“Fine! Call your damn beasts off!” came an angry shout.
The mist dissipated while Lanek strode over to his companions. A woman stood with her back to a corner, hemmed in by Kazuma and Sanguineus. Both of the animals looked quite unhappy with the individual and Lanek could tell that they wouldn’t hesitate to end the woman if Lanek gave the word.
The woman was dressed in fur armor and appeared unarmed. She was similar in height to Lanek, but a bit broader. However, she looked as if she hadn’t eaten in quite some time. Her eyes were sunken and her face appeared gaunt.
“Fair warning, lady. If that sword of yours shows up again, I’m pretty sure I won’t have time to restrain them before one of them rips your throat out, understand?”
“Aye, I understand. I thought you were from the dungeon.” She raised her hands to show they were empty.
“This close to the pit, I would probably assume everything was out to get me as well. So, let’s just relax and introduce ourselves, okay? I’m Lanek. The cat is Kazuma and the very angry wolf is Sanguineus.” He gestured toward his companions.
“I’m glad we have an understanding, I’d rather not piss those two off more than I already have. I’m Liv.”
“It’s nice to meet you, despite the attempted skewering. So, how’d you end up stuck in these ruins? Judging from the loot scattered around outside, you’ve been here a while.”
“I have. Every time I tried to get away from here, I would get attacked by something. I had no choice but to stay here and get stronger, but it hasn’t been enough. These damnable things don’t drop anything to eat and my supplies ran out several days ago. My group was exploring a dungeon when we got separated fleeing from a floor boss. I wandered the dungeon looking for the rest of the party for hours before I found a spot to rest. When I woke up I was in a completely different dungeon. Thankfully, I was near the entrance and was able to get out and make it to this tower.”
Lanek watched her for a moment, processing everything she had shared. “How long have you been here?”
“About two weeks, give or take a day.”
“Damn. Was that other dungeon far from here?”
“Probably. I’d never heard of the Ashen Depths before ending up here. Do you know of the Tempest Labyrinth?”
“Sorry, no. The only dungeon I’ve ever heard of is the Ashen Depths. How about Caelis, have you heard about that? That was the name of the city before the dungeon break.”
“Dungeon break? Fuck… So, even if I get away from here, the city isn’t going to be a safe place, is it?”
“Eh, it’s not that bad to the west. That’s where I live. You could also leave the city, but there are a lot of gaunts roaming around out there.” Lanek explained with a shrug.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by that. The gaunts are everywhere. How many people do you have with you to be able to survive around here?”
“None. It’s just me, these two furballs, and a spirit. You’re the first human I’ve seen since coming here. And before you ask, I just woke up here as well, just in the city rather than in the Depths itself.”
“Oh.” Liv said in a small voice.
“Well, it’s not much, but I need to head back before dawn. You can come with us if you like. It’s not completely safe, but it is definitely safer than here and we do have food.”
Liv brightened up at the mention of food. “Yes, please. I would be grateful.”
“Great, let’s go. Before we go, what was with that sword of yours? You don’t have to share anything you aren’t comfortable with, I just want to get a feel with how you fight so we can work together if necessary.”
“That’s fine, that skill was [Frost Weapon]. It’s supposed to be used to coat a weapon in ice, but it can create a temporary, but fragile ice weapon in a pinch. It’s a skill that was taught to every warrior in my village.”
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“Why not pick up one of the weapons upstairs to use with your skill?”
“They aren’t suitable. If I use it on a damaged or badly maintained weapon, the ice will actually shatter the weapon. I need something in decent condition.”
“Fair enough. I might be able to help you out with that once we get back to my place.” He turned to his companions and had them lead the way up the stairs and outside, gesturing for Liv to follow once Sanguineus let him know it was safe to come out. “We need to be quiet, there are a lot of nasty things between us and my home.”
Liv nodded, proceeding to match his pace almost silently. He arched an eyebrow at her movements, to which she shrugged. Guess we’ll need to have a talk about classes later. Still, it’s a relief that she won’t be giving away our position.
