scandal.”

  Liren smiled, “That makes sense, we don’t want to add more whispers to the noble circles, she’s already making a big enough splash that way.”

  Diana cleared her throat, “As long as I’m here, we have seventeen new initiates, nine of them chose to be paladins, and have been given gear. I plan to take them in a couple of days to dungeon level one. Most of them can already enhance their life force with light magic, but not all of them yet.”

  Carlton replied, “Sounds good, take them when you think they’re ready. There are six more coming as well, from crown city. I read the king’s dispatch earlier. I don’t think they’ve chosen a path yet.”

  Diana nodded, “Good, we can use as many as we can get. I hope more are found soon too, seventeen won’t get us all that far to recovering, but is sadly almost half our current numbers.”

  Carlton nodded, “Could be worse, we should be adding similar numbers every five or six years, as the next group of kids grow up.”

  Diana sighed, and he couldn’t object. The task in front of them to rebuild the church, it would take them eighty years to have their old numbers.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  He shook his head, and Diana and Cory left.

  He looked over at Liren, who was truly beautiful in his eyes. Petite, tight curvy body, long red hair, and gorgeous brown eyes. He just couldn’t imagine his life without her in it anymore. It was her love and presence that would make the long and careful rebuild of the church worthwhile, and what would give him patience.

  She looked at him questioningly as he stared at her.

  “What?”

  He smiled, and asked in spur of the moment daring, “Marry me?”

  Chapter Nine

  It helped, that they were evil men.

  Men and woman of power in Nysten trained and became the leaders and protectors. The warriors and mages not only improved themselves, but the world around them. There were exceptions of course, the corruption of the church of light was one of the major ones. But overall their system worked well.

  Even I, a dark higher being of some kind, helped. My dungeon used for challenges and training. Yet, I knew I was really neither good or evil in my core, perhaps amoral would describe me best, as I’d never felt regret about a death in my dungeon, but my actions could be construed as good or evil. Most believed I was good, and trusted the dungeon wouldn’t murder them out of hand, and that faith was well placed.

  I’d come to Jennesar to destroy the church, and weaken the gods. Yes, it helped to call the councils of warriors and mages who oppressed, abused, and tightly controlled the lives of the Jennesar peasants’ evil.

  Still. I was disturbed.

  When I helped at the border, I was defending many others, as both sides took casualties, thousands of them. When I helped to reclaim a castle, the men were traitors, and needed to be put down.

  It helped that the warriors and mages in Jennesar were evil, in actions if nothing else. But it was different when we got to that village. I was the invader this time. It might have been self-defense against their gods as well as vengeance that drove me to this, but the mortal humans themselves were simply the gods’ pawns. Evil pawns maybe, but still pawns.

  It was late afternoon the second day after we’d left Tenemin that we arrived at our first village. The day was hot, and before we entered the village I estimated there were about two thousand people, with multiple farmsteads around it. I felt confident, and a little excited to be honest. This was the start of things.

  “Lila, let’s go introduce ourselves. The rest of you stay here, until I contact you.”

  Selwyn nodded wordlessly.

  There was an excitement about going to battle, and Lila and I moved quickly toward the town. There were two guards on the road outside of town, that held up their hands for us to stop. They were both warriors and were in uniform, which would make it easier to find them. They were also both leering at Lila, and there was nothing nice in their faces.

  It helped that they were evil men, mostly.

  Lila and I each took one out, I sent a spike of stone through the heart of the man, and Lila’s curse killed the second quickly. They’d been journeymen, if that.

  There was no battle at the first village, there wasn’t even one master level power in the small village. The excitement slowly left me, and I felt cold, as we cleared the village of its tormentors. The strongest of which was adept. It wasn’t a battle.

  It was a simple slaughter. A cold execution of my enemies. Their spells fizzled on our shields, and their swords never found our protections, much less got through them.

  It helped that they were evil men, but it still felt wrong when we were finished. The small village of two thousand had hosted forty guards, overkill and pure intimidation to keep the locals inline. I’d stared at the temple as we passed, but the cleric and two paladins inside didn’t come out. Perhaps they cowered in their offices, I didn’t know.

  Either way, the first part of the plan went off without a hitch, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t feel guilty exactly, these were evil men.

  I shared a look with Lila, who had a similar expression on her face. She always enjoyed battle, but this hadn’t been battle. Not only were we unharmed, but we were clean. They hadn’t even managed to get us dirty. The streets were completely cleared, the peasants huddling inside their homes after the first few screams and sounds of fighting.

  “Lila, would you get the others?”

  Lila nodded and kissed my cheek, then teleported back to the group.

  I stood alone, and brooded I suppose, until she got back. We were doing a good thing freeing these people, and perhaps even saving the future men and women of power in Jennesar from being twisted into something ugly. It was scant comfort.

