Chapter Three Hundred and Ten - The Knights of the Long Rest

The airship banked around and flew in a gently spiralling curve that brought us lower and closer to the ground.

I squished my face up against a porthole until my nose made a mark on the glass so that I could better see the fort below.

It wasn’t as big as I had imagined. Or as ancient-looking.

The fort was built up against the side of a smaller, stubby mountain. It didn’t have as much of an incline as the capital, though it was pretty tall and jaggedy all the same. The fort had large walls on the edges furthest from the mountain, growing smaller as they approached the mountainside.

Part of the fort was a complex of stone buildings and two large square towers with battlements above and arrow slits all around. Below them was the main keep, and then a wide open landing strip, entirely covered in gravel and with a row of blinking lights down the middle.

The latter bit didn’t seem to fit into the aesthetic that the rest of the fort was going for, though Knight Captain Covernseeker did say that the dungeon wasn’t all that old, so perhaps the entire fort was relatively young too.

The airship slowed down for its final descent, and I saw sylph jumping off the sides with long ropes trailing after them. Those were slid through big eyelets on the ground, then hooked onto winches that were powered by ground crews.

The ship lurched as we finally touched down, and I pulled back from the porthole just as a rig with a staircase was rolled up next to us.

“Alright everyone,” Coverseeker said, his voice booming through the room. “We’ve arrived. One at a time, gentlebeings.”

The older sylph got off first, and then my friends and I followed after them. We climbed up to the deck, then moved to the side where the ramp I’d seen was being affixed to the ship’s side where the railing was removed to make access easier.

When we arrived on solid ground again, it was to find a row of four sylph all decked out in plate armour with swords by their hips and proper knightly helmets tucked against their chest. They saluted in unison on the barked order of a sylph in armour similar to Knight Captain Covenseeker.

“The Knights of the Long Rest are ready, sir,” the knight said.

Knight Captain Covenseeker stepped up, looking more serious than he had all day and returned the salute. “Noted, Lieutenant. Is the team assembled?”

“Yes sir,” the lieutenant said. He turned and gestured towards the keep. “The squad is assembling in the dive room, sir. All guests to the fort are accounted for.”

“Well done,” Knight Captain Covenseeker said. He spun around to face all of us. “Gentlebeings, please follow me. We will find rest and respite in the main tower. Captain Bunch, Ladies, please follow the lieutenant.”

The gaggle of generals and officers toddled off under their cloud of cigar smoke, leaving us with the lieutenant and the four stiff-backed knights.

“Hello, sir,” I said with a nod to the lieutenant. “And hi to the bunch of you too!” I added for the knight behind him.

The lieutenant didn’t seem to know how to react. Poor guy, was no one ever friendly to him before? “Ah, hello, ma’am. You must be the expert.”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“The, ah, ears, ma’am.”

I almost reached up to touch them, but held back. “I guess they are a defining feature. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Will you just be escorting us to the dungeon?”

“And through it,” he said. “My name is Lieutenant Petalwrought. I’ll be your guide today.”

“I’m Broccoli, and these are my friends, Amaryllis and Awen. We’ll be in your care, Lieutenant Petalwrought.”

The Lieutenant nodded once, then glanced away, as if he couldn’t meet my eyes. “Ah, if it’s not too impertinent to ask, ma’am, do you have any training in dungeon delving? The reports I received were light on details.”

“My friends and I have gone through half a dozen dungeons,” I said. “We’re not experts, but we’ve tackled a few together, and a couple with bigger groups. I don’t think any of us have been in an expedition this big though.”

Amaryllis cleared her throat. “The Knight Captain seemed... perhaps a little less-than-aware of the dangers brought in by the Evil Roots. Have you explored the dungeon since?”

“I went in with two knight-recruits. We barely made it out alive,” the lieutenant said. “It’s a run I’ve done frequently. The dungeon has changed in the last few weeks, it's become far less hospitable. Not that it was ever entirely safe, but some floors had puzzles that could be solved non-violently.”

“That’s really unfortunate,” I said. “What about the others? We’re going down as a whole group, right?”

The lieutenant nodded, then gestured towards the keep. “Shall we start heading to the dive room? I imagine the others will be growing impatient.”

“Sure,” I said.

We started across the courtyard while sailor sylphs ran about taking care of the airship. The other knights followed behind us in two neat rows of two. “We’ll be going down with four experts.”

“I thought there would be more,” Amaryllis said.

“I... may have overstepped my position a little,” Petalwrought said. “But I vetoed any member that didn’t have at least basic combat training or experience. I had to promise that the rest could come down once the bulk of the threat is handled.”

“That might be for the best,” Amaryllis siad. “The dungeon will only get harder as the days pass. Having to watch over dead weight will make it even more of a challenge.”

“We shouldn’t call people dead weight,” I said.

Amaryllis huffed. “If their presence harms us more than it helps us, then that’s what they are. We know how to fix this issue, they’re just coming along to see how it’s done.”

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“You’re making us sound like big heroes,” I said.

“Isn’t that exactly what we are?” Amaryllis asked. She sounded genuinely confused.

