It had been hours since our group left the small town we lived in, hours I spent carefully balancing over sticks and stones, always trying to keep pace with my father and the others. It was the first time in a long while that he found time for an outing, even if it was tied to his research once again, and I didn't want to slow him down.

Our connection wasn't the best, him and me, mainly because his childhood love died when I was born, but I just knew I had a place in his heart. When he approached me today for the first time in years, asking for my help, how could I ever say no? I just had to say a prayer. Anyone could do that!

I couldn't help but stare at my father. He seemed happy today, which wasn't common, but perhaps this ritual we were about to perform would finally conclude his research after all these years. I had to meet his expectations. They were just a few words!

"Hurry up," Father suddenly said, pulling me out of my thoughts, "we're almost there."

'Almost there' meant we were about to reach one of the dungeons I had heard so much about over the years—not that Father ever found the time to tell me more. But by now I knew a bit about his research from stories. To me, these places were mostly filled with wonders and creatures found only in fairy tales.

Apparently, it was possible to communicate with a dungeon core by praying to it, and it was me my father chose. Of course, I had learned the prayer to the best of my knowledge.

Yet, my father made sure to bring reinforcement. A priest had come with us, a young man in long white robes, which caught more roots and thorns than I could count. Somehow, I felt safer around him, even though I did my best to ensure he didn't have to say a single word - at least not the prayer.

By now, our destination was near. It looked like a small rocky mountain in the middle of the forest, effortlessly towering over even the tallest trees. The closer we got, the more restless the men around me became. A smile had already found its way onto their faces. The research they had been working on for years would finally be completed. Naturally, they were thrilled.

It took us a good half hour to finally reach the place, more than enough time for my breathing to become heavy. I simply wasn't used to hiking through nature like this. But how could we have taken the coach or horses instead? They couldn't possibly make their way through the thick undergrowth! So, when we arrived at the foot of the mountain, I naturally had to take a short break. At least father didn't mind the delay. He willingly approached me to make sure I was okay.

As I rested, I glanced around, only to see a group of strangers standing a few hundred meters away, right at the rock wall. Behind them was a dark opening in the pale gray rock, through which even the largest of them could comfortably pass.

As we approached, I noticed the group was diverse: a long-bearded, brown-haired dwarf in heavy armor, a light-gray lizard man with large, lilac scales growing over his back and shoulders, a young-looking, long-haired elven archer, and a presumably human girl my age, wearing long white robes similar to the priest who followed us.

"Ah, there you are," greeted the elf. "We've been waiting for you."

"Is the place cleared out?" my father asked.

"Not a single monster in sight," replied the elf with a smile. "It'll be some time before they show up again."

A smile spread across Father's lips. "Excellent. Let's make sure it stays that way!"

Father chatted with the group of adventurers for a few minutes, likely inquiring about the state of the dungeon. Only when it was my turn to be in the spotlight did he seem to remember me, but soon a gentle smile spread across his lips.

"Come here!" he beckoned me to his side.

"Yes, Father!"

Soon, he led me to the opening in the rock wall, in front of which the adventurers, now equipped with torches and their weapons, were already waiting. Two of them, the dwarf and the elf, took the lead, while the other two followed our group to cover our backs. However, there seemed to be no reason to feel threatened. The cave we now entered was empty, not even traces of a battle were visible. Instead, glowing moss was sparsely scattered on the earth-covered ground, and countless stalactites and stalagmites grew here and there, making the cave look more like the maw of a beast, especially now, with the torchlight giving them an eerie shine.

"The core is on the third floor," revealed the elven archer.

"And the leyline?" Father asked with a smile.

"The strongest I've ever felt," came the voice of the priestess from behind. "We're lucky the core is so young."

"Perfect."

After exchanging a few more words, our mismatched group ventured deeper into the cave, which soon opened up into a series of rooms, prompting the men to comment.

"This will soon be filled to the brim with everything imaginable," Father laughed, much to the amusement of his colleagues. "Gold, enchanted swords, potions ... and," he emphasized the word, "knowledge."

"Are you sure it will work this time," suddenly asked the dwarf at the front. His long, brown beard trembled with every word he spoke. "The last poor soul you dragged here just collapsed like a sack of potatoes!"

