Hainrick jerked to his feet and turned to face the southeast when the wave of fresh feeling mana rolled over him.
“By the Gods... Do you think...” uttered guild master Vaspedian.
“Another new dungeon, and not too far away... Well Vaspedian I’ll leave you to it, the Raptors have other places to be.”
“Yes well.... Please be careful, the elves are touchy... and not too happy with us at the moment.”
Hainrick somewhat absently took his leave of Vaspedian, his business with this disappointing dungeon was done, though he wouldn’t forget it. Any location that supplied iron was a treasure of sorts. He strode towards his groups camp even as he bellowed to the local workers to get their horses ready for travel.
It didn’t surprise him that his party was all getting ready for travel. They would all have felt the result of a delayed opening by a new dungeon. It must be a wary and possibly paranoid dungeon. He grinned in anticipation.
Half an hour later the Raptors were moving towards the new dungeon, alternating trotting with walking they made good time. It came as no surprise to them that they were being shadowed by a sizable centaur patrol.
They were well into the foothills after having crossed the valley of the moon maid in short order. That was when Daviinos the Mighty decided to investigate a bush that had caused one of the centaur scouts to shy away and gallop away at high speed.
Daviinos kicked the bush even as he poked at it with his sword. Everyone downwind were reduced to gagging at the foul stench that enveloped and clung to Daviinos. The centaur who had fled and was now standing well upwind started laughing uproariously. Daviinos slashed away in a fury and blood flew.
Hainrick noticed one young skunk herding two others from cover to cover. He was surprised as he realised it was choosing a route that would keep them hidden from the furious Daviinos. Then a larger skunk fled after the young ones. It narrowly avoided being skewered by a flung knife courtesy of Daviinos. Then the laughing centaur moved between them and the fleeing skunks, though Hainrick noted he maintained a safe distance from the animals.
Their journey was delayed at the next stream. Daviinos spent long hours with soap, water and magic to clean himself and his gear.
* * *
They resumed their journey at dawn on the following day. After they had gone somewhat less than five kilometres Hainrick raised a hand to stop them. He pointed a little to the south of their route, to where one of the elven sentry trees was making its way to the head of a small trickle of a stream. They watched in silence as it rooted itself and pulsed stored mana. Saplings started growing all around it forming a small grove.
Now that they had noticed the Raptors noted several other new groves.
“The elven forest is growing,” said Leo stating the obvious even as he turned and watched their centaur shadows galloping off the way they’d come. “It’s been nearly a century since the elves have had the mana to expand their forests.”
“So... This is because of the new dungeon?” murmured Hainrick thoughtfully.
“I think so, I’m not aware that anything else has changed,” replied Leo.
Hainrick kicked his horse into motion once again and once again they headed towards their destination. Soon they entered the forest. They say many signs of renewal and accelerated new growth. They were well into the forest before they noticed the tree runners that were shadowing them from the trees.
Then they noted some elves flitting amongst the trees but still nobody challenged them. The elves didn’t bother to hide the magics wreathing between the elves, tree runners and trees.
Hainrick stopped his band, then he raised his voice and said: “We are here as representatives of the Guild of Adventurers and the Church of Sol Triumphant as per the Concord of Yelmhome. We are here to classify the new dungeon.”
Silence.
Hainrick tried again, “Further the Treaty signed by your queen Aldrya almost three centuries ago in Dardelm specifically accepted the agreements of the Concord.”
Silence – then one of the tree runners showed himself and pointed in the direction they were going before fading back into the trees.
Hainrick’s lips thinned in displeasure but he led his party onwards. It was obvious when they arrived at their destination. The sight of several sentry trees ringing what was obviously going to be a new settlement met them. A handful of elves and one young dryad were growing elven house-trees while other trees were being encouraged to relocate.
The banners of several warbands were visible. Many warriors were visibly tired. Hainrick shared a worried look with his companions. They could see that the elves had already made up their minds. They were going to keep this dungeon come what may.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The Raptors were showed a small clearing near the top of the cliff that protected one side of the new settlement. Thankfully the location was sufficiently offset from the noisy waterfall that emerged about three-quarters of the way up the cliff. They duly set up their camp and waited to be contacted.
Several other warbands straggled in over the next few hours; one of the last was escorting a group of dangerous looking nobles. It was only after the arrival of these nobles that the elves bothered to talk with Hainrick and his band. They were escorted to where the nobles were leaning on some railings that looked grown and peering down at the waterfall. Hainrick gathered his patience; this meeting was unlikely to be fruitful. The noise of the waterfall would make hearing anything difficult at best.
The Lady looked over her shoulder at him, surprisingly he found her words easy to hear. “Have you ever come across a dungeon with a more difficult entrance than this one?”
“What do you mean Lady?”
