Dungeon Spawned: Dark Dungeon 01

by D. R. Rosier

  She’s not complaining, so I’m not overly worried about it.

  Whenever I get below my thirty percent threshold, I just draw on her and convert a little energy at a time. If my magical saturation gets above seventy percent or so, I channel any new life energy to the succubus when someone dies. So far, the loss in the trade has been extremely minimal. The largest flaw is if she’s banished, or manages to kill herself, is that I’d lose most of it, or be forced to go with plan A and carve out a bunch of rooms and tunnels I’m not ready for.

  Which was better than completely losing it.

  There was a group of adventurers I was tracking, as for the rest of the dungeon I was getting good at letting my subconscious handle things. Replacing mobs and loot magic on them was almost automatic, or at least took no real thought.

  The group of four, two warriors, a mage, and a cleric, were fighting the fifth-floor boss. I’d been tracking them for a while, and they were fun to watch. I’d almost killed a couple of them multiple times, and if it wasn’t for their damned cleric healing them I would have.

  Still, it was then that my attention was drawn to something odd. Two of my skeletons were above ground. While technically a part of my dungeon and reach, no mobs should be upstairs at all. It was a rule if I wanted to live. Ebony had made it clear that only rogue dungeons expand above ground, so while my senses reached up there and I could have done virtually anything to the keep, I just didn’t. There was a side effect to that as well that I enjoyed, I could eavesdrop, watch them, and even read their correspondence. The guild had no idea about it either.

  Now, if only a powerful Earth, Water, and Air mage would move into the guild rooms, I’d be able to pilfer the spells from their spell books if they left them behind in their rooms at any time. So far that hadn’t happened. But I just got off on a tangent, I’d just felt something weird, my skeletons were up there and they shouldn’t be.

  My conscious attention raced up there, and I was suddenly looking at four paladins, and a cleric that didn’t look familiar to me at all. They looked nothing like the fresh and weak paladins they’d sent in to the first floor for training recently.

  They were also carrying two sacks, with two of my skeletons in them who were frozen in light spells. I had no idea what they were up to, but it couldn’t be good. They even had some kind of invisibility spell over it, so the guild people wouldn’t notice they carried them. I panicked when they got to the door and were almost out of my reach, and with a thought I pulled the dark magic out of them. The sacks collapsed as they turned into two inert piles of bones.

  The five men cried out in alarm, dumb bastards. They begged off and left quickly when the nearby guild folks inquired if they could help.

  What the hell was that about, and what happened if someone that could create portals tried the same thing? That bothered me for quite a while as I mulled it over.

  Finally, I changed the magic again, which was quite annoying actually. I set it up so if my undead left the dungeon the spells would fail. That meant I had to redo every single type of undead spell, and every variant for the alternate rewards. It was a total pain in the ass, metaphorically speaking of course, since I didn’t have one.

  For the demons it was easier, I just modified the bindings set on my summoning circle so they were banished if they ever left the dungeon. That worked for all of the different types at once, imps, succubae, incubi, warriors, and mages, so it was much easier.

  Regardless, if they wanted to study my mobs, they’d have to do it inside the dungeon. If they were up to something else, then they were now out of luck. Bastards.

  It was hard work being a dungeon, since I’m not a dungeon. Just an imprisoned and banished being of unknown origin, who happens to play with magic like a potter shapes clay, and have the ability of creation.

  Ebony said, “What are you hiding from me?”

  I knew Ebony wasn’t stupid. Imps are very smart, and I imagined dungeon imps were at the top that way. Still, I was startled at the accusation.

  “Hiding sexy? Me?”

  Ebony snorted, “I thought the way you held magic instead of life force was weird, but now you’re using a succubus like a damned life force battery. So… what’s going on? You aren’t a normal dungeon.”

  “Battery?”

  Ebony scoffed, “Wrong dimension, stop dodging the question.”

  “You’re really sexy when you’re mad, I mean more than usual.”

  She just glared, no pose at all, damn it.

  “I don’t know.”

  Ebony snorted, “You don’t know?”

  I was powerful enough to squash her with a thought, I wasn’t even sure the bond we formed could stop me, I was almost positive I could transcend the bond with an act of will. The problem was that I genuinely liked, and had affection for Ebony. She was a wonderful dungeon imp, playful, knowledgeable, and I just couldn’t hurt her, much less destroy her. Plus, all the guilt from hiding the truth from her in the first place, and I was getting lonely. Lila still wasn’t talking to me.

  I confessed, about everything, like verbal diarrhea I couldn’t hold it in. Waking in a prison without memories. Not knowing what I was, how I’d hidden on accident and why I felt like a dungeon at all to her. About Lila being in my head and giving me enough knowledge to fake it by absorbing her magical expertise. I even told her how much I cared about her, and I did care. Then I told her my still mostly unformed plans. Gain power and knowledge until I could escape my prison, and either claim revenge on my jailor and my own life, or simply forge a new one.

  I didn’t know what path I’d take, how could I know my future path until I knew the path that led here?

