by D. R. Rosier
That seemed to break the shock of his nearby buddies, and one sword bit deeply into the bear’s neck, while another stabbed into its side. The bear’s roar gurgled with blood, as it took one last swipe and slashed deeply into another’s chest. There was screaming, and cursing, from the pain, loss of one of their number, and fear.
An explosion of white light left Jacen’s hand, which exploded out in a sphere and destroyed the insects. At the same time, another adept paladin slashed through the roots of the tree, and freed the paladin standing in shock, paralyzed from the toxin.
An adept cleric stepped to the left, and then released a heal into the adept with a torn up chest, and he healed.
Jenny formed an air spell that shot into the tree, as the two paladins continued to defend their paralyzed brother from more roots, and she shot it at the tree. The heavily compressed air separated into long needles of air that were visible to the naked eye, and they all slammed into the tree trunk. Then they all released their air pressure, and the man-eating tree exploded into splinters.
That’s when the pack of wolves showed up and ambushed them from behind, and monkeys in the trees started to cast dark magic curses at the party. Unfortunately, the wolves had no chance at all from the rear, as Master Paladin Jian moved faster than they could counter, and the bastard had all six of them cut in pieces in less than five seconds. I wasn’t too upset about that, even the adepts were too powerful for this level, I was shocked that one had actually gotten killed.
The monkeys were casting curses, but none of those stuck, and the clerics picked them off easily with pulses of light magic. That wasn’t a surprise either, they all had light shields going, the weakest of which was adept, and the monkey was only a mid-journeyman level threat. At least, they were that weak on level five, the level eight monkeys would be ramped up to mid-level adept, and that’s about when the challenges for the party would really get started.
No, the only dangers on level five for this group were physical ones, and I was surprised I’d even gotten one kill from that. But really, that’d been from surprise more than anything. Twenty-three had just become twenty-two.
Jacen said, “Be alert, hold here while we remove poison. Doran!”
Doran nodded, and started to cast a master level spell, and when he released it blue light filled the area. I could see the toxins of the tree and poisonous mosquitos had been cancelled, as they all stopped fidgeting and the pain cleared from their faces.
Michael said, “I’ll recognize that tree, and we’ll route around them.”
Doran said, “There are some good potion ingredients near it.”
Jacen glared at Doran.
Doran shrugged, “Seems a waste to leave good resources behind, as long as we’re here.”
I snickered, and Astrith’s tinkling laughter warmed my heart, figuratively of course, since I was a rock. I was also feeling a lot better, I’d been close to empty of life force. An adept had a very large life force. Maybe I wouldn’t be so helpless by the time whoever was left made their way to my core room.
Jacen sighed, “Fine. Someone grab those, Michael, point out the trees instead. We’ll have Jenny blow them up so Doran here, can loot the forest.”
Doran rolled his eyes, “I am the chief instructor, and we haven’t had good potion ingredients in a long time, it would go far in improving education, high cleric,” he added the honorific at the end.
A minute later, and the group was moving forward again. By the time they’d reached the third cavern, they’d identified all the threats, the man-eating shrubbery, and other insect types. Worse, one of the clerics was holding that sphere blast at all times, and he was taking out the swarms of insects before they could strike. No other paladins froze either, so they had no trouble taking out the one bear and six wolves in all the large caves, nor the monkeys.
It was no less than I’d expect for a party of their power, but I had to admit it was disappointing anyway. They kept it up for the rest of the forest levels as well, and although the final level might have been a challenge for the adepts, the masters took care of it quite handily. My creatures on those levels, and the organic traps, managed to wound a few more, but no more died…
Chapter Twenty
The four forest levels had been a surprise, but not as big as the one she got when they teleported to the ninth level and she recognized it. At first, she was confused by it, since the elemental levels weren’t as deadly as what they’d just faced, at least not the first floor of them, but then they ran into their first elemental.
Elemental fire bathed the whole party as the tunnel was filled by it right before they reached the first room. It was a struggle to feed her shields enough power. Her spinning air shield ablated the fire away, but even then, her light shield had to work hard to hold back the magical fire. Honestly, it wasn’t that close of a call, but it took real effort to fight off the attack, and it was almost a match for her adept level five power.
It was a solid mid-adept level threat, similar to the last few fights of the old dungeon she’d trained in for so long. She suspected there’d be four levels, like the undead and forests, and she also suspected the threats would rise to above master level, which was deeply concerning. It fit the pattern, and the final level of the elemental levels would be mid-level master if the trend continued.
Jacen blasted the elemental out of existence, and no one had been overwhelmed, but it was a serious point in her mind that the elemental had attacked all of them at once. If it’d been a master level threat, all the adepts including her would’ve died on the spot, in the four seconds that it’d taken High Cleric Jacen to neutralize the threat. Being bracketed by masters wouldn’t make a lick of difference to elemental threats, only physical ones.
Her mind rejected the idea of mentioning it at first, not wanting to be called a coward, but when she thought about Andy and Sophia burning alive, as well as the rest of the remaining adepts, her stubbornness and concern for others kicked in and strengthened her conviction.
