Dungeon Bound 2

by Bastian Knight

  Are you still there? Help me, or you’ll never be able to make me serve you.

  ‘Master?’ Sthuza called in his mind. Gabriel ignored her concerned tone.

  I know you can hear me. I saw you digging into my soul. Help me!

  Sthuza pushed more thoughts at him, but he focused his attention on the profane voice that reverberated a second later.

  ‘You submit to us?’

  No, but you’re going to aid me, anyway. You’ve been begging me to use your power. To consume souls.

  The dark presence seemed to smirk.

  Gabriel kept silent, though it took all of his discipline not to yield to the pain radiating from the spear impaled through his left shoulder and the sword that pinned his right hand.

  ‘You wish to use our power now?’

  Yes. Help me kill the arachne.

  ‘You refused before.’

  Something brushed across Gabriel’s mind. It clawed at his thoughts and rifled through his memories.

  ‘You plan to die for your pets.’

  Before he could reply, the mind-voice cackled.

  ‘No matter. Taste a hint of true power. You will submit and serve us. Soon.’

  Gabriel shuddered as pain wracked his body, but his mind grew calm and smooth. He turned inward and opened himself to the revolting darkness that ate at his soul.

  Heedless of its source, Gabriel drew upon it. Tapped it and begged for the dark power he’d used several times before.

  Instantly, he felt the vile shadow-stuff well up inside him. A sickening pulse of ravenous hunger, it craved to destroy everything. He concentrated on the idea of it striking down the scarred arachne.

  The evil energy scorched its way along his internal leylines, setting his nerves aflame until it built up within his throbbing hand.

  Gabriel took a deep breath, bit his lip, then ripped his hand from the sword pinning it. Flesh tore as small bones scrapped and snapped against the unyielding metal, but he fought through it.

  Blood filled his mouth as he moaned at the agony of his devastated hand. He shoved everything but his target and the foul power from his mind.

  He struggled to lift his arm high enough to aim.

  The closest arachne slashed down at him. Sharp steel sliced through his bloody coat and lit his back up with more burning pain.

  Gabriel didn’t flinch, but he barked a bitter laugh when the dark force erupted from his savaged palm.

  Despite the Area Suppression, a vicious purple tendril shot forth and speared Yesera’s giant abdomen. It tore through her black chitin effortlessly.

  She screamed. The arachne guarding him raised her blade again.

  His arm dropped. The burning pain of his hand faded beneath the gut-churning nausea of the vile attack he’d unleashed.

  More screams and growls drowned out the larger arachne. Gabriel ignored it all.

  I hope Meri can help Cindra and Sthuza survive my death.

  While he waited for the arachne above him to end his life, Gabriel watched the miasmic bolt devour Yesera. Her legs gave out, and she fell onto her side.

  Her six eyes locked onto his. Gabriel couldn’t turn away.

  “What kind of abom—” Yesera gasped before shuddering. Her fangs extended obscenely as her words morphed into an earsplitting scream.

  The tendril rippled as it burrowed more and more of its mass within the screaming monster. Long seconds passed before deceptively beautiful, charnel lilies erupted from the dying arachne.

  The purple-black flowers bloomed and seemed to pulse as Yesera grew quiet.

  He tried to roll over and groaned when he pulled against the spearhead still lodged through his chest. His jagged ribs ground against it, and blood flowed from the deep slash across his back, soaking his gambeson.

  Over his own pathetic whimpering, several voices cried out in shock, fear, and pain.

  Seconds after his attack, the clash of metal on metal filled the room. Creepy chittering sounded in the background but faded quicker than the ring of weapons on armor.

  “Massster? Are you awake?”

  He coughed, moaned when that set off a fresh wave of pain, and opened an eye.

  “Yeah, unfortunately,” he gasped.

  “No, do not—” Sthuza cried before his shoulder lit up again. If possible, the spear hurt worse coming out than going in.

  “Bastard wasn’t going to heal with that stuck in him, and it wasn’t ever gonna get easier to pull out,” Reyna said, though he barely heard her over his scream.

