Chapter 10: True Devotion
Date and Time Unknown
Dungeon Ciara
Nino turned north along 7th Avenue, where I used to live. Curious, I dug another mouse tunnel to keep sight of her.
If I still had eyes, they would have widened to bursting after she trotted down the Avenue, then turned and disappeared exactly where my condo home used to be.
Wait! If Nino’s still living there… My girls!
They were too big to get out through the cat doors, but I’d had a huge water tower brought down for them in case I had to go away for extended periods. I’d always kept it full, and they could easily break into the storage cupboard to get at bags of food.
It would be nearly an hour before Turd respawned, but I wasted no time creating another mouse tunnel off the one he’d been using.
I tunneled like a mad woman, creating exits for Turd along the way to keep my bearings as I followed 7th Avenue to where I recognized the angled driveway across from 211, 7th Avenue. Of course, the glorious hedge that once arched over the walkway to guard my privacy was burned completely away, and the house had been utterly destroyed.
But I knew where I was, and I knew that my sweet girls might still be alive somewhere below. And so, I delved down at an angle, toward my former home, hoping that I would encounter the concrete barrier that had saved Nino’s life. Seconds later, I reached it and pushed through, mostly ignoring The Voice as it rambled about me having found a source of iron or something.
When I burst into the basement, I heard a pair of low growls. If I’d still had a heart, it would have jumped.
[SUNNY! SANDY-GIRL! MOMMY’S HOME!] I yelled with my mind, for everything I was worth.
I felt a pang of despair well up inside me when their growling didn’t stop. I recognized the sounds of my sweet babies, though they gurgled a little like they had respiratory problems. In the darkness, I could see them baring their teeth up at the hole I’d created above the storeroom, but they weren’t responding to me at all, and it hurt.
I noticed, to my dismay, that the gorgeous off-white fur on Sunny’s rear flanks was smeared with feces, and while it showed up a little less prominently on Sandy’s darker fur, she had the same filth clinging to her as well. To top everything off, their little nails were getting too long.
I ignored The Voice as its deep, lovely timbre resonated in my mind. I was too busy screaming at the world to let me speak to my children.
Until I heard The Voice say one specific thing.
<…like to assimilate the underground cavern you have discovered?>
YES! BY GOD, YES!
My remaining mana drained by half, causing my hunger to spike savagely, but I was so distracted by what I felt at that moment, that it made no difference whatsoever.
I felt it—that instant when the basement of my old home abruptly became a part of me. After it happened, I could sense everything inside, just like the rest of my Dungeon.
I watched in wonder as my girls stopped to stare at one another for a moment while each glowed with soft blue light. I noticed Nino was glowing as she hopped down from one of her favorite perches, atop the water heater.
Filth and shit were cleansed from each animal’s fur—even Nino’s, which must have picked up a trace as she tracked across the floor. My dogs stared at one another and their posture seemed to straighten, leaving them smiling and panting with a familiar self-assurance that made me squeal with inner delight.
The girls turned to lick each other’s faces like they always did when both were happy.
As expected, the food-storage cupboard had been utterly destroyed. My Labs had consumed most of their food, and the sixty-gallon water tower had nearly run dry. At the rate things were going before I arrived home, they likely only had a few days left before they might have died of starvation, dehydration, or disease.
There were droppings and kibble strewn all over the place and shit had been tracked everywhere.
I didn’t care when all that vile organic matter lying around began fading as my core absorbed it. Neither did I pay much attention to the fact that my mana filled up in the process, staunching my hunger.
Sunny and Sandy were standing there, hale and whole.
My best friends in the whole world had survived against all odds, and that was all that mattered.
[Sandy! Sunny! You’re safe, now. Mommy’s here, babies.] I said, hoping with every bit of my soul that they could hear me.
Both Labradors perked their ears up, started to whine, then prostrated themselves onto the newly-cleaned floor while peeing and crying aloud. They rolled onto their sides and backs as they looked around for me with tails wagging furiously.
[Yes, my poor girls, it’s me! I know you can’t see me, but I’m here for you. Mommy’s gonna get you out of here. You wanna go outside?]
The girls practically teleported to their feet, their tails whipping around fast enough to generate wind. They whined insistently and licked at their snouts.
[Yes, my girls! Okay, I’ll open the doors for you. It’s time to go outside. We’re headed down to the beach, okay? You wanna swim in the ocean?]
