Dungeon Spawned: Dark Dungeon 01

by D. R. Rosier

“I do, and I don’t want you in danger.”

  I could just order her to do it, but then she’d be mad at me forever if I lived through it.

  Lila huffed.

  “Shush, I’d save you too, if I could,” I directed inwardly.

  Ebony said, “I’ll not try to fight, but I’m going to stay and watch from my home. I promise to run if…” she trailed off.

  That was probably the best I’d get from her, so I took it.

  Salvatore was frightening, as he slashed into and dispelled all the elementals on level four. Level five was a completely different story. It was open, large, and not a straight path. It offered all sorts of opportunities to pick off people in the back and from the sides. Between the elementals and gnomish traps, I killed two paladins and fifteen more soldiers.

  That left Salvatore, three paladins, five clerics, and twenty-five soldiers going down the stairs to level six. I decided at that point to start micromanaging, and the earth elementals hid in the walls and ground until Salvatore passed, and bludgeoned more soldiers to their deaths. The air elementals bludgeoned them from a distance with air bolts and suffocated those in the back up close, all out of range of that blasted sword. Some of those were taken out by the clerics and paladins, but not easily. The fire elementals couldn’t really hide, and despite being my strongest elementals, they earned a quick dismissal from Salvatore’s sword. That man moved entirely too fast for the armor he was in.

  By the end of floor six, I had them whittled down to Salvatore, two paladins, three clerics, and ten soldiers. Soldiers really didn’t belong in here, they had the power of initiates, and the sergeants and officers might have qualified as apprentices.

  Not that I was keeping count, but I now had fifty-nine life forces, which would make it all worth it if I survived.

  To my surprise, floor seven took out the rest of the soldiers, the little imps were flying, mobile, and not stupid enough to go anywhere close to Salvatore. In the end a mass exorcism took them down, but it took the clerics time to cast it room by room. It was the lack of mages that were biting them in the ass there, and it slowed them down a little bit.

  Regardless, I now had sixty-nine life forces, and there were only six of them left. Unfortunately, they were the strongest. One master, a cleric adept, and four journeymen, two of each class of middle level, all headed down the stairs to level eight.

  The most terrifying part was I was dropping loot, and they didn’t stop for it. It was good loot, perhaps too good, and a sad effort to slow them a little.

  The old man, along with the princess and a few others were just getting to level five. I wished I could play favorites, but the best I could do was to not micro-manage the elementals to pick off the weak ones. I wasn’t a real dungeon, and actually could have simply cleared the way for them, but I didn’t want to give the ones coming to save me a reason to kill me, which meant acting like a real dungeon. So… I just rooted for them instead and felt frustrated every time they had to slow down. Still, Donnell was moving just as fast as Salvatore, and his huge glowing maul was just as scary as the holy sword. I just needed to slow the bastard down a little.

  The eighth level’s ambushes did slow him down, but the arrows and spells all seemed to just bounce off his armor or get blocked by his sword. I micromanaged them, and managed to take down another cleric and paladin, the journeyman level ones unfortunately, the adept cleric was just fine. I’d wounded the others multiple times, but the clerics kept healing. Unless I got lucky with a kill shot they wouldn’t stay down long.

  Four left. Salvatore, Cleric Adept, and then one of each, a paladin and cleric journeyman, as they went down the stairs to the ninth floor.

  Dungeons weren’t supposed to fight back, the crystals I mean. Ebony had made that clear. But would I really not fight back? I could wield all six elemental spheres, and had more power than a master. I’d also like the believe I had a stronger grasp of the nature of magic and its configurations than any mortal wielder of magic, even if in a limited fashion.

  If my life depended on it, damn right I was going to strike back. The problem was, if it came down to that, I might lose my unwitting allies in my race for freedom, power, and revenge against those that wronged me. It may not even help, that sword was holy and his armor was highly resistant to magic.

