The Wizard (Dungeon Core Book 1)

by MJ Kaltenbrunner

  You are certainly not a zombie, nor a ghoul. Your face was badly burned by the spell blast. It's healed now. You look, perfectly fine.

  "Some complement coming from a magical skull, I guess."

  What took you so long to arrive anyway?

  "I was detained by a very hands-on warrior, one of Benevic's. He won't get trying to help himself to a feel anytime soon, though."

  49

  "Well," she said, feeling a little stronger now. "It is what it is, I suppose. I am grateful to be alive, either way."

  Few welcome death. Don't feel bad about it. We do need to discuss Veluthra.

  "Don't tell me that's the name of the demoness."

  It is. That is what her followers called her anyway, when they were begging for her mercy. The skull glowed brighter for a moment.

  "I could swear that you just grinned, you sadistic wizard." Tehra smirked too. These people had caused so much misery that it was only fitting to be glad they had been brought to justice.

  I would need a mouth to smile, don't you think? This demoness, Veluthra, has not taken on her full form in this world it would seem. She occupies Gaynor’s body now and seems to have control, but you did stop the ritual from completion. You just might have saved the world yet, little elf."

  "Why do you insist on calling me little? I'm taller than you, disembodied skull."

  Very well, little elf. Are you still with me in this?

  "You mean, do I want to help stop a demon from coming into the mortal world and trying to bring about the destruction of the living? I think I can make time for that."

  Excellent. She told me she would be back for her amulet, and to complete the ritual to summon her into full form. With her cunning, I don't expect her to return without a veritable army to back her up, and most likely some form of powerful magic. I must expand my defenses.

  "You want to make an even deadlier dungeon, don't you? That does seem the best way to keep her out."

  Benevic's dungeon diving party managed to get too far. I will need more power. Unfortunately, just taking more souls would attract too much attention. It could bring down serious adventurers and magic users upon me.

  Tehra was walking slowly around the altar room now. The body of her ex-employer looked so strained, like he was still struggling to fight against such a horrible fate. "I feel sorry for him. He was not a bad man, and did not deserve such betrayal at the hands of his own daughter."

  I don't think Gaynor was at fault. She could not have withstood the charms of such a powerful evil, not at her tender age.

  Tehra spat some thick blood and mucus that had been nestling between her teeth and gums. "For more than ten years she was under that charm? Maybe, but I think the girl had a love for evil."

  We shall see who else falls under Veluthra's influence, and maybe then you will change your mind. For now, I know one method for gaining more power.

  "I can't herd every farmer in the region into your dungeon, for you to feast upon, Mertho."

  No, and that would be foolish. The best way to gain more magical power is through ancient tomes.

  "Books?"

  I know of a library on the eastern shore where they have records of such books.

  "And then what?"

  You will need to go and get them, and I will do as I have my whole life: use their arcane knowledge to expand my power. Not merely by stealing the life force from others, but through learning.

  "You sound like the school teacher who used to volunteer at the orphanage when I was small. I hated her reading lessons. If you expect me to go on a quest like this, I will need to return to the city first. I expect there might be some, things, at Benevic's adventuring company that no one has need for anymore."

  Ever the thief, Mertho replied with good humor.

  "I'm a professional rogue, thank you. No longer a common thief."

  50

  Tehra returned to the docks with a mind to find her horse. He was a good animal, and she had grown fond of him. It took half the day of searching, but she finally located the poor beast wandering around in a small wooded area away from the docks, on the city side of the river.

  As she was riding up to the ferryman's moor, the elf noticed a group of well-armed men making ready for something that must have been important. Not in the mood for subterfuge after such an ordeal, she approached them.

  "May I ask, are you on some kind of quest?" she said to a man who was ordering the others around. He wore plate armor and had a long sword at his side.

  He had a raspy voice yet spoke louder than necessary for how close he was to the young elf. It might have been that his voice was always hoarse from talking so loud. "It's public knowledge that there is an evil magical dungeon in those very hills, right outside of our city! Rewards are already on offer, and adventuring parties from around the land are being sent the news. I don't mind sharing this with you, as the reward is already as good as ours. We shall return victorious, is that not right, men?"

  His group cheered with vigor. They were better armed than even Benevic's group had been, and one of their numbers was dressed in the robes of a wizard, with a staff in his hand and a leather-bound book in the other.

  "Well, I certainly hope your men can kill this evil," Tehra replied with faked enthusiasm. She tried to tell Mertho about this news through her mind, but couldn't do it. The link must have been severed when she was temporarily killed.

  She turned away and rode directly to a fishing crew on their flatbed boat, who had just unloaded their catch for the day. Tehra brought a gold coin from her purse and said to them, "Will you take my horse and me across the river for one full gold coin?"

  "Aye, I would do that and more for that much!" said one of them. "Lads, you heard the lady. Get to it."

  As the fishing boat quickly rowed out to the other side of the river, the leader of the adventuring party called out to them. "Are you daft, girl? You want to stay away from that place!"

  "No, I think you want to stay away!" Tehra called back at him with a smile. "And don't call me girl!"

  Tehra galloped back to the cave entrance and tethered her horse to a small boulder outside it. She went back to tell Mertho what had happened.

  You know, you could have just told me through our magical link, was the first thing he answered.

  "I'm not an idiot. The link is no more."

  Strange... You're right; it's gone. I can't feel your magical aura anymore either.

  "Do you meant to tell me, I have to do this alone, and you can't even offer guidance along the way? Shit!" She kicked the wall of the altar room. "There must be some other way I can talk to you."

  There are many ways to do all things in the realm of magical possibility.

  "Enough of that mystic talk!"

  Yes, well, fine. The library you are going to will have the answer; I'm almost certain of it. If you are so desperate to hear my voice, that is. He was laughing, she could tell from the way his skull glowed.

  "Fucking wizard," she said, and then stormed from the chamber. "I hope you can handle this dungeon diving party that's on the way. They have a wizard of their own."

  Oh, I have never had this much magical energy, and the amulet has given back what it took now. With that, and all those delicious cultists, plus what Benevic's party gave me—one little dungeon party is not going to reach my core. But still, don't delay, my friend.

  "I will see you soon enough," replied Tehra. She left the dungeon and rode to the east, in search of the knowledge Mertho would need to fight off a demoness.

 

 

 
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