by J. T. Wright
Eliora examined the first room in the Dungeon with curious eyes. She padded towards the statues of Beetles, intent on studying them when Kosey’s voice pulled her up short.
“We talked about this. You've got rear, Raven.” Kosey shouldered past her, a golden shield, embossed with a roaring lion’s head on one arm and a gold-hilted longsword with a ruby pommel in the other. “I lead, Mark in the middle with the compass. You do have the compass, right, Mark?”
“Right here.” Mark stepped by her as well, holding up the Mana compass to show Kosey. Eliora finished casting Night Sight on herself as the Marksman went by. Under the Spell’s effects, Mark’s drooping eyelids and weak chin took on a sinister appearance.
“Good. We move fast then. Mana compass should lead us to the Guardian quick like.” Kosey looked over his shoulder at Eliora. “You remember, right Raven? Straight to the Guardian, fast as we can. Twenty-minute head start won’t mean much, have to take advantage of it.”
“I remember!” Eliora snapped. “Lead the way.”
“Huffy won’t make you friends either, Raven. Thought you wanted to make friends.” Kosey was already moving. Mark didn’t look back as he followed, and Eliora found the butterflies back in her stomach as she brought up the rear. Neither of them was carrying a torch, and no one had cast a Light Spell. They had their own Skills to penetrate the dark. Skills they failed to mention.
It was a small thing. Hardly worth mentioning, but it still put Eliora’s back up. A Marksman could be expected to have vision Skills, and it would be smart for a Shield Warrior to pick some up. Why then did it feel like they were keeping secrets, holding out on her?
Because for all Kosey’s talk of trust, they were still strangers. Of course, they had secrets. Mentally giving herself a shake, Eliora tried to keep her attention on her job. It had been decided, by Kosey, that her Skills as an Assassin were best used in rear watch, given their line-up. She hadn’t argued much, although she did disagree. Kosey was a difficult man to dissuade. He talked over any conversation he didn’t want to hear.
They made excellent time, arriving at the Guardian chamber like they were following a map. The Mana compass Mark held pointed towards the largest concentration of energy in the area, and while they did have to backtrack after two dead ends, it did its job well.
The Dungeon may have grown tougher after its change, but it was still a newbie training ground. With their Levels, the three powered through swarms of Swift Beetles. Mark rarely used his bow, collecting drops while Eliora and Kosey fought. They had already agreed to split the miscellaneous goods at the end of their run.
The Guardian, a bigger version of the Swift Beetles, was where Mark earned his keep. He dropped the flying bug with two arrows and used a barrage of Skills to finish it within seconds.
“XP and drops for the little ones are about double what I would expect for a minor Dungeon. This Guardian is a miser, though.” Kosey pawed through the Guardian’s loot. He took one object for himself before tossing another item, and a few coins to Mark. Standing up, he held a dagger out to Eliora, but held it back when she reached for it. “It’s junk, but we can sell it for a bit. Sure you want it?”
“I'm sure. A spare knife is never a problem.” Eliora took the dagger and put it in a Storage device built into the lining of her cloak.
Kosey’s lips bulged outward, reminding Eliora of a bullfrog, as he pushed his tongue against his lower lip. Spitting, he said, “True. And, it’s your fair loot. Don’t mind me, Raven. I'm a victim of my own expectations. I came here looking for a good time and found a cold fish.”
Eliora bristled at that, and Kosey winked at her. “Not you, Raven. You’re holding up exactly how I thought you would. It’s this damn pit. Dolls and strings and coppers. This was the Guardian’s first date, but it’s paying out like a tax collector. That is to say, not at all.”
“We’re over-leveled. It will be better deep in,” Mark offered, pulling his compass out of his belt pouch.
“It had better be.” Kosey sniffed and grumbled, “Or this is the worst whorehouse I’ve ever been in. Let’s move.”
The second floor did nothing to improve Kosey’s mood. He hated the Ants and the Traps. They didn’t pose much of a challenge, but neither did they pay well. Kosey was thoroughly pissed off by the time the second obstacle made itself known.
