“Evidently Morphant has begun thinking for himself.”
“Or…could anyone take control of him, Beno? Is there a way to do that?”
I thought about it. I had read about a similar situation in the Dungeon Core Academy library, I was sure of it.
“It is rare for a dungeon core to be so physically distanced from one of his creatures as with Morphant and me. I suppose that with Morphant being here and me being all the way in my dungeon…”
“So it’s possible, then? That someone could assume control of him?”
“I can’t disprove it as a possibility, but that doesn’t make it likely.”
“It’s the simplest answer, no? Which leaves us with the who,” said Gulliver. “Now, we need to think really hard about this, Beno. Do you and I have any enemies in town?”
I took a second. “Let me see. There’s Pvat from the heroes’ guild and by extension, all the heroes who fall under his command. There’s your girlfriend’s husband and by extension, any of his fellow guard chums. There’s the possibility that someone may have rumbled our mimic ruse, which could mean that anyone who supported Dullbright is a potential opponent. There’s also the cotton merchant whose arse we whipped a while ago, and I’m sure there are others I’m missing out. Tavern owners who you forgot to tip. Other angry husbands who are victims of your shameful philandering.”
“Alright. So the who doesn’t help us one bit.”
“Probably better we focus on our current predicament,” I said. “As much as I like dark places underground, I like them to be ones in which I am the captor and not the captive. Let’s see how we can get out of this place and leave Hogsfeate. They took Rusty’s shaman paraphernalia, so he won’t be much good. No offense, Rusty.”
“Offense taken, Dark Lord.”
“What about your scribe abilities, Gull? You’re always bragging about your prowess. Why not just write a note for the guards to find? One that reads something like ‘You will let me out of here.’”
“Tried that already. I wrote a message using the hay. There wasn’t much, so I only managed to write ‘unlock gate and fall sleep.’ Still, it worked. That done, I used the guards’ keys to unlock a door just beyond the cell, climbed a few steps…and emerged right into the middle of the guards’ barracks. That’s why you would notice, if it was light enough, that I have two lumps on my head and not just the one I received at Dullbright’s house.”
“So on this occasion, words aren’t mightier than a guards’ cudgel.”
“Very good. Mock the scribe. That’s sure to get us out of this! What about your essence? Conjure up an escape-monkey or something, if such a creature exists.”
“You know as well as I do, that I can’t use my essence outside of my dungeon.”
“Ah, yes. Shame I’m not here with Core Jahn.”
“Shame I’m not here with someone who doesn’t blunder into traps.”
“And you just came here for a break, did you?”
“Okay, Gull. We’re getting tense. I apologize.”
“Me too.”
“I suppose,” I said, “That I could always use my core voice to speak to the fellas in the dungeon. Get them to assemble, cross the wasteland, storm Hogsfeate, and free us. Perhaps even Reginal and Galatee would help.”
“But that’s all the way in Yondersun! I thought you could only talk across distances like that if you gave a creature part of your core self? Shavings or some such nonsense?”
“Part of my core self is always in my dungeon. But that’s beside the point. I recently slaughtered some heroes…pirates, actually…and I upgraded my powers. Never mind, it’s a long story.”
“Those are my favorite.”
“I suppose that’s the only thing left, isn’t it? I’ll contact Razensen, have him get everyone together, ask the chiefs for help, and then have my army storm the Hogsfeate walls. They’ll carve a path through town, kill all the guards and the members of the heroes’ guild who stand in their way, free us, and then leave. Of course, even if they fought their way here, the Hogsfeate townsfolk wouldn’t just watch. They’d grab whatever spades, rolling pins, and pans they could find, and they’d defend their town against the invading kobolds. And that is assuming that Morphant and his new master don’t decide to do away with me and you in the time it takes for my dungeon mates to get here…”
“You have a way of inspiring hope about the future, Beno. Do you know that? It is a gift. You should speak at schools when the children graduate.”
A door across the room opened and a figure stepped through it.
A woman spoke.
