Dungeon Bound 2
By Bastian Knight
Copyright © 2020 Bastian Knight
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, events, names, and places are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
Gruesome imagery and chittering laughter filled Gabriel’s mind as he woke. A question seemed to echo in an unnatural voice. He repressed a shudder, then breathed a sigh of relief when the nightmare faded from his thoughts.
A pleasant warmth heated his left side, a gentle contrast to the soothing coolness on his right. More comfortable than he could ever recall being, he kept his eyes shut and luxuriated in the moment.
But his mind refused to let him slip back into the blissful depths of sleep, and he started to take in his surroundings. A glance at the Dungeon Interface showed it was early morning.
Sun’s not even up yet.
He lay on his back atop one of the bedrolls Sthuza had brought to Merideva’s Domain. A brief thought was all it took to discern that he was nude. A little more focus and he realized the warmth at his side came from his second bonded, Cindra.
Without opening his eyes, he concentrated on the statuesque beauty and confirmed his suspicion. The muscular hellhound was curled up along his side, with her peaceful face tucked against his chest. For once, she remained in her humanoid form, and he enjoyed the feel of her firm gray skin against him.
His body began to respond to the lustful thoughts his mental vision of her brought up, but Gabriel forced those urges down and turned his mind toward his other bonded.
His Prime.
The cool presence on his right was obviously the lonely gorgon he had almost lost yesterday. A brush of his mind against hers revealed a vast ocean of memories.
Before Gabriel realized it, the depths of her mind pulled his mental avatar into her consciousness. He panicked until his thoughts caught up with him. His confidence in her loyalty and devotion calmed him, and he settled into her powerful embrace.
Countless memories washed over and around him. Fears, desires, and more than a small amount of unthinking hatred rushed past his awareness until he felt her grip relax. The moment she did, he wrapped her inner self in his own and sent peaceful, loving thoughts to his Prime.
Sthuza returned his mental embrace. He let all concerns float away as they cuddled in the depths of her soul.
Or was it his?
‘It does not matter where we are, Master. Only that you are here with me, showering me with your affection.’ Sthuza’s mental voice was more relaxed than before, and Gabriel started to drift back to sleep.
‘I would love to let you rest, but I fear we must get an early start if we are to track down that deceitful elven betrayer.’
Yeah. We need to recover the Domain Crystal for Meri. We’ve let Estrial get too far ahead already. Still, I wish we could stay like this a little longer.
Sthuza’s presence quivered within his own. She snuggled closer but soon sighed.
‘There is nothing I would rather do right now, Master. But I must get up and prepare for our departure.’
Though his mind was full of reluctance, Gabriel withdrew from their mental embrace. He nodded, finally moving his physical body, and spoke aloud.
“Thank you for last night, my Prime. But yeah, we have to get moving if we want to recover the crystal before it’s too late. You said it should remain attuned for two weeks, but I’d rather not wait until the last minute. We’re already halfway through the ten days you recommended.”
Gabriel opened his eyes and turned toward the slender gorgon as she stretched beside him. When her vertically slit, green eyes flickered open, he smiled at the stunning beauty.
“Good morning, Master,” Sthuza said, greeting him as though for the first time. Her expression morphed into a smile of her own. Deadly fangs flashed behind her green lips, but she didn’t appear uncomfortable as he studied her.
“Looks like you’re—” Gabriel started before a roar from the left drowned him out.
“Packmaster!” Cindra growled. Larger than both of them, the nude hellhound raised muscular arms over her head and twisted about as she stretched.
Gabriel turned to rebuke the noisy monster girl but momentarily forgot his intent when her innocent movements thrust her massive breasts front and center.
“Cccindra!” Sthuza snapped. “Ssstop dissstracting Massster and get dresssed.”
The blue-eyed beauty pouted at the gorgon but lowered her arms and nodded.
“Sorry, Packmaster. Cindra just so happy to see you.”
“No worries, but we all need to get boing… I-I mean going,” Gabriel replied. His eyes drifted back to the taller woman’s exposed bust, and his cheeks heated.
Behind him, Sthuza snickered, but he ignored her and climbed to his feet. All three of them spread out and readied themselves for the day.
“You are correct, Master. The traitorous thieves have a sizable lead on us. I fear we must pursue them soon or risk losing the crystal for good. If we fail to recover it, the three floors it controlled will fall into disrepair and leave us even more vulnerable,” Sthuza said.
“Yeah, that’s got to be our main focus, though I’m still a bit worried that the baron may send more men down for Meri.”
The gorgon nodded, her lips pursing as she considered his words. “A serious risk, but I do not see how it improves if we delay longer.”
“We killed lots of his Pack, right? Should we go up to the city and smash that baron guy before stalking the elf bitch?” Cindra asked offhandedly while she grabbed her oversized adamantite greatsword.
The pair blinked at her, then turned to stare at each other.
We do need to pay him back. Bastard set me up and tried to steal Meri.
“That’s… that’s honestly not a bad idea, Cindra.” Gabriel smiled at his furry-eared bonded. “Thank you for the suggestion.”
