Corvayne shoved his spear into another enemy, the shadowy puddle flailing with it's spiked probiscus before going limp. It made enough noise to alert the other monsters in the room, but they were too late as he moved into their midst then activated [Cross Skill: Circle of Death]. His spear flew in a circle, blade catching the monsters and sending the pack dropping to the ground gurgling. A second check for shadows and he motioned that it was clear.

"Clear." Nyx called out.

"Clear." Lady Blood Claw called out from her building.

They had reached at the bottom of the sloped. The compass power had picked up clarity, directing Corvayne to one of the walls of the settlement at the bottom. What he had assumed was a mural on the wall turned out to be some sort of vault or tomb. It had been broken into recently he guessed from the mangled door frame . Whatever had broken in had also left a bunch of monsters to act as a speedbump on the outside.

Spears was still on his back. "How are we on potions?"

Corvayne reached into his ring and recounted by touch. "25 normal ones, 3 exceptional healing potions. 10 marked as 'not my best work' from Mister I."

"That's good enough." Lady Blood Claw said, staring onto the gap. Corvayne lead the way in, entering a too-smooth chamber made up of what seemed like endless pillars, stretching off into the dark. He heard Brines gulping and could feel from Bell through [[Unity]] a hint of sharp fear. Looking back at her then following her gaze, he saw forms off to the side. Decomposed bodies, bird men, slashed in half. Adventurers pinned to the pillars by something that cut gashes in it, probably a sword or axe, then fell down, blood drawing their path. The compass was pointing him forward, but his danger sense pulled him back as he spotted something else that he had mistaken for fallen adventurers.

They were dark things, spindly limbed, and unlike other monsters Corvayne could see they were measuring him rather than attacking. All he could see were outlines, and pairs of white eyes.

Spears noticed as well, and a moment later Nyx radiated his fear effect, causing the creatures to skitter away into the gloom. Brines actually squeaked.

Bearer was more calm. "Whatever killed the adventurers, it took a few of them out too."

Corvayne was impressed. He hadn't spotted the two bodies she was looking at, both seemingly dead by being skewered against the wall.

Nyxion gently floated in a circle. "It happened a while ago, but they didn't eat or disturb the bodies..."

Bell moved up next to Corvayne, which made him nervous. The princess pointed forward. "A spear moves forward." She said with only a small waiver in her voice.

"A spear moves forward." Spears said behind him. He took a deep breath.

"Form a diamond, and stay close." The danger in his mind had faded a little, or it wasn't from the spindly watchers. They moved through the rows of pillars, with more signs of battle along the access the compass was pointing him.

Brines was clutching both of his daggers, him and Bell being put in the center of the formation. "Shouldn't we take them out first?"

Lady Blood Claw was looking all around. "They didn't do that. Look at their limbs. They use claws, and would shred the bodies. Unless there's a really big one that's bending over to poke through little people."

Bearer laughed as she walked backwards. "Case closed!"

Nyxion grumbled a little. "What happened to not talking?"

"They know we are here." Corvayne said, seeing a glow ahead the compass was directing him to. He felt they were close. He also saw that the shadows had backed off, keeping far away from the gateway. Danger?

"She's in the Tower." Corvayne stated, his compass starting to change direction rapidly as he stepped up to the free standing stone portal, carved stone with stern stone guardians on either side, armed with armor and blades like knights.

"It's a Dungeon." Bearer said. "Dungeons go down. Tower goes up. The dungeon is more risky."

Lady Blood Claw was looking off in the distance. "Did you hear something grinding in the distance?"

Corvayne supposed he did. It had blended into the dungeon noises. "We are going in, so we'll worry about it later. Take a moment to be prepared. If it's hostile, it means it might not wait for us to get our footing before we are fighting."

Lady Blood Claw tapped Corvayne's shoulder as everyone rechecked their gear.

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"Hmm?" Corvayne saw she looked serious. It was hard to gauge her skin color in the dim light.

"When we deal with the princess, we should come back. Do a real investigation here. I have a feeling in my gut something is seriously wrong here. Like, we've been crawling through a bomb while it's going off."

He agreed on some level. "You afraid some old evil is waking up?"

Spears prodded him. "I might have popped out of that pod hostile to you depending on what The Magus did to us."

There were a few steps up to the gate. Corvayne grabbed his spear and walked into the distortion, landing in a dark place that was colder and wetter then the dungeon even. In the dark, a pair of waist high monsters that looked like rocks with crab legs started skittering towards him.

He switched to [[Strength]] and used [Cross Skill: Crescent Blade] Twice in quick succession, leaving two glowing copies of himself. The Stone Crabs rammed into them and there was a horrible crunching sound and the smell of shellfish as they died. Their demise gave him a moment to look around as Nyxion joined him. Orange lock on the way back, they'd have to go through. It looked like there was dark water, lit by faint green and blue lights running under the platforms. He could see lights above him, but it looked like he had stepped into a room. More worrying was a cube of water floating in the way of the path, about the size of a swimming pool each direction. It was drifting along, puffing up as it passed a pillar. Inside, Corvayne could spot the outlines of large fish. As the cube of water floated past, it dragged the walkway with it, stones from one path twisting to connect to a different one. He watched a moment as the cubes moved through the space, gently dragging lights and walls with them, then depositing them in different formations.

