Ancient Ruins (Ancient Dreams Book 1)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “New caverns. Complex. Tiring. Guardians...incomplete.” Sistina frowned, then pointed at about the tenth cave on the opposite side. It was the last one on the first floor, Desa realized, and her worry eased a little at Sistina’s explanation. “Adventurers. Cautious. Slow. Dangerous.”

  “I see. That must have taken a long time to complete a maze like that.” Desa replied, giving Farlon a pointed look. “Will you warn us if they get close? Please?”

  “Yes.” Sistina smiled, but jumped slightly as Phynis poked her in the side.

  “Sistina, what sort of guardians do you have?” The princess asked.

  “I, ah, will go find that key. Thank you for the help, Sistina.” Farlon spoke, obviously embarrassed, but his eyes flickering over the map of lights, his eyes wide.

  Sistina nodded, and Desa listened to her speak, each word coming haltingly, as if the genius loci was condensing a concept into a single word, and trying to communicate it only with difficulty. She pointed at the beginning, where the adventurers were. “Plants. Vines. Pitcher...plants. Burning plants. Traps. Wolves. Bears.”

  Pointing farther down she continued. “Bees. Wasps. Ants. Big.”

  “How big?” Phynis asked patiently, and Sistina seemed confused for a moment before holding her hands out, about three feet across, and the princess asked. “All of them?”

  “No. Ants. Wasps, bees.” Her hands came closer together about a foot apart, and Desa’s skin crawled at the idea of wasps the size of rats!

  “Those seem unpleasant. Any others?” Phynis frowned, looking at the diagram.

  Shaking her head, Sistina pointed at the bottom of the complex. “Foundry. Old. Forgotten. Learning. Golems.”

  And then Desa’s eyes widened enormously, as she almost squeaked out. “You’re going to build golems?”

  Sistina looked puzzled as both women looked at her in astonishment, and her voice was questioning. “...Yes?”

  * * *

  “This is new.” Darak said, staring at the stone wall of the chamber with a frown.

  This was their third delve so far, and thus far it had gone fairly well. A few different insects had appeared, including a nasty looking wasp, but they’d dealt with them without too much difficulty. Once they knew what to expect out of a dungeon, it was much easier to deal with. Though the strangling vine that had crept up on Nirath in the middle with a fight with one of the flower-girls had been less than a pleasant surprise. For the first time since they’d entered the dungeon, Penelope’s crossbow had actually gotten some use.

  “Of course it’s new. We haven’t gotten this far before.” Joseph replied, wiping away some sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief.

  “No, no, you’re not understanding, Joe. This stone wall is newer than all the others we’ve been through.” Darak corrected, his voice flat. “And it goes down. All the others must be years, if not decades old. This one isn’t more than a month old.”

  “How do you know?” Penelope asked curiously, frowning at the wall. “I noticed the difference in the color, but I thought it might be a slightly different type of stone.”

  “Nah, the stone is all the same thus far. Mostly granite. No, the difference is actually the mold. This doesn’t have much growing on it, and that should be something all of you can see.” Darak explained, shaking his head. “My advantage is Shale. We’re looking at it together, and we can see that the working is so new it hasn’t really settled into place yet.”

  “Is it safe to pass through?” Nirath asked, looking at the ceiling of the tunnel warily.

  “Oh, not that sort of not settled. Don’t worry, this tunnel is as solid as the mountain itself. The dungeon did good work on that part.” Darak told her with a grin, patting the side of the tunnel happily. “No, it’s more...I don’t know how to explain it. Some spells can talk to rocks, and they have trouble thinking quickly, for lack of a better term. So they don’t get used to a new position very fast either. And Shale can sense that.”

  “Earth spirits, right.” Joseph agreed, shaking his head. “So we’re guessing that this is halfway through? The new floor must be heading toward the center of the dungeon, and not many dungeons have a huge area to start with. Unless it moves where its core is, of course.”