Climbing vines while the room filled with water behind, and mosquitoes the size of small dogs diving at you was frustrating as it was. The sight of the chest under forty feet of crystal-clear water pushed the Shield Warrior past annoyance to genuine rage.
“You both saw it. How, by the ash-filled abyss, are we supposed to reach it?” Kosey could not tear himself away from the edge of the lake that had formed.
“Swim,” Mark said helpfully. The water rippled; something large with teeth broke the surface.
“Doesn’t matter if we’re fifteen levels higher than they are. In the water, those chompers will rip through us like hot knives through belly fat.” Kosey thrust the tip of his blade into the water and swished it around, daring the Beasts below to come out on dry land and fight.
“The chest is under hundreds of feet of water by now.” Eliora stayed far away from the lake and its aquatic predators. “We should have dove for it when we first spotted it.”
“Room filled too fast for that. We would have been trying to out-swim these fish if we’d gone back,” Kosey responded. “This is the problem with being first. Someone else will have to solve this. We missed our chance already. Let’s keep going.”
Ants and more Ants, culminating in a vicious battle with a flying silver version as a Guardian. That fight put Kosey’s mood at an all-time low. The Ant Queen soared out of reach of his sword, flinging bolts of energy as she flew overhead. Mark and Eliora had their hands full attacking her with Spells and arrows, which the Queen nimbly dodged. Kosey was relegated to watching their backs and stomping on minions.
Eliora found the man’s attitude odd. A Shield Warrior should be used to such activities. It was their job to keep lesser creatures at bay while the damage dealers went to work. Kosey acted like the position was beneath him, snarling and complaining, cursing at his companions to finish the Guardian faster.
Eliora kept her doubts to herself as they entered the third floor. She kept quiet as Prickly Stick Bugs leaped out from cracks in the wall. She ignored Kosey’s discontent when Bugs broke through his defenses and stabbed at the joints of his armor. She held her tongue when they entered the Guardian’s chamber and confronted the Rock Beetle waiting for them.
She couldn’t hold back anymore when the Guardian fell to her knives. Mark’s arrows had been more irritating to the bug than threatening, and Kosey’s sword had been all but useless. It was an Assassin’s ability to ignore a certain amount of Defensive Rating and her Piercing Stab Skill that cracked the bug’s shell. She had every right to pick up and hand out the drops when the Guardian vanished beneath her attacks.
Kosey didn’t think that way.
“You leave them on the ground!” He shouted as Eliora tossed a quiver to Mark. “I'm leading, I’ll hand out the loot.”
“Three items and some coins,” Eliora began. A wrought-iron bracelet bounced off Kosey’s chest. He refused to catch the item that was meant for him. “An enchanted quiver for an Archer. A defensive bracelet for a Shield Warrior. It’s the best we’ve seen so far. Why are you so upset?”
“And what did you get?” Kosey challenged. “Maybe the bracelet is for you. You saying an Assassin doesn’t need to worry about her pretty skin being cut. Hand it all over, I'll decide who gets what.”
“It’s a gem.” Eliora held the item in question tightly, refusing to give into Kosey’s demands. “A grey pearl, I think. Probably a Stealth enchantment for armor. Give me a moment to Appraise it and—”
Kosey’s fingers wrapped around her wrist like a vise, painfully tight. “A grey pearl? You haven’t Appraised it yet?”
There was a light in Kosey’s eyes that El
iora didn’t like. The musing in his voice should have been a pleasant change from the growling he had been doing. It wasn’t. His hand had pushed up the sleeve of her shirt and the note in his voice was as unwelcome as the sweaty palm touching her skin.
“Keep your hands off me!” Twisting against his thumb, Eliora broke free and stepped back. “What difference does it make who checks the loot? Do you think I'm stealing from you? What happened to trust, Kosey? You have to give it to get it, yes?”
“The difference is that you’re green, Raven.” A leer split Kosey’s lips, his hands fell to his waist. “Beetles don’t drop pearls. Sometimes though, just sometimes, a freshly evolved Dungeon can drop… show it to me, Raven. Show me, and maybe we can still be friends.”
Eliora took another step back and held the contested item up pinched between her thumb and forefingers. “Look! Just a cheap gem! Not anything to get worked up over.”
