That was a fair point, Sistina had to admit. But she frowned at Phynis anyway as she continued slowly reshaping the lower levels of the dungeon she was creating. A few more days and she would have it pretty much complete, though building appropriate traps and adjusting the monsters would take more time. After reading some sobering tales of what happened to dungeons that were overly lethal, she'd decided she needed to make the chambers less deadly, lest adventurers decide that she needed to die. She’d also finally gotten her domain to envelop the fire node down below, which would help with some of the changes she needed to make as well. But no matter what, it was taking more time than she wanted.
Finally, Sistina reached out and tapped Phynis on the forehead and tilted her head, slightly curious as to what the princess was thinking. She was fairly sure that Desa didn’t want Phynis being in love with Sistina, and she could entirely understand if Phynis was unsettled by the whole mind-control thing. On the other hand, she’d been so busy that she wasn’t able to focus on watching everyone inside her domain in much detail, so she wasn’t sure what they were thinking. She’d also been trying to give them some privacy, since it wouldn’t be fair to watch all of them.
“Oh, the changes to my mind? I’m not happy about most of them, but I’m fairly certain they never intended me to fall in love with you. And that being the case, I think I’m happier with it in place. You’re… I don’t know how to explain.” Phynis stared at Sistina, a smile on her face, considering for a minute.
When Phynis leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sistina’s, it startled the dryad so much that the tunnel she was repositioning suddenly clenched shut, the stone twisting tightly and cutting off the tunnel abruptly. She hastily let go of the mountain as the warmth of Phynis’ lips pressed against her own mouth, and Sistina found herself losing her grip on the rest of her domain, as the whole of her concentration focused down on this body. Her lips parted, and she found herself pulling the elf deeper into the kiss, her own eyes closing as she reveled in the riot of sensations.
Phynis gave a soft whimper of happiness, and the warmth of their bodies melded together slowly as they pulled at each other, their tongues gently flitting and jousting. And then, almost as suddenly as the kiss had begun, Phynis pulled away. Sistina found herself mentally reeling as she swayed in place, while Phynis’ cheeks were a bright pink and a radiant smile illuminated her face.
“I see that you don’t entirely object to me being here, either,” Phynis teased, giggling softly. Sistina nodded in response, trying to pull her senses together again. The sheer potency of her own reaction startled her, and had kindled desires that she hadn’t even known she could have before. Oblivious to Sistina’s internal thoughts, Phynis seemed to consider before she asked, her voice growing nervous. “May I stay with you?”
Blinking in surprise, Sistina considered a moment before nodding to her. Why wouldn’t the princess be able to stay with her? She was staying in the cavern, after all. But then Phynis clarified, smiling sadly.
“I don’t mean just right now. I mean… for as long as I like? I’m not sure I want to leave your caverns. Ever,” Phynis explained in a soft voice, and Sistina suddenly realized what the young woman meant.
Desa wouldn’t be pleased if she allowed Phynis to stay here for however long she wished, but that wasn’t a concern to Sistina. If she had to, Sistina could force the other woman to let it go, but she was loathe to do that. No, the true reason she hesitated was because she knew that she would outlive Phynis by centuries or more. And it wouldn’t be fair to the young woman.
But Phynis’ eyes were filled with an odd awareness of that, and despite her hesitation, Sistina made her decision. She nodded and smiled gently before speaking, a faint promise permeating her reply. “Yes.”
Chapter 32
“What kind of road is this supposed to be?” Joseph groused, picking himself up with a wince. “I have enough trouble not tripping over my fat feet without a bunch of potholes jumping out of nowhere every few paces.”
“Didn’t you see the engineers a few miles back?” Penelope asked in a wicked tone, a grin on her face. “They were trying to make the trail into a passable road, if you didn’t notice.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s a shitty excuse for a road,” Joseph retorted, stretching his ankle carefully. A twinge of pain shot up his leg, and he scowled, then murmured, “Grace of Tervor, Purify My Body.”
