Dungeon Master Pt II

Apollo Keating

“Kill it.”

“You know I really don’t appreciate you dropping by whenever you feel like it. It’s kind of rude and I would like my personal space.” I could now see him in the corner of the room sitting on top of a rock.

“Personal space? I’m stuck in your head. How the hell do you think I feel?”

“I don’t know, because I really could give a fuck less. And I won’t kill it, it may be a Cyclops but look at it. It can’t even move anymore from so many broken bones.”

“What kind of pussy mindset is that. The way of the world is kill or be killed, no in between. “

“Way of the world? Yea, I think I’ll pass on that. I have no reason to kill something not threatening my life.” I began to look around the cavern for my way out of this place.

As I looked around I found a small passage, leading to where I guess I have to find out. As I put my hand on the entrance about to enter I felt a boney hand on my shoulder. “You know this is getting a little too close for comfort, besides I already said I won’t kill something that has no reason to die.”

“You had no issue killing in your previous life did you, Will.” My skin ran cold, my heart stopped, and my eyes widened. “You took my life, you just didn’t realize it. Do you think you’re so lucky getting some second chance, you're a killer are you not? You had no issues ending people's lives before, but now you think you can be a saint.”

“You don’t know me shit head, now piss off.”

“Like Sphynx, like Maverick, like the commander, one by one everyone dies. Death follows you around, no in fact I would say you are death itself. They called you the grim reaper in your last life, right?

“You don’t know shit about me, so how about you get your hand off me and go back into the depths of my brain.” His hand gripped me tighter and he got closer to me.

“Each person in your family will die. Your father, mother, and sister, though I’m sure it won’t stop there. Ruby and the Thorne’s will all…”

At this point, all the anger in my body had surfaced. The aether in my body fluctuated, and whether for better or worse I managed to raise the gravity in the entire cavern. I flipped around with my daggers in my hands, my face flush red with rage. I slashed for what would have been his throat, neither of my blades landed though. It took me a second to remember that this kid was just in my head.

“That little shit is starting to piss me off.”

“Apollo, are you okay?”

I turned back to the exit I saw to find Ruby approaching me. “Yeah, I’m fine. The big guy broke my fall for me.”

“He doesn’t seem to be having too good of a time over there.” We both turned back to the Cyclops who was screaming and flailing around on the cavern floor. “Is there a reason you didn’t kill him?”

“He’s not able to fight back, I would rather not waste the time. Besides, I think it’s wrong to kill those unable to raise a weapon.” She looked me over for a minute before holding her palm into the air creating a giant fireball. She then turned back to the Cyclops shooting the ball of flames at him. His eyes glimmered as if his life had flashed before his eyes. He then burst into flames so hot I’m positive it killed him on impact.

“It doesn’t matter if you think they can’t, or if you morally feel as if you shouldn’t.” She got closer to ensure I understood how serious she was. Her gaze felt like flames burning into my skin, I couldn’t maintain it and looked down. “They won’t hesitate to kill you, so you can’t hesitate to kill it. That goes for people in war as well, do you understand?”

I couldn’t muster up a response so I just nodded.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Good, now let’s get back to your father.” She began making her way into the passage from before. I turned back one last time to look at the orc, but at this point her flames had burnt him down to ash and bone. I refused to believe killing was the only path I could take. No matter what she, the boy, or anyone else said. I promised myself I would not be the same person I was before.

We walked in silence up a pathway I assumed towards the top. We entered the large area before, the hole in the floor was near the entrance. The rest of the corpses were stacked on top of each other in the corner of the cavern. My father was shuffling around. I presumed he was collecting items from the beasts and their fangs.

Cyclops don’t use their teeth for whatever reason, most likely stupidity, however, their teeth have the ability to disturb aether flow through one’s body. Many people like to mix it with other minerals to put in weapons. “Why doesn’t he seem worried about what happened to me?”

“Trust me, he was going stir crazy at first about to jump head first down the hole. Once I calmed him down, he realized we could both still sense your life force down there. I knew he might be a little panicky, so I had him collect items while I went to get you.”

“I see.” We made our way over to him as he began to tie up his bag. He turned to us, his face pale. He rushed over to me and gave me a massive hug, almost enough to break my back.

“I was so worried about you son.”

“You don’t need to worry, as you can see I’m fine.”

“Idiot. I’ll always worry about you, that’s why I have been so distant recently. I have been angry with your decision to continue on to be a knight. I just haven’t been able to put into words how I felt about it.”

I pushed away, hearing him say this made me grow a bit angry. “You didn’t say anything about Luna joining so early.”

“That’s different, your sister is special. She is capable of…”

“And so what, I’m not. You know I’m getting real sick of this.” I began walking back towards the entrance.

“Apollo, stop I only meant…” I cut him off again.

“When will you figure out that you have more than one kid?” I don’t know why I was so worked up. I had no issue with being neglected as a kid in my previous life. Maybe it was due to feeling love here, that having it pulled away made it that much worse.

I left the cavern back into the real world. As I went through, I could hear Ruby smacking my father and calling him an idiot. I understand why he was saying what he was, but that didn’t make me anymore okay hearing it. I had already lived a previous life I should have died younger than I had. Now in this world, I had magic, and much more tools at my disposal. I also had all the knowledge of my past life making me a better fighter and learner. Of course, no one knew that so they only saw a book-smart kid with a strong body for his age.

I was over this trip and reached into my pack pulling out the transmission crystal. A perk of this world is once you leave an aether signature somewhere, you can travel to and from that location at will with one of these crystals. My father gave it to me for my tenth birthday. Who knew I would be using it to get away from him? As they left the cavern, they got to see a small blip of me before I disappeared.

“That little bastard is starting to get on my nerves you know that.”

“He’s your son. How about some compassion?”

“If I show him compassion, he’ll go soft. How can I send him out into the world, a possible war. If I have to worry if he has what it takes to survive.”

“That’s my job to make sure he’s up to the tasks as his teacher. Yours is to give him the attention he needs as a father. Don’t neglect him because he’s not the golden seed from your sack like the other one.”

“Why are all your analogies so gross.”

I came out in the back of my mother's bakery. I ensured to leave a trace here so I would always be able to see her in a timely manner. Something my sister didn’t do before she left. I walked out of the back to find my mother serving the Moxin’s, a nice couple in their fifties, who came in every Monday and Friday.

“Thank you as always Elizabeth.” The old man said as he shook her hand.

“You are always so sweet. We need more elves around these parts to diversify things a bit.”

“You both are too kind. I always appreciate your company.”

They waved goodbye as they left with a coffee and three muffins. The same order every time. he gets a black coffee and she gets a coffee with hazelnut and two sugars. A pecan muffin, and two chocolates because he is never full after one but can never finish the second. They had told me this more times than I cared to remember.

“Oh, sweetie you’re back from the dungeon already?”

I nodded as I took a seat behind the counter, luckily my mother could see my expression and decided not to press further. Instead, she approached me and wrapped me in her arms.

“Well if it makes you feel better, you’ll be gone from us in a few years for the academy, and you won’t have to deal with your father soon.” It’s not that I minded dealing with my father, he just can be a bit much sometimes. “Just remember sweetie, you’ll only be a few miles away, so don’t forget to come and visit.”

She began to tear up, I couldn’t blame her. Her daughter was off training to defend our borders and her son was starting dungeons. She probably feared she would lose both kids in the possible war coming soon. So, I had to make sure she wouldn’t have to go through that. In this life, I would live for more than just myself.