The rain was pouring down as I approached the gatehouse, the darkness of the night only interspersed with flashes of lightning. Getting from the Labyrinth to Caelyn had taken all day, and I still had to get back too. I did not fancy the idea of spending the night once Lady Arana got the message Pearl had asked me to deliver. I approached the closed gates and hammered the small hatch meant for delivering messages and just talking to the guards without opening the gates. A few seconds later, a rather annoyed man showed up on the other side, I didn’t recognize him, so he had to be new.
The guard sneered at me as he spoke, “Yeah, what do you want?” I held up the envelope. “Emergency Dispatch to the guild. Deliver it immediately.” He took the envelope, and then he looked at me with a questioning expression. I didn’t show any emotion. “Classified, for Lady Arana Ravenloft’s eyes only.” Name-dropping Lady Arana had the desired result, as he took a step back and ran off towards the stables without even closing the hatch. I immediately turned and started the trek back to the Dungeon. Best to get as much distance between me and the good Lady when she read that letter.
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There was a knocking on my office door. That was surprising, I was certain I had told those incompetent morons not to disturb me for any reason. The knocking came again, a bit more insistent. “… Enter.” The door carefully opened and a wet mess of a guard entered. “I am terribly sorry to disturb you at this hour, Lady Arana, but I received an emergency message meant for your eyes only. The messenger insisted that I should deliver it immediately.” The nervous wreck of a man carefully laid the sealed parchment down on my desk. With his task now done, he quickly excused himself and all but ran out of the room. I picked up the parchment and studied it. The seal carried an emblem I did not recognize. It was a small maze, by the looks of things, a rather intricate design for such a small emblem. My curiosity piqued, I opened the scroll and began reading.
20 minutes later practically the entire guild had assembled in the lobby once more. Several of the people there had an ashen complexion after I informed them of the warning in the letter. “If that proves to be true, it could spell disaster for the entire kingdom, nay the entire world. Send emergency messages to every city within reach, NOW!” No one questioned my orders or even considered attempting to verify the truth of such a threat. The danger involved was too great to risk delaying the warning to verify it first. That did not mean I didn’t intend to verify it. They had invited me to discuss the matter at the Dungeon, with guarantees of safe passage from the core and Rael himself. Considering Rael’s reputation, I doubted he would put his name to a text like that, along with his personal seal, without being sincere. Besides, even if it was a trap, I had no choice. This was far too important, and it was my duty to ensure the reliability of this information.
It took a few hours for everyone to get ready for the trip to the dungeon. Most of that was ensuring proper medical supplies, with magic still not functioning, we had to take extra precautions. That meant medicinal herbs and bandages. As unorthodox as it was, it was practically a requirement right now. It was further delayed because of the lack of people able to challenge this dungeon. Saol had been a madman and a criminal, but he was no fool. He had determined that the dungeon was Raid tier and had assembled the best team in the guild to take it. And they had failed. That alone meant that even with a guarantee of safe passage, there was no reason not to be careful.
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The night had become remarkably cold over the past few hours. Mistress had stationed me at the hill where I had impersonated Alessa during the ill-fated incursion of Rael’s party back when. The storm had passed, and the clouds had cleared. The now clear autumn night bore the first hint of the coming winter as the soaked ground had frozen over. This made it treacherous because of the thin layer of ice left by the torrential rain. Despite the cold, I didn’t really feel any discomfort, thanks to a rather comfortable coat made from cotton that grew in Lady Yrsha’s dungeon. Mistress had foreseen the need of warmer clothes once she learned winter was fast approaching. So, she had asked Yrsha if she could make some warm coats, in case Rael or anyone else needed to stay outside for a prolonged time.