“And at least one of you should have the sense to realize that when guards put people in cells, they have a tendency to listen to what their prisoners are whispering about. Or did you think you two were put in the same cell because they were feeling nice?”
The figure stepped into the glow of the lamplight, and I saw that she was a guard. She had short hair, a pointed chin, and a deep-set stare. While most Hogsfeate guards had gone so much to pasture that even cows shook their heads at them in shame, she was well-built, and her combat leathers actually looked like they fit.
Gulliver was on his feet instantly. “Kathryn?” he said. Rushing to the cell bars, he stopped mid-stride and took on a more forced casual gait. “It’s good to see you, I suppose.”
“Ah. So this is her,” I said.
“Yes,” she said. “His girlfriend, as you two described me. You’ve gotten yourself into some bother, Gully. Winding up in here, consorting with dungeon cores. And what was all that about a mimic and Sir Dullbright?”
Gulliver approached the cell bars and shook them. “I’d call you a harlot or a strumpet,” he said, “but that’s just the tip of it! I have a lot worse I could call you, my dear. Having me beaten, locked up, and then listening in to my conversations like a spy. This was all a ruse, was it? Our relationship? Just a ruse to get…I don’t know…information of some kind from me. I suppose your husband knew about it all along. I suppose that you do this sort of thing all the time - trick poor, innocent scribes into your bed so that you can betray them. Well let me tell you, you harlot - you’ll regret it. My friend Beno has a dungeon full of kobolds that will eat the skin off your face. They’ll…uh…tear out your intestines and use them as skipping ropes.”
Kathryn crossed her arms. “Finished, Gully? That went on longer than one of your pillow talk speeches.”
“That’s the last time I mess around with a married woman. They’re just not worth the effort. I’ve seen the error of my ways.”
“I doubt it,” she said. “At any rate, I’m here to get you out.”
“What?”
“You’re lucky it was only me listening and not one of the others. You’re lucky that I’m the head of the guards, and as such, beyond reproach. And you’re lucky that I have always hated that little rat Pvat and his heroes’ guild who want to take the town guards’ jobs. Now, I don’t know what bother you’re messed up in, but we’ll deal with that later. For now, Gully, do what you have never managed to do before and close your lips. And Beno?”
“Yes.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I’ve never seen a dungeon core in the flesh. Or in the stone. I have questions. Like, do you have secret areas in your dungeon where you…never mind. This isn't the time. Come on.”
“Stinks in here!” said Klok, holding his whiskered nose as he walked.
“Hush,” said Kathryn, leading from the front and lighting the way with an oil lamp. She and Gulliver were walking almost at a crouch, and even then, their heads were brushing the ceiling. I supposed that was to be expected, given that the only way Kathryn could lead us out of here unseen was to take a disused sewer tunnel. It wasn’t built for people to stroll through.
“Shoddy workmanship, this,” I said. “As tunnels go, it’s a disgrace. Structurally unsafe, geometrically imperfect. My boys would have knocked up something better than this in a week.”
“Then you ought to apply to t
he town for a construction contract,” said Kathryn. “If you ever remove yourself from their wanted list. Now please do me the favor of shutting up.”
“I don’t get this, Kathryn,” said Gulliver. “Why are you helping us? You’ll get yourself into trouble.”
“Maybe I’ve gone insane. Or maybe I decided that you’re worth the trouble, I don’t know. Insanity seems the most probable answer.”
“I’m worth the trouble? Really?”
“Why not? Things haven’t been right in my marriage for a while. My husband ain’t a saint, and there are too many rumors of his dalliances with tavern trollops for at least one of them not to be true. At least you and I can have our fun without decades of marriage resentment getting in the way.”
“Why in the gods’ names are you still together? It’s not as if you have children. Just kick him out on his arse.”
