by Eric Vall
“What?” Carmedy said confusedly. “What did I do?”
“Nothing, Carmedy,” Rana said through her giggles. “Just being yourself as always.”
“Well, who else am I supposed to be?” Carmedy cocked her head to the side. Rana was unable to answer the cat as she held her sides and laughed even louder.
“Do you not consider this pie that you ordered as well as the eight pastries that you consumed to be overindulgence?” Morrigan stared at the cat, clearly waiting for a response. I hadn’t been able to keep track of Carmedy’s cinnamon buns, but evidently, Morrigan had.
“Nope!” Carmedy said gleefully. “I believe that I should treat myself whenever I like.”
“You will make yourself ill from such … eating habits.” The white-haired elf raised an eyebrow.
“Well, then it’s a good thing I have medical training,” Carmedy said brightly. “I have cures for bellyaches.” She patted the small bundles strung around her waist.
“I see,” Morrigan said flatly, but Rana laughed so hard that she nearly fell out of her chair when she heard Carmedy’s explanation.
“Well, that mystery is solved.” The fox woman wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter died down. “She literally eats that way because she can.”
As soon as Carmedy’s pie was brought out, we paid for our food and left the small building. While we spent the next hour or so buying additional supplies, Carmedy made a quick stop at a business that sold various herbs.
“Look what I found,” Carmedy beamed at the rest of us as we exited the shop, and she opened the small sack that the proprietor had given her. The inside of the shop had been so crowded with people buying ingredients for various remedies that the rest of us had decided to stand to one side while the cat purchased what she needed. The feline now removed a few tiny roots from her bag and held them in her palm to show us.
“They’re called Menaclara roots,” Carmedy said proudly. “They’re indigenous to the area. While the petals of the plant can be used to cure food poisoning, the roots have an even better use. When ground into powder and combined with chamomile and a little bit of aloe, they can be used to make a salve that heals wounds very quickly.”
“That would be extremely useful.” I nodded to Carmedy as our group resumed our errands. “I have seen many an adventurer succumb to wounds after a battle has been fought.”
“I’ll say,” Rana chimed in. “There’s no telling what we’ll face out there. That’s definitely something we want to have handy.”
“I know,” Carmedy said with a grin as she shook her bag playfully. “That’s why I bought so much.” She got a serious look on her face. “I want to be well prepared just in case any of us gets seriously injured.”
Our group stopped at a few more shops before we were on our way. The buzzing town was filled with citizens buying and selling and going about their mornings. As I studied the crowd, I didn’t catch sight of Luke and his distinct eyebrow scar nor any other of his dark-haired brothers. Annalíse and Rana also surveyed the busy street. Was Annalíse watchful because of the Bardens or because of the man that she had seen yesterday?
Part of me was glad that we hadn’t crossed paths with any of the seven brothers, not only for Rana’s sake but because we had already spent more time in this town than we had intended. The other part of me wished that, at the very least, I would one day see Luke again so that I could finish what I had started. As our party rode along, I forced myself to push those thoughts aside. I had more important matters to concern myself with than some scar-faced thug and his gang of brothers.
I had dungeons to conquer, and the power of former gods to devour.
We traveled for most of the day, and the further we went, the more the signs of civilization decreased. We didn’t come across any other towns on our journey to the next dungeon, and our scenery transitioned into the untamed wilderness. The climate grew warmer as the day drew on, and the gentle breezes that I had grown so accustomed to gradually disappeared. Not only that, the wildlife had changed.
I no longer saw squirrels and chipmunks skitter across the earthy floor, and I no longer heard finches and bluejays offer their familiar songs to the air. These trees held larger birds with big beaks, and each boasted vibrantly colored feathers of various shades of blues, reds, and yellows. Tiny lime-colored frogs with orange-tipped toes and red bulging eyes rested on the broad leaves of plants. Thick vines draped across almost every tree branch and seemed to connect all of the wooded giants together. The vibrant green fronds of large fern-like plants feathered out and reached across the road, and we pushed them aside as we rode along. Colorful snakes curled around the trunks of trees and flicked their forked tongues as we passed.