His mana surged at the prayer and a golden light surged through him with a wave of warmth. The pain melted away in the face of his magic, and he nodded in satisfaction. Some days it was good to be a cleric.
“You done coddling your leg, Joe, so we can get a move on?” Darak asked impatiently, the dwarf less than amused. “We’ve no idea how much farther it is to this dungeon.”
“That’s because you’ve got rocks in your ears, Darak,” Nirath replied calmly, the elf leaning on her staff as she looked up at the mountain ahead of them.
“Hmm? Why do you say that?” Darak asked, blinking at her interjection. Joseph hid a smile at her tone. It wasn’t often that the elf insulted the dwarf, and she usually reserved it for when he was being a particularly rock-headed idiot.
“Because both of us can hear what sounds like axes and the like from a ways up the valley. We’re probably almost to wherever the road those mages were working is going,” Penelope explained, a patronizing smile on her face as Nirath nodded in agreement. “And given all the construction, I’m betting that it’s where the dungeon was found. Most nations build towns around them, remember?”
“Well, if you can hear it, it can’t be far away. I want to get off this damned ‘road’ and somewhere we can rest for a night,” Joseph replied with some relief, looking up at the road with renewed enthusiasm, imagining a nice, soft bed ahead of him. It probably wouldn’t be soft, but a man could dream.
“And that’s the man I like. Always so happy to see the food at the end of a long trip,” Penelope teased him, grinning broadly.
“Hey!” he protested, but all the others laughed at him, then continued down the sorry excuse for a road. Joseph made it all of twenty feet before grumbling as another pothole leapt up at him.
* * *
“Hey, Rick?” Phillip’s interruption distracted Rick, prompting a soft swear word.
“One minute, Phil! I’m almost done!” Rick retorted from the bushes. Didn’t the man know not to interrupt when someone was relieving themselves?
“We’ve got people coming up the road, Rick. They’re not the road-builders, and they look odd. Actually, they look dangerous to me,” Phil replied urgently, ignoring Rick’s protests.
“What? Give me a second! I’m almost done.” Rick quickly finished up and wiped himself clean. Buckling his belt, Rick hurried back to his post next to Phillip.
The two of them were sentries guarding the trail heading back toward Westgate, but so far it’d been an easy post. There hadn’t been any traffic except messengers, laborers, and supply wagons for the past week. A few other people had trickled in, of course, but those were mostly those who were going to run the tavern and inn. At least the barracks was done, and the tavern had finally received its first shipment of alcohol and food, which had much improved nights around the guard house. Which made the group that Rick saw coming up the road all the more surprising.
Leading the group was a dwarf, a man maybe a few inches short of five feet and broader in the shoulders than Rick was, and Rick was not a small man, which made that even more impressive than it otherwise would have been. The dwarf had a dark brown beard braided down the front and was wearing a suit of full plate, an expense which made Rick’s skin crawl. Even a basic suit of full plate was worth just over eight years of his pay, assuming he didn’t spend a single coin. But even worse, he could also see faint runes set into the armor, which meant that the armor was enchanted, increasing its value even more. Rick couldn’t wrap his mind around a number large enough to value something like that. Almost as a side note, he noticed that
the dwarf had a massive two-handed axe at his back that Rick would have sworn was too big for anyone to wield without losing their balance. Well, maybe a minotaur or ogre could use it, but those were rare!
Behind the dwarf was a tall, rangy woman with chestnut brown hair and broader shoulders than Rick had seen on a woman before. She was six feet tall and far more muscular than he’d be comfortable fighting, based purely on how easily she was moving in her own full plate, which gleamed a silvery color that he recognized as one of the mystical metals, mithral. Her armor had the similar runes, and a hand-and-a-half sword hung at her back with a glittering ruby in the pommel, while a crossbow hung at her hip. The sight of yet more obscenely expensive equipment made his stomach twist in envy.