Immediately after hearing their favorite words, my pups hopped and pranced in place. I seldom let them swim out there, except on hot days. It wasn’t hot outside from what I could tell, but they’d been cooped up for what seemed like weeks at the very least. Besides, they’d just rolled around in their urine before I absorbed it, and under the circumstances, I didn’t see that I had much choice.
To my delight, I found that I could easily manipulate the steel doors and their latching mechanisms. Thirty seconds later, I encountered a minor setback when the dogs ran up against the ruins of my house, blocking their way.
Nino had dug herself a way out, but it was nowhere near large enough for two adult Labs to squeeze through.
[Don’t worry, girls! Mommy will fix it. She’s a Dungeon, now.]
I scoured the debris away in seconds, storing the materials in my inventory as the eager pups exploded into the sunshine, squinting and scrambling sideways through the ash to turn down Seventh Avenue as they accelerated furiously toward the beach.
[Yes, girls! Come down and play in the water. Mommy’s here with you. Go fast! Who’s gonna get there first?]
With tongues lolling joyously out the sides of their panting mouths and fire in their loyal eyes, my dogs moved faster than I’d ever seen them go, streaking toward their favorite place with reckless abandon. Their gorgeous fur coats shined and rippled with each stride, showcasing their powerful physiques.
Inside, I smiled so hard that I could almost feel my old body grinning.
I caught sight of Nino as she emerged from the basement.
[Nino, you can come too, sweetie! Down to the beach.]
Her ears perked up along with her tail while her head cocked slightly to the right, but the cat stopped for a moment to clean her left front paw before she ran after my pups. It looked like her athletic little body picked up speed even faster than the dogs.
Shifting the focus of my perception between all the tiny entrances I’d made allowed me to keep pace as my girls approached the edge of the beach. To my surprise, they ran faster before leaping over the remains of a burned-out vehicle on East Cliff Drive. Their paws shattered through the glass crust atop the sand as they thundered on.
Were they always this fast? It feels like something’s different…
[Careful, girls! The beach isn’t like you remember!] I called out, far too late to warn my girls about the glass coating.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
As I expected, once they were off their leashes and their paws touched the sand, they went bonkers with excitement. Instead of slowing at my words, they continued faster as they veered sharply right, tearing some fifty meters north through the crunchy expanse to spook a flock of seagulls. My pups passed between the panicked and barely-airborne seabirds without paying them any further heed. They corrected course and darted for the waves, wearing expressions of pure joy.
When the Labs reached the surf, they leaped over a small breaker before skipping across the water’s surface. Twice.
Fewer than twenty seconds had elapsed since the dogs exited the basement, but they’d already covered more than 400 meters from a dead stop.
Holy crap!
Finally, they sank in and swam for all they were worth—their drenched heads moving across the water’s surface so quickly, one could easily have mistaken them for aquatic mammals.
To my surprise and dismay, they abruptly disappeared.
[Girls? Where’d you go? Sunny? Sandy?]
I watched in trepidation, hoping they’d return to shore soon.
I need my puppy girls…
Sandy breached the surface sixty meters further from shore than where she’d ducked under, holding a half-meter Striped bass in her teeth. She paddled lazily toward the beach, unfazed as the sizable fish thrashed in a vain effort to free itself from her maw. Sandy seemed to be waiting and watching for something below the water’s surface.
What in the hell’s happening? They’ve never caught anything before—not even on land!
As if she could hear my private thoughts and wanted to show off how amazing she was, too, Sunny popped up beside her sister a moment later, bearing a Striper of her own. Of course, it was near twice the size of the one Sandy had caught.
You competitive little brats! I missed you so much!
After a quick look at one another, they powered toward the shore. My pups crossed the fifty-meter distance in a matter of seconds, and left twin trails of whitewater to mark their passage.
Something's different. No dog could swim faster than a human can run!
After a quick shake to rid themselves of excess moisture, the Yellow Labs made straight for my main entrance, trotting over with bright eyes and tails wagging.
I hadn’t told them where my entrance was.
What the heck? I’m overjoyed to have my pretty girls back, but… how in the world are they doing all of this?
I enlarged the entrance just enough so that my dogs could enter, then spent around 40% of my mana carving out a massive side chamber opposite Nino’s space. I wanted my babies as close to my new body as possible.