“It’s a funny thing, Gully, the ruts you can fall into. It sometimes seems harder to pull yourself out than to just lie back and accept things. I suppose I have you to thank for giving me the kick up the arse that I needed. It’s time for a change! Not just in my house, but in the town. First, I’m going to help you two get out of here, and then I’m going to purge some of the bad apples from the town guard. Bring in honest men and women who aren’t in Pvat’s pocket. Then, I’m going to well and truly kick Pvat’s arse. I’ll kick it so hard he’ll sail into the sky and see the gods.”
We reached the end of the tunnel, where a set of steel rungs led twenty feet upwards, ending at a manhole cover.
“That'll bring us out by the east wall,” said Kathryn. “Nobody’s going to be around. This district ain’t used much after the fire a few months back. I know a place you can slip out of town, and then that’s that. Done. Someday soon I want to know who the hell you are, Beno, and what trickery you’re up to with Dullbright, but first I want Gully…I mean both of you…out of harm’s way.”
“Thank you, Kathryn,” I said. “The town chose its head of guards well. Your honesty is more than I’d expect from someone in your position.”
“Chose? They didn’t choose anything. I worked my arse off as a guard, then a captain, and I climbed up a career ladder that was already slippery with sweat from the kiss-arse guardsmen who came before me. But thank you, Beno. And Gully?”
“Yes, love?”
“We aren’t love’s young dream, so don’t go getting carried away about all of this. I like you a lot, but I’m not ready to marry you and buy a cottage in a sunlit valley. Even so, try and keep your pants on until we meet again.”
“I’d ask you to do the same.”
“Here we go, then.”
Kathryn’s boots clinked on the rungs as she climbed to the top. She strained against the manhole cover until the light from a streetlamp slithered in. She climbed up and out of the sewers. Gulliver followed, then Klok, then Rusty. Finally, I floated up and out, emerging on the streets of Hogsfeate.
…where I saw four armed guards surrounding us.
And not, I noted with frustration, guards of the Len and Ben variety. These guards were tall, trim, and their leathers sported not even a single food stain. One of them, a man with a beak-like nose and eyes like a hawk, addressed Kathryn.
“Ma’am?” he said. “You’re with the fugitives? What’s going on?”
Kathryn drew her sword and prodded it into Gulliver’s back. She stared at the guard. “Good thing that you’re here already, Lonas. You’re the one I would have sent for. The incompetent apes at the barracks let the scribe and the core sweet talk them into helping them escape. A spell or something, I reckon. I didn’t want to pry too much yet. Truth be told, the scribe sickens me, with his leering eyes and floppy hair and his awful, awful clothes. You can’t trust him an inch.”
Lonas eyed her suspiciously. “You…pursued them into the sewers, ma’am? You?”
“Yes, me. Why not me? What, because I’m in charge of all you lunks I should be above crawling through the crap under our town to correct your mistakes? Are you saying I do not pull my weight, Lonas?”
“No…”
“Now, I have a delicate problem. A transgression like this should mean the expulsion of all the guards who were tasked with keeping watch over our captives. Half a dozen men suddenly without jobs. Their families without gold to buy food. That wouldn’t be good. We’re supposed to stick together, us guards, wouldn’t you say?”
“Of course,” said Lonas.
“I wish there was a way for me to protect them. They only made a mistake, after all. And everyone knows how deceitful cores can be, and how utterly, utterly shameful the scribe is with his words and his lies. But if we’re seen strolling through town with escaped fugitives, the mayor is bound to find out. We will have to explain how the fugitives escaped in the first place, and I will have no choice but to expel the guards responsible. Oh, cursed gods! What to do…what to do…”
“You…uh…could take them back to the barracks, ma’am. And the boys and I won’t patrol around here tonight. If you take Eastern Way and then head down Hope Street, nobody will see. Then maybe you could punish the guards privately, ma’am. Nobody needs to lose their jobs.”
Kathryn, playing her role to a perfection that I found impressive, sucked in her cheeks. She folded her arms. “Hmm. Eastern Way and then Hope Street. That might be a way to solve it. You’re a clever man, Lonas.”
The guard’s cheeks reddened. “Thanks, ma’am.”