A cold shiver ran down my spine. I had never heard of this before! What happened to that person?! Is this place dangerous?! What would happen to me?

I couldn't help but feel uneasy. My legs began to tremble and falter. Of course, Father noticed. He took my hand to calm me down and simply lifted me, accompanied by my surprised cry, to carry me deeper into the dungeon.

"It'll be okay," he promised, "there are no monsters here."

It didn't take long for me to calm down again. Father managed to carry me for about half an hour to the stairs leading further down before he finally decided he needed a break. But he was right. Not a single monster had appeared. The entire dungeon looked like a vast, labyrinthine cave, which upon closer inspection was quite beautiful, especially with the countless crystals on the walls, some of which seemed to glow in vibrant colors as soon as they were illuminated by us.

After following my father down the stairs to the second floor, we were greeted by a series of rooms seemingly constructed from stone bricks in the same color as the mountain itself. This couldn't be more different from the first floor, which looked entirely like a natural cave. But apart from me, no one seemed surprised by this fact. Only when our group passed by two chests did the men start talking.

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"Was there anything useful in those chests?" asked one of them, a black-haired scholar named David, to the group of adventurers.

"Nothing to write home about," replied the dwarf for the group. "A few potions here, a rusty hammer there. Took the potions and left the rest."

"You're welcome here anytime if it works out," David replied with a laugh.

"Aye," laughed the dwarf.

"What will happen…" the priestess hesitated before being interrupted by my father.

"The dungeon will accept her prayer."

"But-"

"Risa."

Just a single word from the elf was enough to silence the priestess. It was obvious she disagreed with the whole idea but still couldn't help but follow her leader's words.

"Hurry up!" my father commanded the group. "The sooner we reach the third floor, the better!"

"Aye!"

With that single word, the dwarf led our group deeper into the dungeon again. It took us another hour or two before we finally reached the stairs leading to the last floor of the dungeon. I was already close to complete exhaustion.

The adventurers breathed a sigh of relief. There was not a single monster to be found, and since we were now here, the dungeon could no longer summon any. This seemed to be one of the few rules dungeons - even the deadliest ones - seemed to adhere to: no changes to the currently visited rooms. I could barely remember the rules:

* Firstly, the dungeon’s challenges had to be balanced and fair, allowing for trained adventurers to traverse it. This also meant a dungeon could not require godly powers to challenge.

* The dungeon also has to allow adventurers to make choices and face their consequences within the dungeon, meaning it cannot cause certain death situations.

* Thirdly, dungeons are meant to help adventurers grow in strength and wisdom. This was the sole reason for dungeons to exist in the first place.

* This also meant that, fourthly, innocent bystanders or creatures unrelated to the dungeon's purpose were not to be harmed in any way, shape, or form. Only challengers should be faced with the dungeon’s various dangers.

* Dungeons are also meant to create an environment that caters to a variety of adventurers with different strengths and weaknesses. A dungeon couldn’t just throw fire or puzzles at you without ever switching to other challenges.

* It was also important for dungeons to provide opportunities for redemption for those who may have initially failed. This meant that those who didn’t die had to be free to try again.

* Next, dungeons had to keep an air of mystery and unpredictability within them. This meant dungeons had to at least adapt somewhat to adventurers, so they would always stay somewhat challenging even at their weaker levels.

* Then there was the rule that dungeons would have to become harder the deeper you delved into them. They were unable to simply toss their strongest monsters at you from the get-go.

* There was also the rule that dungeons had to encourage teamwork rather than cater to lone challengers specifically.

* A dungeon's existence could also not disrupt the natural balance of the surrounding environment. This meant that with few exceptions, challenges and monsters had to stay within the dungeon’s bounds.

* Then there was the rule that dungeons could not significantly change rooms while adventurers were still in them, thus preventing them from simply trapping them alive.

* A dungeon was also required to have its core accessible by mortal means. This would allow a god’s champion to punish dungeons that did not follow the set rules.

* Last but not least, this meant dungeons were required to recognize the authority of the gods, especially those they were aligned to. They had to follow these rules or risk being punished or destroyed.