“Trying to attack a noble in their base of power would be a reckless move, Master,” Sthuza said in a brittle, shocked voice.
“You’d be right, normally, but Lostbarrow has been in decline for decades. I wouldn’t be surprised if we could pull it off now. We killed a sizable chunk of his guards.”
Sthuza turned to Gabriel and stared. “You can’t be serious. The last Baron of Lostbarrow I encountered had almost four hundred men-at-arms. Although, I must admit it has been over three centuries.”
Gabriel snorted. “The current bastard doesn’t have that many. Not that it matters, though. Our priority has to be the crystal, but we’ll need to see to Meri’s defenses first. I’m not comfortable leaving her with only five wounded goblins. Sound good?”
Sthuza nodded agreement, then glanced at the hellhound who’d stopped listening and was going through a series of practice strikes with her greatsword.
Nude.
“Stop fooling around with your sword and let us ready ourselves to venture forth, furball,” Sthuza said.
Gabriel restrained the impulse to facepalm, barely. He’d hoped that his Prime might be more impressed by Cindra’s contributions, but perhaps it was too much to ask for. Shrugging aside his dismay at her icy demeanor toward the hellhound, he gathered up his few belongings and finished dressing.
He tightened the straps on the gray-and-green gambeson Sthuza had given him. There were only a couple minor scratches left on the padded coat from where he’d been wounded, and it adjusted to fit perfectly.
The enchantments on this armor are great, but I should grab some regular clothes while we’re in town. Definitely don’t want to ask Meri to make me any more.
He shudde
red as he recalled the scratchy feel of the horrid robe the Dungeon Core had given him when he first woke up.
I just know she used goblin ass-hair somehow to make that thing. Absolutely awful.
‘That is a most unusual fabric choice, but it is no doubt quite durable, Master,’ Sthuza teased, shocking him out of his head.
He glanced over and spotted the beautiful gorgon’s mischievous smirk.
Keep laughing. One day I’m going to get you something fierce!
She raised a hand to cover her tittering giggles. “I very much look forward to it, Massster.”
He shook his head and snorted, then turned back to his preparations with a wide grin on his face.
“Cindra is ready! We should go now!” the boisterous monster girl declared.
Gabriel shot Sthuza a worried glance.
Should I be concerned about how eager she is to visit the city?
The gorgon turned away, giggling. ‘Everything should be fine, Master. She believes you intend to delay your first time mating with her until we reach the inn. So you can use the bed you showed her.’
The reminder of his carelessly broadcasted fantasy the night before turned his face red. He coughed twice to clear his throat.
“I think we should eat quickly and then meet with Meri about defenses before we head for the city,” Gabriel said.
“Yes, Master, I concur, though we do need to work on the fur coat’s disguise a bit first.”
Surprised, he turned to look where Sthuza pointed.
Cindra wore the leather-and-bronze armor his Prime had given her a few days earlier. It was every bit as skintight and form-fitting as he recalled.
“I mean, yeah, it’s a touch attention-grabbing, but plenty of female adventurers have sexy outfits. It kind of goes with the whole lifestyle. Lots of money, magic, and fame,” he said.
Sthuza’s green lips twitched hard to one side as she stared at him. “Really, Master? You do not see a slight flaw in your plan?”
She gestured first to the towering hellhound, and then along her own body with one hand.
Gabriel stared at the pair of stunning beauties. They were each gorgeous in their own way. When he remained silent, Sthuza arched an eyebrow. He felt her presence brush against his mind.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” she sighed.
Sharp hissing tore his focus from the delightful figures of his bonded and brought it back to her. “Heh, sorry about that. You were saying?”
Sthuza shook her head, but her annoyed glare slowly shifted to an amused smile. “If you have not noticed, Master, both of your bonded are most clearly not human.”
He glanced between her and the impatiently bouncing hellhound. “You know, I had my suspicions,” he said with far too much amusement.
She threw her arms up, which sent her head-snakes into a violent hissing fit. “Gah! Pleassse focusss, Massster. Do you sssee a problem with leaving the dungeon with usss by your ssside?”
His grin melted away as he caught her meaning.
Shit.
Rocking back, he dropped his belt, and the attached sword, to the ground.
“The gate guards would never let either of you out of the dungeon.”
“Do not look so glum, Master,” Sthuza soothed. “I have already planned for the issue. Your acceptance of us is quite flattering, but it is a surprise that you ceased to view us as the monsters we are.”
His cheeks heated again, but he held her gaze and smiled. “Okay, how do you plan on getting us past the guard post? Because, last I checked, I don’t even have my Copper tag anymore.”
She smiled patiently, reached into a pouch, and withdrew three adventurer tags: two Copper and one Silver.
“Where did you…” he started to say before it dawned on him.
The baron’s guards needed tags to get in here, just like anyone else would.
The sudden reminder of the many men and women they’d killed yesterday struck him like a punch to the gut.
They attacked us. They tried to kill my bonded. All to steal Meri and enslave her to the baron.
Kelith and those assholes deserved what they got!
Doubt and fear spiked through him, and his thoughts spiraled madly as an angry storm of tormented regret and sadness threatened to drown him.
