by Dakota Krout
*StabStabStab*
*ClinkClinkClink*
His attacks did scratch her armor, but failed to penetrate. She swung at him with her infernal blades, but he crossed his daggers in an ‘X’ and caught her blow with ease. He pushed, throwing her arm upward. Hans reared back and kicked her in the chest with his powerful boot, sending her into the wall. It shattered on impact, and she lay there stunned for a moment as Hans raced over.
“Too strong of armor, huh? Fine!” He stabbed his dagger down into her eye, and she spasmed. He stood straight, then reached down and retrieved his blade. The fight was over…
“Look out, Hans!” Dale screamed, saving his friend's life as a wave of heat blistered Hans's back. He had barely escaped by rolling away.
Hans came to his feet several feet away, ready to block, but Dani had crossed her blades and was several paces away. He started toward her when the Essence around her weapons surged. Hans was very skilled; he kicked off the ground and went straight up, driving his daggers into the ceiling and holding on as a wave of life-ending cold rolled in a path away from Dani. She needed a moment to collect herself — that attack took a lot of channeled Essence — a moment Hans didn’t allow. He threw a dagger at the crossed blades, and this time they were so cold that the impact shattered them.
Now, these blades had Essence moving through them, and as they broke, they momentarily created Runes that shouldn’t have existed. Uncontrolled Essence rushed into them, creating a tiny gravity well that crushed the Goblin Amazon into a small orb. It only lasted a moment, but the ground in all directions had shattered, and the high-density ball of matter crashed to the ground and embedded itself there. I took the opportunity to begin absorbing it, just so the group didn’t get a ball of condensed Mithril.
“I’m fine!” She was returning to my room. “That was so much fun! I have so much training to do, gah! I can’t believe he won! I had him so far out-armored!” I was exceedingly relieved, and I had a new Rune to research.
I looked back at the battle, well, at this point it was over, so former battle. Hans was stalking around looking for Tom, but Adam found him first.
“Get over here! It’s bad!” Adam began shouting. They rushed over to find Tom trussed to a pole over a vat, where the black sludge was still dripping off of him. The vat was collecting the anthracite liquid into a jug, and there were little pieces of material stuck in him that ensured the sludge would continue to come out of him as his Essence tried to purge foreign objects from his body.
“Oh… God.” Rose looked sick. “His arm…” His arm — or more accurately stump — was poorly tied off, blood draining from what remained. The Goblins had been trying to tear his Warhammer away from him, but even with his attention inward, his body had refused to release it. After struggling with the unresisting form, they scratched their heads, shrugged, and used their rusty knives to chop Tom’s arm off just below the shoulder. It was not a clean cut, and they had needed to saw for several minutes, but Tom was finally Warhammer-less.
Adam was working on the bleeding stump, “I… I can’t get the wound closed! He is losing too much blood. If I don’t work to replace that, he will die either way!”
Hans grimaced. “I really hope you can’t feel this.” A layer of fire appeared around his hand, and he gripped the open wound. The smell of charring flesh filled the air, and Dale had to struggle not to gag.
Evan’s stomach rumbled as the aroma reached him. He looked around sheepishly as the others glanced his way. “Right, yeah, well. I have Orc blood in me. It’s not like I’m gonna go take a bite of him. Sheesh, bring me in front of the protectorate.”
“Is he stabilizing?” Hans's words were sharp, directed at Adam.
“Yes, though that is going to be an ugly scar.” Adam muttered. He paused and looked around. “On the other hand, he is completely fine.”
Rose fixed him with a look. “You are making a pun? Now? Really?”
“Right. Go find the treasure. Take anything not nailed down. Anything that we can sell.” Hans had several odd looks sent his way. “What? Regrowing an arm is stupid expensive, it takes months to get the hand bones correct. He is going to need a lot of money as a down payment. We can do it though. He will be fine, I promise.” Hans patted Tom on his unmoving back. “Welcome to the in-debt group. You’re late to the party!”
With Hans's words, the group relaxed greatly. Adam released a weak chuckle, “Going to the University in the capital would cost more than an arm if I remember correctly.”
“No joke! Higher education?” Rose responded, finally allowing herself to see the humor in the situation. “They take an arm and a leg.” The group started to laugh while Evan looked on in horror.
“You people are pretty… dark.” He wasn’t making eye contact with anyone, and was fidgeting with his pickaxe.
Dale responded since that comment had killed the moment. “He’s gonna get his arm back, and he survived. That is the best outcome we could have ever hoped for, far better than we had hoped. We are just trying to mask our pain, Evan. Please don’t think we are uncaring.”
“Ah, I see. Gallows humor.” Evan grinned. “Well, if you need quick money, take that jug. Breakthrough oil from a fire cultivator is explosively flammable and goes for a good price, since it is so rare. That should help pay for the work he needs done, at least a bit. Bring it to the alchemist we rescued and I bet you’ll get an even higher price than normal.”
