by Matthew Peed
Unable to hold back anymore, I started playing the piano and almost fell into a trance. I could hear the haunting melody that came from the piano but couldn’t stop myself from continuing to play. Even as I thought about how this wasn’t anything like what I wanted to be playing right now, I couldn’t stop. As I played, I could still hear and see what the party was doing.
“Piano music. That’s different,” Conner said, coming to a stop in front of the doors.
“Careful. It could be a trap to lure us to sleep or cause our emotions to change,” Carol said, looking around.
Connor nodded, as did the rest of the party, then he moved to push the doors open. The chandelier in the entrance room burst to life, illuminating the entrance parlor and the stairs leading up to the second landing. Connor was about to step inside when the man with two swords raised his hand.
Connor immediately took a step back. Stepping forward, the man slid his hand over the marble floor just past the doors without actually entering the room. He pressed down on the black tile, and the two nutcrackers swung their pikes at the same time. It would have decapitated anyone at about five-foot height. After a few seconds, they pulled their pikes back and returned to standing completely still.
“Well, that’s just nasty,” Connor said while rubbing his neck. He was at the perfect height, after all.
“Would have been an improvement,” Carol said with a chuckle. “Lead the way, Zack.”
Zack, the dual wielding man, nodded and started feeling his way forward. I guess he was the rogue of the party, like what’s usually depicted in movies. They’d made it to the center of the room, when the front doors slammed shut and the chandelier’s light turned from a warm yellow to a bloodred.
The four nutcrackers around the room stepped down from their pedestals and brandished their pikes at the party. The music increased in tempo but still kept the eeriness. My hair swayed around me as I bobbed my head and my fingers danced across the keys.
“Fuck! This is completely different from the other dungeons!” Connor cried as he backed up to the rest of his party. I couldn’t help but grin at the compliment.
The nutcrackers rushed the party, Connor moving to intercept two, while Zack took the other two. I personally didn’t know if they were skilled or not compared to my nutcrackers. Connor managed to block two pike thrusts easily enough, and Zack deflected one pike while dodging another.
The word that came to mind was “wooden.” Carol was chanting something when a red globe of fire formed at the end of her staff. She gestured and the fireball launched, colliding with the nutcracker to the left of Zack. He took advantage of the moment and drove his sword into the head of the burning nutcracker.
While Zack and Carol handled their nutcrackers, Jen and Connor were having a harder time of it. Jen’s arrows would stick in the nutcrackers but that was it. Connor was having a hard time not due to the nutcrackers’ skill but rather due to their strength. Made from wood and magic, they were stronger than a normal human.
With a two-pronged strike, my nutcrackers managed to knock Connor to the side and bring a pike down on his flank. The bladed section sank several inches into his waist and stomach, spraying blood over Jen, who was only a foot away. She screamed, and the other nutcracker turned his gaze on her.
Apparently unable to take it, she bolted from the spot. She ran toward the doors and hit a black tile. The white tiles around it fired ten to twenty needles laced with the poison I’d gotten from Lance. Four struck their target. She made it another five steps before she collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Carol and Zack managed to finish off their second one and rushed to help Connor. Carol already had another fireball on her lips as Zack rushed to deflect what would have been the finishing blow. In maybe fifteen seconds they managed to deal with the other two nutcrackers.
While Zack helped Connor, Carol rushed over to help Jen, but a burst of energy told me it was too late. With a final rise in the notes, my piano solo came to an end and the light went back to normal. I reached up to put my face in my hands and felt that I had a grin that would likely scare someone. Whether it was because of the music or the first death in my dungeon, I wasn’t sure, but I felt so good right now. The energy coursing through me was blissful!
I turned my attention back to the party as the doors slowly reopened. They were dragging Connor out and couldn’t afford to get Jen due to the traps. There was another surge of energy that sent a shiver down my back as my dungeon absorbed her body. I don’t know if I could go back to normal after experiencing something like that. The scary part was that I had little control over whether people came into my dungeon or not.
Chapter 14: Mom and Pop. A Look Outside.
Anna Highlock
There was a whistling sound, and I felt a heavy force impact my chest. With a large blast, the tank round exploded against me. I dusted my chest off as the cloud of debris around me cleared with the passing wind. A stream of rounds from a nearby gun emplacement ricocheted off me.
This lasted a few seconds before two blue streams of fire lanced around me and struck both the distant tank and the gun emplacement. With a large explosion, both became ash. I dusted myself off again.
“Thank you, honey,” I said to my husband, Zaris, as he came up behind me.
“You might as well wait until the end to dust off the armor, sweetie,” Zaris said with a smile.
“You know that it is part of the magic,” I replied.
“Anna!”
I held my hand out, and the magic that was heading for us was pulled toward me. The icicles impacted me but disintegrated as they struck. I gave Zaris a peace sign and a smile.
“I still think, as powers go, that really is a cheat,” he said, shaking his head. “Have you ever even been hurt with that thing on?”