  Call me a sucker, but I trusted the adorable sexy mini-demoness. It had even occurred to me more than once to try out my new spell on her before Lila, and to join the party in her head. I cared about them both, and yes, I also very much missed the physical sensations.

  More than that, there was something in me that claimed them as mine.

  Ebony trembled, “And what about me? What happens to me when you escape?”

  I wasn’t sure, and I’d been thinking about that for a while actually. I did have a few ideas that I’d narrowed it down to however, and on a whim decided to let her pick from those.

  “It’s your choice sexy, and I would have offered this when the time was right, I wouldn’t have just abandoned you, I swear it. You have three choices. You can stay here, I may break off a small piece of my consciousness to keep the dungeon going, and we’d still be connected. My will is surprisingly vast, and it would be like I never left. The second choice is that you can leave with me, and serve in some other fashion. I know that’s rather vague, but for now, so is my future, so I can’t really say what that would be. Third, I can break the bond, and you can leave me to find a real dungeon, but in that case, I would bind you to keep my secrets. I would also miss you.”

  Was I foolish to bare myself to the little imp? I wasn’t sure, but it hurt a bit when she said she had to think about it, and went to sulk in her home. I was hoping she’d pick option two.

  But I couldn’t blame her. Now the two closest to me, the only two people I knew really, both sexy demonesses that served me, weren’t talking to me. To be fair, they’d be required to if I demanded it, but that wouldn’t happen. I wasn’t an asshole, or at least, not that big of one.

  Just… great.

  Chapter Twelve

  Catalina smiled and tilted her head as she measured Carlton across the table.

  The last few days have been interesting for her, she’d gotten some quarters in the half-finished inn, and she’d reviewed the reports on the dungeon. As a low level journeywoman she thought the first couple of levels in the dungeon would probably be easy, even solo. She wasn’t foolish enough to try though, the power levels were just guidelines. Without backup, doing something stupid or being caught by surprise could very easily kill someone. So, she waited. After she’d sent word accepting her cousin’s offer, she
expected it to take a week or two before they arrived.

  In the meantime, she’d been ingratiating herself with the guild, and getting to know the other adventurers a bit. So far, as much as she could tell, no one suspected it wasn’t a true dungeon, or had guessed at the true power of the crystal beneath their feet. She knew the truth, but started to wonder if maybe they should just leave it alone as long as it behaved itself, what was the harm? They were even getting riches and power out of it. She knew that argument wouldn’t impress her father though, so she planned to do the best she could regardless.

  She’d also practiced her magic, a lot. Almost all the time really, and it was having secondary effects on her life she hadn’t foreseen. She wondered if her mother had the same issue, unfortunately her mother had died before she turned ten, and they’d never had those kinds of conversations. There was no really polite way to say it, she walked around constantly aroused, moist in her center, and her nipples positively ached. She was horny, all the time, and she had no outlet besides her own fingers at night, behind a curtain of air magic so the whole inn along with the workmen wouldn’t hear her screams.

  Were all mages like that when they channeled magic and practiced for hours a day? She wasn’t sure, but she suspected it was the truth. It would explain a lot since adventurers were rather a randy lot, and being a princess sure as hell wasn’t an exception. She wondered if that’s why her father hadn’t wanted her to pursue this course, and then cut off that train of thought as too disturbing.

  It wasn’t just arousing, constantly channeling magic made her body more sensitive all around, made her feel strong and alive, it was just that next to those arousing effects, the rest of it hardly even registered.

  Which brought her to checking out Carlton. She was just eighteen, and he was fourteen years older, but he was a very handsome and well-built man. She also imagined at that age he knew exactly how to use what he had to please a woman. He was also the high cleric, so knew how to be discreet, and how lonely it could be at the top. Also, he was a man of ambition, and wouldn’t give it up to follow her around like a puppy dog.

  Really, he was a perfect candidate for her to have a little fling with.

  Except, the man was completely ignoring her signals, if she tried flirting any harder she’d look like a desperate whore on a street corner right before sunrise. That wasn’t a step she was willing to take.

  Wait, what did he just say?

  “I’m sorry, what did you just say Carlton? My mind wandered.”

  Did he not think her attractive enough, or was he just that damned clueless?

  Carlton cleared his throat, “Right, I said that it was rather odd that Verin sent a five-man team to evaluate the dungeon. He seems almost obsessed about it, and doesn’t believe the reports. Total nonsense. I wonder if he’s listening to the envoy from… never mind my worries, I probably shouldn’t be talking about it, but the man frustrates me sometimes.”

  Her mind ran through what he said, and several scenarios ran through her mind, the most likely one was that the highest in the capitol knew something, and knew it wasn’t a dungeon. And if she’d read him right, Jennesar knows as well. But that makes no sense at all, how could they?

  The strangest thing was that she didn’t think Carlton knew at all.

  She shrugged nonchalantly, and stopped herself when she went to flick her hair. Not going to happen, if the bastard doesn’t want her, she won’t embarrass herself further.

  “I understand, it’s easy to talk to you as well, someone accustomed to the pressure of ruling, yet not beholden to each other for the most part. Do you believe they may stir up trouble?”

