“She was actually being respectful, for a hellhound,” Sthuza said, shaking her head as several snakes lashed angrily. Seeing his lack of understanding, the elegant monster girl chuckled before moving to comfort the cowering beastkin.
“It is all right, Cindra. Master simply does not understand the hierarchal relationships of a proper Pack,” she said soothingly. She reached out a hand to brush tangled gray hair from Cindra’s face.
Cindra looked up, her large glowing eyes filled with tears. “Packmaster isn’t getting rid of me?”
He rocked back, eyes widening. “What? Why would you even think that?”
“She is used to a rigid and brutal life. I do not pretend to be an expert on the social mores of furry creatures. What I do know is that hellhound Packs are structured and domineering. If the male gets angry, it would not surprise me if a Pack quickly discards the source of his aggravation.”
“That’s stupid,” Gabriel said, then winced when he saw Cindra’s frown deepen. “Look, Cindra, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I get the impression you didn’t mean that the way I thought, so please forgive me.”
He’d intended to say more, but a nine-hundred-pound furry missile tackled him to the unyielding floor, blasting the breath from his lungs.
“Cindra forgives Packmaster,” she growled happily before extending her ludicrously long blue tongue and bathing his face in hot saliva.
Still not sure if I should find this sexy or revolting.
It took several minutes to calm the overexcited monster girl. Eventually, peace resumed, and Sthuza came over to sit beside him.
She smirked. “Hellhound Packs are led by a Packmaster, as you have no doubt inferred from our enthusiastic rug.”
He grinned back at her. “Yeah, kinda figured that one out.”
“Yes, well as best I understand it, the females, specifically the ‘Alpha Bitch,’ do most of the work and leading. The problem comes up when Cindra speaks the common tongue of Man, rather than her native language. If you can call that yipping noise a language,” Sthuza said, shuddering at the mention of yipping.
“So, it’s a respectful title?”
“Yes, I believe that to be the case. Though, if you are still uncomfortable with it, perhaps you would prefer for the dog to use a different one for the role?” Sthuza suggested, arching an eyebrow.
“That sounds like a good idea, but I might need a little time to think of one,” he said, half lost to thought.
“No worries, Master, please take your time with it. In the meantime, we should set a watch and prepare for sleep.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about the need for guards,” he admitted.
Real good job proving yourself the responsible leader there, Gabriel.
“There is no reason to be embarrassed. You have had an unsettling few days.” Sthuza’s words drew a vigorous head bobbing from Cindra, who was still cuddled against his left side.
“That said, I believe you should take the first shift, Master. This way, once you lie down, you will be able to sleep uninterrupted.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, glancing between the green gorgon and the dark-gray hellhound. They both nodded, the latter far more energetically.
“It is the role that will allow for the best sleep. Which you will need if you wish to continue studying your new powers, Master.”
“Yep, Packmaster gets to sleep without being woken up, except maybe for mating.”
He bit his lip to keep from laughing at the look of shock on Sthuza’s face in reaction to the hellhound’s innocent declaration.
“Then I’ll take the first shift, and wake you in a few hours,” he said, drawing approval from them both.
It took the pair only a few minutes to spread out three bedrolls. Most of which comprised the frustrated gorgon repeatedly dragging Cindra’s roll farther away from the middle one they’d assigned to him unasked.
“Jussst go to sssleep there, you filthy fleabag,” Sthuza hissed, finally getting through to his second bonded before they both lay down. Cindra took a moment to shift before lying down.
The first few minutes of relative silence, the only sounds the soft snores emitting from Cindra’s muzzle, left Gabriel’s nerves frazzled.
Initially, it had surprised, then thrilled him to see how much his vision had improved in the darkness. But once he’d gotten used to it, he started to regret the ability to see far past the soft glow of Meri’s orb.
Apparently, the vision enhancement doesn’t completely eliminate the darkness. It just lets me see shadows farther out. Hope the flickering shadows don’t drive me insane.