Compared to the front pair, the man who came ambling after them was utterly mundane. He was stocky for a human, at about five and a half feet, and he had dark hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He was wearing lightweight pale leathers trimmed in blue and gold, and the glitter of a holy symbol around his throat proclaimed him as a follower of Tervor, god of adventuring, glory, and life. He had a mere mace at his side, but the head of it seemed to flicker with inner flames as Rick looked at it.
Last of all was an elf, but not a dawn or dusk elf like were native to the region. This woman, with pale skin and black hair, was a type of elf Rick had never seen before. She was wearing simple trousers and a white blouse under her long trench coat, and she carried a staff topped with a glittering green jewel, even as she gently guided a donkey carrying an almost overloaded series of packs. He almost puked when he saw glittering runes set into the donkey’s pack saddle.
“Well, shit.” Rick swallowed hard, then glanced at Phillip. “Adventurers?”
“Probably,” Phil agreed. “I’ll go get Lord Evansly. Don’t piss them off. I like having you as a partner.”
“Good idea,” Rick replied, anxiety growing as he stood up straighter.
* * *
“Hmm… looks like you’re right, Pen. Those buildings can’t have been complete for more than a couple of weeks,” Darak said, looking at the buildings as the smaller of the two human guards went running off. “The finished ones, I mean. Look like decent construction at least. I think I’m seeing a dwarven touch here.”
“I’m glad you approve,” Penelope replied dryly. Darak glanced back and saw her looking over at the elf behind them. “Nirath?”
“The stone indicates it’s quite close,” the elf replied calmly after dangling the seer stone for a moment and examining the radiance within it. “I believe we’ve arrived.”
“Great! You, guard! What town is this?” Darak asked bluntly, looking over the guard and barely suppressing a snort of derision. The man wouldn’t last ten minutes in a dungeon.
“Uh, it doesn’t have a name.” The man seemed taken aback by Darak’s approach, but visibly steadied himself as he asked, “May I ask if you’re adventurers?”
“We are,” Penelope replied before Darak could, and the dwarf harrumphed in faint annoyance. It was always fun teasing guards, but Penelope usually interfered.
“In that case, could you please wait for a few minutes? My partner went to get Lord Evansly. He asked to be informed if adventurers arrived. He wanted to meet with any of you,” the man asked, and Darak’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?” he asked suspiciously.
“I don’t know. He just wanted to meet with any adventurers when they arrived,” the guard explained quickly, raising his hands defensively.
“Well, he can—” Darak began, but Joseph interjected first.
“Darak. He’s just asking to meet us. Didn’t the guildmaster want to meet us before letting us into the guild, too?” the priest asked calmly, far more relaxed now that he had buildings in sight again. Crazy city dweller priest.
“I suppose we can wait for a bit,” Darak muttered grudgingly, and settled back. He did smirk at the guard releasing a breath of relief, though. Sometimes it was the little things that brightened his day.
It took a few minutes of annoyed impatience, but then the other guard appeared with a male elf that had oddly darker skin and white hair. Darak assumed this was one of the dusk elves that Nirath had mentioned lived out this way. The man was wearing nicer clothing than the guards, and was much better groomed. He still wouldn’t last ten minutes in a real dungeon.
“Welcome, I’m Captain Aric Evansly, the commander in charge of building this town. I’m an officer in the Army of Kelvanis.” The elf spoke quickly, his voice fairly resonant. He was taller than Joseph, but not by more than a couple of inches. “As more of a formality, may I ask who all of you are and why you’re here?”
“We’re members of the Western Adventuring Guild, Captain Evansly,” Penelope spoke smoothly, smiling as she nodded her head. “I’m Penelope Quicksilver, and we’re here because our guildmaster divined the existence of a new dungeon out this direction.”
“And I’m Joseph Lightcaller,” Joseph added with a polite nod.
“Darak Rockblood,” Darak grunted, his eyes narrowed at the elven man as he tapped one foot, trying to suppress his impatience.
“Nirath Sylrian,” the elf spoke calmly, her eyes level as they regarded the captain, who shifted slightly.
