by Eric Vall
Without hesitation, the female warrior rose to her knees, and her long legs carried her from the pool to the center of the cavern within moments. She had chosen to position herself in equidistance between the two tunnels. This was a wise choice. It would do her no good, but it was the best decision that she could have made in a situation such as this.
Annalíse squared her shoulders, planted her feet firmly, and held her sword out in front of her in preparation for her next adversaries. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two tunnels on either side of her. The scratching grew louder and louder. The woman sucked in her breath and released it slowly. I couldn’t wait to see how she’d handle this. I could almost hear the rapid heartbeat pounding within her chest.
The scratching grew louder still.
Suddenly, legions of skeletons poured out of the two tunnels like a swarm of ants fleeing from a disturbed anthill. One after another, they emerged from the darkness and streamed from the tunnels until they formed two swaying seas of bones within the cavern.
Annalíse gawked at the decayed and faceless creatures, clearly taken aback by the unexpected infestation. The creatures were voiceless, but their very presence was unsettling enough. My skeleton army was quite a sight to behold. The skinless corpses belonged to the countless adventurers who had met their demise during failed attempts to conquer my dungeon. Every fallen warrior became a new addition to my horde, and over the centuries, I had accumulated quite the collection. Each skeleton wore the remains of ancient armor from forgotten times. As men had journeyed far and wide to explore my dungeon, the equipment of my skeleton infantry was somewhat mismatched since each soldier’s garb was fashioned in a style unique to their time and continent.
Annalíse shook her head in a clear effort to compose herself. She swung her sword overhead and let out a guttural yell before she charged the group to her left. A mob of the fleshless warriors shuffled toward her and grabbed at her with eager decrepit hands. Some of the skeletons lacked arms or exhibited a cracked skull. Others crawled along the ground having long been robbed of their lower limbs. They clutched at the stone floor and dragged their broken bodies toward the woman. The sound of their bony torsos against the stone only added to the ominous feeling in the air.
When she reached the left group, she slashed at the first wave of skeletons relentlessly. She swung her sword with furious speed and precision, and each strike hit its mark. Each iron blow sent time-ravaged skulls, ribs, and vertebrae into the air. Dislodged bones flew wildly and struck some of the nearby skeleton warriors, while the stricken warriors clattered to the ground.
As Annalíse repeatedly attacked the bony throng, her face began to twist into a haughty grin. Her opponents were far too easy for her… or so it seemed. My skeleton army carried no weapons, nor did they possess the swiftness of my shadow slaves. They were slow to move too, but they possessed one skill that caused even the mightiest of warriors to crumble. They were relentless, in more ways than one.
As Annalíse battled her way deeper into the droves of soldiers, the group that she had left unattended drew closer, but she ignored them and continued to hack her way through the mob with agile ferocity. Her boots kicked and crunched the countless bony bits that littered the floor. She had managed to clear a space for herself, but she was nowhere close to putting a dent in my forces. As she paused to take a breath, something on the ground caught her eye, and she looked down. Her gaze quickly shifted from puzzled to horror-stricken.
The bony pieces of the soldiers that she had already slain had begun to move.
This had always been my favorite part.
The bones began to shiver and shake. They bumped and dragged across the floor until they found their matching pieces and began to reassemble themselves.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Annalíse breathed angrily. Hundreds upon hundreds of disassembled parts began to retake their familiar human shape, and the previously slaughtered skeletons were animated once more. Yes, my army was indeed relentless.
The reformed bodies rejoined their cohorts and stumbled toward the woman, their slack jaws hung at various angles to reveal sparse sets of rotten teeth. Annalíse began to back away, and as she backpedaled, she crashed into another skinless attacker. She had been so focused on the group in front of her that she hadn’t noticed that the other group of soldiers had started to surround her. She was trapped, and she knew it. She looked back and forth at the two waves of assailants as they joined and began to form a circle around her. There was nowhere for her to run.