Kosey’s face was somber. All except for his eyes. Those stayed on the object in her hand as his head wagged from side to side and were lit with excitement.
“Green, too green.” Kosey made the slightest twisting gesture with his right hand, and Mark, who had been staying clear of the argument, started stepping to the side, boxing Eliora in as he raised his bow.
“I've been wondering why you hide your face, Raven? Is it a pretty one? Did not want to find out this way, hoped you’d show me yourself.” He actually sounded apologetic as he drew his sword.
“You want it. Take it. You can have the pearl, and we'll be quits.” Eliora drew a knife and tried to keep Kosey between her and the arrow that had formed as Mark drew his bowstring. “You can have all the loot. I don’t want anything.”
“Shame. But this is why you shouldn’t delve with strangers and no charter.” A knife filled Kosey’s left hand, his shield forgotten as it hung from a strap over his shoulder,“My fault. Didn’t expect to see… that pearl… in a minor Dungeon. Can’t have you carrying tales, Raven.”
“There’s no need for this.” Eliora dropped the pearl into the pocket of her cloak and drew a second dagger. She used Silent Cast to prepare a Spell in her head. “I haven’t Appraised it. What can I tell you? I don’t even know what has you so worked up.”
“Wish that were true, girl. A description is enough to have Al'dross soldiers chasing Mark and me into the Wilds. Can’t have that, can’t trust the word of a stranger. You understand,” he said it like she should, like it was perfectly normal to murder a group member to silence them.
“Sad thing is, I'm here to recruit. Told the Tiger I should bring the charter along and have potentials sign it right away. He likes to look recruits over first. Wish I could let you sign, let you live, girl… that can’t happen, I'm afraid.”
Eliora cast her Spell and flung herself to the side. Mark’s arrow cracked against the wall where she had been standing as she rolled to her feet, Eliora was confident Shadow Sphere would hide her as she ran towards the exit leading to the next floor. The arrow that cut her cheek and ripped the hood from her head suggested that confidence was misplaced.
She stumbled, almost dropping knives, and dodged to the right to avoid a third arrow. Her eyes were wide as she looked to where Mark and Kosey stood. Their eyes were on her, and a lopsided grin crossed Kosey’s face. She knew a Shield Warrior shouldn’t have been capable of seeing through her Spell. Shadow Sphere covered almost the entire room; she should have been concealed.
“Not a Shield Warrior!” She twirled, holding out the edge of her cloak as another arrow bounced off its enchanted cloth. However, the cloak couldn’t block the force of the projectile, and Eliora bit back a groan as the arrow hit like a fist driving into her kidney.
“No more than Mark is a Marksman, or that his name is Mark for that matter. Are you going to run into the Dungeon? What does that get you?” Kosey seemed in no hurry to close with her as he ambled forward, loosening his wrist by slashing at the air with his sword.
Not much, Eliora admitted to herself. Shadow magic was best at concealment and confusion, effects that were apparently useless against Kosey. Shadows were seriously lacking when it came to attacking. However, she did know a few other Spells, and she cast Ice Web at Mark, spoiling his shot as she rushed for the tunnel.
“What’s the point, Raven? I've had a Tracer on you since we agreed to work together. Where you go, I can follow. Running gets you nothing!”
That was bad news. A Tracer Skill meant Kosey was a Tracker at the very least, although Eliora was doubtful that was all the man had kept from her. The good news was that Tracer Skills had a time limit. Her Spells didn’t hide her from him, but they would still work on Beasts. If she could keep away long enough and the Dungeon’s bugs slowed the two down, Eliora could outlast the Tracer. She might be able to turn the tables when that happened.
If. Might. They weren’t encouraging words. Eliora cast Ice Web twice more without looking back. She ducked her head and activated Dash to increase her speed as she rushed out of the Guardian chamber. The sound of ice breaking on steel sent more adrenaline coursing through her body. Kosey had stopped her Spell. Easily.
She should still be faster than the men, but Stamina would be the deciding factor. Wasn’t it always in a chase? She hoped they would burn more fighting than she did running. She hoped the Tracer wore off before they trapped her in a dead end. Hoping for help was useless. They had entered first and traveled deep. No other parties could have caught up.