“Good call!” They began searching for a treasure chest, and sure enough they found it in a slightly hidden alcove. The glow potion on it had them all excited, and for a moment after opening it they were disappointed at the contents. Sure there was a handful of gold coins, and a couple small silvery ingots. But… potions in a chest of this rarity? They felt cheated, until Evan took a look and nearly shat himself.
“That’s not silver, you brain-damaged monster-loving bunny punchers! That’s aluminum!” Evan was almost drooling as he saw the processed ingots. Then a sick look crossed his face. “For the love of God, don’t sell that here, or tell anyone where you got it! This floor will be overrun by Dwarves! They’ll look for ingots like that one by smashing rocks with their pickaxe-density erections if they get wind of the dungeon releasing processed aluminum!”
Rose shuddered. “…Thanks for that visual.”
“It was pretty vivid, wasn’t it?” Hans laughed, picking Tom up and draping him around his neck like a scarf. “Let’s get going, the sooner Tom gets to a safe location to heal, the better.”
Just before they made it out, I whispered in Dale’s ear.
~Dale~
Dale’s mind buzzed. That was what the dungeon was worried about? That Tom surviving was a reason to dislike the dungeon more than he already did? He shook his head. What an alien mind. He looked at his friend, not unconscious, but not aware of what was happening to him. Tom was pale from blood loss, but luckily the healing center was right at the top of the stairs.
They stepped into the open and handed Tom over reluctantly. Adam went with him, but the rest were ordered away as the healers got to work. The group trudged through the mounting snow, hurrying toward the river. There had been an unexpected benefit of the Dwarves setting up shop in town.
While the Dwarves had received space for the walls, a barracks, and an orphanage for free, they had purchased the rights to an area along the river. Now, normally Dale refused any offers to purchase land next to the river, as it would be too easy for a business to cut off access to the only water source in the area. But the Dwarves… they set up a bathhouse! It was expensive to use
, but certainly worth it to stay clean. At least to Dale’s group. Hygiene was becoming an issue, and Dale was thinking about providing funds from the city to buy the bath house and make it a public service.
They soaked in their respective areas, enjoying the feeling of warmth after the bitter cold. Their armor and clothes were being cleaned at the same time, for an additional fee of course. They were just finishing, pulling on their clothes, when a courier ran up to them.
“Lord Dale?” The young man said questioningly.
Hans jumped in, “Careful there, youngster. Technically you need to address him by his highest rank, in this case it would be “Your Grace” as Dale is a Duke. He doesn’t care, but other Nobles tend to be a bit jumpy about that sort of thing.” Dale glared at his friend, conversely the courier was nodding seriously.
“I’ll spread the word. I’ll ask the messengers guild to give us some training in court etiquette. At least that explains what happened to poor Geoff.” He looked at Dale, “Your Grace, I was asked to inform you that your friend is stable and still undergoing the breakthrough process. He will be there from three days to a week, depending on his willpower.”
Dale nodded and flipped him a coin. The courier bowed slightly and started to leave, then saw that the coin was gold. His eyes widened and he looked back, but Dale nodded and made a ‘shush’ motion, finger on lips. He got a deep bow in return before the man returned to work.
“You are going to spoil them.” Hans poked his friend in the side.
Dale allowed a conniving look to cross his face, “Who will they go to first with important news? The generous and noble Dale, or the spoiled Lord who makes unknowable things happen to their friend Geoff?”
Hans approvingly laughed, “You are getting good at this politics thing. What do you want to do for the next few days? Find a replacement teammate, or take a vacation?”
“How about we sell the ingots and find a flesh Mage to fix Tom? Oh, and tell Father Richard about those weapons. How much is it going to cost to fix up Tom, if you can estimate for me?”
“They always charge half up front, so somewhere between ten to fifteen platinum.” Hans was fixated on the smell of roasted meat coming from the Pleasure House.
“What? A thousand to fifteen hundred gold is half of what they’ll charge?” Dale was aghast.
Hans had an odd look on his face, “Dale, we made more than triple that on this single dungeon run. Before taxes of course. Stop thinking about money as a long term… thing. You are going to be around long enough that you will eventually amass a huge amount of money.”
“See, you say that,” Dale rounded on his friend, “but aren’t you in your sixties and in debt to a flesh Mage?”
“As soon as we sell off the stuff from this run, I won’t be. Even after paying for Tom’s arm.” Hans countered easily. “To change the subject, what was the deal with that Boss? That thing nearly killed me.”
“Hrumph.” Dale thought about how to answer without giving away too much information. “I think it was a reaction to you going all out like that. Did you see how it tossed away its old armor and weapons as you went all furious and stabby?”
“A dungeon that scales its difficulty to the people fighting? Doubtful.” Hans had a faraway look.
“I wouldn’t go that far, for instance we stay out of floor four because we’d die very painfully, but that was certainly a reaction to you.” Dale promised. He glanced over his shoulder after hearing a noise, spotting Minya storming toward them. “Incoming.”
“Why are you ignoring me, Dale?” Minya growled as she stomped toward them.
