Pawly meowed and jumped off Cyra’s lap, getting ready to go.
Stern went to Cyra’s side. “This bag is yours. It has a bedroll, blankets, and other odds and ends. There’s a dagger inside, too. I didn’t care for the staves they had at the general store.”
Cyra looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. “I’m trying to accept it.”
Stern gave her a soft smile, setting the bag by her feet. “A gift for my friend and crew member.”
Cyra’s breath stopped for a second before she closed her eyes and nodded. “Okay.”
Picking up his bag, he didn’t bother securing the lower straps. “On to the inn and some hot food, a hot bath, and a little relaxation. Tomorrow, we go into a dungeon.”
Cyra stood and picked up her bag. “A bath sounds nice.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Waking to a warm vibration on his chest, Stern snorted when he opened his eyes and saw Pawly staring at him. “Glad you’re normal-sized,” Stern told her. “I’m awake. Come on, let’s get your food.”
Pawly yawned, stood up, and stretched. Stern hissed when her sharp claws pricked his chest and all of her weight shifted to her back legs on his gut. Then, she jumped down, pushing farther into his stomach.
“If you weren’t so damned cute...” Stern muttered. He checked his chest and found several small pinpricks with drops of blood.
Getting out of bed, he fed her and did his stretches. He was just finishing getting dressed when a knock came on his door. “Be right there!” he called out.
Once he got the door open, he found Cyra standing in the hall. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” Cyra said. “Do I bring the backpack to the dungeon?”
“We might want to. We’ll be taking them with us for some dungeons, and I need to get used to carrying it all the time, anyway. I was lazy for the first few dungeons, but Mom always said ‘train as you’d fight.’”
“I’ll go get it,” Cyra said before looking past him. “Good morning, Pawly.”
Pawly meowed as she continued to eat her kibble.
“We’ll see you downstairs for breakfast,” Stern told Cyra.
“I’ll hurry,” Cyra said, rushing back to her room.
Stern picked up his bag, which he’d set by the door after feeding Pawly. “Come on. We’ll go get breakfast ordered.”
Chuffing, Pawly strutted past him, clearly happy.
He didn’t sling the bag on, instead using the carry-handle to bring it with him. The inn was a little busier than he expected as he set his bag by a table and moved a chair for Pawly to get into.
The innkeeper stiffened for a second upon seeing him before exhaling. “Two breakfasts, right?” When Stern nodded, the innkeeper went on, “Tea okay?”
“Anything hot will be appreciated,” Stern said. “I’ll be glad when winter is over.”
“You should get used to the cold and snow if you’re going north, Walker,” the innkeeper barked a laugh.
“I know,” Stern said.
Cyra came down the stairs and took an empty seat beside Pawly, setting her bag beside her chair. “Did you already order?”
“Yeah.”
“Umm... about the bag? Mine isn’t as heavy as yours.”
“It’s not,” Stern agreed. “We’ll put more into it in time, but we need to build you up first. I might look like skin pulled over bones, but I have decent muscle.”
Cyra looked away from him. “You look like what they say blighted look like.”
“They aren’t wrong,” Stern said tightly. “I’m not blighted, I’m just an irregular, but people judge off looks first. If you saw the same man in a nice set of clothing or rags, your first opinion of him is colored by that.”
“Oh, I guess you’re right.”
“Mom talked about it a lot. The way a person looks, their clothing, their stance, all speak to the subconscious mind.”
Cyra looked at her clothing. “I’m sad that I’m wearing this again.”
“Yeah, but we’ll get your other clothing soon. The ones you wore yesterday aren’t great for a run. I can just imagine a bramble dungeon and that skirt.”
“Oh… right,” Cyra said slowly, imagining it.
“Your food,” the young man said, placing their plates on the table before putting a kettle and two mugs down.
“Thank you,” Cyra smiled.
“Thanks,” Stern added a bit stiffly.
As the man walked away, Cyra gave Stern a questioning look.
Stern sighed. “I have a hard time being cordial when people feel certain ways.”
Cyra didn’t reply verbally— she just nodded and poured the tea for them.
~*~*~
The dungeon was natural stone. A stream bisected it and continued down the tunnel. Pawly glanced around as she waited for her improvements.
“Possible water threat,” Stern muttered as his fingers and hands wove the three patterns to improve Pawly. “Of course, the stream could just be a hindrance and distraction.”
Cyra pulled her dagger from her belt and focused on using her perk to see if there were any threats nearby. “It’s just us in the room.”
“The first room is supposed to be free of danger to allow a crew to get their things together, but checking is never a bad thing,” Stern said.
“I’ll check every time, just to be sure,” Cyra said. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to hope that, since this is still one of the first three, we won’t be ambushed from behind. Pawly goes first, I’ll be behind her, and you’ll follow me. Don’t trail far, though— I want to be close enough to help if something does attack you.”