----------------------------------------
Their group came into sight of the monastery, having managed to steer clear of spider territory while only being forced into a few minor engagements with goblins and bugbears along the way. Regardless, Lanek was exhausted considering that he hadn’t slept in almost 24 hours.
As they entered the monastery, Lanek could see that Liv was nearly bursting with questions. However, he wasn’t quite ready to answer them yet, at least not without Caelis there to help him out.
“Let’s get some food and water first, then you can ask whatever you like. Fair?” At her nod, Lanek led the way to the meeting room on the fourth floor and asked her to sit while he retrieved some dried meat and pemmican from his quarters.
When he returned, he found Caelis lingering outside the room, looking at him questioningly. “You found another person! Where? Who is she?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself? Her name is Liv and I already told her that there is a spirit here, so she shouldn’t be all that surprised to see you.” Caelis nodded happily before rushing into the room.
“Liv! My name is Caelis and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see another person!”
“Uh, hi. Caelis? Isn’t that the name of the city?”
“Yes, it is. I took the name of the city when I was installed as its guardian after my death. Please, be at ease and have something to eat, Lanek brought you some food.” She gestured toward the Soulbinder who was actively setting food on the table.
“Yep, listen to the ghost, Liv. Sorry about the basic nature of the food, but we can’t exactly cook here without giving away our position.”
“Thank you, Lanek. Can I ask a few questions while we eat?” she asked, continuing once she saw Lanek and Caelis nod. “Caelis, have you ever heard of the town of Norvegr?”
“I’ve never head of Norvegr, sorry. Is that where you are from?”
“Kind of, it is the largest settlement in the area, about a day’s travel on foot from my home. How about the Tempest Labyrinth? That was about a week’s travel from Norvegr.”
“Oh, my. The Tempest Labyrinth? I know of it. That’s a long way from here. It would take you months of travel to get back there. But you said Norvegr is the largest settlement in the area? What about the city of Geirsa?”
“Geirsa? Geirsa is nothing more than ruins. It’s been abandoned for centuries, ever since the gaunts invaded.”
“The gaunts again? Hmm, how widespread are they?” Caelis lapsed into silence, contemplating the implications of Liv’s words.
“I don’t know, but my homeland has been cut off from the rest of the world since they showed up. Even traveling to the dungeon requires a caravan to make it safely. In most cases, multiple adventuring parties will pool their resources to fund a caravan to the Labyrinth and take turns guarding the caravan and delving into the dungeon.”
“Are there no safeholds near the Labyrinth? It was always customary to have several near a dungeon to provide refuge and respite for adventurers.”
Liv shook her head. “No, there are remnants of them, but they would be useless for defensive purposes.”
Caelis looked worried, the reality of how bad things had become in the world had shaken her. “I hope you two will excuse me, I need some time to process this. I knew things were bad, but not this bad.”
As Caelis left the room, Liv looked apologetically at Lanek. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring her down.”
“It’s not your fault. Caelis has been trapped in this city since it fell, almost a millennia ago. Even worse, she was confined to only a small handful of buildings within the city walls, so she only found out about gaunts recently. I think she was holding out hope for the rest of the world. Speaking of which, have you heard of any other cities out there?”
“No, we didn’t ever meet any outsiders. For all we knew, we were the last survivors of the gaunt invasion. Although, our seers and shamans held out hope that one of the great cities from the history books still stood and that they just hadn’t been able to reach us.”
“That’s not encouraging.” He sighed heavily. “Well, I’m exhausted and it would be better to continue this conversation with everyone present and alert. So, I’m going to head to bed. Feel free to take any room that you like, save the one at the end of the hall with the gryphon emblem on the door, that’s mine. I’m sure you’ll be much more comfortable than you were in that basement.” Lanek winked at her as he left the room.
Lanek lay in bed, sleep proving to be elusive despite his exhaustion. As he laid there, his mind raced with ideas for the future, with one continuously coming to the forefront.