Dungeon Master 3

by Eric Vall

  The Snokka’s eyes moved upward as it finally noticed the fox on its head, and its lips curled into a snarl. The hulking monster reached up a hand to its horns, but its fate had already been sealed. Before it could snatch her, Rana raised her paws and drove the dagger into the top of the Snokka’s head up to its hilt.

  A loud squishing sound echoed through the air as the blade drove into the soft spot of its skull, and the creature’s hairy arm froze in mid-grab. After a moment, its limb fell to its side, and the animal’s eyes rolled back in its head as its body swayed back and forth. Finally, the giant came crashing down like a felled tree, and the life faded from its eyes and its mouth slacked open.

  As its body fell, Rana leapt into the air, curled her frame into a tight ball, and somersaulted downward. The fox thief skillfully landed on the ground in a neat crouch with her leg extended to the side just as her defeated foe collided with the ground with a mighty boom.

  “Told you it would be easy.” Rana grinned at me as she pried her dagger from the monster’s head.

  “That’s not quite how I remember it, but job well done nonetheless, both of you,” I said to her and Carmedy. Then I turned to walk over to Morrigan to offer her due praise and noticed that the elf hadn’t moved an inch since she had killed the tiger.

  Morrigan still stared down at its body. Fea and Macha leapt from their master’s shoulders and fluttered down to rest on the corpse of the white-furred monster to feed on the wisps of soul energy rising up from the tiger’s body. Strangely enough, Morrigan didn’t seem pleased or even relieved that she had vanquished her furry foe. She looked upset.

  Typically, a small dark smile came to her lips or some other subtle sign that she had enjoyed tormenting her victim. This time had been different.

  “Morrigan, is there something wrong?” I said as I approached the tattooed woman. “Is there something the matter with Fea or Macha?”

  “Not at all.” The dark-eyed woman shook her head with a saddened look. “They are in fine health, and the tiger’s soul energy is an excellent source of sustenance for them.”

  “Then why do you look so troubled?” I asked.

  “I… I do not take pleasure in harming animals,” the elf said softly as she glanced at the tiger’s body with a pained look. “Ever since I was a child, I have always had a great affinity for animals. A soft spot, I believe is how humans would say it. I never had any elvish companions, nor did I have any other humanoid companions.”

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  Her gaze unfocused as she looked off into space. “The only company I ever had was that of the creatures in the forests of my realm. Even before I met Fea and Macha, I always talked to animals and found solace in conversing with them, even though they were not capable of responding to me. I seem to have a special connection with most creatures. They seem to have a way of understanding me, or at least I believe they do. I attempted to communicate with this tiger in an effort to spare its life. However, my attempts proved unsuccessful. It attacked me, and I had no choice but to retaliate.”

  “I understand your feelings,” I said and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, “but you did what had to be done. It’s just as you said, you had no choice.”

  “Thank you for your words of kindness.” The elf nodded her head slightly. “I just wish that I could have done something to make its passing painless, but each of the necromantic techniques that I have mastered cause unfathomable pain.”

  “I know,” I said softly as I gave the tattooed woman a hug. “Please don’t trouble yourself over this too much. We would all rather have you alive and well than that tiger.”

  Morrigan looked up at me with sorrow still brimming in her dark eyes, but a faint smile slowly came to her lips. “I am glad to hear this,” she said in a hushed voice.

  “Hey, you guys, look at this,” Rana shouted. We turned to see the red-headed fox hunched over as she examined the Snokka’s head.

  “What is it?” Annalíse said as she approached with the rest of us.

  “See for yourself,” Rana said and reached into the fur at the behemoth’s neck. She grunted and leaned back as she pulled hard at something. With a final tug, she yanked a thick piece of leather from beneath the Snokka’s matted fur.

  “It looks like a collar.” Carmedy tilted her head to one side. “Why would it be wearing a collar? Is it somebody’s pet or something?”

  “I don’t know about that,” Annalíse mumbled. “I can’t imagine someone having one of these things as a pet.”

  “Never mind all that.” Rana waved her paw absently. “Check this out.” Rana pushed back a section of fur to reveal a small pouch that was attached to the collar.

  “How strange.” Morrigan furrowed her brow ever so slightly.

  “Open it and see what’s inside,” I instructed Rana.

  “A please wouldn’t kill you, you know,” the fox-tailed woman said dryly, but she did as I commanded all the same. She reached down to undo the flap on the pouch and put her paw inside. To our surprise, she pulled out a small role of parchment yellowed with age.

  “What is it?” Carmedy asked as Rana unrolled the paper. “It sure looks old.”

  Rana was quiet for a moment as her blue eyes roamed across the parchment, and then they suddenly widened.

  “You guys aren’t going to believe this,” the curly-haired woman said as her lips curled into a wide grin. “This is a map of this whole dungeon.”

  “You’re not serious,” I said in disbelief.

  “I mean it,” Rana said excitedly as she turned the paper to show the rest of us. “It’s all right here clear as day. Here, see for yourself.”