Gabriel scrambled to evade the sudden onslaught, desperately seeking shelter from the unrelenting howls of agony and blame that called out to him from within the sinister tempest.
The faces of the people they’d killed the day before filled his mind—one after another. He tried to shield himself from their unrelenting hatred. To block out the incessant whispers.
Their faces flashed before him, and they stared at him—each with flat, lifeless eyes. The mage who had pleaded for her life before Cindra lopped her head off glared at him. Her expression was a mask of pure despair, and he heard her forlorn begging once more.
The image shifted again, and Gabriel watched in horror as the first human he’d ever killed gaped at him.
He tried to kill Cindra. I had no choice.
More faces flashed by, and Gabriel shuddered as they all glared at him. Cursed him and called him a murderer.
Most continued to race by, but a few slowed down and orbited his head.
The ones he’d personally slain.
Dread filled him as he watched himself rip Kelith’s soul to shreds. Annihilated his very existence.
I did that to save Sthuza.
Gabriel’s heart climbed into his throat, and his pulse thundered in his ears. Unable to fill his lungs, he gasped for air. His hands shook, and he screamed aloud. Anything to drown out the accusing murmurs.
A sudden, sharp pain blossomed in his cheek, and he nearly fell as his head spun to one side.
“Massster! Calm yourssself!” Sthuza yelled at him.
Gabriel shook his head, and his vision focused on the worried faces of his bonded.
“Did you slap me?” he asked as he rubbed his tender cheek.
“Snakey spanked your face when you wouldn’t stop breathing funny and having bad thoughts,” Cindra said. His Prime remained silent and stared at him with a feverish intensity.
“Yes, Master, I did,” Sthuza whispered, almost too quietly to hear. “You left me few choices.”
“What happened, I was… there was so much pain and anger,” he said. The jumbled memories in his head refused to make sense.
The gorgon sighed and pulled him into her soft embrace. “Earlier, I was concerned that you had not reacted to the killing of so many of your former kind, Master. Now I worry that you may have an even worse time dealing with your new existence than I had previously feared.”
“What do you mean? I’m fine with everything that happened,” he said defensively. Almost angrily. “Kelith was an entitled bully and an asshole. He deserved everything that happened, and so much more.”
“I have no doubt of that, Master. His punishment was truly poetic, given what he did to you.”
Her gentle hands framed Gabriel’s face and forced him to look her in the eyes. “And I am eternally grateful for your decision to save me at the cost of his soul.”
Gabriel recalled the ritual he had used to resurrect his Prime. And the horrible wrongness he felt while siphoning the dead mage’s Essence.
Kelith was the one who killed her. Only fair that he paid the price to save her.
“But regardless of whether your waking mind has accepted all of our activities yesterday.” Sthuza paused long enough to let him know she meant all of their activities. “There can be parts of the mind that are not in unanimous agreement with each other.
“On top of that, Master, you are bonded to a pair of powerful monsters. While the changes caused by bonding are typically subtle, you may experience a stronger influence due to your brief time as a Dungeon Master. Our natures may impact how your mind adapts to this new life.”
Gabriel stared at her without blinking. He had learned enough in school to know about fractured minds. And how notori
ously hard they could be to heal, even with magic.
He’d just never imagined he would risk splintering his consciousness like that.
Am I going insane? Was that the reason for that dream?
“Relaxxx, remain calm, Massster,” Sthuza whispered in a soothing tone. “You are not going to fall apart on usss. You are ssstrong, and you have usss to help you.”
Before he could freak out anymore, or Sthuza could attempt to further assuage his fear, powerful arms grabbed them both in a crushing hug that lifted them clean off their feet.
“Cindra and Lady Snakey will keep Packmaster safe!” Cindra declared.
Pressed nose to nose with his Prime, Gabriel couldn’t help but grin. Sthuza’s irritated frown quickly changed to match his expression, and they both started laughing.
Once satisfied, Cindra released them, and Gabriel recovered his gear.
“Sthuza, I’d appreciate it if you could get some food ready and gather anything you think will help with our trip. I want to head into the city as soon as we figure out defenses for Meri.”
“Of course, Master,” Sthuza said.
“Thanks. And as for you, Cindra,” Gabriel said, drawing his second bonded’s attention. “I need you to get yourself geared up and then take a few of the surviving goblins with you to patrol the floor.”
Standing almost too close to him, the gray-skinned hellhound bobbed her head eagerly. “No problem, Packmaster. I’ll make sure Pack’s territory is safe.”
“I know you will.”
◆◆◆
By the time Gabriel had his armor on and his arcane conduit strapped to his waist, both of his bonded had stepped out of the small, featureless room Merideva had created for them.
Recovering the Domain Crystal from Estrial makes sense. But honestly, what are the odds we can even catch up to them, let alone take them out and get the crystal in time? If they haven’t already sold it.
We have maybe a week before the blasted thing loses attunement with the dungeon. After that, it’ll be useless to us.
Alone in the room, Gabriel sighed and shook his head while going over recent events in his mind.
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