by DB King
“I’ll make sure to be a little more ready with the Fire Resist spell,” Marcus assured him.
“That’s a new one!” Kairn said. “When the monster first hit us with it I thought we were done for, but that spell came in handy!”
“Enough chat, you two!” Anja cried. “The bladehand is recovering!”
Kairn and Marcus turned and saw that what she said was true. She and Dirk had been flung off the monster by a sudden writhing twist of its back, and the bladehand was now grinding to its feet, using two of its swords to push itself up onto its knees and the third to guard against attacks from the side. The fourth arm, shorn of its sword by Kairn, hung limp and useless at its side.
“Get ready to attack again,” Marcus said, and his friends all lined up beside him. The bladehand, with one mighty thrust, heaved back to its feet and turned on them, bellowing like an enraged bull. It lumbered toward them. Marcus cast the Fire Resist spell where he stood, and its protective aura expanded around them just in time.
The bladehand huffed a great wash of yellow flame at them, in a blast that reminded Marcus of the attacks of the flamethrowers of the ratmen back in the battle of the Underway. He was impressed by the effectiveness of his spell, as the flames passed around the adventurers harmlessly. He still felt a sharp sensation of heat, but he and the others were unharmed.
A sudden exhaustion gripped him for a moment, and Marcus recognized the fatigue that came with casting a lot of magic in one session. There was a tingling feeling as Ella augmented him again, but a glance over his shoulder at her showed him that she was flagging as well.
“Time to finish this,” he said grimly.
The four of them charged, and this time Marcus used the same combination of spells that he had used when they had fought the minions on the other side of the chamber. He drew on Ella’s augmentation to do it, and he knew that they would have to make the most of this one.
Kairn got Hero’s Might, Anja took Fleetfoot, and Dirk got the Ultimate Stealth bonus. Again, Dirk crept around behind the bladehand, but this time Marcus cast Hero’s Might on himself and led the attack from the front.
He had his dungeon mace in his hand, and he used it to knock away the rain of blows that the bladehand flung at him. Kairn smashed his axe into the bladehand’s legs, causing it to step backward to avoid the blow.
Dirk dived in, smacking his dagger into the joint behind the bladehand’s knee. The monster dropped as that knee gave way. Anja crouched for a spring, ready to jump onto the creature’s head and stab it in the eye, but Marcus stopped her.
“Wait!” he said. “Drive it back! Drive it back!”
Anja hesitated, looking where Marcus indicated. The bladehand had retreated close to the edge of the fire trench, where the deadly blue gas-flames hissed steadily. The bladehand, being unable to turn its head to see over its shoulder, seemed unaware of the danger. But as Marcus pointed it glanced to one side and seemed to realize its peril.
With a supreme effort, it hauled itself up to its feet again and prepared for another blast of fire, but this time Marcus countered with an elemental water blast. The jet of water smashed the bladehand in the face, and instead of a jet of flame all it managed was a hiss of steam. The bladehand reeled under the impact, and at that moment Kairn and Anja both ran in and shoved the creature as hard as they could.
The bladehand took two steps backward and teetered on the edge of the fire trench. It hung there, balanced on the edge, and Marcus drew on the last of his magical strength to summon one last jet of elemental water.
The blast hit the bladehand in the chest, just as Dirk jumped up dangerously close to the edge of the trench to slam his dagger into the bladehand’s remaining knee. Two quick thrusts, then he jumped out of the way, dancing on the edge of the pit for a moment before flinging himself forward, away from the edge.
The bladehand’s legs crumpled, and it lost its balance, tumbling backward into the trench.
“Fire Resist!” Marcus cried, casting the ball of energy so it surrounded him and his companions.
He did it just in time.
As the bladehand tumbled into the trench, the searing hot gas flames leaped up and tore through the metal plates of the monster, blackening the white metal and turning the delicate internal mechanisms of the bladehand into a river of molten liquid gold. As the monster died, it exploded.