All she could do was run.
Chapter Fifty
“That’s it.” Kerry sagged to the floor in the Safe Zone. His borrowed shield became a black ring on his left hand and the chain of his flail vanished, leaving him holding a mace with an off-centered knob on top. “I'm done. No more. Up and down, back and forth, I'm through with it. Is it just me, or does the floor slope up, coming and going?”
Kerry pulled off his helm and dropped it to the ground. It rolled away as he began vigorously scratching the top of his head. “Are there spiders in my hair? I swear I can feel them crawling all over me.”
“I'm not opposed to calling it a day. Should be morning outside, I could use a hot breakfast.” Felicia began pulling cobwebs off her robe. She wadded them into a ball and stuffed them into her pouch. “Trent?”
Kerry’s helmet came to a stop when it hit Trent’s boots. He kicked it back towards its owner, “It hasn’t been twenty-four hours yet. We could try the fifth floor if the fourth is getting to you.”
Even the always willing Dreq rolled his eyes at that. He plopped to his haunches and leaned against Trent’s legs with a whimper. He panted, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, and barked gratefully as Trent knelt to fill a bowl with water.
“The fifth floor is at the other end of this one,” Kerry said over Dreq’s slurping. “The Return Scroll is… What do you know, I have one right here! I don’t know why you’re so stuck on twenty-four hours anyway. For all we know, the extra XP will last for weeks. We can’t spend weeks in here!
“We can’t spend weeks in here, Trent!” Kerry repeated before Trent could disagree. “I need sunlight and fresh air in my life. I need to know the bugs that are crawling on me while I sleep are a normal size, easily squished when I roll over. Help me out here, Felicia!”
“We do need a break,” Felicia sighed. “Resting in Safe Zones doesn’t count. And we won’t leave you here by yourself. Don’t suggest it!”
That had been what Trent was about to suggest. Stymied by Felicia’s order, Trent turned towards the tunnel leading back towards the third floor. Felica and Kerry interpreted the set of his shoulders as Trent gathering an argument for their continued endless battle. They were prepared to counter him and were surprised by his response.
“Someone's coming.”
His words had barely left his lips when a cloaked figure burst into the room. A young girl with silver hair and silver eyes, wide with fright, skidded to a halt before she crashed into Trent. She quickly stopped herself and hurried back to set her sho
ulders against the wall. The two long daggers in her hands came up defensively as the girl’s lips were pulled back to reveal her teeth.
“Safe Zone!” Kerry called out. The cornered animal glanced at him, but her eyes flickered back to Trent and her daggers stayed out. “This is a Safe Zone! No need for—"
“Shouldn’t be dragging others into our problems, Raven.” A chiding voice entered the room just ahead of two men. “You chose your handle well. Ravens always bring bad luck.”
An Archer and a Warrior stepped into the light of Felicia’s Spell, blinking at the sudden brightness. With sword drawn and arrow nocked, they walked in, dismissing the resting party as harmless and focusing on the girl in the corner.
“Safe Zone!” Kerry stressed, pulling himself to his feet and staring at the readied weapons. “You can’t fight here.”
“Shouldn’t. Not can’t, boy,” the older of the two men sneered. “Stay out of this. None of your concern.”
“Let it go, Kosey!” The girl shifted the points of her daggers to her pursuers. Her eyes stayed on Trent, drifting from the hilts of his swords to his mask. “You can have the gem.”
She sheathed one dagger and reached into the pocket of her cloak, pulling out a small grey sphere. She made to toss it to the man she called Kosey but stopped when he spit on the ground.
“Why did you go and do that, Raven? Didn’t mind killing you in front of witnesses, but you had to go showing off what shouldn’t be seen.”
“Don’t you know what happens when you fight in a Safe Zone?” Kerry eased closer to Trent, putting himself between Felicia and the newcomers. “It breaks the protection. It will bring every Beast in the Trial down on us!”
“Trent Embra, do you remember me?” It had taken Eliora a moment to dig the masked Swordsman’s name out of her memory. “We met on the road to Al’drossford. I was traveling with my aunt.”