  Salvatore said, “Stay here, somehow Donnell survived. I can feel his aura and they’re coming fast. Delay them, I can’t fight both Donnell and that cursed stone at the same time. Grigori is in charge, then Samantha. Hold long enough, and I’ll be back to get us out of here.”

  Grigori said, “Yes sir, good luck sir.”

  Salvatore snorted dismissively and strode off.

  “Lila?”

  Lila asked acidly, “What?” clearly terrified.

  “I love you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Twenty minutes ago…

  Carlton thought this would be easy. Only fifty soldiers, at a chokepoint, with no opposing clerics. The princess had left him a hundred and eighty soldiers, a hundred of which were blocking the chokepoint, and he still had ten paladin initiates, four apprentices, and eight clerics around the apprentice range.

  It should have been easy. Kill them all, bury the bodies. Hell, none of the buildings were even damaged yet.

  But right after Catalina slipped into the keep, he caught four shadows climbing down the keep walls with rope. Bastard traitors. Fuck Verin, he wasn’t letting them get away, not without questioning them to an inch of their lives, and handing them over to the duke.

  It was the right thing to do. Besides, if his instincts about this were right, he may become the highest when all is said and done. High cleric in crown city sounded like a cushy job. After that asshole Verin hangs.

  He moved to grab all the paladins, but then the second shoe dropped, and twenty dressed in white came in from the south. A second wave of clerics and paladins, a quick count showed five of the former, and fifteen of the latter. They must have been camped another mile south out of range, and marched at the same time.

  Well. Shit. No wonder Salvatore took all his paladins and clerics when they went in the keep.

  “Sam, grab four clerics and five more paladins, and get after those four traitors. I want them alive if possible, at least one of the traitorous bastards.”

  Then he started to cast, hoping that doing that wasn’t a mistake. Now he had four clerics, four paladin initiates, and four paladin apprentices. Plus, a whole lot of soldiers. But then, he was the only master on the field. They were also outside in the open, and under the sky, a cloudy sky.

  He finished his spell, and felt a surge of magic leave him that was so strong that he felt exhausted for a moment.

  As the clouds rolled angrily, the enemy paladins charged, and the clerics started to cast.

  They never finished, the sky was loosed with lightning, strike after strike struck down the Jennesar’s clerics and paladins. Some died outright, others simply faltered in both their spell casting, and their charges. As soon as the sky stopped raining lightning, his clerics let loose with their own spells of light magic, paralyzing some, making others sleep, and his paladins charged in and easily killed the enemy’s shocked and confused formation.

  Then his paladins turned and attacked the Jennesar church soldiers from the rear, and grinded them against the duke’s soldiers. It was violent, short, and bloody, as the Jennesar soldiers panicked. In hardly any time at all they were all dead. But there’d been a cost. Over sixty of the duke’s soldiers died, including the twenty that were overwhelmed on the right flank. He lost two of the paladins, and three others were healed barely in time.

  Now all he had to do was pick up the pieces, and heal the wounded.

  He looked over toward the tree line, and hoped Sam caught those assholes, alive. If not, if they escaped or died, he doubted Verin would get caught. The high cleric over the entire church of light, or as they call him the highest, can’t be questioned without proof, much like a noble. If they esca
ped back to Verin, he was sure the bastard would kill them to cover his own tracks. No, it was either they were caught now, or he’d never see them again…

  Catalina felt guilty, she should have never taken the twenty soldiers. The new dungeon setup was a lot tougher, and they didn’t have time to learn how to fight elementals, and what kind of tactics they used. It cost them in blood and lives to learn.

  The demons were stronger, faster, better armed and armored now. She’s might have advanced the last week or so, but she was still on the low end of journeywoman in knowledge and control, and these demons were close to the other end of that spectrum, if not adept.

  They didn’t have all that much trouble on level seven, the imps were more numerous but still weak enough where a fire bolt or air bolt would kill while the warriors took care of the melee.

  It was the eighth floor that was a bitch, and where she lost the last soldier. She’d been spending her mana recklessly, but still had about half of it. Jerrold didn’t look too bad though, he’d fought when necessary but otherwise left things up to Donnell and Diana, who was one scary ass paladin.