Thick black smoke and dirty orange flame blasted up out of the trench with a noise like a thunderclap that made the whole chamber shake. His companions braced themselves as the explosion surrounded them, rolling past them. But thankfully Marcus’s spell protected them. For a moment, they seemed to be surrounded by a dome of roiling orange flame, and they were deafened by the thunderous boom of the explosion.
The flames faded to black smoke, and a moment later the smoke cleared. As the ringing in their ears from the explosion faded, they became aware of the clink, clink, sound of metal parts falling to the ground around them. Small chunks of black iron with a white and gold outer layer fell to the ground all around them.
They stood in silence, waiting to see if any more enemies would spawn, but none did. The flames in the trench hissed on, and in the bottom of the trench there was a mess of liquid gold mixed with melted iron.
On the other side of the chamber, the metal gate which had barred the entrance slipped open with a clang.
Marcus looked at his companions and smiled. “Well done. We did it. Now all that remains is to collect our loot.”
Chapter 7
The adventurers crossed the bridge warily, edging forward with their weapons still drawn. Marcus could tell that his friends were half-expecting some new trap to appear, or some new enemy to spawn. He knew that was not likely. The door had opened, and he could see by the steps a pile of bulky packages had spawned—the valuable loot that was the dungeon runners’ reward.
Heat radiated from the hissing blue gas flames as they crossed the bridge, but as before the flames directly under the bridge were still out, so there was no risk of being burned. As Marcus crossed, he glanced down at the pile of molten metal that lay in the base of the trench—all that remained of the mighty bladehand.
Once they had reached the other side, his friends noticed the loot.
“Ah! Treasure!” Kairn said gleefully. He was a dwarf, and dwarves had a passion for treasure that surpassed all other races. Marcus knew that this desire for gold and riches was what had caused the dwarves of the far northern mountains to dig deep mines and live in the mountains. Dwarves were builders of great renown throughout the world, masters of the crafts of stonework, mining, and metalworking.
Marcus smiled as he hung back, watching the big dwarf lead his companions over to the loot pile. He shook his head in quiet wonder at how things had gone. These people—Kairn, Dirk, even Anja—had been some of the lowest of the low in Kraken City just a few months ago. Now, by virtue of his great dungeon power, they were raised up, given new opportunities and new abilities to seek wealth and fortune.
“You’re thinking about the change in them?” Ella asked quietly, flying up beside him and laying a hand on his shoulder.
Marcus nodded thoughtfully. “When this first started,” he said, “I thought that I might be able to improve the lot of the people who were dear to me, and even to reach my influence out into the rest of Kraken. On some level though, I didn’t really believe it was possible. Now, well, look at them!”
Ella laughed. Over by the steps, the three adventurers were lifting up shining golden necklaces, and running their hands through neat little leather bags of gold coins, red rubies, big, gleaming sapphires.
“Hey, Marcus,” Dirk called, “come over here! Why are you hanging about back there? Come get your hands on some of this loot!”
Marcus smiled and walked over slowly. Dirk held out a handful of uncut gems to Marcus, his eyes wide with wonder at their quality.
“I can’t,” Marcus said simply, refusing the proffered treasure. “I’m the dungeon master. It doesn’
t work. I can’t take loot out of the dungeon.”
“You can’t?” Dirk replied in amazement. “But then… how…?”
“That’s what he needs us for,” Anja told Dirk sardonically. That’s why the dungeon master needs adventurers—to carry the loot out and then hand over a share.”
Dirk looked at Marcus, who nodded. “That’s how it works,” he said. “I create and manage the dungeons, and I can come inside and fight them to build up my skills, but I can’t take anything out of the dungeon. And Anja’s right, that’s why I have adventurer teams. They run the dungeons, and I ask them for 20% of their loot for the privilege of being able to run the dungeons as many times as they want.”
