by D. R. Rosier
He knew it would be easy too, all Ennis had to do was split them up, and assign each one to two traitors. The faithful wouldn’t see it coming.
They’d formed and rejected many plans over the last week. He could put them to sleep, but how would they get them out? Piled like firewood in a wagon? That wouldn’t work, there were too many, and if he didn’t retrieve all the faithful at once, the risks would go up way too high when the first missing group was discovered.
Another plan was to hire an earth mage to build a tunnel, carry them all out of there far enough to load up several wagons, and head toward the farm. That too had been rejected as unworkable, partly because of trust, and partly because they would leave a trail too wide and clear to their hideout.
No, the only plan that made sense was for the four of them to break in the barracks that the faithful were in, slit the throats of the three traitors that were watching them for signs they knew something was going down, and then try to convince all forty-three people that the church was rotten and they had to go rogue. He knew some wouldn’t believe and brand him the traitor, and some that believed would want to immediately fight.
Even he had been tempted to do that, they would only be outnumbered a little more than two to one, and he’d love to send Ennis and his ilk to the gods to be judged, but that would just make things worse. They might find themselves fighting the nobles, mages, and the duke’s men a few days later. No doubt Verin and the king would demand it, the latter in ignorance, but it would still happen.
No, they couldn’t act until the mask could be ripped away from the true traitors, and despite all his efforts that wouldn’t happen until after the betrayal itself. He couldn’t get anyone to listen. Although, he still had hope his letter would open the duke’s eyes. He’d already written it and it would be delivered in the morning by a third party. Hopefully he and the other faithful would be long gone. It all depended on his ability to persuade them all it was necessary. That it was the best out of a whole list of shitty options. He couldn’t exactly just give them orders, could he?
Not officially, but it would be worth a try if things started to fall apart.
“Everything ready?”
Diana, Cory, and Selwyn nodded, he was very grateful he had the three of them. Their loyalty and faith over the last few weeks was truly above and beyond. Most would have given up and walked away by now. Yet, they followed him through several desperate plans, and were still willing to do so one more time.
They left the inn for the last time, and worked their way down the street. There weren’t many guards posted, he was sure Ennis felt very secure within the walls of the city. He couldn’t really blame him for that, he’d felt the same way when he was high cleric of Tenemin. Of course, he’d not known at the time there was insurrection planned. Probably the most disturbing part of this was that for two thirds of the church that Verin led, their ambition exceeded their loyalty to their gods and kingdom.
He knew some paladins and clerics worshipped for the power only, and didn’t truly love the gods. The gods and their relics after all, were the only source of light magic in the world, if they wanted to regenerate their magic they had no choice but to pick a god. Still, he had come to know and love his deity and wouldn’t convert if his life depended on it.
It also made him feel like a failure, he’d led those men, and felt like he’d let them down somehow. It was stupid of course, he couldn’t rule men’s hearts, but he felt that way regardless.
They ducked into an alley, and took the back way toward the barracks. There was no one about that he could detect, and he had his spell to detect the loyalty spell up, as well as his search for nearby auras of power. They slipped into the house, and split up into three groups. He went upstairs with Diana following, she had insisted he had to be protected despite being the strongest.
He hadn’t argued, because he knew she would have refused any orders to the contrary, and that would set a bad precedent. He also knew she had a point.
He opened the door and released the sleep spell, just to be sure, and one of the traitors continued to snore deeply. Diana took care of that with a sharp blade, and then they waited.
He let out a sigh of relief as Cory and Selwyn met him, and then they started to wake up all the others, and bring them down to the large dining room that was probably the only room that would fit them all. Some looked suspicious, but when told things would be explained they didn’t call out in alarm or try to attack. He supposed they felt in control, even if confused, since it was forty-three to four odds.
One of them demanded, “What is this about? Why are you here, you’ve been branded as a traitor, and only my respect for you as our high cleric for so many years is holding me back.”
He knew there was only one way they would believe the truth.
“Just to cut off any doubts, why don’t one of you hit me with the truth spell, and then ask me that question again. I’m afraid my tale and the truth is far too dark and outrageous to be believed otherwise.”
There were some murmurings at the tables, and finally one stood up. The cleric had a guilty look on his face, as if ashamed for doubting.
“Go ahead Lanis, and be at peace. I insist on this.”
Lanis cast the spell, and then asked, “Why are you here, and what is this about?”
His tale took over thirty minutes to cover everything from when he left Tenemin almost two months ago. They first showed shock and then disbelief, but thanks to the spell their doubts finally faded to shock, anger, and for some, despair.
“Wait, were missing a few people,” someone said.
He replied, “Plants by Ennis, to ensure if someone stumbled across the conspiracy they could be silenced. They are dead in their beds.”
He let that sink in for a moment.