  The next week or so went better than I’d truthfully expected. Lila and I got a room at the inn, and mostly stayed out of sight. We came out daily for a bath, but we even took our meals inside the room. The bar wench eventually got over her fear on the third day, but we didn’t want to subject the rest of the town to that shift in thinking while Selwyn and the other cleric Mary converted the village.

  The mages spent a lot of time in the taproom below us, answering questions and explaining our purpose in what had been done. They helped the elders in the village form a small government, and explained that the ten soldiers that would arrive would follow their orders, as long as they were legal orders.

  Predictively, it was the evening of the third night when Selwyn was giving a sermon to half the villages in the square near the church, that the cleric and two paladins of Jennesar ran out and attacked, screaming incoherently. It was quite a sight, though I saw it with my senses, since we were still in the room. We also may have been coupled at the time, there was very little to do, and Lila was quite good at seducing me.

  If needed, we would have moved then, but like the warriors and mages that fell before them, they were weak, and one of the master mages with us took care of it quickly.

  I wasn’t sure, but I speculated that this village was where those that couldn’t achieve master levels for whatever reason were sent. The lac
k of master potential was either out of laziness, or perhaps a weak affinity that choked off their growth. That latter one wasn’t common, but it happened. Despite being weak in power, they were all middle aged, not young men at all. I supposed no one with real power wanted to live in a small village, so far from the cities.

  Overall, the plan went far better than I expected. The peasants were hungry for caring, protection, and opportunity. They’d been cowed, but underneath that they’d felt a great hatred for their masters. It helped that we were transparent, and could tell them the truth.

  Following the death of the cleric and paladins, Selwyn and Mary re-sanctified the temple in town to the Nysten gods, with the help of an earth mage who reshaped all the statues to reflect the new pantheon. The paladin that was to stay behind in this town spent most of his time with the two pre-teens with a light affinity. Teaching them about the Nysten gods, and the choices between being a cleric and paladin. It made sense, since he’d be taking over.

  When we left to go south, we had one less mage and paladin, and I could already see a difference in the village we were leaving behind. The villagers were still a little wary of the ten guards that I’d brought in, but not afraid. Ahead of us a couple of days south, was the first city, the smallest of the three. Regardless, I was almost sure it would feel like more of a battle, where the council of masters were actually masters in truth.

  The ones left behind had the communications devices I’d made, and could call us back if they were attacked by a large group of Jennesar’s army. It was also the reason we were going over land, I had to assume the authorities in the city already knew about us. We expected an extra fight on the way.

  Regardless, it was hard to look on the village now, and not feel vindicated of the slaughter I’d perpetrated just last week…

  Chapter Ten

  Catalina never should have broken for lunch yesterday, and should have nailed them down on it while they were still taken off guard. The council had argued and cajoled against her going into the dungeon, and she suspected they’d even planned it out between them over lunch. She was Duchess however, and when word had arrived back from Carlton, she’d jumped on it happily and shared the information.

  They still hadn’t been pleased, but knowing her party had four warriors, two to directly protect her and Mina, went a long way in calming them down. That they were both experienced in the paladin healing arts was welcome news as well. Especially given the two men were nobles, and the other two who weren’t nobles were known to be in an exclusive and long term relationship. She would have done it anyway of course, she ruled in Tenemin, but it would have been hell fighting her own council.

  She knew it was artificial and an illusion, but she felt suddenly lighter as she’d put on her mage robes that morning, and headed toward the dungeon with Mina. She couldn’t help but notice Mina looked very excited as well, they both needed this outlet, and part of their life back. She was already looking forward to the sex tonight. Being with Mina was always amazing, but the adrenaline and magic always took things up a notch that way.

  They both went over to the tavern and inside, it was where Carlton’s note said they’d meet up with the paladins. She smiled as she saw Diana and Cary, and there were two other men with them. The note had named them as Karl and Levin, but she wasn’t sure yet which was which. What Carlton hadn’t told them was how attractive they were. They were both mountains, not overly developed in the muscle area, but not skinny either. They were tall, broad in the shoulders, and their bodies were obviously well defined. The parts they could see anyway. They had wide shoulders, and very big hands.

  They both had dark brown hair and chiseled faces, they could almost be brothers, but one had blue eyes, and the other hazel. Maybe they were cousins?

  Diana smiled, “Welcome Duchess, Lady Mina, this is Karl, and this is Levin.

  So, Karl was the one with dreamy blue eyes she thought. A few months ago, she might have blushed at the thought, but now she just smiled. She was in love with Mina, so it didn’t matter, he and his friend Levin were just good eye candy.

  “It’s nice to meet you both, and please call us by name, Cat or Catalina for me if you prefer, and Mina.”

  Diana nodded, “I can do that. I’m relieved to hear it, I wasn’t sure what to expect to be honest.”