  A quick study showed that she was indeed correct. The paper was covered in a maze-like map that depicted each dead end we knew of, the pit of spikes that Morrigan had mentioned, and at the spot where we were currently, there were even pictures of the monsters that we’d just defeated. Why would the deity of the dungeon have bothered to make a map and attach it to the creature’s collar? Was the map just some sort of wild goose chase that would lead to a trap? Or were they simply cocky enough to think that no one would survive to even retrieve the map.

  “I can’t believe this,” Annalíse breathed.

  “It gets better,” Rana said gleefully. “This map reveals the path to something. Look right here.” The fox pointed to a large red swirling symbol on the map. “Maybe it’s the location of a treasure horde or something.”

  “Even better,” I said with a sinister smile. “It’s the path to where the deity is located.”

  “What makes you think that?” Annalíse asked.

  “This symbol is from an ancient language,” I said to the swordswoman. “It means domain, and that smaller one off to the side of it means god. Together they mean god’s domain. Every deity has a space in their dungeon that they make their domain or nexus. We don’t just spend all of our time roaming about the tunnels after all. We have a space that we come back to.”

  “Well I don’t know about that being better than treasure,” Rana said with a wry grin, “but I suppose the deity technically has to be dealt with before we can get our hands on whatever spoils are in this place.”

  “Technically,” I said with a laugh. “We do have a certain order in which we do things.”

  “Yeah, I know, business first, fun stuff after.” The fox rolled her eyes. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about getting lost or having Fea and Macha search every single tunnel.”

  “Go ahead and lead the way. Please.” I gestured for the fox to step in front of me. “You are the map expert.”

  “Well, thank you for the ‘please’ good sir,” the fox-tailed woman said with a mock bow, and she took the map from my hands. “Glad to see that my services are appreciated.”

  The curly haired thief held the map in her paws and quietly stared down at the parchment for a few moments. Then she looked up and glanced around at each of the tunnels before she looked down at the map again. She turned to face a
different direction, looked up at the tunnels, and referenced the map again. She continued to glance back and forth between the map and the tunnels, and she’d occasionally mumble as she changed her position. After she’d repeated this process several times the fox woman finally stopped moving, and a satisfied smile came to her lips.

  “Okay, now I know where we are,” Rana said to the rest of us as she pointed to one of the far tunnels at the end of the cavern. “Looks like we need to take this one to start out.”

  “Let’s get going then,” I said. “After you,” I motioned for the fox to take the lead and she stepped around me.

  Rana led our group followed closely by myself and then the others as together we entered into the first tunnel. Without hesitation, she navigated us through the icy labyrinth, plunging into tunnel after tunnel to take us deeper and deeper into the dungeon. Left, right, left, then left again, then right came the turns before she continued straight for some time.

  “Are you able to determine how long it will take for us to arrive at our destination?” Morrigan asked after we’d been walking for several minutes.

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer,” Rana called over her shoulder. “This place is pretty big. I mean, we already guessed that, and the map only confirms it, but since we do have the map, things should go a lot quicker.”

  “I can already tell that we’re getting closer,” I said as we trekked onward. “I have finally started to sense the deity’s presence.” Part of me had wondered if the map that we’d discovered had been a hoax. Gods weren’t beneath trickery and deception after all, but now that I could sense the deity’s power, I knew now that the map was no fake.

  “Here,” Rana said at long last and brought our party to a halt in the passageway we were in. “This is it,” the red-headed woman said to us and pointed up to the top section of the wall near where it met with the ceiling. There was the red swirling symbol that had been depicted on the map.

  Here, the deity’s presence was stronger than ever, and I could feel the intense energy radiating toward me. My mouth watered with the thirst for their power and I couldn’t wait to tear it from their helpless clutches.

  I moved to step around Rana and lead the way into the next room. The tunnel opened up into a large circular cavern. The ceiling soared above our heads, and from the center of it was fixed an enormous chandelier crafted completely from ice. The fixture gleamed brightly, and narrow jewels hung from it, the very same kind of crystal that covered every ceiling in the dungeon and illuminated the place. At the far end of the cavern was a large double-sided staircase that curved into an arch and ended with a tall, arched doorway at the top.

  “Whoever lives here certainly has a flair for the dramatic,” Rana snorted as she glanced around. “This is pretty lavish if you ask me.”

  “I think it’s beautiful,” Carmedy said as she gazed at the sweeping staircase and let out a dreamy sigh. “It’s like something out of a fairy tale. I’m waiting for a princess to make a grand entrance and have one of those long dresses that cascade down the steps as she walks.”

  “Hey, Annalíse, why don’t you scamper up there and give us one of those grand entrances?” Rana gave the princess a wink. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice making them at all those fancy parties you’ve been to.”

  Annalíse wrinkled her nose at the fox woman and opened her mouth to offer a retort, but before she could, she was interrupted.

  “It’s about time you all got here,” a jovial male voice called out. It was light and crisp as though it belonged to a young man. “I was starting to get bored.”

  “Yes, it certainly took you long enough,” a second voice said. Though I thought it might be from another source, this second voice sounded exactly the same as the first. “Though I suppose you should be commended. The fact that you made it here at all is slightly impressive.” The voice let out an airy laugh.

  “Um, why is he talking to himself?” Carmedy asked the rest of us.