“We must not act now, if we do we’ll wind up fighting the very people we want to save. Better if they are killed by betrayers than by us in self-defense. Verin has seen to it, and the king seems to be under his spell. I’ve taken a chance, and written to the duke. If he believes it, and reaches out to me perhaps something can be done then. Otherwise, we must hide now, and wait until things play out. At that point, we can strike back against those that try to suppress and convert the peasants to Jennesar’s greedy gods. I’m asking a lot, but there are only forty-seven of us. We’ll have to be a thorn in their side, and only a thorn in their side, if we wish to live for the day others will fight with us for our gods, and for Nysten.”
No one looked happy with that idea, but then neither was he. Unfortunately, they had to live in reality, and not dash off with sword drawn and hope for the best. This wasn’t a tale, and the good guys didn’t always win.
“We need to move out quickly and quietly. Gather your things, and we’ll slip out the back door. We’ve prepared a way out of the city, and should reach the farmstead we’ll be laying low at for the near future before dawn. I know that everyone won’t want to do this, and I’m asking you all to accept me as the high cleric of the true church of light, and obey my orders. We mustn’t throw away our lives in a useless gesture of defiance.”
No one was more surprised than him, when they all stood up and bowed, and then ran to get their things. There wasn’t one dissenting voice in the group, and that made him feel confident, but also unworthy. Just one more day with a desperate plan.
Chapter Fifteen
It was late in the day, and I was pleased at Lila’s progress. While it was true I had her doing it simply to prevent my enemies in Jennesar to become more powerful, I also had no objections with Nysten benefitting from it. We weren’t exactly allies, but we weren’t enemies either. Plus, in a strange way, I was the trainer of their enhanced troops.
The dark elves seemed settled into their rooms, and weren’t very social at all. To be fair, they thought I was a simple dungeon, even if one more intelligent than they’d worked with before. They were testing their new knowledge in the spell rooms.
I noticed the gnomes had sto
pped working on one of the smaller man shaped golems, which was covered in hundreds of intricately carved and spelled enchantments with everything from protection, offense, and the control systems. It wasn’t exactly a genius intelligence, but the enchantments would allow the golem to follow orders, and even improvise to do so.
It had several offensive enchantments on its hands, knees, elbows, feet, and even its head. The enchantments were more like pre-made spells, that just required the golem to feed it magic to cast. It was an impressive creation, and I was surprised it was done.
There were a few empty places on the body, room for more enchantments, which is what I used to project the completion time. Apparently, enchantments would only cover around three fourths of its body.
I was excited, because now I could start on those new levels. With the knowledge from watching, I could quickly build copies in moments, and even vary what it was made of. Either way, I was about to expand once again, and this time into the master level ratings, though not for the golems. It was time for some planning.
I got a little creative with the layout for levels sixteen through eighteen, including dead ends, labyrinthine designs to confuse, and a whole lot of gnomish traps. Each level of course had a different maze, and it would become one of the things I’d change every night if that level was defeated. It was less a series of rooms, than a large maze that ended at the boss room for the floor. I also used three different material bases, the golems would become tougher on each floor not because of enchantment differences, but because of their base structure.
For level sixteen, I used flesh golems, who weren’t much bigger than a normal human. Despite that, they were quite formidable, and the level was at a guess, Adept level five. Level seventeen I used stone, which put the level at around Master level one. Level eighteen, I used steel for the golems, highly reinforced at the joints, and that level at around Master level one as well, since I made less of them.
Of course, those level ratings also took into account the traps.
Floors nineteen and twenty took some experimentation on my part. I’d never really experimented with trees and plants, because I’d never intended to use them. I’d rethought that for a couple of reasons. One, my new dark elf servants would be pleased by it. While it wouldn’t be their home forest, it would be a forest. Two, my dark elf servants were probably much deadlier in a forest, than in a stone hallway or room.
It took several hours, and wasn’t easy. I found the best combination to mutate and strengthen a tree, bush, roots, or any flora was a little light magic, and a whole lot of water and earth magic, mostly the latter. The forest by itself would try and attack and kill anything not a part of the dungeon, roots, branches as blunt weapons, poison plants that spewed gas or liquid. The whole forest would be a mob in and of itself as it tried to prevent adventurers from crossing safely. The spark of light magic would give it enough intelligence to track where the adventurers were. The two forest floors would be just two gigantic caverns with teleport alcoves on each end in alcoves. The forests would be thick as well, which would make it difficult for adventurers to stay on course to the other side. Once deep enough, they wouldn’t be able to see the walls of the cavern at all.
The biggest problem of course, was even with the slight fire resistance from the added water, a forest’s greatest weakness would always be fire. That might be a way for the adventurers to kill themselves as well. I’d planned out a very large cavern, but it was still an enclosed space, and even master mages needed to breathe. An out of control fire would be very hard to put out, even for a master fire mage.
By itself, floor nineteen and twenty’s forest would have a rating of adept, it was the strongest I could make the forest. At least, with my current knowledge. However, the level boss mob would be hunting the adventurers in that forest as well, which of course was the dark elves. There would be no boss room, the elves could attack at any point they pleased in the large forest.