Cyra took a steadying breath. “Okay.”
“Pawly, we’re following you,” Stern told her.
Pawly chuffed and started away, slinking along as quietly as she could.
When they reached the tunnel, Cyra shook her head. “Nothing that I can sense. This tunnel seems wider than it should be.”
“Because of the stream,” Stern said. “We could easily jump it, if need be. The fact that it’s divided down the middle worries me some… it could mean that there’d be danger on one side at a time.”
“What do we do?” Cyra asked.
“We’ll stay on this side for now and see what happens. Go ahead, Pawly.”
As they walked down the tunnel, Stern was surprised that Pawly’s illusionary image never ended up standing over the water. He was pretty certain that it was going ahead and behind her instead of side to side.
The twisting tunnel led them to another room, where the stream formed a small pond in the middle. They stopped at the entrance and Cyra used her perk.
“One in the pond,” she whispered.
Stern eyed the room for a long minute. “I don’t see the trick. If the creature is only in the pond, it must come out of the water at some point. We’ll have to hold here. Pawly, you good?”
Pawly chuffed then slunk forward, ready to attack whatever was waiting for them.
She made it about halfway across the room when the pond surged and a three-foot, scaled monster came out of the water. A third of the beast was a toothed snout that snapped angrily at Pawly. Eight scale-clad legs propelled it through the spot Pawly’s image had been in.
“Gatorlisk?” Stern asked the air as he stared at the creature.
Pawly’s tentacles lashed out, scoring along the creature’s hide. They barely dug in, but they still scratched deep enough to make it bleed. The image of Pawly leapt sideways as the beast spun. Its tail— a big, flat paddle-shaped thing— swished through the air as it did.
“It’s fast,” Cyra said with horror.
“Yeah,” Stern had to agree.
Pawly had to keep moving as the gatorlisk snapped and spun toward where it was being hit. She was barely able to stay out of the way as she kept lashing it with her tentacles. After a few more passes, the gatorlisk began to bleed heavily— Pawly’s continued attacks opened the wounds wider and wider.
With a loud
hiss, the gatorlisk started to run back to the pond, blood gushing from it. Its tail swung back and forth as it went, trying to keep Pawly away from it. Pawly leapt over the tail and landed firmly onto its back, all four of her muscular legs digging in. The gatorlisk hissed again, shuddering as it stumbled.
Stern rushed out of the tunnel when he saw the creature get closer to the pond. It wasn’t dead yet and, if it dragged Pawly into the water, it might be able to turn the battle enough to hurt her.
Cyra gasped when he rushed away from her. She hesitated for a few seconds before running after him, her hand white on the dagger.
Pawly saw the gatorlisk lurch toward the water and sprang away from it. She didn’t expect Stern to be running toward her, so she collided with him, as he could only see her double. Stern suddenly collapsing in front of her shocked Cyra until Pawly appeared on top of him.
Pawly withdrew all of her claws and did her best to roll off him. Stern groaned and lay there, gasping, his breath having been driven out of him. Cyra went to her knees beside him, looking for injuries.
“Where are you hurt?” Cyra asked worriedly.
“Air...” Stern wheezed.
Pawly yowled and went to the edge of the pond, glaring into the depths. The water was slowly growing pinker as the gatorlisk bled into it. She slapped the surface to taunt the creature to come back to her.
With Stern looking better with each second, Cyra used her perk and exhaled when she felt the life vanish. “It’s dead,” she told them.
Pawly snorted and splashed the water again, clearly upset.
“Good,” Stern wheezed as he sucked air. “She weighs more than I thought.”
Pawly growled as she came back to him.
“You do,” he argued. Touching his ribs, he didn’t feel pain. “Nothing broken or bruised, though. You just winded me.”
Pawly growled and turned her back to him.
“He didn’t mean it in a mean way,” Cyra said to Pawly. “You slammed into him. Maybe he mistook your speed for weight?”
Pawly stayed silent, looking away from them.
“Yeah, must’ve been the velocity of you jumping away,” Stern said, rolling his eyes.
Pawly glanced back at him before turning her head away again.
Stern started to sit up and motioned Cyra to wait, then whimpered and slumped back. “Oh, Goddess that hurts.”
“What? Are you okay?” Cyra asked worriedly, not having understood his hand signal.
Pawly looked back, seeing Stern holding his ribs. With a soft yowl, she hesitated.
“Is one of them broken after all?” Cyra asked, her concern growing.
“It aches,” Stern said, his eyes nearly closed as he watched Pawly.
Pawly meowed softly, standing up and going to him.
When she got close enough, Stern opened his eyes and smirked. “See? I can play hurt, too.”