  The four of them, her, Jerrold, Sienna, and Suzy had been at the back of the party, watching for attacks from that direction. The soldiers, paladin Cory and the cleric Selwyn were in the middle to assist in any direction, and Diana was up front with master Donnell.

  Luckily, if it could be considered that, they’d only lost the soldiers when the demons had outmaneuvered them badly, and flanked them from the side instead. It’d been ugly.

  So, she was feeling rather guilty as they entered the stairs on the way down in the same formation, and not thinking clearly at all when she heard the footsteps behind them. The stairwells were always safe, it was a place they could relax a moment before returning to vigilance. The enemy were ahead of them, and her mind wasn’t in the right place. Plus, she’d passed a bunch of crazy adventurers, who despite not taking sides were fighting in the dungeon.

  She dismissed the sound, her grief and regret clouding her judgement, along with everything else.

  Two things happened at once. One, the entrance between the alcove and first room on level nine disappeared in a cave-in. The second thing would haunt her for the rest of her life.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as a paladin’s blade exited the front of Sienna’s chest. She watched the light go out in her lover’s eyes in complete shock, as a dagger was shoved into her side. The pain was intense, but it woke her up. She screamed the simple one word spell as she waved her hand at the paladin behind her, throwing a huge amount of mana behind it. The Jennesar paladin’s head blew off, and then exploded into blood, flesh, and bone fragments. The backlash of wind from the extra strong spell in the confined space of a small staircase threw her back against the opposite wall where her head bounced off the stone.

  Then she fell to the floor and passed out…

  Catalina felt numb as she woke up, and saw the look of pain and loss on Suzy’s face.

  Sienna was gone, and she didn’t know how to process that. It was always a danger, they risked death every time they went down in the dungeon. But… never in a million years did she think it would be her fault. Why hadn’t she turned her head, why hadn’t she checked? Why hadn’t Sienna?

  She felt her anger grow, there were still Jennesar invaders that were alive, which meant more she could kill. It was her fault her lover was dead, but she wasn’t stupid enough not to share the blame with the ones that invaded her family’s domain. At least the one that actually killed her lover was already dead.

  She must not have been out very long, “What’s going on up there?”

  Diana said, “This is really unstable, I think Donnell could knock a hole with that maul of his, but it might make more stone collapse down behind it. I wish we had an earth mage with us. There’s also two more behind here, a cleric and a paladin. I’m sorry about your friend, but I bet they thought he’d kill more of us.”

  Diana winced, realizing how stupid that must have sounded, even if it was the truth.

  Maybe she’d lost her mind, but she marched down to the alcove they were all stuffed in, brought up a spell of air, and shoved it forward into the rock pile. It pulverized the rock it hit, but other than that didn’t do much.

  Just as she was about to do it again, the rocks seemed to melt, and the arch reformed revealing a paladin and cleric, just as Diana said.

  She shot another spell, which fizzled on the paladin’s armor. She didn’t get a second chance.

  Both Diana and Donnell lunged forward. Diana’s sword led and ran through the cleric’s chest like a stick into water. Donnell’s swing crushed the paladin’s armor, and sent him flying about twenty feet, right into a group of demons which tore him apart.

  Donnell grimaced, “One left, but he’s almost in the last room.”

  They charged forward rather recklessly. She didn’t mind, she still wasn’t thinking clearly. The fact that she was stupid enough to get soldiers killed, had distracted her, and got Sienna killed. The guilt was overwhelming. She might have been reckless, but she was very focused. She wasn’t going to let her cousin or Suzy die too…

  “You love me?” Lila asked.

  Oh, dear goddess, what had I been thinking. Oh right, I was about to die and was feeling rather sentimental, or perhaps maudlin was a better description. Except, I had seventy-four life forces now, and I really wanted one more. That asshole’s armor was awesome, I needed to see the enchantments on it.