She wouldn’t give up, this much I knew. It wasn’t in her nature. She released a raspy bellow and sliced through the skeletons that surrounded her. But her efforts were in vain, and the soldiers repeatedly put themselves back together again. The circle around her grew tighter and tighter until I could barely see her braided head amidst the sea of bone.
Within moments, she was stripped of her sword and hoisted into the air. She struggled against her captors, but several fleshless hands held her firmly in place. She screamed and cursed at the mob of fleshless warriors, but her cries were swallowed by the sounds of the skeletons marching. My long-dead servants formed a massive group and limped along as they carried the woman away into one of the tunnels. Annalíse thrashed and protested until she vanished into one of the dark passages.
I stayed for a moment to revel in sight of my army as it filtered into the tunnel. But only for a moment, I had guests waiting for me, after all.
Chapter 4
I exited the vast cavern and moved my presence through the tunnel to where Carmedy had been taken. By now the other three women would have arrived at my nexus and Annalíse would soon be there as well.
I wondered how they would react to me. I had never spoken to any of my visitors before, but I was sure that having a discussion with a disembodied presence would be a lot to take in. I wasn’t even sure of how my voice sounded anymore. Over the years I had grown accustomed to my own silence and had been entertained by the verbal exchanges of the adventurers who had come to call. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d held a conversation.
I quickly pushed the thoughts aside. None of these things mattered. What mattered was that the women agreed to my terms, and given what I had put them all through, I was sure that they would readily agree to be my minions.
As I neared my nexus, I heard the women’s voices. My dwelling was at the center of my domain, and no one besides myself had ever entered it, so these women should be honored. As I hovered into the room, I observed each of them. They were all here, and my subordinates had done as I’d instructed. The women were pinned to one wall side by side. First Carmedy, then Rana, followed by Morrigan, and finally Annalíse. Their arms and legs were spread out but bound by no visible restraints. They were in fact constrained by my dark magic and paralyzed from the neck down though they wouldn’t know that. I settled before them and decided to let them continue to talk amongst themselves for a while before I revealed myself.
“Like I said, where are we?” a very damp Rana asked furiously. “And why can’t I move?”
“Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-we’re-gonna-die-and-we-didn’t-even-get-to-find- the-treasure-or-anything-and-we’re-gonna-get-eaten-by-goblins-and-they’re-gonna-make-a-coat-out-of-my-fur-and-” Carmedy’s words tumbled out of her mouth one after another like a frenzied waterfall.
“Carmedy, calm down,” Annalíse spoke to the cat calmly, but it was clear that she was still angered by their current situation. “Whoever it is, if they wanted to kill us, we’d already be dead.”
“Yeah,” Rana chimed in. “Besides, you’re much too small to make a coat. Maybe a matching hat and scarf ensemble.” Carmedy yelped in response.
“Cut it out, Rana,” Annalíse hissed. “Why would you even say that?”
“I believe that she does it to relieve otherwise tense or frightful situations,” Morrigan observed unfeelingly. “Both for those around her as well as for herself.”
“How very perceptive of y
ou.” Rana smirked at the elf.
“If this was intended to be a compliment, I accept it,” Morrigan said simply.
“No, I… never mind.” Rana sighed. “Anyway, anyone know what happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Carmedy whispered. Her green eyes were wide with fear. “I was talking to you guys, and the next thing I knew, I was getting carried off by invisible people. They lifted me up to this wall, and I haven’t been able to move since.”
“I too experienced this.” Morrigan nodded as her ravens nestled against her hooded head.
“I’d have called you both crazy if I hadn’t seen it for myself,” Rana said with a frown. “As for me, I was running across the water to try to get to Morrigan and then these… these things grabbed me. The water was shallow at first, but then when they started to pull at me, it was like the water became deeper all of a sudden. I thought I was going to drown. I must have passed out. When I woke up, I was here with Carmedy. What about you, Annalíse?”
“I was attacked by an army of skeletons,” Annalíse said simply. Carmedy and Rana gaped at her while Morrigan raised a white eyebrow.
