Dungeon Master 3

by Eric Vall

  Chapter 1

  “I’m going to ask you three a simple question,” I said threateningly, and one by one, I made eye contact with each of the quivering soldiers before me. “Do you know of a sorcerer called Tuzakeur?”

  Whether out of loyalty or sheer terror due to their present situation or quite possibly a combination of both, the men didn’t respond to my question. Instead, the armored men cried out desperately as they yanked and writhed against the shackles that chained their outstretched bodies to the cold, blood-stained stone walls.

  I didn’t need them to answer me.

  I only needed to ignite the spark of thought so that I could plunder their memories.

  I stared into each man’s eyes. Even in the darkness within the small putrid-smelling holding cell, I could see the fear that welled up within them.

  As I proceeded to scan my captives’ memories, images quickly flashed across my mind. I could see the soldiers’ meetings with Alistair, the former king of Valasara that had not too long ago been vanquished by my hand. I could see their battles with the rebel army who had replaced the royal forces they had once been a part of. All at once, each of the pictures briefly flashed the same image, a tall figure in hooded black robes that moved and curled around him as though the garment were made of smoke. Draped around his shoulders was a long cape of ravens’ feathers that cascaded down his back and spilled onto the surrounding ground.

  Tuzakeur. So, this was what the dark sorcerer looked like.

  The sorcerer’s face was obscured, but his piercing red eyes glowed from beneath his hood. His spindly, almost skeletal like fingers clutched an obsidian staff, the top of which was curved and carved to resemble a dragon’s head with jaws agape. And there was something behind him that I couldn’t see clearly… some sort of structure.

  Suddenly, the pictures turned blurry and gradually faded to black. One by one, the soldiers before me started to convulse violently. Their mouths gaped open, and their eyes rolled back into their heads as their bodies shuddered uncontrollably. The chains that bound them rattled and clanked with their convulsions as streams of blood flowed from their eyes like crimson tears and poured from their noses and mouths to stain their chins.

  “Woops,” I sighed as their bodies began to explode from my magic.

  Though their mouths were stuck open, no sound escaped them, and the color drained from their faces to give their skin a ghost-like hue. The soldiers’ convulsions grew more and more violent as their bodies thrashed against the wall like manic puppets, until finally, their heads burst.

  Blood and brain matter splattered against the stone surfaces of the cell, adding to the stains of death that were already smeared there. The men’s headless corpses hung slack against their shackles as blood poured from their severed necks. I sighed as I wiped the blood that had sprayed onto my cheek and walked over to release their bonds. I pulled a small key from my pocket and casually tossed it up and down in my hand. Upon reaching the soldiers, I paused to look down at their bloodied decapitated corpses and shook my head with dissatisfaction as I stuck the key into one of the shackles.

  This was all getting rather tedious. While I had made some progress, my excavation of the soldiers’ memories hadn’t been as fruitful as I had hoped. I had only managed to get a clearer image of Tuzakeur in the process, nothing more.

  As the chains were removed, the soldiers thudded to the floor to join the steadily growing piles of headless corpses already within the holding cell. I had hoped to learn more about the sorcerer Tuzakeur, but it seemed however that he had put a magical lock of sorts on the minds of the soldiers as a precaution, and my new magical power wasn’t quite developed enough to plunder without triggering his protective enchantments.

  I made my way over to the holding cell’s heavy wooden door and knocked on it twice. Within seconds, I heard a metallic click of the key turning inside of it, and the door soon creaked open.

  “Did you get anything?” Rana poked her curly red head around the door. Then her blue eyes met with the empty shackles on the wall, and her gaze shifted down to the newly decapitated soldiers on the ground. The fox-tailed woman released a groan upon the sight and threw her head back in frustration.

  “Well I-” I began to explain.

  “Oh, fantastic!” The fox thief interrupted, and she threw her paws up in the air as she walked into the room. “Another gory explosion and more beheaded bums to add to the collection.”