  Gentle pressure covered the sudden shock, and he heard quiet hissing above him as voices in the background argued.

  His eyelids grew heavy, and he dozed off momentarily, awakening to a wet, tickling sensation on his mauled right hand.

  He opened his eyes again and saw a thick, blue tongue licking the mangled remains of his hand. “I don’t think that’s the kind of wound you can kiss and make better.”

  If I die now, what happens to Meri and my bonded?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “Are you fucking serious? I already stuck my neck out for you deranged dungeon-dwellers! Now you want me to give him my gods-damned soul too?” Reyna screamed, waking Gabriel.

  His consciousness returned to a physical presence of pure pain. Everything ached, burned, or throbbed. He drew a ragged, wet breath and swallowed at the overpowering taste of blood.

  At least that’s better than vomit.

  “It is not so bad as all that, I assure you,” Sthuza said. “Besides, we both know you were going to demand he bond you, eventually. What harm is there in accelerating your timetable slightly?”

  “Aggh! You… gah! Whatever,” Reyna muttered.

  “You have my most sincere gratitude,” his Prime said.

  “Yeah, thanks for agreeing to help my Dungeon Master,” Merideva added.

  Reyna snarled. “Save your damn gratitude and get the stupid thing started.”

  “Of course,” Sthuza said, and Gabriel could hear the gorgon’s smirk through the fog of pain.

  “Growing Pack is good!” Cindra yipped from just above him.

  “Yeah, yeah, shut it, you mangy flea-motel.”

  “Cindra not mangy.”

  Reyna continued to grumble as he faded in and out of consciousness over several minutes. Sleep was a blessed respite from the incessant pain and his labored breathing.

  Someone cradled his head and cool fingers parted his lips. Sweet, fruity liquid poured into his mouth, and Gabriel struggled to swallow the soothing potion.

  “Master, I am afraid we must move you now,” Sthuza whispered from right next to him.

  “Mmhm,” he groaned.

  “Be careful with him,” Meri said.

  Strong hands lifted him from the cold, wet stone and carried him across the room. Despite their tender efforts, he felt jagged bones grind against one another, and he bit his lip to keep from screaming.

  Given what Yesera did to me, plus that other one slicing my back open, bet the only reason I’m still alive is how much Essence Meri invested in my body.

  That reminded Gabriel of when he saw Cindra’s condition via the Interface, and he pulled it up. A single thought shifted the display to his stats, but unlike when he viewed the hellhound, there was no mention of Blood Points or Hit Points.

  He switched the Interface over to Cindra.

  BP:240/250

  HP:245/250

  Are those only for monitoring my bonded? At least it looks like Cindra’s been healed. Sthuza probably used alchemical salves for the minor wounds. I’m the only one getting gored lately.

  They gently laid him down again, and something shifted around in his chest.

  Painfully.

  He cracked his eyelids open to see Cindra and Sthuza staring at him, their eyes glistening. Merideva’s orb glowed just behind them, and he winced against the brightness.

  “Wha… happened? Is everyone okay?” he asked.

  “Shh, everyone else is fine, but right now you need to conc
entrate on performing the ritual, Master.”

  “Ritual?”

  “You are gravely injured. You must bind Miss Reyna to you if we are to recover the Domain Crystal in time. Bonding such a powerful lycan should give you enough of her regeneration to restore your body,” Sthuza explained, her soft voice tight with tension.

  She’s mentioned before that I gain power from them, but I haven’t taken the time to learn enough about it. Need to change that.

  “How bad off am I?”

  Cindra and Sthuza looked at each other, and Meri’s glow morphed to a dim blue.

  “You look like shit, Dungeon Master,” Reyna said. “Why the hells did ya let that bitch shank you so many times?”

  Gabriel laughed, which caused pain to blossom along one side of his chest and his back.

  “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t laugh,” she said, sounding almost guilty.

  Sweet, seductive darkness called to him, his eyes growing impossibly heavy.

