Cojisto and Moose continued conversing as we walked, with Felder giving Ferrisdae and I questioning glances while they did. We could only shrug helplessly; just like him, we only understood Cojisto’s side. After an excruciating ten minutes, we arrived at a large crag.

The trees around the rocky outcrop had been cut down, leaving stumps and fresh dirt from where stumps had already been dug out. A building with a big opening had been constructed against the side of the crag, and I could see the hole leading downwards into the ground.

“So this is it, huh?” I asked.

“Aye, this is it,” Felder responded. “The tunnels inside are natural, though we had been digging further in and we had to widen some of them to get the obelisk out.”

Cojisto nodded. “That big crystal was huge,” he said. “It had to take quite a lot of effort to get out.”

“Took us a few months, that’s for sure,” Felder confirmed. He reached out to me with his hand, and tapped me on the shoulder with the map he was holding. “Here.”

I took it from the Dwarf and immediately started to unfurl it. Honestly, my hopes were not high. After seeing the state of Oristrella’s dungeon and hearing about Cojisto’s random disappearing dungeons, my expectations had bottomed out.

“Is this map current?” I asked.

“Mostly,” Felder said. “The only thing it doesn’t show is the wider tunnels we used to get the obelisk out, but there should be an X marking where we found it, and we just took the route out with the shortest distance for obvious reasons.”

Ferrisdae moved behind me and looked at the map as I opened it completely, and then turned it right side up. “Well that’s not too bad,” she said, to which I nodded.

The mine only had one entrance coming from the east, but it split into three paths almost immediately. The first tunnel led north into a room that had little tables drawn in it. This part of the cave was labeled the “Sorting Room.” The two others led deeper into the mine, with the second tunnel also doubling back to the sorting room.

“Your cartographer does passable work,” I told Felder honestly. Ferrisdae tapped my shoulder and pointed to the mine’s entrance on the map. Four green dots and a single white one. Nodding, I folded the map and put it under my arm. “Cojisto, my shield and weapon, please.”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Cojisto said with a grin. Moose snorted, and he walked back his words. “Sure thing, Badger. That’s what I meant. Sure thing, Badger.”

I sighed and turned to Felder. “Thank you for leading us here,” I said.

“Just doing my job, inspector,” Felder said with a nod. “But I appreciate the appreciation.”

"Yes, yes, thank you very much, Felder," Cojisto said, his tone indicating that what he really wanted to do was rush headlong into things. "Shall we go inside now?"

He began bouncing again after offering me the shield and horseman's pick, and I handed the map to Ferrisdae to hold so I could take them. The pick was plain, but well made. That was perfect; it would do its job without making me worry. I was surprised to see that the handle was made out of metal instead of wood. Since it was sized for me, I figured Gar decided that a little extra iron spent on it wouldn't hurt.

I looked back up at Cojisto. "Take Moose and walk around the perimeter," I told him. "Make sure there's nothing out there that will run in after us and attack from behind."

"Will do!" Cojisto obnoxiously exclaimed, causing me to flinch. He was right next to me, why did he feel the need to shout? "Come on, Moose! Let's take a look around."

"Be careful!" Ferrisdae shouted after them. She shook her head, sighed, and turned back to Felder. "We're sorry for our comrade's lack of decorum, Mr. Rockcrusher."

Felder just chuckled. "No, I understand the hot-bloodedness of youth," he said. "It's refreshing, really."

"We have different words for it, but that's neither here nor there," I grumbled.

“Did you want me to stay in case you needed anything else?” Felder asked. “Keith said to give you all my undivided attention. Not much else going on today, anyway.”

Just as I was about to speak, something in the mine caught my eye. A glimmer of light in the darkness. "Thank you, Felder," I said, not looking at him. I set the head of my pick on the ground and began strapping on my shield. "Your services and knowledge have been truly helpful, but I must insist that you return to the camp."

A brown- and white-feathered Avian emerged from the mouth of the mine. It wore brown studded leather armor, and its bushy eyebrows made it look perpetually confused. In its arms was a loaded crossbow, but it was currently being pointed towards the ground. A red aura surrounded them, just like the moose.

"Aye, inspector," Felder muttered, catching sight of the Avian. He backed up out of my view. "I think I'll head back immediately. Best of luck to you both." I heard him take a few more steps, then begin to run.

The Avian lifted its crossbow and took aim for the fleeing Dwarf. Its weapon flashed red. "Martial art!" I called out. I raised my shield, which wasn't very far considering it was oversized for me, and provided Felder cover.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

A crossbow bolt landed heavily against the wood, followed by another, then another, and then one more. Each bolt struck the last, and the wood splintered under the onslaught. By the time the art, some kind of ammunition replication by the looks of it, was over, I had a bolt halfway through my shield.

Ferrisdae raised her hands to cast a spell, the map crumpling in her grip, but I stepped forward. "Stop, Ferrisdae," I said. The Avian started cranking the crossbow back to a readied position.

"He just tried to kill Felder!" Ferrisdae shouted in outrage.

"And failed, so we know that they're terrible at their job," I responded. Standing in front of Ferrisdae, I rested the edge of the shield on the ground. When I addressed the Avian, I raised my voice to do it.

"I am Dungeon Inspector Badger, and this is Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae," I yelled to the Avian. "Do you know why we're here?"

"Yeah. I know who ya is, ya damn speck," the bird-man yelled. His voice was masculine, but young.