  She was taken a back at the woman’s candor, but admitted some nobles could be arrogant with those that weren’t. Perversely perhaps, it was usually the ones with the least power that lorded it over the peasants the most. Not always, but often.

  “You’re our party leader, when I’m in these robes, and we’re in the dungeon, we all follow your orders. Is that clear enough Diana?”

  The paladin smiled, and then teased, “Crystal clear your grace. Karl, you’ll be close to Cat, Levin with Mina. They won’t be acting like personal guards, but they will be fighting close enough to you to react quickly just in case. It makes you and Mina safer, but certainly not safe. We’ll be going down the long way, though I assume we will probably be fighting on levels eight through ten, possibly eleven.”

  She frowned, “Ten was rough for us, those undead are a nightmare.”

  She couldn’t help the shiver that went through her, Jerrold had almost died that one time.

  Karl noted, “Yes, but we’re six instead of four. Plus, undead are vulnerable to light magic, even those that are partially protected from it. Plus, you’ve got four paladins with a light affinity and weapons that do light damage. That’s going to make a huge difference over just one cleric and a warrior.”

  She noticed Diana relaxed visibly, and she wondered why. Maybe the paladin had expected her to be recklessly irresponsible instead of cautious? She supposed that was fair, it was a little reckless to take this chance, but she had to do it. There was risk in everything, and she believed getting to master faster was less dangerous than staying an adept too long. Her life had never been safe, though her father had done his best to make it so. She did have selfish reasons as well, like keeping Mina in her life longer, but they weren’t all selfish reasons.

  Diana said, “Don’t worry, I won’t push too hard, especially this first day, but I will make sure we’re challenged. Anyway, we’re taking the long way to get to know each other, and how we’ll fight together and cover each other. Take even the weak stuff seriously, we don’t’ want to get in each other’s way when our lives are truly at risk. Karl and Levin haven’t been as deep as the rest of us anyway, which means they need to earn the teleport rooms. Alright, let’s go. Afterwards we’ll talk about what we can do better, and get to know each other a bit more.”

  She felt excited as they left the tavern and headed to the dungeon entrance. She’d been afraid she’d never get back. Not even the surge of guilt that struck her from the loss of her father could dampen her mood. She started to cast air shields on all of them, and got her mind in the right place. She couldn’t afford to let Mina distract her, or if she was honest, Karl too. The man was standing close, and it was a bit disconcerting, although not in a bad way. She pushed all that down, and felt ready as they reached the first level.

  It was a good first day as far as it went, or at least, the best that could be expected. While her and Mina worked together as flawlessly as ever, and their magic complimented and strengthened the other, there was obviously some work to do. Diana and Cary seemed to range ahead to intercept and handle the distance damage, like undead mages, and in the lower levels, demon mages and bowmen. The lower levels were good practice though, because more than once Karl or Levin had stepped right in front of her or Mina as they were about to release a spell. It was a little frustrating at first, but she knew with practice they’d become a quartet seamlessly working together, all protecting each other, and anticipating moves correctly. But that first day, it felt like she was learning how to dance all over again, and how to not step on toes while doing it.

  After dinner, at which Diana gave a whole lot of good but stinging advice, they got to know each other
a bit better. Karl and Levin seemed to open up too, as they realized she and Mina didn’t bite. The two men did turn out to be cousins, and from a family that while on the lower end of the echelon of nobles, were well known to her. She’d never seen them at a ball, because they’d been turned over to the church at the tender age of twelve to be educated, and had chosen to be paladins.

  Their titles were still valid, but they couldn’t have a position of authority in government because they were part of the church. They both loosened up during the day, and especially after a few ales at dinner, but Levin seemed to be the joker of the two. Although Karl while good natured, had no compunction about returning fire on his wilder cousin, figuratively speaking.

  She found herself rather fascinated with the soft spoken strong man with a light streak of mischievousness.

  She’d had a good day, and was almost sad when the end came, but she’d see them again in two days. At least, she was a bit out of sorts until she got Mina back to the castle, and into her bed…

  Carlton gasped at the intense sensations as he sat back further in his chair, and his legs widened. The sensation of Liren’s warm wet tongue circling his sensitive tip, as her silken soft full lips locked around the ridge of his bulbous head was incredible. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into her lately. Well, he did have a clue. Ever since he’d proposed, and she’d accepted, she’d been jumping him as often as possible, and sometimes in the most inappropriate of places, which he admitted was a turn on.

  Right now, she was kneeling under his desk, and softly rolling his balls in her palm, as she pleasured him with her hot and incredibly talented mouth. He could tell she was new to doing it as well, but she was a quick and quite eager learner.

  The truth was, while her lips, tongue, and the back of her throat, which was now vibrating against his sensitive tip, along with her nimble and soft hands felt incredibly good on his body, that wasn’t what was turning him on the most, or threatening his control.