  “Massster, you mussst ssstay awake!” Sthuza said, one hand squeezing his uninjured shoulder.

  The gentle touch drew his attention and seemed to revitalize his mind.

  “I have the ritual traced out, and Lady Merideva is preparing to help Miss Reyna with her side. But you have to inject your mental presence into the ritual, or it will fail,” she said.

  She leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to his bloody lips.

  Up close, he could see she was on the verge of losing it altogether. Her pupils were flared until they almost eclipsed her green irises, and the snakes about her head were rubbing against each other consolingly.

  He swallowed and looked in her eyes. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  Sthuza froze, her head-snakes all looking away from his gaze, then nodded.

  “Yes, Master. I fear… it may take weeks for you to heal without Reyna’s bond. We have done what we can to treat your wounds, but you lost a great deal of blood.”

  Gabriel focused on his bond with the gorgon and instantly knew she was lying. His back burned where the second arachne had carved him open, and he couldn’t ignore the gaping hole in his chest.

  At least it’s not my heart this time.

  “And you would never regain the use of your hand without magical assistance,” she whispered.

  He grimaced as he drew a ragged breath. “Still worth it to save you all. Had to”—a wet cough erupted, and he spat up more blood before continuing—”protect the Core.”

  “Packmaster saved everyone. Now you need to add Cranky Panties to the Pack.”

  “Oh hells no, mutt! You are not calling me that!”

  He heard a brief scuffle as Cindra and Reyna tumbled and snarled at each other for several minutes while his Prime hissed at the pair.

  Can’t blame Reyna for not wanting that nickname. Way worse than “Snakey.”

  Too tired to turn his head and watch, he waited patiently in the pleasant fog of nearly asleep until they settled down again and returned to his field of view.

  Reyna was glaring, and Cindra looked rather smug. Sthuza stepped up last, still shaking her head, but her tense expression softened when she saw his gaze.

  “Everything is ready now, Master. You must form the initial thread for the bond, then Lady Merideva and I will help Reyna catch hold of it and finish connecting her to you.

  “Okay, I’ll try,” he said as he tried to keep his eyes focused on the beautiful gorgon. Meri floated closer and lowered herself to rest on his stomach.

  “You have to bond her, Gabriel. Please? You can’t die now,” Merideva whispered.

  “You’re sure that nothing bad will happen?” Reyna asked.

  “Master would never betray your trust. This ritual is all about you. He will do nothing beyond tying your soul to Lady Merideva through him,” Sthuza replied.

  Reyna said something else, but Gabriel ignored their talk.

  Forcing his mind away from the throbbing pains that radiated through his body, he turned his focus inward. He wove the first few arcane glyphs using only his will.

  His professors had explained the fundamentals of magic well enough. He knew it was possible to cast any spell without gestures or incantations. But, he’d never tried it on anything so complex before.

  Never been this badly wounded, either. I think Sthuza might have downplayed the severity a touch. Doubt she’d urge me to risk this otherwise. Going to use every damn point of Essence to grow stronger if I survive the night.

  He spent what felt like minutes meticulously forming each symbol within his mind. Then he slipped a trace of mana into the perfected glyph and added it to the slowly emerging spell.

  Cindra whined nervously, and Reyna muttered under her breath while he continued to lie there motionless. He ignored them, his full attention on the task before him.

  “Be sssilent, he isss working, can you not feel it?” Sthuza admonished the pair quietly. Gabriel ignored that too.

  It took hours, or at least it felt like it had, before he empowered the final arcane glyph, and the spell to connect with the petite lycan was complete.

  He let out a tense breath, the slight movement sending only a mild twinge of pain through his left side, and then released the spell.

  Not sure if the pain lessening is a good thing or a bad one.

  Gabriel cast his worries aside. He knew it would take every bit of willpower left in him to successfully bond with Reyna.

  And that’s if she cooperates. Doubt I have the energy left to fight if she tries to dominate me.

  He let go of his physical presence and floated along the gentle path to the waiting werebadger. After bonding the other two, he’d expected to find the process both familiar and easier.