  “I know,” I said as I wiped away another stray splatter of blood from my face. “I think I’m getting closer though. Just before the pictures faded, I saw a clearer image of Tuzakeur, and there was something behind him, but I couldn’t quite make it out.”

  “I already know what the guy looks like.” Rana puffed her bangs from her face and stuffed her paws into her trouser pockets as she leaned against a wall. “Well, sort of. I never saw his face because of that hood, but you know what I mean. That doesn’t really help.”

  “It’s progress though,” I said. “Each time I’ve managed to see a little more. So, send in the next group.”

  “Uh, that was the last group,” the fox-tailed woman snorted as she nodded to the most recent men I’d interrogated.

  “Are you certain?” I furrowed my brow.

  “Yeah, we rounded up all the stragglers that were hiding around the palace,” Rana replied. “Real brave of them, I might add. We all made a thorough search, there aren’t any left.”

  “I suppose that’s it then.” I sighed as I walked out of the dark cell and closed the door behind the beautiful fox-girl.

  “I appreciate you trying,” Rana said as we walked toward the stone steps that led to the upper level of the palace. As we strode by, Rana scrunched her nose at the rats that squeaked and skittered by.

  “You’re welcome,” I said as we climbed up the steps. “It’s just unfortunate that we ran out of prisoners before I found out more.”

  Rana shook her head. “You know, I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that you said something that dark and disturbing so nonchalantly or the fact that I’m completely unbothered by it. I need to stop hanging around you so much. Morrigan too.” The fox let out a dry chuckle.

  “Is that so?” I raised an eyebrow in amusement.

  “Yeah, you guys are starting to affect my mind with all that doom and gloom,” Rana said with a laugh. “Before you know it, I’ll be wearing a dark cloak and chanting over a bowl of lamb’s blood under the light of a full moon or something. Anyhow, like I said, thanks for trying. It looks like we really can’t take a shortcut. We’ll just have to find all the sacred objects before we deal with Tuzakeur.”

  When I had first heard of the dark sorcerer Tuzakeur, I knew him only as the vile man who had kidnapped Rana’s family and forced the fox woman to steal the all-powerful sacred objects for him. I had assumed him to be nothing more than an insignificant conjurer of cheap tawdry tricks, but the more that I learned about him, the more I realized that was not at all the case. He was not only malevolent, he was very powerful and quite cunning. A very dangerous combination.

  I was looking forward to meeting him.

  Tuzakeur had surrounded the former king’s palace with a nearly impenetrable magical barrier and had gifted the king a gem that had transformed him into a monstrous snake beast. Now, I knew that he’d also blocked the minds of the king’s soldiers. Tuzakeur was crafty and dangerous, but I would put a stop to him in time.

  “No matter what, his days are numbered,” I said darkly as I pushed open the door at the top of the stairs. “We’ll still try to keep an eye out for any information on him and his whereabouts.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Rana nodded as we stepped onto the palace’s main floor. “If there’s any way we can skip this glorified treas
ure hunt that he’s got me on and just end him, I’m all for it.”

  Fortunately for Tuzakeur, we had no clue as to his location, the purpose of my interrogations had been to extract such information. The sorcerer had cast a spell that prevented Rana from finding him until she collected all the sacred objects. Only then would she be summoned to him. Since my questioning of the soldiers had proved unsuccessful, it seemed that we would have to continue searching for the sacred objects. At least for now.

  Now that we were on the palace’s main level, our dark, dank surroundings had been traded for flawless opulence. The massive palace was lavish in every sense of the word. The seemingly endless network of hallways had gleaming white marble floors and large vibrant tapestries depicting great wars decorated the walls. The ceilings were in themselves masterful works of art, their surfaces covered in the images of goddesses in various scenes of nature. There were countless busts of former rulers lining the halls that we navigated our way through, and fragrant spices hung in the air.

  Rana inhaled the scent deeply as we walked along. “Looks like Carmedy persuaded Kala to cook up some zendabii again.”

  “I think you’re right.” I chuckled. “Let’s see what other dishes she convinced him to make this time, that is, if there’s anything left.”