“That’s not the only function adventurers perform,” Ella added. “The act of fighting monsters in the dungeon is what powers the whole dungeon system. When you’re in here fighting, you release energy that is soaked up by the dungeon and used to fuel the production of new monsters. Once enough dungeon runs have happened, there’s enough excess energy that the dungeon master can create an entirely new chamber.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler for the dungeon to allow you to take the loot and run the dungeon?” asked Kairn, who had been listening to the conversation. “Wouldn’t that make more sense?”
Marcus shrugged. “I’m not sure why the rules are as they are, but I suspect that the rule is in place to force the adventurer to bring others in. What I’ve found so far is that having more people come into the dungeon and fight produces way more energy for new monsters and new evolutions. The dungeon system is like a living thing, it feeds on energy and desires more chambers and more monsters. The only way it can get that is through having people come in and fight the dungeons in various ways. If the dungeon master could take the gold out, there would be little incentive to risk inviting other people in. He could just run the dungeons himself and take the loot, and accept that the advancement of the dungeon system as a whole would be very slow.”
“That makes sense,” Dirk mused, nodding. “The dungeon master could just use the dungeon as a farm for treasure, without contributing to the overall advancement of the dungeon system.”
“That’s right,” Marcus agreed. “So it makes sense that the dungeon would evolve a relationship with the dungeon master to avoid that situation.”
Dirk looked up at the high vaulted chamber, the tall columns, the stone walls, the tall windows letting in bright light to flood the hall. He shook his head in disbelief and smiled. “It really is amazing,” he said quietly. “I hadn’t thought of it so deeply before, but… wow… I mean, look at this place! And it’s actually a part of a living magical system—almost a living being. It’s fantastic, when you think about it.”
Marcus smiled. The look of wonder on Dirk’s face was a sight. It was true what the man said—as the dungeon master, Marcus never took his amazing powers for granted, but at the same time it was easy to begin to forget just how incredible the dungeon power actually was. He nodded and drew a breath to speak, but at that moment Anja and Kairn, who had returned to the loot packages, both cried out in surprise at the same time.
“What’s this?” Kairn said, holding up a bundle wrapped in black cloth and tied up with red cord. He glanced at it, then put it to one side and reached down to pick up a second bundle, wrapped and tied up in the same fashion as the first.
Anja also had a bundle in her hand, a smaller one, and she turned it over a couple of times before laughing and smiling. She held it out. “Look, Kairn, this one’s for me!”
The dwarf laughed and picked up the heavy package which he’d just put down. He flipped a little paper label over with one large finger and chuckled. “And this one’s for Dirk,” he said, holding it out.
“What?” Dirk said, confused.
Marcus came over with him to look at this new innovation. He had never seen dungeon loot packaged up like this before—the most he’d seen was a couple of leather packets with coins or jewels in them. This black cloth wrapping was unheard of. And labels?
“They’re labelled with your names?” he asked in amazement.
“That’s right,” Anja said, holding up her parcel. It was small and flat, no bigger than her hand, but from the way she carried it, the package seemed heavy. She reached a finger over and pointed to the little paper label that was attached to the string. On it, inked in a beautiful calligraphic hand which Marcus did not recognize, was a name: Anja Drakefell.
“And here’s mine,” Kairn said gruffly, holding out his parcel for Marcus to inspect. It was big and cylindrical. On a label in the same beautiful, flowing script, was the dwarf’s name, Kairn Greymane.
“The biggest one’s for Dirk, though,” Kairn said, hefting a weighty and bulky parcel with Dirk of Nine Lives inked onto the label. He tossed it to Dirk. The parcel clinked promisingly as he caught it.
“This is entirely new,” Ella said, marveling. “I’ve never heard of a dungeon providing personalized loot before!”
“Obviously Marcus’s dungeons are a cut above!” Anja laughed. “I was wondering if… hey, what’s this?”
She ducked down, reaching for something small that had been hidden in the shadows of the steps. She lifted it up now, a long, thin package in black wrapping like the others, but with the word Ella inked on the label.
Ella let out a squeal of excitement and grabbed the thin parcel, which was about the length of her arm.