I gave him a smile and rubbed his jawline. “Nope.”
I heard what sounded like a jet engine coming from the distance. Turning, I found a missile flying straight toward us. I just shook my head and moved in front of my husband. He grinned and backed away as well. He knew my powers, after all. I didn’t have to worry about him freaking out about something like a missile heading at me.
A few moments later, the missile struck me directly in the chest. Spikes from my armor shot down and latched me to the ground. Not even the force of the explosion was able to move me. When it was over, I dusted myself off. My armor, God’s Protection, only worked if a part of it was clean. Not usually that hard, since most of the dungeons contained monsters that only knew how to charge, thus my back was usually clean enough for the magic to work.
Against human weaponry, however, it was a bit more difficult. Each time a tank round or missile exploded, I was getting covered in dust. Thankfully, the magic wasn’t too particular about how much needed to be clean. So, dusting myself off usually worked fine.
Lances made of fire sailed through the air around me, striking the weapon emplacement in front of us. Explosions rang out as the ammunition and explosives blew. Screams usually followed explosions, if they were small enough that people survived.
“Terrorists. You’d think after a year of this shit, people would have learned by now,” Zaris said, coming up next to me since the immediate threat was gone.
“I don’t think we as humans are capable of learning that in this sort of environment. Considering the dungeons are forcing people with these powers to grow stronger, this is only the inevitable.”
“Let’s finish up so we can go home,” Zaris said, then grimaced.
I gave him a smile, as I knew he meant no harm. I didn’t like being home. It felt . . . empty without our daughter Azaria there. She had been so full of life and joy. Many people called her a golden child, as she wanted for nothing but never acted spoiled. Except, of course, when she was with us.
The large apartment complex that had been turned into terrorists’ headquarters met our view as we continued walking down the street. They had managed to take an entire suburb as th
eir so-called “land” and were trying to expand from there. The local government called us in to deal with them, as they had several Powered in their ranks.
“Honey, did they ask for survivors?” my husband asked as if wanting to know what team was playing on the television.
“No. It just said ‘removal.’ Everyone not related to the terrorists has been evacuated already,” I replied, watching the buildings to protect my lover.
“Good. Emperor’s Flames!”
A cyclone of flames surrounded him and rose into the air. Once it had almost reached the clouds, arcs of flames lanced out into the surrounding buildings. In an amazing display of control, the flames flooded through the buildings without actually burning them. There were over twenty of them, and he was hitting them all at the same time.
I heard some crashing as a few Powered burst through the windows from several of the buildings. I counted close to thirty of them, all bearing various degrees of burns. One man who also appeared to use fire magic was the least hurt of the group. They all rushed us once their feet hit the ground.
“Stop or I will hurt you!” I shouted to the men and women charging us.
“Make us, bitch!”
“Very well,” I said with a sigh. “God’s Word!” I took a deep breath, then screamed. A rippling white light followed the sound, and everyone who was a threat to me had their ears burst and most of them fell unconscious, stumbling to the ground.
Only one man and woman held their ears as they rolled on the ground from the pain. “Please. Stop.”
They managed to open their eyes only to see my husband’s fire wrapping around them. With a simple word, he could burn them alive. They very reluctantly nodded. Zaris pulled his cellphone out and called the government.
“Lucas, it’s done. Come clean up the garbage.” I vaguely heard something along the lines of “How many did you kill?” “Probably close to two hundred. We have thirty-plus Powered still alive. There were a few rooms of hostages and people for other uses. I left them for your crew. Make sure they are treated well.”
When he finished on the phone, I grabbed his arm. “More wannabe slavers?” I asked.
“Sadly, yes.”
I snuggled closer. “Let’s go home.”
~~~
Home was Chicago—that was what it used to be called—or Neo Chicago now. This was mainly due to the fact that a Powered by the name of Neo had taken it over at the beginning of the Shift and maintained order. The United States was now three separate countries, with Neo Chicago being the capital of one-third, New York and Washington having been destroyed by Powered several months ago.
Almost as if a callback to the civil war, the north and south of the country were split. Atlanta, or rather The Hub, was the capital of the south. The north and south were split from the west by a massive wasteland of a desert that ran from Canada all the way to Mexico. All attempts to cross it had failed. If telecommunications hadn’t still worked, people wouldn’t have known what was going on anywhere else in the world.
People hadn’t completely lost hope of one day reunifying the United States, but it was a dream that was fading as the Powered only grew stronger. Abilities that allowed an individual to shake off a round fired from a tank were becoming less rare. Many theorists believed it was only a matter of time before the balance of power completely shifted to the Powered.
Cities with larger subway systems had gained the resources needed to thrive in this twisted new world. Airports and seaports were the next best thing, but the level of dungeons in such places was generally higher than the subway systems.
To this date, only a limited few stations had not become dungeons. New stations imploded as they are being constructed. The same for sea- and airports. With it only being a year into the Shift, people were sure there was something missing for them to construct said infrastructure to allow for large scale transportation.