  “Most likely. At least we’re getting an idea of what this dungeon likes to throw at us. Plants and animals aren’t too bad.” Penelope agreed. “Alchemists are going to love this place with the ingredients we’ve found so far.”

  “Mmmhmm.” Darak agreed. “So we go to fifteen chambers, and then head back? Maybe finally report into the guildmaster about all this?”

  “That seems reasonable.” Nirath agreed, and then the group began heading deeper into the dungeon again, a spring to their steps.

  Chapter 35

  “There we are.” Nirath murmured, adjusting the hovering crystal one last time. Finally satisfied, she nodded and fed the magical device a steady stream of mana. “Nirath Sylrian to Guildmaster Kettle.”

  The crystal shimmered, glowed, and then an image appeared. Guildmaster Kettle Black was old, and everyone in the guild knew he’d made up his silly name. It was quite obvious when one of his rival guildmasters and old friends went by Guildmaster Pot Black. The elderly human had thinning hair, his face was heavily wrinkled, and he was wearing warm robes as he sat back in his chair. And in spite of how fragile the old man looked, Nirath had absolutely no illusions as to the old human’s power. He could take the four of them apart in combat while he had his afternoon tea and not spill a drop.

  “Nirath. I see all of the others are there too. Hmm...to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Kettle asked, his voice worn, almost querulous.

  “We’ve found the dungeon, Guildmaster.” Joseph spoke up first, smiling slightly. “It’s on the edge of the Godsrage Mountains, near the borders of the kingdom of Kelvanis. Their army found the dungeon and started building a town around it. The road out here barely qualifies as a trail, though.”

  “Ah! Good work! And have you cleared the dungeon yet?” Kettle asked, his eyes gleaming as he picked up his teacup and took a sip.

  “Of course not, Guildmaster. You instructed us to be cautious.” Nirath replied severely, her eyes narrowing at their superior.

  “Good! I’m always concerned about such things. So what do you have for me?” Kettle asked, setting his tea aside and leaning forward in obvious curiosity.

  “Thus far the dungeon appears to be two or three floors deep. The second floor is only a few weeks old, according to my earth spirit.” Darak reported first, his voice oddly crisp and formal compared to normal.

  “Plant-based traps, very few static traps like pits. However, we’ve got pitcher plants, and a variant on the hangman traps that grabs people and drags them up into a pod. Those seem to have an anesthetic of some type inside that renders the person likely unconscious for digestion.” Penelope added, wrinkling her nose before she added. “And we also have what looks a lot like those plants with mouths that catch flies, but big enough to eat people. Those aren’t much fun.”

  “My job is reporting that we’ve also got giant damned strangler plants and bushes eight feet tall which try to eat people, and which are mildly poisonous if they bite you.” Joseph spoke up, his voice dry. “Plus we’ve got wolves and bears half again the size they should be in here. Don’t know what they survive on yet, since they can’t hunt outside and not many people come in here. Other threats include firestorm trees, a few fire resistant varieties of the various plants that are otherwise weaker than their normal kindred, and both bees and wasps that are a foot long each. The bees aren’t generally very hostile, though.”

  “Don’t forget the flower girls.” Penelope reminded him with a poke, making Joseph squirm slightly.

  “Hey, I was getting there! There’s also what looks like a gigantic tulip that grows in there, with a green naked woman inside, or the torso of one at least. She can’t seem to talk, but she controls the plants in the area, which can make things really nas
ty. Especially when she makes a firestorm tree throw a fruit at you.” Joseph added soberly, shaking his head. “I’m not sure what those are.”

  “Finally, the rewards are actually surprisingly good thus far.” Nirath added, smiling thinly. “Each chamber thus far has had either one spellbloom or violetroot growing in one of the corners of the cavern, even when we come through the following day. It isn’t always the same in a particular chamber either. Additionally, the anesthetic produced by the pitcher plants and the like could likely be refined into a medication or poison, though that would take an alchemist to determine. Best of all, when we reached the end of the first floor today we found a silvercap mushroom.”