“I see. Well, your guildmaster works fast, then,” Evansly replied dryly, shaking his head in disbelief. “We only found out that there was a dungeon here a month and a half ago, and it was an accident. My superiors told me to welcome any adventurers as well, and let you know what we saw inside. I’ll warn that my soldiers saw very little while they were in there, though. As for lodging, all that’s built so far is the barracks, tavern, and inn, so we don’t have much to support any delves.”
“That will be more than sufficient,” Penelope assured the man, smiling more broadly. “And I’m glad to hear that you’re going to be welcoming adventurers.”
“As am I. Adventurers have a reputation for being powerful individuals, after all.” Evansly grinned as he added, “And I’d appreciate any feedback on what sort of buildings you all would like to see in the town. I’ve been doing my best with our architect, but we don’t have any real dungeons in this area, so we’re muddling along in the dark.”
“Well, that we most certainly can do. How’s the ale at the tavern?” Darak asked curiously, his mood growing better at the news there was something good happening out this way. A lot of countries made the mistake of trying to regulate dungeons, or restrict traffic into them. That never lasted long.
“Honestly? It’s horrible. Cheap, but really bad.” Evansly wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “This last shipment? I think they knew that it was only for the regular army, and sent us their worst stuff. I’d almost rather drink water. I sent a request for better supplies, though. I’m sure we’ll get them now that you’ve arrived, too.”
“Hah! At least you’re honest about it!” Darak smiled and grinned at the elf, nodding in approval. “How about you let us drop off our things at the inn, and then you can tell us what there is to know about this dungeon at the tavern? Best to be prepared first, eh?”
“Certainly. That’s part of what I’m here for,” Evansly replied with a chuckle as he pointed out a large building ahead of them on the left, which looked like it was brand new construction. “That’s the inn right there. I’ll head for the tavern in a few minutes to meet you.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Penelope told him politely, then headed for the inn, and Darak followed right behind her, humming happily to himself. Ale was a wonderful thing.
* * *
“So that’s a group of adventurers,” Evansly murmured, shaking his head as he steadied himself.
“Sir?” one of the privates asked. If Evansly remembered correctly, the man’s name was Rick. He was one of the less observant enlisted men, which was why he was tasked with watching the road. It was hoped that most people who followed the road wouldn’t be hiding. The man looked nervous as he asked, “Are they safe to be around?”
“Don’t worry
about them. Adventurers are dangerous, certainly, but they seem to obsess over what’s in dungeons. As long as we stay out of their way, we’ll be fine. Hells, maybe we’ll even find out what’s in the damned cave!” Evansly told the man with a grin. “Keep up the good work, both of you.”
“Yes, sir!” Both soldiers snapped to attention, more at ease.
Heading for the tavern, Evansly sighed unhappily. Nirath was a beautiful woman, even more beautiful than his wife. A small part of him wondered if the woman could be acquired as a slave. But no matter what he might feel, Evansly wasn’t suicidal. An adventurer was far too dangerous to deal with, so he mentally set the possibility aside. Now, if the opportunity fell into his lap, maybe he’d revisit it. But until that time, survival took priority.
* * *
“Decent stew, at least. Ale’s just as bad as you said,” Darak murmured as he finished the last drop of the liquid, slamming his mug down on the table with a sharp report. Evansly winced at the sound, reaching up to rub an ear.
“Thank you for the compliment about the food,” the elf told the dwarf, his voice dubious. “I’ve been trying to get everything in order up here, but it’s been difficult. Not the least of which is because I’m a military commander, not a city manager.”
“I can only imagine,” Joseph replied, laughing softly as he mopped up the last of the broth with a piece of bread. “Thank you for the information, too. It helps us anticipate what sort of problems we’ll most likely run into.”
“Is that so? I wasn’t sure if it’d be much help, since we didn’t get very far inside,” Evansly told the cleric with a smile. “I’ve been worried about that part, if I’m being entirely honest.”
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