“I see great things for you. Great, great things. Who knows? I won’t be in my chair forever. A clever guard should always be looking at the job above theirs.”
“Me? Head of the guards?”
“Let’s not count our brain leeches before they’ve burrowed out of our skull. You have made a good suggestion, is all. Alright. Let’s do this your way, Lonas. You lot head west. Carry on your patrol. I will take these disgusting, slippery criminals to the barracks and lock them back in their cells.”
Lonas saluted. “Yes, ma’am!”
The guards marched away, their boots clinking on the cobbles. Kathryn watched them until they were out of sight, and then turned to us.
“I swear, I need to sort out my recruitment policy. I seem to have hired the biggest idiots in town.”
“Thank you, Kathryn,” I said. “But haven’t you just landed yourself in a great big bull pat? How are you going to explain things when you turn up at the barracks without us?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Lonas and his three pals are more corrupt than a judge with a gambling problem. They have been on the take ever since they got a job with the guards. I have enough evidence to do what I please with them, and I have been saving it for a rainy day. Perhaps it’s time they faced the cells.”
“If they’re so corrupt, what in the gods’ names were they doing in the town guard?” said Gulliver.
“A job like this attracts the corrupt. It’s useful for me if their corruption is one that I know about, but that they remain ignorant of my knowledge. It’s always good to keep a scapegoat handy, for situations where somebody needs to take the blame. I try to keep as many such goats as I can. You might say that I’m something of a shepherd. Now, I think you better be off. I’m afraid the guardship doesn’t have a wagon we can spare you, though.”
“I came here on my own wagon. It’s parked near the town gates, and the horses are in the stables,” I said.
“I’m sure I can fetch it without much trouble. See the patch of darkened bricks in the town wall just there? Push firmly on the third brick from the right on the thirteenth row, and a hidden door should open. Wait for me outside the walls.”
Gulliver and Kathryn stared at each other for a moment.
“Come on,” I told Klok and Rusty. “You don’t want to watch two lovers parting. Trust me. The horrors of a dungeon don’t even compare.”
CHAPTER 19
“I think we’ll stop for a while,” said Overseer Bolton, gently tugging on the reins to slow the horses.
“Why?” said
Anna.
“Because we have been traveling for hours.”
She shrugged. “So? It’s the horses doing the work, not us. I’m fine.”
“You really are a brat, aren’t you?”
She shrugged again. “I suppose I am.”
“Well, at least you can admit it. You’re an honest brat, I’ll give you that much. My horses are tired, and we are stopping to give them a break. Be thankful I don’t make you and your friend pull the wagon in their place.”
Utta, sitting beside Anna, snorted himself awake. “Huh?” he said.
Bolton opened his artificed satchel and took a roll of tarpaulin out. Using iron rods, he erected a shelter for the horses, and he set a bowl of water and a bucket of hay down for them.
“How come they get the shelter and not us?” said Anna.
“Because they’re the ones pulling the wagon and sweating for us,” said the boy.
“Correct, Utta,” said Bolton. “Judge a man by how he treats his beasts of burden.”
“If they’re beasts of burden, then isn’t dealing with burdens part of their job?” said Anna.
“Spoken like a girl who never had burdens of her own. You Chosen Ones are brats if you ask me. With your exception, Utta, because you seem like a decent lad. I don’t know why you hang around with such a horrible girl. You, Anna…you’ve sailed through your life, no doubt. Marked as special from the day you were weaned off your mother’s tit. Told how gifted you were at every opportunity. Cooed over like a prize pig, then sent to the Chosen One’s school. You don’t know what it’s like to shoulder a burden, and as such, you have weak shoulders.”
“My life hasn’t been so great.”
“It’s true,” said Utta. “She…her stepfather…”
“Shut it, Utta. Please.”
Bolton noticed Anna scratching a wicked scar on her bicep and decided not to pursue it. “Get some rest for a while,” he said. “Once the sun dips, we’ll set off again.”
Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) Page 102