  He shook his head, way too quickly, “Of course not Catalina, just internal church politics, I shouldn’t have bugged you with it at all.”

  She smiled at his subtle confirmation, she’d have to keep an eye on them then, and perhaps get word to her father. His words said one thing, but if she was sure of anything, the high cleric of Tenemin was not that bad of a liar.

  “So, do you have plans, I mean what brings you out of the city and over here, surely it wasn’t merely for my company over lunch?”

  Oh goddess, she wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. Had she really just said that?

  He said, “A duty I’m afraid, but a joyous one. The temple in the keep, I’ve gotten permission to sanctify it in my goddess’s name. Lunch with you was just a happy coincidence.”

  She thought fast, and decided it was the other way around. Carlton must be playing some political game with the highest, and was using her as one of his pawns. Fortunately, he knew less than she did, and she really appreciated that tidbit of information. Still, it was clear he didn’t want her.

  “I’ll leave you too it then Carlton, I enjoyed lunch.”

  He bowed his head, and she got up and walked away as calmly as she could.

  Carlton blew out his breath, and picked up the pitcher of ale and got a refill. There was no way he could get up right now, his dick was so hard it would tent his robes. He’d seen that look in young adventurers before, and Catalina was a real beauty. It took all his self-control not to follow her up to her room and take advantage of what she’d clearly been offering, but he knew that would be a mistake.

  For one, he was too old for her, and she just wanted a quick fuck. Second, the duke would hear about it, and probably send an assassin his way for deflowering his little girl. He was sure the old man had spies around here keeping an eye on her. Fuck that. Third, and probably most importantly, he remembered her as a little girl, and couldn’t get past it, which was probably stupid.

  At least, his dick thought it was stupid.

  The other thing he was worried about was the princess had given something away, just like Selwyn thought she might. She was a better politician than that usually, showing a blank face. But the girl had hormones coming out of her pores right now, and had actually looked very worried about something for a moment.

  That meant Verin and the envoy from Jennesar were on to something, which made no sense. The guild simply doesn’t make mistakes about dungeons. Not that he’d ever heard anyway. It was also extremely annoying, because it meant he was the only one in the damn dark about what it was.

  He finished his ale and got up, then walked over to the keep and inside the chapel. He smiled as he walked in, he’d sent a couple of acolytes over early this morning, and they’d cleaned out the dust and the detritus. They’d also set up the altar. It was a simple flat table made of marble, and behind that was a plinth, with a large statue of Boduna, the goddess of order. There were seven other smaller statues equally spaced around the large one, so that they didn’t offend any other gods or goddesses in the pantheon.

  The temple would be his goddess’s, but all from the pantheon would be welcomed in its hallowed hall. Their church was the church of light, not just of his goddess. He cleared all of it out of his mind. His inappropriate lust for the sexy willowy princess, his worry about the dungeon itself now, and about what those idiots in Jennesar and the crown city were doing.

  He let it all go, and embraced his devotion and love for his goddess.

  He was at peace, and he was ready. He started to chant the ritual…

  Chapter Thirteen

  I felt the strangest thing. A presence that was both very familiar, but yet, not. It was similar to something I’d felt before, and even if I couldn’t remember when, or what it was, I knew this was different. My attention focused up above, right outside my dungeon, and what I saw shocked me to my core.

  There was a woman, she was young, beautiful, and had ageless eyes. Her body was perfectly formed, and after what I felt with Lila, desirable. But it was her presence that took my breath away. She was glowing, and her hand was on a young man’s shoulder, but I knew he couldn’t feel her touch, or see her form, but he could feel her presence.

  I looked at the altar, and then back to her.

  “Do they know it’s wrong?”

  She laughed, “N
o, and don’t fix it young one. The goddess of order is a stern older a woman, a mother figure, it is what they need. If they knew my true form, any god’s true form, they would be swamped with impure thoughts. That is not our purpose.”

  I felt afraid, yet not.

  “Do you know what I am, who I am?”

  She smiled, “Yes Nurien, I do. But I may not interfere, that would cause problems and ripples you can’t even conceive of. I will confirm what you already suspect however. Your imprisonment and banishment has weakened you greatly, yet it has in some ways made your stronger. Beings from the higher planes are not allowed to interfere on the mortal plane, save through those that worship us, yet right now you live on the mortal plane and have no constraints that way.”

  I had guessed that, but the majority of my power was trapped anyway, and if I broke the prison I was sure I would die, or at least most of me would die. I might save a small part of me in a human form, but this world wasn’t meant to support a body with all my power in it.

  She nodded, “We call them avatars. A human form with a small portion of our power, which will return to us once we wish it, or after the form is destroyed. Until you learn how to return to where you belong and can build a body to support all of your nature, you must be careful. There are powers on this world that can destroy you if you act in folly. It won’t be easy, the road is long, and there are no guarantees.”

  “I thought you couldn’t tell me anything.”

  She smiled, “I told you I couldn’t give you knew information or help you get home. I haven’t said anything you didn’t already believe, I’m just confirming it for you.”

  He asked, “Why?”