“Because I think that your ideas are insane?” Dale answered frankly.
Minya stopped, throwing up her arms. “Wow.”
“Yeah, that was harsh, Dale.” Hans admonished him. He turned toward Minya, “Hello, my name is Hans. Before you ask, yes, I am single.”
“Not interested. Dale, you know as well as I do that this dungeon is different; it needs special care or things are going to go very bad, very fast. You need to put me on the council.” Minya demanded, daring him to argue. Dale took the dare.
“It isn’t going to happen. Also, if you don’t stop asking people to let themselves be sacrificed to the dungeon, I’m going to bring you up on charges for attempted murder.” Dale caught the flicker of shock on her face. “Yeah, I heard about that, and the cult you’re starting. If I hear about you starting trouble, I will either banish you or put you in jail. You could be the first person to make it to a cell that wasn’t drunk!” The others usually just died.
“You’re making a mistake, Dale.” Minya promised darkly. “It isn’t me you are going to have to worry about. I won’t do anything that could get me kicked out. You don’t want to talk? Fine. But when this city starts burning, come to me. I’ll happily save you all, no matter how crazy you think I am.” She stormed off, the snow melting out of her way.
“What a woman.” Hans and another voice breathed at the same time. Hans looked over at the other speaker, glaring. “Who are you?”
Dale looked over to see a ruggedly handsome man dressed in completely unsuitable, bright colored, fluttering clothes. “My name, good sir, is Brakker.” He swept his feathered hat off, bowing deeply. He righted himself, pulling the hat back on as a stiff breeze blew snow over the exposed area. “Good God, you are all insane living here.”
“How can we be of service?” Dale asked to be polite, continuing his trek toward lunch.
“Since you ask…” Dale groaned at these words from Brakker. “I am a humble Bard, seeking my fortune in these frozen wastes. More pressingly, I am looking for a place to survive the winter. I am told you two may hold some sway over the proprietor of this fine dining establishment?”
“Just… sure. Come on, we’ll introduce you to Madam Chandra.” Dale was soon rid of the man, but as they started lunch, musical notes began floating into the room. “More weirdos.”
“Nah, Bards are cool.” Hans told him around a full mouth. “Give it a month and he’ll be the most popular man in the city. Good job getting him on your good side, I’d advise you to keep him there. Unless you want unflattering songs about you to be drifting around.”
Rose perked up, she had joined them recently. “Right, don’t you have some songs out there?”
“No.” Hans asserted firmly. “We’re going to the capital for a few days, wanna join us?”
“Sure. Looking for a buyer?”
“Mmhm.”
They left for the portal, planning on being back in three days, the earliest that Tom might wake up.
~Twenty-One~
I was looking at the dual gates in my test room. They were as similar as I could make them, actually grown as a single unit and then separated into two distinct items. There were esoteric Inscriptions spanning the entirety of the archways, mirrored perfectly from one to the other. Along these inscriptions were embedded Cores for storing Essence, behind which were hidden Runes for Essence gathering.
“Well don’t keep me waiting! Do it!” Dani was watching raptly, ready to either cheer our success… or run like a maniac upon failure.
I activated the Runes at the base of each arch, allowing them to start accumulating Essence. Now it was a waiting game. I had designed these arches to power up slowly, filling the cores with a minimum amount of Essence before allowing the next Rune in the series to activate. This way, I could monitor the progress and halt it if there were an error in the Runescript. Also, it would allow the two arches to activate simultaneously, which I felt was important.
“Is it going?” Dani impatiently flew in a circle.
“You mumbled a few things under your breath when I asked you questions about it. Does that count?” She replied on just this side of civility.
I felt a bit sheepish,
“A bit? Okay, and a two-mi
le-wide meteor tends to kill off a ‘bit’ of life upon impact.” She teased me.
“Just let me make fun of you without having to explain myself!”
She looked over at the arch as the final Rune activated, entranced by the interplay of Essence as it weaved together from the center of each Rune, traveling into the exact midpoint of the air in the archways. I should note, there were Cores on the frame that were specifically designed to absorb all of the corruption from the Essence as it was gathered. That meant that the Essence reaching outward now was as pure as I could possibly make it, so it looked like slow-moving lightning. It connected, branched, wove and unwove itself through all the other strands of Essence, until an effect began to make itself noticeable.
A hole began forming, quickly and silently expanding. I was watching how Essence around the arches was reacting, preparing to stop the process if there was an adverse reaction. The portal was now open, and looked like a flat soap-bubble. From one side I was able to look through the portal and see out the other, while from the back there was only a slow-moving swirl of colors. The colors confused me, until I realized that it was only the interplay of purified Essence with the loose Essence in the room. It didn’t seem to be affecting the stability of the portal, so I saw no reason to try messing with it.
“It’s beautiful, Cal. You create the coolest things. It is so quiet, too! The one outside always hums and sounds vaguely threatening.” Dani was debating on getting close or not. “Is it safe?”