Once they were inside, Sunny and Sandy made themselves at home, tearing into the fish they’d caught.
I received two large influxes of mana, filling me back up.
“Wonderful!”
I jumped—mentally.
[Damn you, Sven! Isn’t there some way you can warn me when you’re going to appear?]
“Nope! My world is here, you see?” He waved a clawed hand and created some kind of star map with Earth at its center. The view zoomed out until even the Milky Way began to shrink. Other galaxies came into view, and eventually, I recognized the place his index claw was indicating.
[Andromeda? You live in the Andromeda Galaxy? Are you shitting me, Sven?]
Sven furrowed his scaly brow. “I would never shit you. Dungeon Cores are not edible, except among certain vile creatures that you will certainly come to fear, should you ever encounter them.”
His tone of voice eased.
“Now, to answer your question; yes, I do! But more importantly, how is it that you already know Her name?” Sven’s managed an incredulous expression as he neared my core.
[Whose name?]
“Lady Andromeda! The Grand Mother!”
[Sven, you’re not making sense! What Lady and Grand Mother?]
“Ah, it’s easy to forget you’re still clueless, my little Wad of Clay.”
[Such a helpful Fence Lizard.] If I still had eyes, they’d have rolled dramatically.
“I aim to please, Dullardae Suprema.”
[Ohh, so now it’s fake Latin insults, Pretentius Impudens?]
Sven grinned.
[So, how is it that my dogs run twice as fast as before? How can they swim fast enough to catch fish in the ocean?]
“Residents grow stronger, faster, and more intelligent when they are converted. Those aspects will advance with each floor added to your Dungeon. Residents also stop aging once they reach adulthood.”
[You mean to say—]
Sven cut me off. “So long as you remain in control of yourself and do not revoke the gift of residency, they become effectively immortal. The same as you and me.”
[My girls can live forever with me?] I couldn’t help my voice cracking at the thought of spending eternity with the ones I loved most.
[Sven, please… is that true?] I croaked.
“It’s impressive how much of your frail former self remains, little Dungeon. You are a… curious case. Yes, it is true. But remember, they can still die, so protect them well.”
[You don’t have to worry about that.]
“Oh? Your aptly-named mouse is noticeably absent.”
I winced.
[Ah, yes. That was Nino… again.]
“The minuscule feline. An interesting species, that.”
[She’s a little brat! But now, she’s my brat.]
“Indeed. Suffice it to say, all your residents are more than they once were. But you can augment them further, with mana. Each may receive a single blessing from you, as their protector.” Sven waved his clawed fingers about deftly, drawing mystic symbols across the air.
A full-color, holographic representation of an ornate silver tower shield coalesced and rotated slowly above his clawed hand.
“The Blessing of Fortitude increases resistance to injury.”
He wiggled his fingers again, summoning a bird of prey in flight.
“Alacrity makes one more lithe and able to dodge about with wondrous grace.”
I was still appreciating the uncanny agility of the avian predator when the most piercing set of eyes I’d ever beheld took the bird’s place and stared back at me, floating amid ethereal blue flames.
“Acumen’s Blessing enhances mental potency.”
[So, I can make them tougher, quicker, or smarter?]
“Precisely. But you may only grant a blessing once. That blessing becomes permanent, even if you renounce their residency, and it can never be changed. So, choose wisely for each!” Somehow, he made me think of a certain cricket that used to explain things on TV when I was a kid. It made me smile inside.
[Thank you, Sven! This will be helpful!]
“You are most welcome. Perhaps I judged harshly, Ciara of Earth.”
[You did judge quickly, and that was annoying for someone who'd just awakened after dying in nuclear fire.]
Or not.” Sven smirked.
[There’s the saucy old Lizard Lad I know!] I grinned.
“You are a shameless cretin! But you are making considerable progress, and, like it or not, you will understand in time. Take care, for I must return home!” Sven rolled his eyes with a toothy grin, then disappeared.
After Sven had gone, I watched in awe as Sandy—my Sandy, the greediest little food-hoarding pup in all of creation—pushed a portion of fish over to Nino. The cat gave Sandy a slow blink, then happily munched down on the meat. I realized she’d been waiting patiently near my dogs.
When had I ever seen Nino wait?
I… wow. Maybe there’s hope for my little Turd, yet!
----------------------------------------
Minions: 0/100
Residents: 4/10
Denizens: 396
Traps: 1/5