After an hour passed with Gabriel checking his Dungeon Interface every five minutes for the time, he’d grown accustomed to the endless shadows. Enough so that he relaxed again.
Next thing Gabriel knew, he was falling. Both arms flailed wildly in a desperate attempt to catch himself. One hand slapped against the nearby altar, saving him from falling face-first on the stone. After a moment spent looking to see if anyone noticed, he shook his head.
Shit, first watch shift ever, and I almost fall asleep.
Gabriel shook his head again and rubbed at his tired eyes. Suppressing a yawn, he stood and walked out of the large room in which they were all staying.
In the hall beyond the door, he found a lumpy pile of goblins huddled together. Their irregular snoring varied from the merely loud to the quieter but bestial sawing erupting from a half-naked Cuix, buried at the bottom of the smelly pile.
That’s just lovely. Guess Sthuza knew what she was doing when she didn’t suggest assigning any watch shifts to these guys.
Already feeling more awake, he shrugged and continued to follow the sole path back to the central part of the fourth floor.
There were only a few monsters around here both when I came down with the others and when Cuix was showing me around. Need to remember to ask Sthuza or Meri about that.
I know the Guild believed the dungeon was decaying, but why would there be such a noticeable lack of monsters on an entire floor?
Lost in thought about one of the many oddities he’d noticed in the dungeon, Gabriel looked around in surprise when he spotted the stairs up to the third floor.
Probably shouldn’t wander off so far on my own.
The moment Gabriel thought about it, the realization struck that this was the first time he’d been alone since waking up in a new body. Awareness of the solitude dredged up horrific memories of his recent past.
The vivid details of Estrial butchering him on the altar made his stomach roil. His lungs sucked air in with rapid, shallow gasps, and he braced one hand against the wall, struggling to stay upright as the world blurred around him.
Gabriel swallowed hard, fighting down the bile rising in his throat. Losing the battle, he leaned against the cool stone wall as he convulsed twice before throwing up.
When his insides ceased trying to escape several minutes later, Gabriel spat, wiping at his mouth with a trembling hand as he struggled to rein in his racing mind.
All he could see was the cold glare of those elven eyes. Goosebumps spread across clammy skin, and he glared at his shaking hand.
I’m not weak anymore. I’m not alone anymore.
He growled, focusing his mind on his bonds and clenched his fist until the tremors ended.
Still staring at his now steady hand, Gabriel wrinkled his nose at the stench of vomit and started back to his bonded.
“I’m not alone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
When Sthuza shook him awake, it felt like only minutes after he’d laid down, but Gabriel yawned and dragged himself out of the bedroll.
As he came more fully awake, a flicker of a half-remembered nightmare teased at his mind before vanishing like smoke. It was over before he could recognize the strange feeling, and he shook his head clear.
Sthuza flashed a smile and began rolling up his bedding. “Good morning, Master.”
“Morning, Sthuza. I can pack that up.”
“Of course you could, but there is no need for you to bother with every minor chore. You need to concentrate on your role as Dungeon Master. Your bonded will take care of the more mundane tasks for you.”
“Heh, okay. Other than training my new abilities, I’m not sure what else my job entails.”
“Normally, a DM would start by cataloging the minions and dungeon rooms, checking to make sure that nothing has been disturbed while they slept. Back in its prime, this dungeon would have had adventurers delving it at all hours. Given its current depleted state, I imagine that most of them only enter during the day.
Sthuza’s smile tightened, her eyes darkening. “Since we can account for all of Lady Merideva’s minions on one hand, and we have no Domain to speak of, there is no need to run through the list.”
Meri darted across the spacious room. “Hey, are you saying I don’t have enough minions? Because I had more, but someone helped that elf kill them.”
“I intended no offense with my words,” Sthuza replied. “I meant that he should focus on expanding your Domain, instead of reviewing our current situation.”