She said, “High Cleric, perhaps we should modify the party at this point?”
Jacen looked back at her and lifted an eyebrow. The old man looked both surprised and shocked she’d dare to speak to him to give him advice.
Her determination didn’t waver, “These levels will be all magical threats, outside of traps, and us all being packed together like this means all the adepts will die as soon as we meet the first master level elemental. I’d suggest we change things around before that happens.”
Jacen pinched his nose, and she thought he was going to tear into her, but then Michael spoke first.
“She’s right, High Cleric. This formation was tactically sound in the forest and against the undead, but it’s a crapshoot here and now. We need to separate more, larger spacing between even us masters, and the adepts can support us from way behind, so they aren’t caught up in the attacks. If we wait for the threat to ramp up like it has been so far, then they’ll all die.”
Jacen nodded, “Very well. Same formation but staggered. Michael is still in the lead, and the three of us will remain close behind him. The Adepts will be at least twenty feet behind us, and they’ll cast from the corridors until the rooms are cleared. Jian, you, Liam, and Nabon will be twenty feet behind the adepts, in case some of the elementals are set to ambush from behind. Does that meet with your approval adept?”
Jenny blushed, asshole.
“Yes, High Cleric.”
It would work, or at least it would help. Honestly, the old bastard should send them out of the dungeon at this point, but she supposed she could help from a distance. Her air would be very effective against earth elementals. She suspected they’d remain useful until the third level, by then they’d probably be way overmatched. Still, their attacks added to the masters would make a difference even then, but they’d only survive it through pure luck.
Jacen snorted, and she heard Jian snickering in the back, just not loud enough for Jacen to hear it.
Da
mn, she’d never get promoted after that. Still, it felt good when several of the adepts gave her grateful glances. Sure, they also looked at her like she was nuts, but they were thankful when doing so.
Sophia looked to be bursting with the need to say something, but it wasn’t the best time for conversation, and they were still surrounded by every church master in Tenemin.
She still felt bad about Rob dying, but didn’t have the time to really reflect and grieve for him. He hadn’t been her favorite adept, and he’d been somewhat of an overbearing asshole and had hit on her way too many times when she wasn’t interested, but she hadn’t wanted him dead. It also re-affirmed her thoughts, their training sucked. They should just leave the dungeon alone, and train in it with real danger, and changing threats adding an element of the unknown.
After all, she’d frozen in her first real dangerous encounter too. Only for a second or two, and never again after that, but it’d been her first real life or death situation that she felt viscerally. Sure, the dungeon was still dangerous asleep, but a very managed danger. Point being, she’d have died staring frozen at the bear too, if it’d been her first real encounter. Luckily for her, when she’d frozen against her first threat for a few seconds before snapping out of it, it hadn’t cost her life.
Her heart raced, and adrenaline pumped in her veins as they moved forward. She intoned a spell in her mind, and then prepared a banishment. It was a long ass spell, but she’d be able to hold it at the final word of the spell, and then cast it at a moment’s notice. It took concentration to hold it, but she knew that would pay off when they met the next threat.
The masters entered the large room, and the ground heaved, spikes of stone flew, and blasts of fire filled the room as they went after the threats. A fire elemental came in sight, and she barked the last word out loud, even if in her head would have worked just as well, and the blast of light left her hand and banished the elemental from this plane.
A number of other adepts had done the same, and several spells flew into the cavern. Some dispels, some banishments, and a few damaging light spells. The latter would banish the elemental as well, when the magical body created on this plane during their summoning was destroyed.
Doran took the rest out with one spell, it’d taken him a while to cast it, and as far as she could tell they hadn’t even strained one little bit to absorb the attacks on their shields. The elemental levels were basic tunnels, and featureless caves. Outside of upping the danger levels of the mobs, moving the traps around, and the lack of stink, Narian hadn’t done all that much with it.
Things went fairly smoothly for the rest of the level, and the second elemental level. Michael found all the traps, and either pointed them out to be dispelled or avoided, or he set them off early. Split like they were, the masters were bathed in fire or attacked in stone, but her and the rest of the adepts were spared from the attacks and just played their support role.
It wasn’t until the third level that the danger grew beyond adept level, and into master as she feared it would.
The tunnel opened up into a room, and as usual the masters took the brunt of the attacks, while they tossed spells into the room until one of the masters took the rest out, usually in one big spell. When the room was cleared they moved into it, it was hot and dry from the fire elemental’s attacks.
She wasn’t sure if it was an ambush, or if Michael just finally missed one of the traps, but as the master paladin headed toward the exit deeper into the level, a portcullis dropped right in front of him at the exit, and right behind Jian at the entrance.
She froze and looked around, and there was a rumble and shaking as the walls split apart in two places on both side walls. A large earth elemental and fire elemental walked out of those new holes in the walls, a secret room, two of each and they were in the center. The elementals were larger than any they’d faced up until then, and heart skipped and felt squeezed by fear even as she started to cast a modified air bolt.