  When we arrived at the end of the hall, I pushed open a set of heavy wooden doors trimmed in gold. Before us lay the dining room. Here too were immaculate marble floors and more colorful tapestries on the walls. At the center of the room was a long wooden table crafted from mahogany wood covered in platters of food and seated at the far end were the rest of my minions.

  “Hi, guys!” Carmedy waved excitedly as she bit into a juicy hunk of zendabii meat. The food-loving feline alchemist devoured the meat she held in one hand as she reached for more food to stack on to her already overflowing plate with the other. Her white peasant dress and green bodice had their usual multi-colored stains from her various chemicals and medicinal ingredients, but presently, they were joined by breadcrumbs and what looked like mustard.

  “I see you’ve already started dinner without us,” I observed as I sat down beside Morrigan and helped myself to the lush looking-spread. There was zendabii meat, a local delicacy, roasted mutton, soup, various cheeses, fresh fruit, and other tantalizing offerings.

  “Sorry, we couldn’t wait.” Carmedy giggled as she sopped up some gravy on her plate with a chunk of brown bread.

  “You mean you couldn’t wait,” Annalíse said with a shake her head that sent her braid dancing. “Carmedy, you don’t have to wolf everything down. The food isn’t going anywhere. And please, will you use your napkin, or at least an eating utensil of some sort? You’ve got food and sauce all over you.”

  Unlike the less-than-tidy cat who frequently ate with her hands, Annalíse always had to have cleanliness and order. As usual, the princess turned warrior maintained a pristine appearance. The swordswoman’s chestnut colored hair was pulled into a neat braid that rested on one shoulder, and her tunic, fitted black pants, and boots were totally spotless.

  “No thanks, cutlery will just slow me down,” Carmedy said through a mouthful of food as her green eyes greedily roamed over the contents of the table. “I’m just absolutely starving though. I haven’t eaten since--”

  “An hour ago,” Morrigan interrupted in her emotionless tone before raising an eyebrow. “It is a wonder to me that you are capable of consuming even more food after that… snack as you called it,” the elf scrunched her nose ever so slightly. Fea and Macha, the pet ravens that sat perched on her cloaked shoulders, nestled against their master’s hooded head and cawed as though in support.

  “Oh, that was nothing.” Carmedy casually waved the chicken leg in her hand and licked the fingers on her other hand.

  “Nothing?” Annalíse gave a raspy grunt of disbelief. “You ate three apple pies in one sitting.”

  “I cannot comprehend such eating habits.” Morrigan calmly reached a pale tattooed hand to delicately spoon up some of the vegetable soup into her white porcelain bowl that was trimmed in a gold floral design.

  “Well, I like to think of it this way,” Carmedy explained with a grin “If I’m going on all these amazing adventures, I might as well let my stomach enjoy the ride!”

  “What a philosophy.” Rana chuckled as she brushed the crumbs from Carmedy’s short black hair and furry ears before she sat down beside her. The fox picked up a cloth napkin and tucked it into the top of her cream-colored shirt and smoothed it over her dark blue vest.

  “Ah, here you all are,” a thick Valasarian voice called from behind me, and I turned to see Makar walking toward us with a wide grin. The former rebel leader, now my right-hand man, stroked his full black beard. His deep red robe trimmed in a gold scroll border billowed around him as he approached.

  “Would you care to join us?” I motioned for him to sit down.

  “Thank you very much.” Makar nodded, and he sat down beside me and started to fill a plate. “I see that Kala has outdone himself yet again.”

  Kala, formerly one of Makar’s top men in the rebel army, had turned out to be quite the cook.

  “I’ll say,” Carmedy said elatedly. The feline pressed her fingers to her now empty plate to pick up any remaining crumbs and then immediately started to refill her plate.

  “I am glad to hear that you enjoy Kala’s cooking,” Makar chuckled.

  “Now that we’re all here, now would be a good time to finish talking over our plans to go to Tamarisch,” I said to everyone.