  “What?” Kettle had seemed only mildly interested at all of their information, but at the last he sat bolt upright, his eyes brightening as a smile crossed his face. “A silvercap, really? Fully mature?”

  “Yes, Guildmaster.” Nirath agreed, smiling at him in return.

  “Ha! The Alchemy Division will go insane when they hear about this!” Kettle crowed, laughing hard as he grinned at them. “Good job, all of you! Those are valuable ingredients that you found. How difficult would you say the dungeon is, compared to the Cerulean Dungeon?”

  “Umm...once you know the dangers, if you’re prepared...I’d say wolf grade for the first few chambers.” Joseph replied, tilting his head as he considered the matter. “The flower girl would be tough, and the firestorm trees make things more interesting, but they won’t kill anyone on their own. Sometimes we can even use them to take out really nasty clusters of opponents if we’re careful. Not bad for training. The wasps are nasty too, but they don’t come in huge numbers. So it could be a tiger grade, I think. It’s right on the cusp of between wolf and tiger.”

  “Excellent indeed! Most dungeons that produce silvercaps are far too advanced for beginning adventurers. I think the weakest that produces them regularly is a serpent dungeon. And spellbloom and violetroot are both valuable in their own right.” Kettle paused, and Nirath smiled to herself.

  Spellbloom was one of the primary ingredients for the higher quality mana potions, and thus was always in demand, while violetroot was similar for healing potions. While the potions that they’d brought with them were of reasonably high quality, they couldn’t treat truly critical injuries, but the ones that could be made with violetroot were capable of such. While other ingredients could be used for that quality of potion, they were either much more rare or far more difficult to make use of. It was no wonder that Kettle was delighted by their presence.

  On the other hand, until now the silvercap mushroom was only found in higher grade dungeons which were aligned with nature. It could be consumed easily, and was well known to purify the body of poisons, heal most injuries, and even regenerate minor body part losses. If one ate four or five, they could even regenerate full limbs. But most importantly, fully mature silvercaps could be used in a complicated alchemical ritual to create a potion that, if used within a few minutes of an individual’s death, could bring them back to life.

  “Anyway! I’ll have to send more adventurers out your way, as well as a group to found a guild house. Once we’ve a full evaluation of the dungeon, you’ll get your bonus for the first delves into it. It’s a dangerous job you’ve had.” Kettle’s smile vanished as he continued grimly. “And the ‘flower girl’ as you call her is an immature form of an alraune. When fully mature, they can move about on vine-like legs and even use magic. Don’t underestimate them. On the other hand, the adult ones are fully intelligent, so they can even be negotiated with in some circumstances. It sounds like your dungeon is interesting. Might have to come out that direction someday.”

  “Thank you, Guildmaster.” Nirath replied with a bow, and he nodded before breaking the connection.

  Darak grinned broadly, rubbing his hands together happily. “Well isn’t that good news? How much are first delve bonuses anyway? I didn’t check before we left.”

  “What, a money-grubbing dwarf didn’t check the rewards? Will wonders never cease?” Penelope teased gently, then shrugged before answering the question. “The reward depends on the classification of the dungeon. If this is a wolf or tiger grade dungeon, we could get as much as a thousand gold each. If it were deity grade...well, they listed the rewards for those as an artifact from the guild vaults.”

  “Right. Well, that’s never going to happen. Like a dungeon could reach deity grade without anyone noticing it.” Darak snorted, shaking his head. “A thousand gold would be nice, but I’ll assume we’ll get half of that. Less disappointing if this turns out to be a wolf.”

  “Either way, we do have these ingredients. Those will sell for a tidy sum, so this is definitely a success.” Joseph looked at the items in satisfaction. “What do you say we try finishing the second floor in two days?”