“Oh, well yeah. That’s right! You should go out and expand my Domain, Gabriel Grimm.” The pink orb bobbed decisively.
He strained against his desire to laugh at the Core’s silly antics but kept a straight face. “That’s definitely on the agenda.”
“Good, then I’ll leave you to it. Feel free to take some of Cuix’s super-elite shock troopers with you if you need the extra muscle.”
That cracked his resolve, and he burst out laughing.
At his side, Sthuza snorted, drawing his attention. Still, when he glanced over, she had an innocent expression on her face. Although several of her head-snakes rocked back and forth, hissing.
“You dare laugh at your beloved, most awesome Dungeon Core?” Meri gasped, diverting his focus away from the gorgon studiously ignoring him.
“Sorry, it wasn’t you,” he said, forcing his voice to remain level.
Her glow dimmed slightly. “Hmm, I’ve got my eye on you, mister.”
You don’t have eyes!
Gabriel stepped away from the excitable Core. “Anyway, it’s time to see about food, then we need to do some exploring.”
“Of course, Master. I took the liberty of preparing a simple breakfast for everyone. Cindra has your plate ready whenever you wish.”
“Great. We’ll catch you later, Merideva,” he said, waving as he turned away.
On the far side of the room, he found the massive hellhound glaring at a pack of drooling goblins.
“Hey, Cindra,” he called out, startling the silent standoff and drawing the large woman to him.
“Packmaster, the greenies were trying to steal your food!” she growled, turning back to face the ravenous gluttons and baring her teeth.
“Thanks for protecting it for me.”
“Mmhmm, no problem,” she said, handing over the plate and pressing up against him.
She’s going to insist on smothering me while I eat, isn’t she?
“Cuix, take your tribe and set up a patrol outside, please,” Sthuza said.
Given how poorly the goblins had responded to commands so far, Gabriel didn’t expect them to cooperate with her polite request.
To his mild surprise, Cuix leapt into action, threatening and cajoling the other goblins and had them bolting out the door in seconds. Mouth full of crispy bacon, he arched an eyebrow at the relaxed gorgon.
She grinned at him mischievously. “You are curious about the goblins? I had a short talk with the female one this morning. I made certain she understands the hierarchy of the dungeon. Nothing that you need to worry about, Master.”
He took a moment to ponder that, decided it didn’t matter at the moment, and stuffed another strip of perfectly cooked bacon in his mouth.
“Now that we have gotten rid of the vermin, it might be best we plan out our next course of action,” Sthuza said.
Gabriel swallowed. “Part of me wants to stay here and focus on training my abilities or even just replenish more of my mana pool. But we need to either work on expanding the Domain as you suggested or head after Estrial and recover the crystal.”
“I very much agree with your plan, Master, though I remain quite concerned about the risk to Lady Merideva.”
“Why are you so worried about her? She’s been here for a while. Other than the group that was after the crystal, what threat does she face?”
Sthuza shot a sad glance toward the blissfully ignorant Core across the room. “Now that the Domain Crystal is missing, it will no longer respawn the fallen or reset disabled traps.”
“Wait, that crystal can spawn monsters?” he asked, shocked at the idea of the stolen artifact being able to create life.
“Of course it can. Any Dungeon Core or Master can conjure new creatures to serve the needs of the dungeon. But in a busy one, it would soon grow wearisome to replace each one every time adventurers kill them. Instead, you empower a Domain Crystal to maintain the region in your place.
“At the moment, Lady Merideva is far too young and weak to risk creating such a powerful item. Honestly, I am quite impressed with her ability to successfully bind your soul as her DM,” the gorgon said. She reached out to slap Cindra’s clawed hand away from his plate.
The action drawing his attention, he glanced down to spot the repentant hellhound rubbing her gray hand. Setting his plate down, Gabriel picked up the last strip of bacon, and after breaking it in two, offered half to his second bonded.
“Thanks, Packmaster!” she said, speaking around the hand already stuffing her mouth.