The paladins rushed the stone elementals with their glowing swords, and light spells started to launch across the room. Her air bolt split into needles, and they dug into the closest elemental. Then they exploded, sending small chunks of stones flying, but it hadn’t been enough to end the threat.
The fire elemental closest to the room entrance opened up with a deluge of flames like a fire thrower, that completely obscured masters Jian, Nabon, and Liam. The earth elemental on the other side of the room, but on the entrance side as well, rushed the group. It was the one she’d hit, and several light bolts blasted into its side. The earth elemental fell and broke apart into pieces as it was banished back to the plane of elemental earth.
She started the banishment spell for the fire elemental, but it would take time, she didn’t think her air spells would be powerful enough to harm it. The other fire elementals were red, but this one burned white hot and was much larger. She cringed as the flames stopped. Jian’s body was a skeleton, and even half his bones had been burned away, and rested atop his glowing sword. Master Liam was also dead, burned alive, and she suspected it was him that had been shielding Jian, because master Nabon was still alive, barely.
She finally finished the spell, and it followed several light bolts that the elemental blue flames seemed to devour in fire, but her banishment spell finished the job. She went to move to heal master Nabon, but she saw three other adept clerics moving to take care of it, so she turned toward the front of the room, just in time to see master Doran, and three paladins disappear in hot blue fire, including Andy.
Her heart stopped, and she felt a tearing pain in her chest, as it thumped hard a moment later and took off like a jackrabbit. The three paladins had been standing over the earth elemental, she assumed they’d helped take it down seconds before as she’d taken down the rear threat.
She gasped out a cry in disbelief, as she felt the shield she’d been desperately holding around Andy flicker and die in that white-hot fire. A moment later, Jacen and Ceran released a spell almost at the same time, which blew out the elemental like a candle in a hurricane. She felt a jarring to her body, and she was shocked to realize she’d just fallen to her knees. She desperately looked around the room, and she felt a stabbing pain of guilt in her chest, at the stark and powerful relief that raced through her grieving body as she spotted Sophia, safe and well. The conflicting feelings felt like they’d tear her apart, and the pain in her body was physical in nature.
If looks could kill, a moment later Jacen would’ve been dead. Fortunately, the High Cleric of Tenemin hadn’t been looking her way in that moment.
She’d failed him, failed to shield him, and he was dead. It was all her fault. She’d decided to roll the dice for her ambition, take a chance, when she should have walked away, and convinced the man she loved to walk away with her, along with Sophia.
Her pain broke, and a numbness settled on her body and mind. She realized somewhere in her mind she’d just gone into shock, her body’s defenses cutting in to numb the pain. No, she hadn’t killed her lover, but she’d failed to protect him, and they shouldn’t have been fighting on this level in the first place.
The fucking masters couldn’t protect them.
Four adept paladins had died now, her beloved among them. The worst part was that she’d only been sure of that love a few hours ago, when they’d made love for the first time. How fucked up was that? She was angry, angry at Jacen, angry at the church, and very much angry at herself for not walking away.
She barely noticed the clicks and scrapes as the portcullis blocking the entrances were lifted.
A master paladin and one of the mater clerics had died as well. There were at that point, twelve adepts, eight of them clerics, and five masters, four of them clerics.
Andy was dead, and it was her fault. The one entity she didn’t blame in all of it was the dungeon.
Jacen said, “Let’s move.”
She stared at his back in disbelief as he walked toward the exit. She’s lucky that Michael spok
e then, or she’d have probably earned an execution. The words of a particularly nasty dark curse she’d learned from Narian were going through her mind.
Michael said, “Hold up. We need to send the adepts out of here. Liam was the youngest master among us, a level one, and couldn’t hold out against that elemental. The remaining adepts will just die if we continue on, and their spells were barely effective in that last fight. There’s no reason to risk them. Nabon should join us out front, while the adepts retreat to the teleport alcove.”
Jacen frowned, and then nodded reluctantly. She curled her lip in contempt, that meant he knew the truth but hadn’t bothered to think of it after their losses. She felt dangerously unstable, as the four paladins led them back toward the teleporter. Dangerously because she truly in that moment didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought. Only the idea that Sophia might suffer from her actions gave her the strength to hold her tongue in that moment.
She was inconsolable, but she didn’t flinch away from Sophia’s touch. The least her useless ass could do was comfort her other lover, and to share in her grief. She didn’t deserve the comfort, didn’t want it, but Sophia did deserve that comfort, so she bore her lover’s touch in deep shame for Sophia’s sake. They hadn’t been very far into level three of the elementals, and there were no surprises as they made it to the alcove and teleported back to the exit.
Her vision was blurry, though tears hadn’t started to fall yet, she was still numb with disbelief and an overload of emotions. She felt fragile, as if the lightest breeze could break her.
When they got up the stairs, and into the temple, her and Sophia knelt by the smaller altar of Yphine. The other adepts stayed as well, though some only out of peer pressure, to wait for the results and for the masters to return.