  “That seems like a plan to me. If we can clear the dungeon before anyone else gets here, that would be incredible.” Penelope agreed, while Darak just grunted his approval. “Even if only to mock some of the other jerks.”

  Considering a moment, Nirath nodded slightly and smiled. “As long as we are careful, I agree. Remember that we don’t know for certain how big the dungeon actually is. We could always be wrong.”

  “True. We know how dungeons can be.” Darak suddenly scowled at a foul memory. “Remember when the Cerulean Dungeon changed the layout on us?”

  “Ugh, that was horrible.” Joseph looked slightly queasy at the memory. “Didn’t that happen because someone was stupid enough to clear a lair out, though?”

  “I believe so.” Nirath shook her head and sighed. “They never did find all the pieces of that adventuring party.”

  “Which, of course, is why the guildmaster always says to kill monsters in your path, but leave where they breed alone.” Penelope added, shaking her head. “Fastest damned way to piss off a dungeon, and that’s a losing proposition.”

  Nirath nodded her sincere agreement, shivering. Too many people underestimated dungeons, and just how terrifying they could be when angered.

  Chapter 36

  “I guess you were right about this not being the end of the dungeon.” Darak admitted. It was the next day, and they’d reached the end of the second floor of the dungeon, only to find a tunnel spiraling downward again. “Guess we have to keep going.”

  With a chorus of sighs, the adventuring group started on the next floor of the dungeon.

  * * *

  As several weeks passed, the group of started growing concerned. At first they were fairly sanguine about the additional chambers, but as they reached the third floor that began to change. They’d passed thirty chambers at that point, which they’d initially believed to be the most that the dungeon would have. But instead they were starting to encounter pit traps, larger groups of wasps, and thornier, nastier plants that were definitely tougher than the early floor. That the rewards were slightly more plentiful helped mollify them, but it was surprising. But the introduction of the giant ants was the first true sign that something was very different about this dungeon.

  “What the hell? Ants aren’t supposed to be this big!” Penelope swore, stabbing at the large insects.

  “We are underground. Ants live underground too. But these things are tough!” Joseph retorted, falling back from the one whose exoskeleton he’d just crushed. The others were having a hard time of it, though, as the ants didn’t have nearly as many weak points for their weapons. Darak was cutting through with brute force, but Penelope was having much more difficulty.

  Finally Nirath summoned a spirit of ice and froze the remaining four ants in place, and they beat them to bits. But as they did the messy work, the elf frowned at the situation and murmured. “This is strange. Why does it seem like the difficulty here is gradually increasing?”

  None of the others heard her question, though.

  * * *

  Surveying the town from a lookout tower halfway up the mountain, Evansly nodded in satisfaction, smiling broadly at the sight. “Good
job, Master Graystone. You’ve been a life saver.”

  “Hah! Thanks, but the lads are the ones doing all the real work.” The dwarf chuckled, grinning.

  The aqueduct was in place, even though it didn’t hold more than a trickle of water at the moment. They could also see the workers who were working on the dam which was intended to form a modest reservoir for fishing and other supplies. No one had started work on a mill below the where the dam would be, but a foundation for it had already been marked out.

  The town now had a basic smithy, including an immigrant from Westgate who was doing basic repairs, and most of the other vital structures for the town were complete. Admittedly, most weren’t occupied yet, but the town was getting there. Small houses were now under construction, though, and Evansly smiled at the small manor under construction just around the ridgeline from most of the town.

  “Thank you for designing my own home as well, though. That will help immensely...even if getting the planed wood shipped out here is a bit more expensive than I’d like.” He told Graystone cheerfully.

  “Ah, it’s the least I could do. I’m being paid to design buildings for you, after all. What’s one more?” Graystone replied with a broad grin. “I’m looking forward to meeting this wife of yours, too.”

  “Believe me, I’m looking forward to her being here.” Evansly assured him, then paused as he saw a group of men and a handful of women approaching in ragtag gear. “And...I do think that must be our first group of non-guild adventurers.”