The elf laughed, “Why, only that if having the entrance of a dungeon high up a virtually unclimbable cliff wasn’t enough, it also has a river and waterfall mostly blocking it. Then there’s an underground lake that has to be crossed to reach the true entrance. And that is a good five meters above the surface of the lake.”
Hainrick’s mouth snapped shut as he stared at the elf, then he stepped up to the edge of the cliff and leaned over the living railings to examine the location from which the waterfall emerged. He was befuddled to realise that yes; that was the dungeon entrance.
* * *
The two weeks that followed were frustrating. The elves were in no hurry as they grew a path down to the waterfall. Then they spent several days growing railings, piers, boats and a staircase in the lake cave.
Then there were the tortuous talks with the Rune Lady Rivanna. Hainrick did not often meet people as powerful as himself.
“Finally,” said Hainrick in relief as he led his party down the staircase that was clinging to the face of the cliff. They all had to bend over as they moved down the uneven, wet and slippery path that paralleled the fast flowing river. They were all very grateful for the railings the elves had grown.
There were two rowboats tied to the pier. The adventurers looked approvingly at the bright sunstone clinging to the highest point of the cave.
“Why didn’t they grow a bridge? If the dungeon accepted boats surely it would have accepted a bridge. Dungeons want adventurers, don’t they?”
“This one doesn’t seem that keen Leo, it delayed opening, and its entrance is not welcoming,” grumbled Daviinos.
They clambered into one of the big rowboats and made their way across the lake. Then they climbed the living stairs to the tunnel. The tunnel was long and twisting. The first trap they found was not set but they still smashed it. They did the same to the second one they found.
« Intruders identified as hostile. Defences activated. » Announced a young sounding male voice in their minds.
Hainrick stopped and gazed up at the ceiling, “Leo?” he asked.
“Um,” muttered Leo as he too stopped even as he concentrated on gathering information. “The aspects are Nature as is more than obvious and Mind. They are close to being balanced. That was the core, it is aware. No doubt about it, this one delayed opening as long as it could.”
“And I’ll lay odds the elves have already made contact with it, The way the crown’s representative lady Rivanna warned us again today of the Queens interest in this dungeon,” said Hainrick.
« Oi! Stop insulting me. I’m a him not an it! Why are you trespassing unwanted in my home if you’re just going to insult me? »
The Raptors looked at each other speculatively. “Unusual,” murmured Leo.
The tunnel had turned back on itself by the time they found a well-lit cavern. It ha a diameter of approximately thirty meters and was chock full of assorted plants.
“That’s going to be a pig to get through, and it has far too many hiding places,” offered Daviinos.
“Most adventurers would use fire. So lets do that to see how the dungeon handles it,” said Hainrick while looking at Leo.
Leo grimaced, “This is so, so crude. But fine, I’ll do it.” Leo faced the cave and cast his fire spray spell. A fan of fire settled onto the plants in the cavern. They smouldered fitfully. So Leo repeated his spell, and this time the now drier plants started to burn giving of great clouds of smoke.
The Raptors watched carefully as smoke started to fill the cavern and spill out into the passageway. Once that happened they heard a thud behind them. About ten meters from the cave a slab of stone had dropped blocking the passage.
“We are being poisoned,” said Faldara Swifthands. “The smoke contains a contact poison. Our filter spells are preventing it from being fully effective.”
Hainrick turned and focused on destroying the stone barrier. “We are in a sealed area with a fire. I suspect the poison is the least of our problems. Leo can you put the fire out?”
* * *
They withdrew to the entrance and rested while clearing their systems of the poison and cleaning up from the smoke. The next time they tried they found the cave restored and forced their way through. The hornets were unpleasant but not dangerous. The various brambles and vines kept animating and trying to bind and strangler them. They noted several young creatures fleeing.
While at no point were they ever in danger again it took them over a day to reach the central chamber. Mostly thanks to having to map the two fiendishly complicated three-dimensional mazes. They were constantly attacked by overactive vegetation, swarms of hornets, yellowjackets and bees. All the other creatures that made their homes in the dungeon withdrew and fled before them.
They barricaded the entrance to the central chamber and camped for the night at the head of the stairs.
The second floor was much smaller and seemed unfinished. But it was basically more of the same. The Dungeon’s heart chamber looked more like a formal garden and the boss was a variant of dryad they had not previously met before. The core was partially hidden by the large vigorous rose bush it was nestled in.
The fight didn’t last long, the rose dryad used all the rose bushes to fight and distract the adventurers before releasing the snakes, scorpions and insects.
The Raptors examined the core, noting that it looked odd. It also seemed to be weakly shielded. Hainrick addressed it. “What treasures do you offer? The challenge is significant but I only saw a few herbs worth gathering.”
« Fetch a herbalist next time. »
* * *
It was a tired and bedraggled party that emerged from the dungeon. They found the elves uninterested in their report and frankly contemptuous of their warnings.