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Rana nodded her head in acceptance.
I sensed a momentary break in the conversation. Now would be the perfect time.
“Pardon me,” I said after clearing my throat. The women’s heads snapped to attention, and they turned frantically in every possible direction in search of the owner of the voice.
“Did you guys hear something?” Annalíse asked as her brown eyes carefully scanned the room.
“I th-think I did,” Carmedy said with a shiver. Morrigan silently nodded in agreement and squinted her onyx eyes at the empty space before them.
“Well, there’s no one else here,” Rana said. “Maybe it was the wind in the tunnels or something.”
“Maybe…” Annalíse said slowly. “But I could have sworn that I heard someone speak.”
“Yes, you did indeed,” I began again. My voice sounded so strange and gravelly, but then again, I hadn’t spoken in centuries. “Now, I hate to intrude, but there are matters which we must discuss. Allow me to introduce myself, I am--” My introduction was abruptly interrupted by a series of Carmedy’s eardrum-piercing screams.
“Oh my god, there’s another one of those invisible things in here!” Carmedy wailed. “Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god!” The other three women whirled around in a state of panic. Even Morrigan looked uneasy, and her birds cawed and beat their wings nervously.
“Who’s there?” Annalíse called out in her distinctive raspy voice.
“If you would allow me to speak, I shall tell you--”
“Where are you?” Rana snarled. “Why can’t we see you?”
“If you would stop interrupting me, I will explain, Rana,” I said with an impatient sigh. “And Carmedy, please stop screaming. I mean you no harm. I only wish to speak with you all.”
Carmedy’s cries were abruptly cut off at the mention of her name, and her ears lay flat against her short black hair. The cat’s olive-toned face suddenly took on a sickly hue, while the red-headed fox looked repulsed.
“Wait, how do you know our names?” Rana raised a red eyebrow suspiciously.
“I have been observing you from the moment you entered my dungeon.”
“Okay, so you’ve been lurking around all invisible-like and watching us this whole time?” Rana said in disbelief.
“Not lurking, observing,” I corrected.
“Yeah, that’s not creepy at all...” the fox mumbled. “And what’s this business about meaning us no harm?” Rana raised her voice in agitation. “You sent goblins to attack us, and then you sent a whole bunch of who-knows-what to kidnap us.”
“And yet here you are, uninjured. Partially due to your own skill, but mostly due to my mercy.”
“Mercy? Listen, you--”
“Rana, hold on,” Annalíse interjected. “Let’s hear what he has to say.” As she spoke, she gazed around the room curiously, and I knew I had piqued her interest. “Anyway, we’re unable to move, so we might as well listen.”
The fox gaped at the human woman in disbelief. Then she finally released a groan, and the inaudible words that she mumbled were accompanied by a massive eye roll.
“Thank you, Annalíse.” I sighed in relief. Now we were getting somewhere.
“We’ve all heard the rumors that dungeons are actually living beings,” the freckled warrior said with a nod to her companions. “But I never imagined that it was actually true.”
“The dungeon is not alive exactly… I am an underdark deity, or rather I used to be.” A hint of anguish dripped from my voice. “I was once an all-powerful god, but I was cast out of the heavenly realms and banished to earth.” Since the women could not see me, they gazed in the general direction from which my voice was coming from. “Many other gods were exiled to earth as I was. As you know, there are numerous other dungeons scattered across the various continents.” Annalíse and Carmedy nodded in response while Morrigan simply gave me her usual stoic expression. Rana looked off to the side to feign disinterest, but the twitch of her ears told me otherwise. “When we collided with the earth,” I continued, “Dungeons erupted from the ground as a result. Each dungeon is home to a fallen god such as I, though they are not nearly as powerful as I am.” I felt a swell of pride when I uttered these words. At the same time, I wondered if the women before me believed my words. I paused for a moment to study my captives’ reactions. I received a variety of responses.