Back to the topic at hand. Neo Chicago was protected by a group of individuals that no one could hope to defeat. There was a man who simply went by Neo. The extent of his power was unknown. Anyone who had ever tried to find the limit of his power had never been seen again.
Then there were Anna and Zaris Highlock, who possessed nearly perfect defense and offense. No one had been able to defeat them. Wealthy before the Shift, they only became more so afterward, though, they were more benevolent and helped out orphans and homeless constantly.
Next was a woman who went by the name West. She was more along the lines of a hitwoman, but protected Neo Chicago’s interests. She’d defeated many a rogue monster that could have threatened the entire city—solo. Many people owed her their lives.
Similar groups operated around the world, protecting their home countries. Europe was a mess due to the reignited wars that had been forgotten over the years. Asian countries were nearly as bad, with South Korea conquering most of its neighbors in a strange turnaround after the Shift.
Japan, with its massive public transportation network from before the Shift, was well on its way to being a superpower the likes of which had never been seen before. They were locked in a war with South Korea, but many feared it was only a matter of time before the balance of power shifted again. Now, a year after the Shift, only a delicate balance held Earth’s political borders in check. Even a small nudge could cause the entire balance to collapse.
Chapter 54: Diving Take Two!
Azaria
After the euphoria of the energy passed, I stared in horror after the party that was leaving my dungeon. I wanted to rush out and apologize to them for killing their friend. Even though I knew they probably wouldn’t believe that I was sorry. I slumped down on the piano bench and felt the ethereal tears roll down my cheeks only to vanish even from my sight once they left my body. It was like the world was telling me I wasn’t even allowed to cry for them.
Starburst appeared near the space I was in. It made me wonder why he seemed to be so much more connected to the dungeon. “Well done, girl! That went a lot better than I expected. And to think you are unique as well! You just aren’t going to stop surprising me, are you?”
I sniffed and looked over to him. “Unique?”
“The music! It’s a type of magic unique to dungeons, and even then, it’s exceedingly rare! It causes all sorts of negative effects on anyone inside your dungeon.”
I glanced at my status to see if it said anything about it.
Azaria Highlock
Age: 14
Level: 1
Race: Dungeon
Type: Doll
Subtype: Goddess’s Chosen
Aether: 16,578
Floors: 2/1
Skills: Creation
Deconstruction
Summon (7/102)
Teleport Matrix (1/1)
Enchanter’s Melody
Achievements: God Killer – Killed a God, albeit a weak one.
Undefeated – Remain undefeated. Enhances abilities (1.15*x) X being the number of attempts on the dungeon. X=1
Checking over my status, I found that quite a few things had changed since the first time I’d looked at it. For one, I could actually see maps of my floors. I even gained a new achievement. I felt it was a little premature, since the divers were turned back at the first room of the first floor, but it counted for the magic system.
“I think . . . it is called Enchanter’s Melody,” I finally replied to Starburst.
He neighed as he considered, then nodded. “We’ll have to keep an eye on it. Some skills can be just as dangerous to the user as they are to the enemy.”
“I under . . .” I started to say only to feel another group of people enter my dungeon. “More people are here. This party is even larger than the last.”
“And they’ll be more prepared after the first party told them all about what happened.”
I nodded just as I felt my body start to lose touch with that section of the dungeon. Starburst also went back to his room on the first floor. I turned on the bench, resigned to hav
ing the magic make me play music, when I noticed another instrument leaning next to the piano.
I reached out and picked up the violin with care. It was exactly like the one my parents got me on my birthday last year, or two years ago. A famous artist used one like this, an electric violin. I only hoped the magic would account for that. Delicately wrapping my fingers around the bow, I took a deep breath as a song came to me. Like last time, my mind’s eye went to the diving party.
There were seven people this time. They all appeared to be well prepared with one even being in a full suit of armor. Their weapons looked deadly, and their faces all had serious no-joke looks. A woman in the center in bright red robes directed them like a well-oiled machine.
Taking all that in, I played the first note. Its harrowing beauty echoed throughout my dungeon. The lighting shifted to a darker spectrum. Something inside me told me that the party would be more likely to make mistakes while they listened to the music.
“If we weren’t in the middle of a dungeon. I would say the music was beautiful,” said the man in the suit of armor.
“We know it causes some sort of effect on people. The first party swears they wouldn’t have failed on the first room if that hadn’t been the case.”
“Those losers. They should have known better than to attempt a new dungeon with only four people.”
“Enough. Let’s be the first to claim whatever treasure might be present in this place.”
The party moved forward carefully, with the scout type checking the doors like the first party. He pushed them open and nothing happened. He glanced inside the room, then leaned back out. “The nutcrackers are gone!”
“Great. It has multiple patterns,” said the leader. “Check the traps. Mark what we’re dealing with. We’ll give a copy to the Association later.” She pulled out a notebook and a pen to make some notes.
“All of it?” the scout asked, surprised.
“Of course not! That said, we can’t not give them something. We’ll give them an edited version.”