I considered it. “I don’t know? I don’t think so. We’ve just been having fun mostly. Sometimes we stop by to help people, but it’s not a big deal.”

Amaryllis shrugged. “Your reputation is going to catch up to you eventually, Broccoli.

“It’s not a bad reputation,” Awen assured me.

The front of the fort was enclosed so that the only way in was through a corridor leading to the front door. I imagined it was to make it harder for people who could fly to sneak up on the entrance from above.

He opened the door for us, and we moved through a long corridor. The keep was all grey walls and flickering magical sconces, with a bright red carpet laid out on the floor the only concession to comfort.

In my opinion the place could really use a more homey touch, maybe some flowers, a photo or two hanging off the wall? The lieutenant led us through a room at the far end, then through an armoury where armour hung off of racks next to swords and shields and other weapons. The room smelled like oil and leather.

“This way,” he said.

Just past the armoury was a very strange room, mostly because I wasn’t sure if it was a room. The ground was all stone, but not quarried stone, just the sort of uneven rocks you’d find outside, though a path had been worn through them.The walls ended unevenly, with the floor being at a bit of an angle.

The path through the room went off to the side, then down, where the stones had been rearranged into steps. At the bottom were a few sylphs, and a cave opening. “Is that the dungeon?” I asked.

“It is,” Lieutenant Petalwrought said. “The keep was built around it, as you can see. Difficult to do, on account of the land around the dungeon’s entrance, but we managed.”

I nodded along. “Why not remodel things a bit?”

“You can’t,” Amaryllis said. “Not entirely. Messing with a dungeon’s entrance is just a bad idea all around. Besides, the entrance is more like a portal, if you dug behind it, you’ll just find dirt and rock, not some tunnel or whatever.”

“Oh, right,” I said.

“Everyone!” Lieutenant PetalWrought barked. “These are the experts the capital has sent over. Please, let’s all greet each other, then check our gear. Then we’ll be off into the dungeon.”

I nodded, then waved to the group. “Hello. I’m Captain Broccoli Bunch of the Beaver Cleaver. I’m the one that has magic that can break Evil Roots.”

“I’m Amaryllis Albatross, thunder mage.”

“Awa, I’m Awen Bristlecone, um, mechanic?”

The four sylph glanced at each other, then one stepped up. A small sylph woman. Small for a sylph, that was. “Aria Lightspring, magical researcher, Army Division of Sciences.” She nodded to us quite firmly. Aria had an army uniform on, but over that she had rigging with a bunch of tools and a backpack that seemed loaded with stuff. A sword hung by her hip, and I noticed a buckler on the side of her pack.

“I’m Erin Winterhand,” another of the sylph said. “I’m with the Department for Dungeon Protection. We work to ensure that the nation’s dungeons are safe and secure and well-documented.” Erin bowed to us. He had gear that I’d first associate with adventurers. A pack, a few knives, a short spear and an assortment of armour that was definitely not part of an official kit. He also needed a bit of a shave.

“Lucille Rosenfell,” the next said. “Mage.” She had robes on, a big hat with a bit of a cone in its centre and a badge affixed to it, and a staff. Definitely a magic-user.

“And I’m Bron, Bron Talldance,” the last said. He was a big boy, all muscle covered in a thick gambeson. He was grinning at us. “I’m with Magical Games and Sports. Don’t reckon I’d usually be here, but I can swing a mace as good as any, and I know my share about plants and the like.”

“Hello everyone, I hope we’ll all have plenty of nice experiences in the dungeon together,” I said.

The lieutenant nodded. “And I’m Lieutenant Petalwrought, but you all know me already. These four Knights will be accompanying us in the dungeon. They will be keeping you safe, but down there, what I say is law. You have an idea, you pass it by me first. Understood?”

I nodded, and there was a chorus of ‘understoods’ from some of the others.

“Good. We haven’t been given nearly as much time to prepare as I would want, but I suspect giving that root more time would only make things worse. Perhaps speed is of the essence here. Nonetheless, we’ll be going through the dungeon slowly and carefully.”

Everyone gathered up in a tighter group, though it was clear that we weren’t all comfortable with each other yet.

“Alright, I’ll take the lead. First room should be safe, but I have my doubts,” Lieutenant Petalwrought said. He pulled out his sword, and all four knights did the same.

My friends and I scrambled to grab our gear. Awen slid a bolt into her bow, Amaryllis tested the sheath of her dagger and Weedbane snicked open. That got a few weird looks. I brought the scythe up so that the blade hung over my shoulder. “We’re ready,” I said.

Without much fanfare, we started into the dungeon as one big group.

You are Entering the The Dungeon of the Lullaby Knight Level 12–14

Your entire party has entered the Dungeon. Seal Dungeon until exit?

Dungeon left Unsealed

Any Person can Enter Dungeon Instance.

Any Person can Exit Dungeon Instance.

This was it. I could feel the tension radiating off of everyone else as we marched down a deep, dank tunnel, where the light was dim and... and where a faint song hung off the air, too quiet to be made out, but definitely there.

***