  “Indeed,” the bearded man said. “I recall that you said you wished to overthrow the Tamarisch kingdom. Do you wish for me to send your new army to aid you in this venture?”

  “There’s no need.” I raised my hand. “I’ll use whatever I find in the dungeons that we conquer. That should be sufficient.”

  “As you wish, master” Makar nodded, but his eyes grew bigger when I said the word ‘dungeon.’ He was still in awe of my history and only became more reverent in his mannerisms toward me when I explained to him that I was a fallen god.

  “Speaking of conquering,” Rana chimed in, “when are we leaving for Tamarisch to conquer said dungeons?”

  “We’ll set out tomorrow,” I replied before I took a sip of wine from the goblet in front of me. “Makar, I’d like you to book passage for the five of us on the next ship and see about any other necessary preparations.”

  “Understood, Master,” the bearded man said.

  “There is a problem that I’d like to discuss.” Annalíse cleared her throat, and the rest of us turned to give the princess our attention. “Throughout our travels, we’ve journeyed from dungeon to dungeon passing through various towns and such, but that’s not going to work for me once we get to Tamarisch. I can’t just travel out in the open, someone is bound to recognize me.”

  “Hmm, I see what you mean,” Rana mumbled.

  “Oh, I know! Maybe you can wear a disguise or something,” Carmedy suggested enthusiastically.

  “I don’t think that’s going to work, Carmedy.” Annalíse shook her head. “It’s too risky anyhow.”

  “She’s right.” Rana chuckled. “She’s the princess, people are going to be more than a little familiar with what she looks like, and even more people will know what she looks like because of the reward out for her return.”

  “Okay, maybe she could wear some kind of mask then?” The feline shrugged her shoulders.

  “Oh yeah, that’s not going to draw any unnecessary attention,” Rana said dryly as she put an elbow on the table and cupped her chin.

  I turned to the freckled woman. “Annalíse, tell me what you know about the dungeons on your continent. Perhaps they can provide some answers to this problem.”

  “I don’t have a lot of information on them,” Annalíse said with an apologetic wince. “I do know that most of them are extremely vast caverns, and they run quite deep. I’m sorry I’m not much help. You see, the dungeons on Tamarisch haven’t been ex
plored very much. Not many people have dared to venture inside of one, and as far as I know, no one has ever emerged from one alive. The deities, the monsters that they command, and the obstacles that have been put in place are supposed to be far more perilous than the others that we’ve encountered so far.”

  “Well, that’s comforting news.” Rana sighed and puffed her bangs out of her eyes defeatedly. “Annalíse can’t travel, and the dungeons that are waiting for us are like a thousand times worse than the others. Because the ones we’ve conquered so far were such total pieces of cake.” The fox groaned.

  “We can handle the dungeons,” I said with confidence. “As for the issue of Annalíse’s ability to travel, I believe I have a way around that.”

  “What is your solution?” Morrigan asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice, and the others looked at me expectantly.

  “You’ll all just have to wait until after we conquer the first dungeon.” I smiled. “I’ll explain then.”

  “You’re really going to make us wait?” Rana huffed. “Why not just tell us now?”

  “Be patient.” I gave the fox woman a wry grin.

  “You just want an opportunity to be dramatic, as usual,” the red-headed woman said with a roll of her eyes as she stabbed her fork into a piece of meat. “So typical of these deity types, if you ask me.”

  Carmedy, Makar, and I laughed heartily while an unenthused Morrigan quietly chatted with Fea and Macha. Annalíse’s lips formed a tight line, and she waited until our laughter had died down to speak.

  “Since we’re discussing the matter of my kingdom being overthrown, I think we should also discuss what’s going to be done about my father,” the freckled woman said in her raspy voice.

  “What do you mean?” Carmedy tilted her head to one side.

  “If my kingdom is overthrown, that means my father will no longer be High King,” Annalíse explained. “He would have to be killed in order for another to claim the throne.”

  “Can’t he just, you know, step down or something?” Carmedy asked. “Like maybe he could have a different job.”