We stopped only once to have our midday meal and to feed the lizards dried crickets, and Carmedy took advantage of our rest period to dig into the pie she had bought. The green-eyed woman sat cross-legged in the grass and excitedly removed the cloth napkin that she had wrapped the pie in to protect it from the elements.
“Come to Carmedy.” She rubbed her hands together as she stared down at her sugary treat.
“How are you planning on eating that without making a mess of it?” I asked right before the cat dug her hand into the pie and scooped out a large chunk.
“Hmm? Did you say something?” Carmedy said as she lifted the piece to her mouth with cherry-stained fingers.
“It is unimportant.” I waved the comment away as she nodded. Then she closed her eyes and took a big bite. She chewed loudly and then moaned with delight.
She had nearly devoured the entire fruit-filled dessert when Rana smirked and sauntered over.
“Hey Carmedy, what’s the idea?” Rana said with a mischievous grin. “You didn’t even ask if any of us wanted a piece.” Carmedy looked up from her snack sheepishly. The area around her mouth was coated in the syrupy fruit filling, and she had even managed to get some on her nose.
“Sorry.” Carmedy winced. “I didn’t know anyone wanted any. There’s one more piece left though,” the cat said as she gestured to the last remaining chunk. “One of you can have it.”
“No, no, that’s okay, you keep it,” Rana said hurriedly as she waved her paws in the air. “I was only kidding.” The red-headed fox smiled. “None of us want to keep you from your pie.”
“Okay then,” Carmedy said cheerfully. It hadn’t taken much to convince her. Within seconds, she’d devoured the remainder of her dessert, and we were soon on our way once more.
As the sun started to set, the next dungeon and its surroundings came into view. We hadn’t been able to see it before as we passed through the thick and wild wooded area, but now that we had made it out, we could see a massive mountain covered in green that stood at the center of a sort of valley. There were no trees of any kind in the area that surrounded the colossal natural landmark, no houses or any other structures, nor were there any visible bodies of water. There was only grass.
“Geeze, it’s hot out here,” Rana said as she fanned her face with her paw.
“It sure is,” Carmedy huffed as Xerxes crawled through the grass. It was indeed a great deal warmer here than the other places we had been, and it was humid as well. Earlier I had thought that it was merely hot out today. I had figured that the sun’s gradual descent would bring some coolness to the air, but instead, the temperature only increased as we drew closer to our destination. This wasn’t simply a warm day, the climate had changed along with our surroundings. The heat was bothersome, but what disturbed me even more was the overall atmosphere of this place. There was something strange about the empty land that circled the mountain, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what.
It took about half an hour for us to journey through the valley, but we finally reached the center, and we dismounted at the foot of the mountain. Since there were no trees to tie Scylla and Xerxes to, Annalíse and Rana used a mallet and thick wooden stakes from our stash of supplies to tether the lizards to the ground.
When t
he two women finished, we gathered together at the base of the mountain. I still couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling of this place. The forest that we had traveled through to get here had teemed with life and vibrancy. This valley was eerily quiet, and while both the grass and the mountain were a healthy green, the area just felt… dead.
With the God Slayer gripped tightly in my hand, I stared into the entrance carved into the mountain’s front. There was a faint orange glow coming from inside of it. Strange, the other dungeon that we had traveled to had been pitch black, as had mine. What could be the source of this strange light? I wasn’t sure, but I was excited to find out.
Once my minions were ready, I led the way into the green mountain.
“Hmm…” Annalíse said as she took a step toward the entrance, unlit torch in hand. “I don’t think I actually need this.” She glanced sidelong at Rana. “Can you see too?”
“Yeah, I can see fine.” The fox was already stuffing her torch back into her pack. “No sense wasting these until we need them.” She gestured at me. “Demon man can surely protect us long enough for us to light them later if the light goes out.”
“That is true,” I said, pleased that the fox trusted me to protect her if such an incident were to occur. “And I agree that it is wise for you to save your supplies for when we need them.”