He blinked at the sight, having missed her accepting the proffered morsel.
Sthuza snickered. “Yes, she is physically impressive. If we are lucky, she will be as swift when protecting you.”
Gabriel chuckled at the snide commentary and Cindra’s complete disregard of Sthuza’s annoyed tone. Finished with the last of his food, he shook his head as something she’d mentioned early finally clicked.
He leaned forward and peered at his now startled Prime. “Wait, you said Dungeon Masters could create new monsters. I can do that?”
“Well, yes, you could. Though I must caution against it.”
“Why?” He tried to keep the disappointment from his voice as he deflated at the quick dismissal of his idea.
“There are two main reasons. First, with the Core’s current power and Domain, the same restrictions which limit Lady Merideva to goblins would apply to your efforts as well. Second, without a Soul Forge to shape raw Essence into new souls, it is far more expensive to conjure a monster yourself. Until we acquire one, it is best to rely on her to produce any monsters the dungeon needs.”
“Ah, well, that’s a letdown, but thanks for explaining it all.”
“Please do not despair, Master. I have faith that we will make rapid progress. You are already far beyond the power level expected of a novice DM. It will not be long before you unlock the ability to create Minions to serve your needs,” she said, her tone gentle as she consoled him.
“Minions?”
“Yes. I am uncertain what level unlocks it, but I am confident it is one of the earlier ones. Then you can acquire a wide assortment of proper Minions.”
“You need more than Snakey and Cindra?” the larger monster girl asked.
“Don’t worry, Cindra, I’m not replacing either of you. I just imagined what it would be like if we could get something stronger than the goblins to protect Meri. Then we could hunt for the crystal without worrying about her.”
“Oh, that makes lots of sense,” she said, then paused for a moment. “Maybe we find more packless like me, and they could guard Glowy Lady?”
He and Sthuza both smiled at the cheerful hellhound.
“That’s not a bad idea, but we are on a bit of a time limit. So we may not find any others before we have to leave.” He reached out and brushed Cindra’s unruly gray hair. She nodded, then leaned into his
hand, pressing closer and demanding more grooming.
“Anyway,” Sthuza said, drawing his focus back to her. “We could attempt to extend her Domain to cover this room now that they have removed the crystal.
“I am uncertain if that will make it any easier for her to attune with it, if we recover it in time. But at the very least, it should not be any worse.”
“Well, it sounds like as good a plan as any,” Gabriel said, getting up. “How about you walk me through the process, and we see how it goes?”
Sthuza rose to her feet with sinuous ease. “Of course, Master. Please follow me.”
“I go too, yes?” Cindra growled, already racing across the large room to grab her massive sword.
“Yes, you are coming as well. Do try to protect our master if any threats should arise.”
“No problem, I will keep him super safe!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Cindra might be keeping me safe if there were any threats around. But I still don’t see why she needs to wear me like a second skin to do it.
“For the lassst time you fur-brained mutt, get away from Massster and keep on the lookout,” Sthuza hissed, frustration bleeding into her words.
“Forget about her for the moment,” Gabriel said, hoping to keep the pair from devolving into another pointless argument. “How do I claim this space for Merideva’s ‘Domain’?”
The riled gorgon took a moment to calm herself, taking several deep breaths as her snakes coiled about her head. “Truthfully, I am uncertain how this will work, given that the dungeon technically has a Core, perhaps even a DM still ruling it.
“That being said, the ritual to bind a region to your Core is relatively simple.”
“Okay, so assuming it works, I what? Do the ritual here in the middle of the tunnel?” He gestured to the smooth stone walls around them.
She nodded, then glared at the hellhound who was edging closer to him again. “The first step is to draw out the arcane symbols for the casting circle. Then you will need to step inside and focus your Dungeon Sense into the surrounding area.
“Once you do that, you try to coat or wrap up as much of the location as you can and connect it back to the tiny alcove she already claimed.”
Dungeon Bound Page 20