He returned his compass, and saw that it was pointing upwards, while also directing him to the new path that formed.

“This way.” He had just thought that it seemed like any other tower floor when there was a click, and the bridge he was on collapsed. As fast as he could he reduced his gravity and used [Storm Thrust], getting just enough height to land on his back, bowling Bell over.

He got up then helped her up. “Traps.”

Bearer nodded. “These upper levels are nicer, but you should let Nyx lead since he floats and has a shield, which will help with everything but when it tries to drop the ceiling on you.”

“No doubt the cubes of water are full of hostile fish life too.” Corvayne could see something frothing where the bridge fell.”

Waves within reached down at a puddle and touched it. “It's clean water... where is she?”

She wasn't more than a mile, but he could tell she wasn't moving either. “Close, but we have to move carefully.”

Even with the shield in place, [[Unity]] was picking up on Bell being overcome with terror. Corvayne gripped her arms and she blinked.

“Whatever happens... within a few minutes we'll know. So we're going to carefully try to find where your daughter is.”

He glanced again, trying to see the shapes above them in the darkness, then Corvayne shook his head and started walking down the pathway, tapping with his spear to ensure he didn't fall in. Lady Blood Claw cast something that lit up a few things with purple light, including what looked like slowly moving weeds off to the side of the platform. Sure enough, passing near them they sprang to try to grab him and drag him into a bunch of sharp thorns that made up the body of the monster. A spear thrust was enough to end it, but it made him worry they were going to just find a body, if that.

There was a trap with spears and one that nearly hit him with a crossbow bolt, and swarms of monsters mixed in. They died fast, but would wait behind traps or engage and try to ram them off into the water. It wasn't like the mindless aggression of the Tower's monsters nor the loose organization of creatures they had made their way through before. The cubes too would float by, dropping off vicious razor toothed fish. Even out of water, they got underfoot and at least twice Corvayne had one draw blood before he could kick them away.

Nyx slowed and leaned over to Corvayne, speaking in a low voice. “Where is she?”

He was pretty sure she was on a cube, one not connected to platforms. “She hasn't moved.”

“When we find her, you'll need to comfort Bell.” Nyx said. “I don't mean just fucking her, but hold her, listen to her, you know.”

Corvayne asked the question he had. “Why was everyone so... excited to do this?”

“If I want to reach my goals, I have to be a hero.” Nyx said, and he pointed at Corvayne. “I have to know it's possible. I have to believe there's a person out there who's the real deal before I can fake it.”

“You say that, but you came along too.” Spears said.

Nyx jerked back a little. “I forgot you were riding him this entire time.”

“Like a jockey! You are too hard on yourself Nyx. But I agree... I was happy to see Corvayne be the person I thought he was.”

Corvayne's compass had a sort of split, pointing across the way at a cube of dungeon material just floating, not connected to any other walk ways, but also trying to urge him to go upwards. He could see what looked like a room or house, with windows, but it was dark inside. Two months. They were going to find a body. Somehow, that bothered him more than however many people he personally had killed over the last few months. Maybe it was because the whole subject of the quest could be alive or dead.

A spear moves forward. “Bell, she's over there, but... to get there I have to jump over.”

The princess's response was instant, grabbing his arm. “Please. Take me with you.”

“You don't mind if I...”

She looked determined. “I don't care if I look stupid.”

Spears grabbed her and stuck her to Corvayne's back. “Okay. Done.”

He wrapped shadow limbs around her, and Bell put her arms around him and squeezed. “Even if she is...”

“We'll know in a few seconds. When things get bad, just keep breathing. Keep putting your feet in front of one another.”

Bell started crying, and [[Unity]] couldn't stop the raw emotions from the two girls on his back from seeping into him, hope and sadness and despair and the desire to be loved and love and queasy feelings, images of a bright red bird lying dead, and an image of Corvayne holding Bell, and one of a dark room at the palace. He slammed the shield back into place.

Lady Blood Claw looked about. “What happened?”

“Nothing.””Nothing.””Nothing.” They said at once.

“Corvayne, whatever that power is, you need to get a grip on it ASAP. The last thing we need is you merging into one person or some bullshit.”

Bearer laughed. “We saw how well that worked for Wick.”

Corvayne turned, anger welling up in him. but felt Bell dig her fingers into his collarbone. “Please. Go. We need to know.”

[[Unity]] seemed to do something, and he felt himself calming down. Was he pulling from Bell for a moment? No more hesitation. He used gravity to soar across the gap and land on the roof of the building. Tying a rope, he repelled down to the entranceway, a platform to the room itself.

He stepped into the dark room, and there was a click. Corvayne looked at the crossbow bolt in his arm, shrugged, and pulled it out.

The starved, ragged little bird woman holding it dropped it, slumping as if the effort had totally drained her. Bell flung herself off his back, rushing across the stones to scoop her up. “Hylal! Hylal!”

In a voice ravaged by thirst, Hylal managed to croak out, “Mom?”

Corvayne turned and walked out of the building to both give them a moment and to give a thumbs up to the team. Lady Blood Claw let out a battle cry. Nyxion folded his arms and smiled. Brines jumped up and down. Bearer even wiped a tear from her face. He turned back to go into the room, already pulling out water and food and potions. He was about to get down to business when he stopped in his tracks.

In the Darkness at the bottom of the dungeon, the princess's face when she turned to look at him was radiant.