When the others nodded in agreement, I turned my attention back to the dungeon and stepped through the entrance. While it had been quite hot outside, it was even hotter in here, and the humidity was relentless. And the scent … it smelled as though something was burning. Was there some sort of out of control fire up ahead? No, I didn’t hear the roaring of flames or the crackling of fire. It was something else, but what? Equally curious were the walls of the tunnel that we were in. Instead of the usual rocky walls that were typical of caves, these walls looked smooth. In fact, the walls resembled obsidian, not just because of their intense black hue but because of their impressive shine. The surfaces of the passageway were flawless, and I gazed in awe at their natural beauty.
My brow became sticky with sweat as we trudged along, and I heard the women’s chorus of panting behind me. As I stepped around a rocky protrusion at my feet, my hand brushed against one of the tunnel’s walls. I breathed in surprise at the sensation, even the wall felt hot. The temperature wasn’t excruciating like that of boiling water, but there was enough heat to cause discomfort. What sort of place was this? I had never encountered such an environment.
“Don’t touch the--” I started to say.
“Yow!” Carmedy’s squeal interrupted my warning. I turned my head to see Carmedy frantically waving her fingers. “Why is the wall hot?” the cat whined and began to blow on her fingers.
“I’m not sure,” I mused as I turned to face forward. “Rana, you’re familiar with this area, correct? Do you know anything about this dungeon?”
“Not much,” Rana called from behind me. “This place is pretty isolated, and you saw that no one lives even remotely nearby.”
“Yes, I did notice that,” I said as we cautiously walked through the tunnels that pulsated with orange light. “Has it always been this way?”
“It hasn’t actually,” Rana said breathlessly. “I’ve never been here before, but I talked to someone who is a descendant of someone who lived here. That’s how I found out what information I do have. Apparently, there used to be a village in this valley a long time ago, but one day, the people who lived here started to disappear. As time went on, more and more people vanished and the people who remained finally got scared enough to pack up and leave.”
“When did this start?” I said with a frown.
“Okay, so the guy I spoke to has a grandmother, and the grandmother once had a great-grandmother who lived here during that time. I know that sounds confusing but bear with me.” Rana chuckled. “Anyhow, this great-grandmother said that the disappearances started when this mountain popped up. It didn’t always use to be here.”
“Really?” I said in surprise. “How extraordinary.” Mountains didn’t appear overnight. Such a phenomenon seemed impossible, unless...
“Did this man know exactly what happened to the people?” Annalíse asked from behind me. “Um, I mean did his grandmother’s great-grandmother know?” The freckled woman corrected herself.
The only logical explanation for the mountain’s sudden appearance was that it had sprouted up from the ground as a result of a fallen god’s arrival. Things were slowly starting to piece together. I had an idea of what had happened to the people here, but I wanted to hear what Rana had to say first.
“It seems that each of the people who disappeared was someone that entered this dungeon,” Rana continued in an eerie voice. “They went in, and they never came back out. Pretty spooky if you ask me.”
My suspicions had been confirmed. The village dwellers had most certainly lost their lives in the dungeon within this mountain.
“Are we going to disappear too?” Carmedy asked nervously.
“Nah, don’t worry, pussycat, I’ve got your back,” Rana said confidently. “You’ve got demon man too, and don’t forget about Morrigan’s soul-sucking crows – sorry, ravens,” the fox woman corrected herself before the elf got the chance.
“But, what if everything that’s in there is already dead?” Carmedy whispered. “What-if-all-the-people-that-went-in-there-got-turned-into-undead monsters-and-they’re-just-waiting-for-us-to--”
“Carmedy, everything is going to be fine,” I interrupted the cat’s rapid and panicky stream of words. “Whatever deity is in here, whatever obstacles there are, they will be conquered. Nothing is going to happen to any of us, I promise.”
“Okay,” Carmedy said quietly, but I could still hear the fear in her light voice. As we made our way through the passageway, the intensity of the orange color intensified. Whatever it was, we were getting closer to it.
