“I think that this is the end of a floor,” Nirath replied, glancing up at him and then tapping the carapace. “And this carapace isn’t intended to be broken in battle, either. The enchantment pattern is still in the carapace, and can be powered by mana. This is intended as treasure.”
“What?” Penelope almost yelped, her eyes going wide. “No way. Who’d haul around a massive ant carapace for some healing? That’s disgusting!”
“Wait, wait… actually, that makes some sense,” Darak interjected, his eyes narrowing as he looked the carapace over speculatively. After a minute, he nodded to himself. “I’ve heard of some of the smiths back home turning the shells of big beasts into armor before. And that looks about the right size to be reshaped into the front half of a breastplate. If a good armorworker got their hands on it, it’d be about the right size.”
“I don’t care. That’s just absurd,” Penelope refuted, shaking her head firmly as she took a step backward. “It’s sickening to even think about.”
“No matter what you think, Penelope, it’s the truth. Also, if you look closely, this carapace is different from the others. It has metal in it, reinforcing the surface. It was likely the boss monster of this floor of the dungeon,” Nirath added, tapping the carapace gently again. “To me, it’s almost like the dungeon is specifically increasing the difficulty and rewards of each floor on purpose. And it also seems like it’s deliberately separating out the different difficulties over different floors as we travel downward.”
“That’s unsettling,” Joseph murmured, frowning as he considered, then looked up at the others seriously. “Most dungeons learn from adventurers, don’t get me wrong, but this looks planned. I have to wonder, is this a dungeon that possibly pre-dates the Godsrage?”
“That seems possible,” Penelope interjected, eager to change the subject from the ant.
“Not a chance,” Darak refuted, shaking his head and sitting on a rock near the slaughter ground, looking at the two dozen dead ants.
“Why not?” Joseph asked, taken aback by Darak’s flat refutation of his idea. The others also looked confused, so Darak sighed and shook his head again.
“The reason is the caverns we’ve been through. You know as well as I do that earth elementals, like Shale, can tell a lot about rock. I’ve ranted on it on enough occasions. Something I haven’t bothered talking about so far, about these tunnels? Damn new. Other than a few of the ones up near the surface, we’ve only been in one or two that are more than a decade or so old at all,” Darak explained, then frowned. “And this is weird, too. I’ll admit that Nirath’s opinion makes an odd sort of sense, but something about this place feels wrong. The mana density, the way the monsters are set up… we’re likely going to need an experienced team to clear this place. If the power level keeps increasing like this, if there’re more than ten floors, we won’t survive to the end of this dungeon.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” Nirath admitted, a frown crossing the elf’s face as she shook her head. “The opposition has been survivable so far, but if the power level increases like what I’ve been noticing, we could run into truly deadly creatures before the bottom.”
“Well, at least the dungeon doesn’t seem to try to repopulate the caverns when we’re on the way out,” Penelope murmured.
“Hey! Don’t tempt fate, Pen!” Joseph shot back, his eyes widening. “Dungeons learn, remember?”
* * *
Yes, dungeons did learn. But Sistina wasn’t planning on taking advantage of that particular weakness of the adventuring group at the moment. She was still trying to think of a way to create easy exits for each group of adventurers on a given floor that wouldn’t allow intruders to simply bypass large portions of the dungeon she’d designed. Once she had something like that in place, maybe she’d start fully repopulating the dungeon behind adventurers. Anything to keep them distracted from trying to kill her.
The idea of a series of one-way doors that would let them out was tempting, though… maybe with excessively deadly traps for people who tried to use the exits in reverse? Past the first door, at least. She didn’t want to outright kill those who didn’t realize they were heading down the wrong path.
Opening her eyes, she looked at Phynis and smiled at the sight of the young woman. The princess was reading a book and seemed happy enough. So instead of continuing to examine the odd group of adventurers, Sistina picked up a book of her own. The book discussed a dozen different dungeons that had once existed in Everium, and went over them in a good amount of detail. From what she could tell, none of them had survived the Godsrage, but… suddenly she paused, setting the book aside carefully. Standing up as her curiosity got the better of her, she started toward the door into the main library.
* * *
“Hmm?” Phynis blinked in surprise as Sistina stood up, her thoughts jarred away from the book in front of her.
While she might be able to read the old forms of elven, it was sometimes more difficult than others. Some of the ways that they used words had changed significantly, making her re-read sentences multiple times to ensure that she’d translated them correctly. Even then, some of the sentences made no sense and Sistina had been forced to laboriously translate for Phynis.
Learning that the Constella family lands had been an earldom on the northern edge of the kingdom had been fascinating, as had some of the other details on her family lineage. Not much of it was truly important at this point, but it was interesting. They certainly hadn’t been royalty at the time of the Godsrage.
Sistina normally either sat in the same room as her while Phynis read, or read her own books, usually a tome on dungeons. The fact that a dungeon was reading about dungeons amused Phynis to no end, but the dryad getting up without prompting was unusual. Which was why Phynis asked after a momentary pause, “Sistina? Is something wrong?”
Sistina took a moment to stop and think before speaking. “Farlon. Inquiring.”