Adventurers, on the other side, had basically no rules. They would only risk incurring heavenly wrath should they decide to hinder the dungeon from serving its purpose by whatever means. This was an easy rule to live by and one my father most likely remembered all too well.

I hastily shook the thought out of my head, hoping that whatever he had planned to do here wouldn't cause him any harm in the long run. There was way too much an angered god or goddess could do, even without the assistance of their champions.

With a sigh I focused my attention on our group again, hoping for the best. It took us about half an hour to reach our target destination, which meant that the dungeon had not yet completed its third and final floor.

Before I knew it, we had reached a small pedestal where the dungeon core awaited us. It was a marble-like white sphere the size of a head, with a strange glow slowly moving across its surface, half cloudy and half milky.

"Finally, after all these years…"

Father reached for the core, a gentle smile on his lips. He slowly placed his hand on it, as if wanting to caress it, and then murmured something I couldn't quite understand. The core seemed to react to his affection, but in a way that visibly displeased my father. He recoiled from the now glowing sphere surrounded by what appeared to be a furious blue flame.

"It summons monsters."

"It does," replied the dwarf who had led our group. "Your thing better works. I'm not fighting through those damn monsters again!"

"Oh, it will!" my father responded with a laugh.

His colleagues had already started working. They were busy drawing line after line, creating a large magical circle around the base of the core, in the center of which my father still stood. He seemed lost in thought and didn't even react when I tried to talk to him.

Reluctantly, I approached the priestess who called me over and waved her food ration at me. She waited until I had sat down next to her before handing me one of her sandwiches. It was delicious.

"Do not repeat. The. Prayer," she suddenly said, one word after another and loud enough for me to hear.

"But I-"

"Do not. Repeat. The. Prayer."

Cold shivers ran down my spine. The green eyes of the woman urged me to heed her advice. As I looked at her more closely, she seemed scared, no, it was more than that. She looked as if she were facing death itself!

"What-what-"

The blonde now whispered a short prayer into my ear, urging me to remember it. All color drained from my face. But before I could ask her what all this was about, why she was so scared, my father suddenly approached me. He waited for me to finish eating, then took my hand and helped me to my feet.

"It's time," he said gently. "Step into the circle."

"Yes – yes, Father!"

I did exactly as he told me. Father accompanied me to the magic circle, and then let go of my hand. I slowly walked into the center of the circle, being careful not to touch any of the chalk lines, and then embraced the dungeon core with both arms. Only this way, he had explained to me, could the dungeon hear my prayer.

"Speak the prayer," my father reminded me.

I couldn't help but hesitate. Yes, I knew the prayer. By now, I could recite it aloud without a single mistake, but something told me to use the priestess' prayer instead. Something urged me to deny his wish this one time. And I did. I began to murmur the priestess's prayer, making sure no one else could hear it.

"Cilia, Mother of all that exists," I carefully repeated what she had told me, avoiding - most importantly - the name Cohold, the god of dwarves and wealth. "Light of Life, please hear my prayer."

Before I could even finish these few words, the magic circle began to glow in a vivid blue light, which my father and the others were more than happy about.

"Cohold listens! It works! It really works!" Father couldn't contain his exclamation. "Quickly," he urged me, "finish the prayer!"

I did just that. But instead of asking for wealth and knowledge, for chests filled to the brim with jewelry and ancient tomes, I asked for a home and a family, for a place where I could be safe. I asked for my mother, for someone to listen to my wishes and worries. For someone to be there for me.

Cilia listened, I knew she did. After everything they had told me, after everything I had experienced, I knew it was time to ask her for help. And I did.

"Please," I asked her, this time out loud, "please save me!"

Father immediately knew something was wrong. He ran towards me, trying to grab me and pull me away from the core and the carefully drawn magic circle, but he was unsuccessful. Before he could even step into the circle, green flames engulfed me. They surrounded me from all sides, creeping up my legs and soon enveloping my entire body.

I felt no pain, nor did I fear the fire. Instead, it felt as if I were being gently embraced by a warm blanket, so soft that one could only dream about it. And before I knew it, my vision faded to black.