“I feel like I’m melting,” Rana groaned from behind.
“Oh, I just remembered,” Carmedy said chipperly. “I have something that should help lower our temperatures.” She began to look through the bundles around her waist as she started to mumble the contents of her pouches. “Let’s see… Magnesium oxide, no, no that’s not it either. Here it is,” the feline said happily. Her fear seemed to disappear when her mind was occupied by herbs and mixtures. Carmedy was quiet for a few moments, and I assumed that she was removing the bundle that she had been searching for. I should have known that Carmedy would have some sort of elixir to alleviate the situation. She seemed to have a concoction for everything.
“Here, take this,” I finally heard the cat say. A second later, Annalíse, who was behind me, passed me a leaf that held a pink colored powder. “That should help a bit. Just put the powder on your tongue and let it dissolve.”
I paused for a moment to observe the substance that the leaf cradled. It was finely milled and smelled of mint. I did as the feline woman instructed and poured the contents of the leaf into my mouth. The mint that I had detected filled my mouth as well as the sweet and delicate flavor of Elderflower. As the substance began to dissipate, I felt my body temperature gradually start to decrease. The mixture didn’t take away the heat entirely, but the sweltering atmosphere now was more bearable. Once again, I was astounded by one of Carmedy’s innovations.
“What is this?” Morrigan asked from the back of the group.
“A simple cooling elixir. My mom came up with it actually. She uses it to lower fevers,” Carmedy said proudly. “It’s made with--”
“Ah, can we skip the medical lecture?” Rana said quickly. “You said it’s going to make me feel cooler, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Carmedy said slowly.
“Then that’s all I need to know,” the fox woman said. “I trust you not to poison me.”
“Oh, I would never poison you,” Carmedy said pleasantly. “Of course, I’ve never made poison before, but even if I had, I wouldn’t use it on you. I like you!”
“Thank
s, Carmedy.” Rana chuckled. As we reached the end of the tunnel, the burning smell grew even stronger, and I heard a strange bubbling sound. One by one we filed out of the passageway, and each of our mouths dropped open in surprise.
“By the gods,” Annalíse and Rana breathed as one.
The rocky surface that stretched out in front of us was covered in cracks that spindled and crawled across the entire floor in every direction, and a brilliant yellow-orange glow shone beneath each gap. I looked around at the walls that surrounded us, they didn’t bear any cracks. However, they bore something equally strange. Every so many yards, there was a fluid the same shade of orange as the cracks that flowed down the length of the wall. It looked like liquid fire. This substance was assuredly lava. I paused to marvel at the bright beauty.
I had never seen lava before in person. The odd glowing matter appeared to have some thickness to it, and the fluid bubbled and oozed as it ran down the cave’s sides like luminous waterfalls. There were dozens of the amber colored streams, and they ran around the circumference of the circular cave and formed a sort of ring of fire around us.
I couldn’t see where the bizarre substance was coming from, and I couldn’t see where it was going. There had to be holes in the floor to funnel the liquid down somewhere because it wasn’t collecting in the cave where we were currently.
“This place is giving me the creeps,” Rana said as she looked around suspiciously. “What is all that orange stuff?” the fox woman asked as she walked closer to one of the streams of fiery liquid that flowed down the wall. “It looks like--”
“Welcome, friends, to my humble abode!” a loud voice suddenly called out. Each of us whirled around to seek out the person who had spoken. Without warning, liquid fire began to bubble through the cracks in the ground to form a pool. That puddle began to grow until it resembled a large pond, then the edges of the liquid mass began to rise into the air. The fluid stretched and curved into an enormous ball as it floated upward. From there, the glowing orange sphere began to change form, and gradually it took on the features of a humongous man. Once the human-like features had all taken shape, the fiery liquid dripped away to reveal a more humanoid being with skin, a bald head, and clothing. As I looked on with wide eyes, a surge of sinister power began to radiate from the strange being, and my mouth began to water. So this was the dungeon’s deity.