I’d also discovered that Kaley was mated with Jernith, and Serina was mated with Alnor. So, I would assign Kaley and Jernith to level nineteen, which would give it a rating of master level one or two. Serina, Alnor, and Cylene would be on level twenty, which would make the rating of my final level master level two, or perhaps three.
I imagined that a powerful war-mage facing a party, with the forest itself working as her ally, and her mate striking with deadly precision from the shadows would be very effective. Serina and Kaley would also get more powerful over the years, as both their warrior level approached level five master, and their mage levels rose from adept to the same height. I realized as time went on, I’d have to move nineteen and twenty down, and insert new levels to make sure the power rating ramping was consistent.
I put in some final touches, enchantments on the ceilings that would simulate daylight and moonlight skies with illusion, and even feed the forests the energy they needed to grow outside of magic. I added streams of potable water, and planted the rarest of herbs Ebony gave me nearby the toughest and largest of trees. I even added some air enchantments, that not only kept the air fresh like every other level, but randomly created light breezes like any forest would have. I also put the deadliest gnome traps I knew on the edges along the walls, to dissuade adventurers from taking the simple path of tracing the wall until they reached the other teleport alcove.
My boss mobs for those levels weren’t truly monsters, and would need to eat and sleep. So, I set it up so they’d automatically teleport to their level if it was breached by an adventurer. Otherwise, they could teleport back and forth between their small cavern home for eating and sleeping, and their assigned level at will. As they were bonded, they could speak telepathically to me, or to each other.
At that point, I was almost positive I had it all worked out, and hadn’t overlooked anything, I put part of my will on the actual task of building it. I guessed it would take several hours, but I had plenty of magic to get it done. Once it was finished, it would just be a matter of moving Ebony, the dark elves home, and my crypt to level twenty.
Crap, not only did I have a forest in my dark dungeon, I’d be living in one. I guess I had forgotten a detail after all. I added a small open cave for Ebony and I, with the exit teleport alcove at the far end, I’d also have another secret door there for the dark elves home in case they wanted to visit me in person…
Lila’s body was luxuriously soft and sensual against mine. The new levels were still building when Lila had returned from the princess for the night. We hadn’t wasted any time, both wanting the intimacy of human touch, even if this was an illusionary dream of Lila’s, it felt real to me. We’d just gotten done sharing pleasure, and we were both reveling in the post coital bliss.
It was relaxing, and I wished the intimate moments we sometimes shared would never end, but as all things did, it too passed. There was always next time though.
Lila said, “Things are going remarkably well. The princess trusts me, and has accepted my reports. They’ll be outnumbered, but since they’re defending they may actually win without assistance from you.”
“That’s good news, why is there a reservation in your voice?” I asked curiously.
Lila sighed, “I was in the room with them planning, when the duke brought up a letter he’d received from the previous high cleric in Tenemin. He trusted that man, but is unsure of the contents. The letter claimed the church of light was corrupted, and would betray them and side with Jennesar. If that happens the chances of Nysten fending off Jennesar alone is basically zero.”
Fuck. That wasn’t good.
“What do you think?”
Lila shrugged and caressed his chest, “Honestly, I’m not sure. It sounds so far-fetched in scope, but when looking at it by the small steps this Carlton outlined, it is very possible Verin achieved it. Supposedly, the highest of Jennesar has promised Verin absolute rule of the former Nysten, as a newly acquired land of Jennesar. Ambition can do that to a man, I would know.”
I tried not to
smile, of course a sex demoness would know. She wasn’t that anymore, but she still had the memories of it, along with the knowledge of how corruptible man truly was. Also, all the skills, which I was quite fond of.
“Nothing is ever easy. I can’t let Jennesar win, I’d hoped not to get involved. It would help if I knew if this was all true.”
Lila said, “Well, there was the cleric in the inner circle. Remember, he said there’d be betrayal from within Nysten, he just didn’t know the details of who or how. It’s also a problem because the king won’t believe it, the duke said he had solid orders to kill Carlton on sight, which muddies the waters even further.”
I was annoyed, as the wonderful feeling of contentment and well-being I’d had from being with Lila was fading quickly.
“Alright, I’ll prepare to help, but stick my neck out only if the betrayal happens. I’m not ready to move yet, but we’re in a pretty good place right now, and if we do end up saving Nysten I’m hoping that gains me at least one ally, instead of an accusation of being a runaway dungeon. It’s not the only reason I have to wait, what if there is no betrayal, then I’ll truly be a rogue dungeon.”
Lila looked thoughtful, “How will you be subtle in the middle of a battle?”
I laughed, “Subtle until the betrayal happens, if it’s really is true, after that it won’t be subtle at all. Honestly though, I’m not too worried how Nysten sees me, although I would enjoy having them as a true ally, my biggest worry is that the guild will declare me rogue. Truly, they’re probably the only ones that could destroy me at this point without a very large raiding party of masters.”
Lila shrugged, “If it comes to that, they lose their dungeon. You, Ebony, and I will run for it. Perhaps go east into another kingdom, make new plans.”