“Nothing for you, Marcus?” asked Kairn, a little awkwardly.
Marcus chuckled. “No need,” he said. “I have the dungeon power, and a team of brilliant adventurers! Anyway, I get 20% of your gold and jewels, so don’t worry about me.”
Everyone laughed. Dirk, who was eagerly investigating his heavy parcel, put his hand to the red string that bound it.
Danger.
His instinct had never spoken to him so clearly before. For some reason, it was a bad idea for the adventurers to open their packages here in the dungeon.
Marcus reached out a hand and placed it on dirk’s arm. The smaller man stopped undoing the package and glanced up.
“Not here,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “Come on, we’ve cleared the dungeon, let’s get out of here. The dungeon wants to begin its resetting process. Gather up all those jewels and gold, you lot, and let’s make a move.”
“I don’t want to open this in the stronghold,” Dirk protested, “everyone will want to know what it is!”
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to,” Marcus said with a smile. “I have just the place. Come on, do as I say. The dungeon wants to sleep.”
Marcus chivvied his adventurers up the stairs and into the corridor. Kairn had made sure to collect up all the gold and gems into a small leather bag which he tied to his belt. The adventurers were as excited and happy as children at a harvest festival as they chattered up the steps and into the corridor, but to Marcus’s mind there was something threatening taking shape in the dungeon. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something in the air. It had begun to get darker in the chamber, and it was as if a deep note were booming just below the edge of hearing.
It sounds like the sea far away against the cliffs, he thought, or a storm wind blowing up from the south.
Ella felt it too, he could tell. When he glanced at her, he saw her strange, expressive elven face looking pinched and grim. “You okay?” he asked.
She nodded tightly, holding her parcel to her chest. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “But the dungeon wants us gone. Come on, let’s get going.”
They got through the corridor without incident. The immolator spike trap was still disabled, and when they got to the corner where the huge boulder was wedged, they found that it had vanished.
“Woah,” Dirk said, looking pale and clutching his black-wrapped parcel in his arms. “That’s weird! Where has it gone?”
There was a rumbling noise, a deep, far-off boom like a wave breaking on a cliff wall far away. The corridor shook imperceptibly.
“The dungeon can do
things like that, Dirk,” Marcus answered shortly. “Come on, let’s move.”
Hearing the urgency in Marcus’s voice, Dirk and the others hurried to obey.
By the time they reached the door out, the sense of present threat was undeniable. Cold sweat trickled down Marcus’s back, and his breath felt short. He made sure he was last out of the dungeon. Dirk, Anja, and Kairn all stepped out into the hallway beyond the stone door. Ella followed them, and for a moment Marcus saw them all standing in the doorway, framed by the light coming down the stairs from above ground.
The corridor darkened, and he felt a tingling on the back of his neck as if in anticipation of a blow. He stepped out.
The stone door slammed hard behind him with a boom. Before he could turn and apply the spell, it flashed up in front of his eyes.
Crucible: Restoration Cycle initiated
“Woah, I never even had a chance to cast the Rest and Restore spell,” Marcus said. “I really felt that the dungeon wanted to get rid of us then. I’ve never hung about in a dungeon for that long after an adventure has been completed, except maybe on your first dungeon run, Anja.”
“I remember that,” Anja said, nodding. “You spent quite a while talking us ‘round to your side once Ben and I had finished battling the monsters.”
“That’s right,” Marcus agreed, “but that was before the dungeons were involved in the battle of the Underway. I think that the huge amount of energy expended during that battle changed the dungeons. The Bladehand Dungeon at least is certainly much more elaborate and impressive than it was before. It feels like the dungeons have become conscious somehow—sentient in a way that they weren’t before now.”
“It sounds very intriguing,” Kairn said. “But can we not go somewhere more comfortable to discuss this?”
The dwarf had a point. Marcus and his friends were standing in the wide-open space that Marcus thought of as the dungeon lobby—a wide stone landing at the bottom of a flight of wide stairs leading down from a door in the stronghold’s courtyard.