Carmedy’s mouth hung open in awe. Annalíse’s expression was serious, and she seemed to be carefully considering each word. Morrigan’s pale face looked puzzled, but she listened quietly and respectfully, while Rana, on the other hand, scoffed and grunted at words.
“You really expect us to believe that?” Rana sneered. “You would have to be a complete idiot to--”
“Shh!” Annalíse hissed at the fox. She nodded for me to continue.
“As I was saying, my power is great. However, I am confined to these walls. You see, hundreds of years ago, I attempted to overtake the other dungeons and absorb their masters’ power. But evidently the Holy Band of Mages felt that nothing good could come of one being having so much power, and they banded together to imprison me here in my own dungeon.”
“I see. The mages are known to be quite powerful.” Morrigan narrowed her eyes, and one of her ravens rubbed its head against her cheek. She had bristled at the mention of the mages, and I detected a note of bitterness in her voice when she spoke, but the pale elf offered no explanation.
“Aww you poor thing,” Carmedy said with a sympathetic pout. “See, guys? I was right, there was someone trapped here after all! Well, he’s not a wizard but still! Oh, not that I’m happy that you’re stuck here,” the petite cat said with an apologetic smile.
“Thank you for your kind words, Carmedy,” I said politely. I found her temperament to be amiable and sweet, unlike a certain hot-headed fox who interrupted me every few seconds.
“Hundreds of years, huh?” Rana said as if on cue. “No wonder we can’t see him, he’s probably turned to dust. Just how old are you?” the fox-eared woman said with a huge smirk plastered across her face. Carmedy’s lips curled into a smile, and she stifled a giggle.
“My age is of no consequence,” I said with a slight groan. “We are straying from the topic. Now then, on to the reason why I have brought you all here. I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition? That’s rich,” Rana said with a smirk. “I’m all ears, mister… mister… what’s your name, anyway? I’d at least like to know the name of the great and all-powerful deity that kidnapped us.” I could see that Rana’s fiery personality was going to a challenge, but I returned the words that she spat at me without hostility and instead responded with an air of composure.
“My name is unimportant. You may call me Master.”
“Master?” Rana snorted and tossed her damp bangs to the side. “You’ve got
to be kidding me. You are joking, right? You know what, this isn’t really happening. I hit my head on something in the caves, and I got knocked out, and I’m dreaming. There isn’t some invisible man in front of me claiming to be a fallen god and telling me to call him m--”
“I am not joking,” I interrupted. “And this is not a dream. All of what I have told you is true and very much real. I have shown you my power. You have seen what I am capable of. You should be honored to call me Master. You will accept this in time.”
“Yeah, right,” Rana grumbled.
“As I said, I have a proposition. I believe that we can be of some use to each other.”
“How so?” Annalíse and Morrigan said in unison.
“As you can see, I have no physical body at present, but I am capable of creating one. If you agree to accompany my avatar to the other dungeons that are scattered across the realms, you will have a powerful being to help guide you through the dungeons’ obstacles. I will take you on as my minions and train you and help you to overcome your various weaknesses and shortcomings. I will claim each of the dungeon masters’ powers, and you will have all the fame, glory, and riches that your hearts desire. Does this arrangement appeal to you?”
“I’m still stuck on the bit about weaknesses and shortcomings.” Rana narrowed her eyes. “And this minion stuff, not gonna happen. I’m not agreeing to be someone’s lackey.”
“I think it sounds cool,” Carmedy purred excitedly. “I get to be a minion! Hi, I’m Carmedy, minion to the master of darkness.” The cat deepened her voice for dramatic effect. “No, wait. Behold, I am Carmedy, minion to the master of darkness.” She was making light of a rather serious matter, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at the introduction that the cat had invented for herself.
Annalíse had been silent for the majority of the conversation as had Morrigan. The dark-eyed elf’s face was blank as usual, but Annalíse’s freckled face was twisted into an expression that betrayed that she was deep in thought. She was quiet for a few more moments while Rana and Carmedy went back and forth about their new status as minions. Finally, Annalíse cleared her throat, and the women stopped their chatter.