The first glimpse of dawn stirred me from my musings, and in the first rays of the sun I could see movement. I turned around and grabbed the bow beside me, then fired a whistling arrow into the air. They could easily hear the sound back at the entrance, Mistress had us test it earlier, just in case. A faint whistling sound answered in reply to my own, and I quickly grabbed the quiver as well, then hurried off the hillside. Mistress had been quite clear when she gave the order; After firing the arrow, I was to retreat into the labyrinth immediately. Besides, from what I knew of this Arana from Alessa’s memories, I didn’t want to be anywhere near her. Arana terrified Alessa, that much was clear, and I did not feel it necessary to disobey my orders just to check if Alessa’s terror was fact or fiction.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As I entered the Dungeon, I nodded to Rael, who was waiting at the entrance. “They will be here within the hour. Looks like you won your bet with Tarad.” Rael nodded grimly, gaining no satisfaction from that fact. I couldn’t blame him. Here was the current guildmaster of the local guild and a bigshot not just in the guild but in the country marching towards the Dungeon. Hopefully, she had peaceful intent because of the content of the letter, but there was really no way to know for sure. The entire dungeon was on high alert, just in case.
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As we stepped into the above ground territory of the dungeon, I could feel the others tense up. I couldn’t blame them for their fear. This dungeon had stopped the best this city had to throw at them, seasoned adventurers all. They might not be as powerful as the elite back in the Capital, but I had heard about Rael’s exploits as soon as I entered Slyvanport. An up-and-coming star in the guild, apparently. Well, he had fled to this place with the Core, which according to the ramblings of Saol had somehow circumvented taming.
That alone meant that this core was unlike any other, especially considering the rather heavy-handed way they had gone about it. Summoning the core outside its domain to inflict the same effect as defeating it. Then using a binding circle to prevent it from dissipating and bombard it with taming attempts. A crazy idea and one that was completely tasteless. What was the point of having a guild for defeating dungeons if you would not defeat the core the normal way? Any old magician without fighting experience could bind a helpless core. Saol’s actions had been a dangerous precedent for the future of the guild.
I was delighted that the taming had apparently failed so spectacularly. That did not explain how she escaped it, though. Having the tamer as an accomplice was obviously a possibility. But from the reports I had read, the tamer had no prior connection to the Core. There were far more questions than answers. A shadow fell over us and broke me out of my musings. Looking around, I saw something. Above us, hovering above the enormous stone walls, was a Sphinx. It held a strange regal air about it as it looked down at us, it bore a calm, confident expression on its face. “Welcome, Lady Arana, I have been expecting you.” I realized then, that what I was looking at was the Core.
I looked up at her. They had noted the core as female after the “taming,” so this had to be the Core. “So it would seem. I decided that considering the content of your letter, I found it imperative to verify the content first hand.” I answered as I locked eyes with the Core. I refused to look away or even blink. A slight smile played on her lips, revealing the edges of her fangs. “I can assure you the validity of the content, Lady Arana. Though if you wish to hear it from someone you know you can trust, I can arrange for that to happen. Though I must apologize on behalf of Rael and the others. While they hold the guild no hostility, given the events with the Guildmaster, they do not feel comfortable returning just yet.”
I couldn’t completely hide my annoyance, and the Core had clearly picked up on that. “They will meet you on the second floor of the dungeon. It is deep enough that they feel comfortable enough that you won’t try to force them back. And also shallow enough that should you decide to retreat, you will have a pretty quick way out. It’s the best compromise I could come up with. Seeing as Recall still does not work properly.” I didn’t like it, the idea of entering that deathtrap at all was not one I relished at all. But considering the current situation, it was not like I had a choice. Well, I did, but not a workable one. Returning without confirming the validity of that letter could be disastrous in the event it was actually true.
I broke eye contact first. Yielding that the core had the upper hand, for the time being. “Fine, since Rael and his entire party entrusted themselves to your care, then I will as well, for now.” The core nodded and landed in front of us. “Follow me then, unless you wish to wander in here for another few hours.” With that, she nonchalantly led the way through the maze, seemingly without a single care in the world. I entertained the idea of attempting to strike out at her for about a split second. No good would come from attacking her at this point. As soon as I had decided on that notion, the Core's voice rang out inside my head. I barely suppressed my reaction. Telepathy, and probably also a slew of other psionic abilities. I had read the reports about them, obviously. But experiencing it was something else entirely.
As if to mock my inner turmoil, her voice continued.