  “Who knows?” Rana shrugged her shoulders. “He’s probably just another weirdo.”

  “We’re not weirdos,” the voices said simultaneously in an offended tone, and the women blinked in surprise. I quickly put two and two together. This was an unexpected surprise, but really it would only make the battle all the more entertaining.

  Suddenly, two men emerged from behind the doorway at the top of the stairs. Their skin was pale like Morrigan’s, their short hair was platinum blond, and their eyes were a ghostly white. They then casually made their way down the staircase, one taking each end, and it became clear that the two men were completely identical. Their slender pointed noses, their long spotless white fur capes, and the white tunics that they wore beneath them, it all matched. They even walked down each step in unison.

  “They’re twins,” Carmedy whispered in shock as her eyes darted back and forth between the two deities.

  “How very observant of you,” the men said in unison. “Give the kitty a prize.”

  “Enough of the wisecracks.” Rana rolled her eyes. “We’re not amused.”

  “Very well,” the deity to the right said once they had reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “I must admit, I am a little more impressed than my brother at you having made it this far,” the left twin said with a smirk. “We get so few visitors here given the danger of our dungeon, and no one has ever made it very far. Most get lost in the labyrinth and end up dying inside of it.”

  “Yes, well, we got through thanks to the map we found on one of your… pets,” Annalíse glowered at the gods.

  “Ah, so you wandered into the chamber with the prehistoric beasts?” The deity to the right clasped his hands excitedly. “Wasn’t that fun? I wish I could have seen the looks on your faces.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call getting attacked by giant monsters fun,” Rana said under her breath.

  “They aren’t exactly our pets, to be clear about it,” The left twin shook his head. “They are prehistoric beasts under our control. You see, we conquered them long ago with our power over animals. Any beast that we have slain in the past, we are able to control them and make them do our will,” the god said with a wide grin.

  To this, I said nothing as the cogs turned in my head. Once I vanquished these two, this would be quite a useful ability to have at my fingertips, particularly given the ferocious creatures that were native to the glacial continents.

  “Now then, I suppose we should get down to business, shall we, brother?” one blonde haired twin said to the other.

  “Oh yes, we certainly should,” the other replied. “I’m going to enjoy this. It’s been so long since we’ve had any fun. Should we play with them for a while? I’d hate for our fun to end so soon. They’ve only just arrived after all. It would be a shame for them to die so quickly.”

  The twins shared a mischievous grin.

  “Oh yes, let’s!” The other clasped his hands excitedly. “Let’s toy with them for a bit and then we’ll end them,” he said elatedly.

  As he spoke the deities’ features began to shift slowly. The men’s faces started to grow larger and sprouted thick white fur.

  Chapter 10

  The twins’ bodies became completely covered in white fur with black stripes, and their faces elongated to take on the face of a tiger. As their bodies continued to shift, they lowered themselves down to their hands and knees and became four-legged beasts as two tails sprouted from their backsides and thrashed at the air. Thick teeth curved down from the top of their mouths and well past their chins. Their transformation now complete, they resembled the ferocious tiger beast that we had battled earlier.

  My minions gaped at the tiger creatures in utter shock and looks of disgust while I looked on in thoughtful contemplation.

  “Oh, did we not mention?” one of the tigers growled menacingly. “Any beast that we have conquered, we can also take on the form and abilities of. Every creature we have ever vanquished is at our disposal.”

  “Is tha
t so?” I mumbled to myself as I summoned my helmet to cover my head. These deities’ powers would be even more useful than I had anticipated. The very thought of the havoc and chaos I could wreak with such power at my fingertips made my blood race.

  The two white tigers didn’t answer as they crouched down low to the ground and began to advance. One came along our left and the other at our right as they slunk around us in circles. It was as though the deities were tigers in the wild that had surrounded some helpless prey.

  They were however sadly mistaken. They were the prey.

  Carmedy, Rana, Annalíse, and Morrigan formed into a defensive circle around me without speaking with weapons raised and magic readied for the impending attack. The sabertooth cats widened their mouths to reveal the rest of their gruesome teeth and growled.

  “Hold on now,” I commanded as I raised a hand to the air before gesturing to my minions. “Gods, your fight is with me, not them,” I spoke to the twins firmly.

  The two gods paused their movements and looked at each other for a moment before they turned back to us.

  “Very well,” the tigers growled in unison, their lips curled into wicked toothy grins. “We’ll keep them out of this, for now at least,” they said with throaty chuckles.

  I glanced over at my minions. They nodded and then proceeded to move to the far side of the room and out of the range of our impending combat.

  “Once we’ve killed you, we’ll deal with them next,” one twin said with a delighted purr.

  “I don’t think so,” I said darkly as I reached into my void pocket and removed the God Slayer.

  The deities looked at the simple staff in my hands suspiciously. They knew well enough that what I held was no mere stick. I firmly tapped the butt of my weapon on the frozen floor, and my halberd quickly transformed. The weapon’s sinister carved faces sprang out and the twins silently watched as my God Slayer took on its true form, and I detected the fear in their eyes. Without moving their heads, the tigers quickly shifted their eyes to give each other quick glances.