Pawly hissed and slapped him with a tentacle, keeping the claws withdrawn.
Stern laughed and sat up. “Yeah, I deserve that, but so do you.”
Cyra just blinked at him. A hint of anger rose in her as her concern faded. “I thought you were injured,” she said with a trace of heat.
Stern lowered his head. “Sorry. I tried to warn you.”
Cyra thought back to his actions before he started complaining and her anger faded as her embarrassment rose. “Oh... that’s what that meant.”
“Yeah, but you have reason to be mad, just as Pawly does. Go ahead,” Stern said, turning his cheek to her. “Your turn.”
Cyra just looked at him. “I can’t slap you.”
“Okay, your lo—” Stern started to say.
Pawly’s tentacle slapped him again.
Grabbing his face, Stern looked at Pawly in shock.
Pawly moved to Cyra and chuffed, headbutting her.
Cyra began to laugh and gave Pawly a hug. “Thank you.”
Stern snorted out a laugh a second later, as the slap hadn’t been hard. “Okay, that’s fair, but no more sulking, Pawly. The truth is that, in your bigger form, you weigh more. It’s just fact. Besides, you still look sleek.”
“He’s not wrong. You aren’t fat— you’re just all muscle and fluff.”
“And muscle weighs more, as Mom used to say,” Stern added.
Pawly chuffed and began cleaning her paws.
Getting to his feet, Stern exhaled. “Okay, we know what we have in here. Cyra, we’ll want you to check each tunnel and room.”
“I will.”
“Pawly, you’re on point again. The sooner we get done, the sooner we’re out and back at the inn for food.”
Pawly chuffed and trotted to the next tunnel.
~*~*~
Stern looked into the last room and exhaled. A dozen rooms and fifteen gatorlisks… we were lucky that they only came out one at a time. The ones in the hall were the worst... until now. We have this to deal with now, he thought.
“Okay,” Stern exhaled. “Pawly, this one is going to be rough.”
“It’s twice the size of the others,” Cyra said. “Is that normal for bosses?”
“If it’s a single creature boss, then it’s always noticeably bigger, has other advantages, or both. The other problem is that we aren’t positive there aren’t others in the pond behind it, since it’s so far away. Some bosses have smaller minions to help break the group’s attention.”
Cyra swallowed. “You think that’s true here?”
“It’s a possibility. We’ll have to go in enough for you to scan the far side of the room once Pawly gets the boss’ attention. As soon as you know, we rush back here. I’ll throw two of my daggers, Pawly, but again, this is mostly you.”
Pawly chuffed, leaning forward and wiggling her butt.
“Okay,” Stern said, drawing his second dagger. “After you.”
~*~*~
The fight wasn’t as bad as Stern feared it would be. The gatorlisk managed to clip Pawly with its tail once and sent her flying, but Cyra used her newest perk to heal the damage. Pawly almost got hit again, as she’d been unable to dodge while injured, but the healing let her slide away from the follow-up attack. After that, Pawly was able to evade every attack aimed at her.
Cyra got into the room and back out without being hit, letting them know it was just the boss in there. Stern’s daggers were a mixed bag— one sank in while the other only glanced off the creature’s toughened skin.
In the end, Pawly bled the boss to death. It tried to get back to the pond when it started to die, but Pawly kept raking it with her back legs, only getting off just before it slipped into the water.
When the orb appeared a minute later, Stern exhaled and entered the room. “I owe you your own fish tonight,” he told Pawly.
Pawly chuffed and preened.
“I feel bad that she’s doing all the work,” Cyra said.
“I understand,” Stern said. “Once we move past the lead dungeons, we’ll have to do more. We’ll also have to join another group or get others to join us. When that happens, it won’t be her doing all the work, anymore.”
Pawly sneezed.
“It won’t, though I’m sure you’ll still do plenty,” Stern chuckled.
“Perk, loot, and then back to the inn?” Cyra asked, looking at the floating orb.
“That’s the plan. After you,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-five
Ria smiled at them. “Another dungeon down. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Cyra smiled back. “Without Stern and Pawly, though, I wouldn’t even be alive to make the attempt. That’s not even considering that they’re the ones doing all the work in the dungeon.”
“Not all the work,” Stern clarified. “Your Life Sense perk is making things much easier. We’d probably have been ambushed by one or two of the mobs if not for you.”
“So everyone in the crew is contributing, as it should be,” Ria nodded.
“All of my points go to him,” Cyra said.
“Very well,” Ria
bowed her head. “Did you want to pick your perks first or let him spend his points?”
“Perks,” Stern said. “It’s always better to do perks first because it might dictate what loot you want.”
“Few think in that way, but it’s normally what the most experienced Walkers do,” Ria grinned.
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