“What are you asking him about?” Phynis asked, honestly startled. While Farlon and Sistina were no longer ignoring one another, they weren’t exactly close.
“Godsrage. Was sleeping,” Sistina explained, and her expression turned slightly sheepish as she shrugged and continued. “Curious.”
“I see. That’s… I suppose that makes a lot of sense,” Phynis replied, considering for a moment before slipping her bookmark into place and closing her book. While she should likely be surprised that Sistina didn’t know about the Godsrage, it actually made sense. With Sistina’s missing memories, why should she remember the Godsrage, anyway? “Why don’t we go find him and we can ask, then?”
The dryad nodded and waited for Phynis to get up, instead following the princess into the main stacks again. It wasn’t too surprising to find Farlon at a table, poring over books while a pot of tea slowly cooled in front of him. His assistants were likely off in the stacks somewhere, but Phynis cleared her throat politely to get the scholar’s attention.
“Hmm? Yes, Your Highness?” Farlon jumped ever so slightly, blinking at her for a moment before straightening in his chair. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes, actually. But first, are you busy?” Phynis asked, glancing at Sistina. “Sistina had a very broad question, and I don’t want you to lose your place in your research.”
“Oh? That’s unusual indeed. Go right ahead and interrupt. I’m actually trying to translate a particularly annoying bit of text and could use the break,” Farlon told Phynis with a smile, then raised an eyebrow at Sistina. “In fact, I’m surprised that Sistina has a question. She doesn’t normally seem to be one to ask things. Oh, have a seat!”
“Thank you.” Phynis smiled at him, taking a seat as Sistina did as well. She took a moment before speaking. “Sistina was going to ask about the Godsrage. She said she was sleeping during it, so I’m guessing she doesn’t know what happened.”
“She… wait, you don’t know anything about the Godsrage? At all?” Farlon asked, his voice incredulous as h
e looked at Sistina, who shrugged.
“Sleeping in tomb. Woke underground,” the dryad explained, if one could call it an explanation. “Inferred information. Deific apocalypse?”
“Yes, I suppose one might call the Godsrage an apocalypse. Damn, I’d never thought…” Farlon shook his head wonderingly, then softly chuckled. “I’ve had to teach some students some of the details about it before, but everyone I’ve known had at least heard of the Godsrage. Well, I suppose there’s a first for everything.”
“True enough. I would’ve tried to explain myself, but I suspect I’d mess it up,” Phynis added, smiling at Sistina as she settled back in her chair.
“I doubt that, Your Highness. The Godsrage isn’t a terribly complex concept to explain. The source of it is the subject of much speculation, though. Unfortunately, little is actually known about what the core conflicts that set it off were. What we actually know is that the deities of light and darkness went to war with one another. At first, the indications were minor, but surviving texts of the time and legends indicate that the deities also urged their followers to go to war with their rival faiths,” Farlon told them, standing up and taking a step back so he could pace back and forth. He moved slowly at first, but his step and voice grew brisker as he built up momentum. “I won’t go into the specific evidence, but it appeared that the conflict was relatively small at first. But things slowly built into a greater war as churches and faiths of all types joined the conflict on different sides. Even some deities of light or darkness seemed to go to war with their fellow deities on the same side, and the war began to consume the world, devastating huge regions. All of that was tame compared to what followed, however.
“Near the end of the wars, as the different nations’ armies were all but spent, the war between the deities themselves spilled over into our world. The gods physically manifested and commanded their legions of angels and demons against their rivals. Their powers were directed at one another, and the consequences of the struggle were catastrophic.” Farlon’s voice grew grim as he sighed, shaking his head and slowing to a near stop. “We are in the outskirts of the Godsrage Mountains, the place where the worst conflict of that war occurred, where Demasa, the patron of Everium, and most of her Court of Light perished in battle against Kylrius and his own followers. Kylrius died as well, but the devastation twisted the land and nearly wiped out every species within thousands of miles. The survivors of the conflict were tainted by the essence of the slain gods, and mutated into the dawn elves of the south, and the dusk elves of the north. Yet this was only a single battlefield, and changes came over vast numbers of other species within our new borders.”
“All across the world, deities fought. It’s said that a full quarter of the deific host perished in the war. But they actually had the easy part of it.” Farlon’s eyes flickered with derision as he shook his head. “Mortals were too fragile, and the powers unleashed were too great. It is said that ninety-nine mortals out of one hundred were killed in the wars. The landscape was rent asunder, cities razed to ash and dust, and most of the knowledge of what came before was lost. Not everything, as this library shows, but what survived was hidden. Entire species were wiped out, and different magical beasts of war still live and breed in the dark places of the world.”
“After?” Sistina asked, looking slightly confused. “The ending?”
“Ah, yes. We are just as uncertain of why the war stopped as we are of why it began, but we know a little,” Farlon admitted, sitting down again. “The gods ceased their war and came to an agreement. They retreated from our world, and while they will respond to those with the magic to make contracts with them, or who can cast spells to summon their servants, the deities cannot take a proactive hand in our world anymore. The war was too devastating, so they took a step back.”