  Only seconds after he brushed against the white glow reaching out from Reyna’s presence, he realized that might have been a mistake.

  Where Sthuza was soothing and refined, Reyna was a raging torrent of raw emotions.

  Cindra’s inner self was a fiery pool of strong passions, but it had soft, smooth edges. The lycan was all jagged spikes and coarse grit. The moment Gabriel touched her true self, the concentration of her Soul Essence, she latched onto him like a leech.

  One with lots of gnashing teeth.

  He screamed in shock before reminding himself that none of this was physical. It was all happening somewhere else.

  I really need to learn more about this whole experience. This is nothing like when I bonded Sthuza or Cindra.

  Gabriel shook away the distraction and forced his touch to spread across the prickly ball of raging pain and hate and despair. He slowly got a better sense of the diminutive woman’s hidden nature.

  It feels like there is something concealed deep within her. Something more than just burning, white-hot anger.

  As soon as he thought that, he felt a gentle, almost submissive reaction to his spiritual avatar. After all of the virulent spite and rage, Gabriel was quick to notice the soft kindness and empathy cowering beneath the surface. Focusing on it, he dove within the defensive swirl of Essence.

  Following the discordant sensation, he found it much easier to avoid the worst of the vicious spikes and pits of boiling angst that seemed to fill the bright depths of Reyna’s soul.

  Gabriel knew his timid guide led him along the safest route. Despite that, he still brushed against enough jagged, painful edges to make him question the wisdom of his actions.

  What would happen if she decided not to bond with him? Would it fail, or could she overwhelm him and turn him into a puppet like Sthuza had mentioned?

  The moment we get that crystal back, I’m turning this place into a bunker and not leaving until I understand what the hells I’m doing.

  He was catching up to the bundle of kindness and tenderness he’d been following. It, or she maybe, was slowing down, allowing him to overtake and touch the lycan’s vulnerable soft side.

  Unsettled and off balance due to the strange nature of this other place, Gabriel slammed his avatar into the delicate ball of soft-white
emotions instead of brushing against it.

  Like her prickly exterior, everything he felt was surging and churning. A frothing maelstrom of emotions, thoughts, and dreams. Unlike those he’d passed on his way in, these were nothing but kindness, love, and a sincere desire for simple companionship.

  She’s every bit as lonely and scared as the rest of us were, she’s just too stubborn to let it show. Is she consciously aware of what I’m sensing from her now?

  The timid, ethereal presence suffusing him shifted and tightened around him, squeezing gently but insistently.

  Guess that’s a yes?

  Again Reyna’s gooey inner self pressed into him, almost desperate for more contact.

  Taking the hint, he willed himself to relax, softening his own soul and allowing the hesitant presence to enter him.

  Gabriel had thought the emotions he’d felt earlier were intense. But they were nothing compared to what he experienced when Reyna’s true self merged with his. She clung to him in desperation and attached her Essence to his in a disturbingly permanent manner.

  Even Cindra wasn’t this absolute in her submission to me. What is up with the real Reyna?

  Seeming to sense his doubt, the presence permeating his soul shivered. Gabriel tried to comfort her, but Reyna cowered away from him, and a wave of unbearable shame threatened to drive him out.

  He dug his heels in and used every bit of willpower he could muster to prevent Reyna from pushing him away—or fleeing.

  After what he’d felt from her, there was no way he was leaving her to suffer alone. The level of loss and loneliness there was as sharp and painful as what his other bonded had when he’d met them.

  Intense concentration quickly sapped at his consciousness. Gabriel felt himself growing weaker and redoubled his effort, forcing thoughts of acceptance and love toward the humiliated werebadger.

  For several moments it seemed like Reyna was winning. He felt her pulling fragments of herself from him. Each vibrant emotion she stole back left a gaping hole, but all Gabriel could think of was how desperately she’d clung him.

  Reyna worked hard to seal off more and more of the intense emotions that swirled under ever greater pressure within the tiny lycan. Then without any fanfare or warning, she stopped.