  Well, I’d either get my wish, or be dead. So… no disappointment to worry about. Still, I’d fixed the entrance, maybe they’d get here in time. To… you know, watch me die painfully.

  “Yes,” I said nonchalantly.

  Lila chuckled, “I… care about you. More than I thought possible. I don’t think I can actually love anyone though, there’s too much anger and hate in me, and it’s all twisted around my soul. I can probably only feel this much for you because I don’t have a body right now, so it’s not as strong. But you have my loyalty, lust, and desire, for what that’s worth.”

  Well, did I really have to fight him? Couldn’t I take the coward’s way out and simply sink into the ground until he goes away? Dungeons aren’t allowed to fight back, or hide, but I could. Call it pride, I really didn’t like that cowardly option at all. Not sure if I was being brave or stupid, but there it was. When the moment came, I’d fight.

  Sort of fight, I had a spell ready, and a plan.

  Salvatore was fighting the boss mob. The mob actually got in a few hits before being cut in half. I winced as he strolled into the room. Donnell was just five rooms away, but I didn’t think he’d get here in time if I didn’t cheat a whole lot.

  Salvatore laughed as he approached the crypt, and flipped the stone cover off like it was nothing.

  “Hello Nurien, and goodbye.”

  I struck out with my spell then, even as I wondered how he knew my name, before he could swing. I brought up the complex magical form and filled it with magic from all six elemental spheres, and then released it. It used up about a quarter of my available mana, but it was more than worth it if it worked.

  It wasn’t an attack, not exactly. I feared his armor would defeat any direct magical attack and then I’d be dead. It was a trap instead. Fire, air, water, earth, light, and dark all formed a sphere around him, and slowed down time within the sphere to a crawl. The magic was also self-cloaking, each opposing element perfectly combined and canceled out the aura of its opposite, no one outside the room would detect it, and once it settled, it was invisible.

  One second in that sphere would be several hours out here. I could do so much now to finish it, just open up the earth below his feet, and let him drown in stone. I could move the sphere below water, or pull all the air away so he suffocates.

  I did none of that, and was determined to take a risk. I didn’t want Donnell, and the others to believe I killed someone directly. I was still too weak, I needed allies, unwitting though they may
be, and not enemies. I wished I could trust them to be on my side, but I knew they wouldn’t be, even if we shared Jennesar as an enemy. I was a dark power that was far too powerful not to be feared, or coveted, even if I had no intention to harm anyone in Nysten, and I didn’t, they wouldn’t take that chance.

  They’d call in a dungeon killer team, and I’d be facing many powerful masters, instead of just one.

  But it was a risk, I’d have to release the spell as Donnell came in, and hope he’d attack Salvatore before the bastard tried to split me with his sword. If I waited too long, Donnell would suspect something with Salvatore so still, and if I released it too early Donnell would have no chance of intervening.

  As Donnell set foot in the room at a run I released the spell…

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Carlton sighed, “Get the armor and weapons off the enemy dead, and just set up one big bonfire. Police and prepare our own dead for burial.”

  The soldier saluted, and he felt a little strange. The princess must trust him to put him in temporary command of soldiers like this. The field was a mess, body parts and burnt grass and ground, places that looked like glass from the lightning strikes. However, not one building was even scratched as far as he could tell. Which was good. After the cleanup, it would be like it didn’t happen.

  He almost groaned out loud as he saw Sam come out of the tree line, four of his paladins carrying what were clearly four corpses, the rest of the team surrounding them in a defensive posture. It took a few minutes for Sam to reach him.

  Sam said, “I’m sorry sir, we found them three miles away, throats cut. Whoever did this, they didn’t see it coming.”

  He bit his tongue to prevent curses from spewing out.

  “Understood, search them, and then dump the on the enemy pyre. These traitors will not get honored with a proper burial.”

  Sam nodded sharply, and his face looked approving of his orders, as he walked off with his team to the scorched field. It really was the best place for a pyre, the field was already toast.