His choice of words caused me to frown, and I heard Ferrisdae sharply inhale behind me. Speck was a commonly used derogatory name for those with smaller ancestries, like Halflings and Gnomes. It wasn't the worst thing that you could call us, but it was meant to be offensive.

"Then I'll ask you to yield under code 17 dash 12 of the Subjugation Act," I yelled back. "You or anyone inside may choose to leave the dungeon before we destroy it, no matter how you decide you want to address us."

The Avian barked a laugh. "Himia told us you were coming," he said. That surprised me. Himia was talking to these people? "That we's just fodder to feed you all before you move on to harder challenges. We'll ya know what? Fuck ya both. You, the Elf, the idiot with the dumbass animal. Fuck ya all. We're gonna show ya all that we ain't to be trifled with."

"Hey!" Ferrisdae shouted. "You can't talk to us like that!"

"Fuck you, ya pointy eared whore. I'll talk like this to whoever I want" the Avian shouted back. I picked up and slammed my pick into the ground, but the bird-man just looked at me in amusement. "We're declining yer invitation to fuck off, and kindly telling ya all to do so instead. We're ready for you, but I ain't thinking you're ready for us."

Cackling, the Avian finished loading his crossbow and began backing into the mine. "So come and get us, ya filthy bitches!"

We watched as the Avian disappeared into the darkness. As soon as he was out of sight, I hissed at Ferrisdae and dropped my pick. "The map, now!"

I could feel the anger in her footfalls, practically stomping at this point, and she held the already unfurled map out in front of me. It shifted as I took hold of it, whatever magic this Dungeon Inspector class gave me caused it to come alive.

The red dot indicating the retreating enemy took a left at the three tunnels inside, heading north into the sorting room. It disappeared after that. I had a feeling that was by design and not just that the Avian went out of range. It felt like having more information than that would be considered cheating.

Two green dots appeared from around the rocky outcrop, and we turned to see Cojisto and Moose running into sight.

"Moose heard shouting!" Cojisto yelled. He skidded to a stop in front of us, not even a little out of breath, and Moose stopped behind him. Both were looking around frantically. "Did you already take some of them out?"

"No, Cojisto," Ferrisdae said with a shake of her head. "One of them came out, was incredibly rude, and left after we made contact."

"Which was the important part," I told him. "Without a Dungeon Doorknocker, getting their attention would have been hard, and we have to give them the option to surrender first for the rules to be followed."

Leaning down, Cojisto tapped the bolt that was still in my shield. "Looks like they were incredibly rude," he noted.

"He attacked Felder," Ferrisdae said angrily. "If Badger didn't have that shield, he would probably be dead right now."

"Is that so?" Cojisto asked smugly. "Having a couple adventurers on the team sure did come in handy, didn't it?" He raised his fist in front of Moose, who bumped into it with his snout.

"Sure," I said sourly. "Thank you for finding it, Moose and Cojisto."

"It is no problem, friend!" Cojisto said loudly, clasping his hand on my shoulder with an unnecessary amount of force. "This is what adventurers do for one another."

I nodded, but didn't linger on the topic. "Equipment check, then we're going in," I told them. All three of them stared at me.

Moose croaked, and Cojisto spoke. "Moose thinks you're the only one with gear right now, Badger."

With a sigh, I put my face in my hand and sighed. "Yes," I grunted. "Thank you for the insight, Moose. Thank you very much. Let’s get going."

Cojisto was the first to approach the mouth of the mine, followed by Moose. Ferrisdae began moving, but I held up my hand. "It's probably too late to say this, but don't feel obligated to take any lives in there if you're not comfortable," I said. "Cojisto, Moose, and I can handle that part."

Moose stopped and looked back at us. I waved him off, and he nodded before plodding after Cojisto. It still felt weird interacting with an animal like it was a person.

Ferrisdae pursed her lips. "I knew what I was signing up for, Badger," she said.

“I know, but yesterday was hard for all of us,” I said, then I shook my head. “Okay, just hard for you and I because who knows what those two are thinking, but for you especially.”

Her posture changed to something more defensive. "I don't appreciate the implication that you don't think I'm prepared for this. This is my job, same as it is yours. I’m going to see it through even if there’s some maniacal overlord deciding to mess around in things they shouldn’t. I’m fine."

There was a lot I wanted to say, but I swallowed it down. Now wasn't the time and I mentally chastised myself for waiting. "Okay, I believe you," I said. She looked surprised. "But be careful anyway. The first subjugation is always the hardest."

That wasn't strictly true; we both knew that it wasn't, but I wasn't about to start listing examples. I handed Ferrisdae the map and picked up my weapon just as Cojisto jogged back to us.

"Are we ready?" he asked, bouncing from foot to foot like he was in a fight. Every time he flexed his hands, the purple light of his arcane force flashed. It seemed brighter than before, but I wasn't sure if that was just my imagination.

"We're coming," Ferrisdae said. She tapped Cojisto on the arm as she passed him by. Another flash of purple erupted almost immediately after she touched him. "By the way, what are you calling that?"

"Moose suggested Fluid Force, which seemed as good a name as any," Cojisto responded. We followed Ferrisdae to where Moose was standing guard.

"The name is fine. Good job, Moose," I said, peering in to the tunnel. It sloped downwards gently, and torches were lit every ten feet. No smoke was escaping from the tunnel, so I assumed they were magical. That was good because there wouldn't be a good way for the Avians to put them out.

“Alright, everyone, let’s do this.”