“Interesting,” Sistina murmured, sitting back, her eyes darkening. “Sad.”
“That it is,” Phynis agreed, shaking her head.
“Did it answer your question, though? I could give more details, though I don’t have the texts that would explain it in-depth for you,” Farlon asked, seeming curious as to what Sistina was thinking.
“Answered question,” Sistina told him softly, shaking her head. “Unfortunate. Many thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Farlon spoke in return, smiling. “It’s good to see you’re interested in what happened while you ‘slept.’”
“Well, in that case… now what? I’m done reading, I think,” Phynis asked, getting up and taking a step behind Sistina as she rose, then draping her arms around the dryad.
Sistina smiled and leaned back into Phynis, sending a faint sensation of happiness and satisfaction through the elf before she spoke. “Your choice. Satisfied.”
“I’d suggest you get a private room before you distract me more,” Farlon grumbled. “I’m old, not dead.”
Phynis broke down into giggles at that, grinning broadly. “We’ll leave you alone, then. Let’s go back up to your tree, Sistina.”
Sistina smiled and nodded, and followed along after Phynis, the gentle smile still on her face.
Chapter 41
One of the scouts knocked at Evansly’s door, prompting him to look up from his letter, pausing as the man spoke. “Sir?”
“Yes? What can I help you with, Edward?” Evansly replied, bleeding off the extra ink from his ink pen as he looked at the man expectantly.
Evansly was happy with life. He’d finally received word that the town had officially been designated Granite Point, and that he was being installed as its mayor for the foreseeable future. That made him happy, especially since they were funding the construction of his manor, with the assumption it would have additional rooms for visiting authorities from Kelvanis’ core regions. And it would also allow his wife to move out here, which made him a much happier man.
“You asked us to keep an eye on the backside of the mountain after we found a couple of footprints earlier this week. We hadn’t seen much lately, but David and I ran into something this morning. We spotted a couple of caches of what look like gear for people traveling through the mountains. And it looks like it was placed in the last week or two,” Edward explained quickly, a worried look on his face.
“What? How many people do you think this gear was for? Did you see anyone?” Evansly asked, sitting bolt upright at the information.
“No, but there were a couple of footprints nearby that looked like they would probably be fit for elves. The caches looked like they’d be enough for maybe twenty people.” Edward paused, then admitted, “I suppose they could be more, but it’d have to be a short trip, for four or five days at most. Fewer people couldn’t carry that much stuff.”
“Hrrm. Good job, Edward. There’ll be a bonus for you and David. If you would, contact Lieutenant Tarys, if you would, and ask her to ready two platoons to keep an eye on these caches. I’ll be coming along myself,” Evansly ordered, smiling broadly. “Princess Phynis originally escaped through this area, so it’s possible that some of Sifaren’s army is coming back through and trying to scout our position. Let’s get the jump on them this time.”
“Yes, my lord!” Edward saluted him, smiling as he bowed out of the room.
Evansly quickly stoppered the inkwell and cleaned his pen, then moved with a purpose. He wanted to be properly armored and ready before the soldiers were ready. Soldiers tended to move with alacrity when their superior was already prepared, he found.
* * *
“Your Highness?” Desa asked politely, causing Phynis to pause as she was about to walk past the captain.
“Yes, Desa?” Phynis asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out and get some fresh air? We’ve been in the caverns for a few weeks, and unlike everyone else, you haven’t gone outside at all. I’m starting to get concerned about your health,” Desa asked, hoping she’d hidden her ulterior motives well enough. “I think that it would do you good.”
“That�
� well, I was going to go to the pond with Sistina…” Phynis paused, hesitating for a moment. Fortunately, her distrust had eased somewhat, Desa realized, which just made her feel even worse about why she was asking the princess to come outside with her. Would Phynis ever trust her again after this was done? Probably not.
“Yes, but you do that fairly often. We’ve been patrolling enough that it looks like it’s fairly safe to go out for now,” Desa offered, shrugging. “And we’ve no idea when they’re going to start patrolling in greater numbers, so it’s best to do it sooner than later.”
“True. I suppose I can do that. Let me get changed into something more appropriate for outside. This clothing isn’t the best for hiking,” Phynis finally agreed, nodding and smiling gently. “Then we can tell Sistina and go outside. How far are we going to go?”
“We should be outside for a few hours,” Desa told her, gritting her teeth internally at lying this way. “We don’t dare go far without supplies, after all.”
“I’ll be right back.” Phynis smiled. The princess headed back to her room, and the faint sound of her humming carried to Desa’s ears.
Desa let out a soft breath, closing her eyes for a moment as she felt the sense of disgust for her actions growing ever more potent. It was growing worse with every conversation, and even if Phynis understood why Desa had to do it, Desa had realized something else. She’d never forgive herself for deceiving her princess again, either.
* * *
“That’s an odd group,” Daniel murmured, frowning as he looked between a couple of branches at the group of dusk elves that were standing near the cache the scouts had found.
“Yeah. Those are some well-armed women,” Fredrick agreed, shaking his head. “I wonder what’s going on here? They look like they’re waiting for someone. And why are they all women, for that matter?”
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