Dungeon breaks normally occurred outside the influence of people because they wouldn’t break otherwise. Nobody in history had ever witnessed a dungeon break while it was happening from inside that said dungeon. For the first time in history, a team of newbie adventurers found themselves in an unusual situation. The dungeon echoed with the sounds of thousands of creatures crying out. Whether those creatures called out in distress, happiness, or something else entirely, none of the Sunkiss team knew or cared for that matter. They only had one thing on their minds.
“Guys, we need to leave now!”
They didn’t need further prompting as they slowly backed away from the wider cave, towards the cave entrance. But before they could reach there, the ear deafening cacophony suddenly ceased, causing everyone to involuntarily stop. Sudden silence seemed far more sinister.
“Why do I dislike the silence even more?”
Ever the complainer, Josh said.
A low, intense rumble, suddenly penetrated through every fibre of their being.
“Earthquake?”
Earthquakes were largely unknown in the Regesea Realm, the continent didn’t have any tectonic plates. Other than the few volcanoes dotted around, the only source for the rumble was the dungeon. They soon realised it wasn’t the dungeon rumbling, they were listening to a growl from a massive creature deeper inside the cave.
“No way. That’s a beast!”
Cried Josh.
Everyone knew without a doubt that whatever lay in that dark cave was far beyond their capacity to subjugate and no matter how they tried, it would be like throwing a bucket of water on a forest fire. None of them wanted to discover what creature they just unearthed. They felt the creature long before they could see it. When the beast moved within their light sphere, its humongous size froze them in fear. It looked like one the black creatures they fought before, although multiples their size with bigger teeth and more eyes. It towered above them to the point they needed to look up to see its red eyes reflecting in their torchlight. Before any thoughts of a pointless exit strategy could infiltrate Keegan's mind, the beast looked towards the cave exit and jumped.
Suddenly, the huge, clawed paw of the beast thrust towards them, looking to crush them underfoot, but a thick dome of earth suddenly encapsulated them. An earthshattering thud filled the dome as its roof shuddered and brown dust drifted down from above. Everyone sat there, shocked at the revelation that Bula’s earth skill just saved them from a monster. Keegan placed his hand on the dome roof, a short distance above his head, feeling the vibrations of the wall through his hand.
“Thank you, Bula.”
Was all Keegan found to say. Everyone else’s grateful expressions echoed his thanks.
“Don’t thank me yet. I used all my energy. I need to rest.”
Her words were followed by the endless patter of feet and scratching noises on the dome as the beasts clambered over the dome in their haste to get out. Thankfully, the large beast didn’t return to finish the job.
“It seems the beasts are heading for the dungeon’s exit. I hope the others outside are prepared for it.”
Keegan noted. Forty adventurers and a top team might not be able to handle the sheer size of the outbreak.
“Who cares about them, perhaps if we just wait until they all leave, we can get out of here.”
Josh said tersely through gritted teeth.
“Unfortunately, our air supply might not last as long.”
William stated a fact no one wanted to hear.
“What do we do then just wait here to die?”
“Relax Josh, no one is dying yet. We will wait as long as we can, but before the air runs out, we will escape from here. Rest for now, we’ll need all our strength when the time comes. Bula, can this dome handle the beasts outside?”
“I’m not sure. That big beast cracked the dome.”
Even they didn’t need to be reminded because a large crack ran the length of the dome and every time one of the beasts ran over it released even more dust. It seemed their survival depended on avoiding asphyxiation or crushing. How many beasts still needed to exit the cave remained the bottom line. Everyone read or heard the gory stories associated with dungeon breaks and none of them ended nicely. Josh opened his stupid mouth and asked a thoughtless question.
“Hey William, what’s going to happen to your family?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. There’s no point.”
Thankfully Josh realised the pointless nature of his question.
About half an hour later they realised the air was becoming too thin to breathe and prepared to move out. Bula’s energy recovered so she quickly released the dome which merged back into the earth around them. In their torchlight they noticed a few of the beasts milling aimlessly around. But as soon as the beasts in range noticed them, they attacked.
After the initial attacks in the cave, the number of beasts significantly reduced as Sunkiss retraced their steps.
“I’m not sure but I swear there’s more side paths than we noticed on the way in.”
Macie commented.
“There is.”
Bula offered an opinion for the first time without being prompted.
“It’s difficult to find the original pathway. Not even the escaping beasts followed any one particular path.”
Macie traced one of the beasts footprints outlined in the sand.
“We should have been out by now. I think we're lost.”
She said. That riled up Josh no end.
“Now we’re lost. If the bloody beasts weren't enough.”
He said throwing up his arms in theatrical despair.
“I remember something the guild master taught us during training. When we are unsure about our situation, it pays to take a break and think a bit first, before doing something we will later regret.”
Macie hit the nail on the head.
“Okay everyone, let's take a break then. Bula, can you close off the passage behind us with an earth wall?”
In her usual silent mode, Beulah erected a thick wall behind the team.
“Man, I got to get used to this.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Josh couldn't believe the speed at which Bula could create earth walls.
“William, you take point and guard our front. The rest of us sit and relax. Can anyone make some tea for us?”
“I'll make some.”
Said Macie.
And for ten minutes no one said anything but only watched Macie in the mundane act of making tea as if in her sitting room offering guests tea and biscuits. Josh held his mug out as Macie poured in some hot herbal tea.
“Thanks Macie.”
He sat with his back against the wall lost in his own thoughts while he had the opportunity to zone out for a while.
“Okay. Perhaps it's time we create a map. It's stupid we didn't the first place, but then we were racing against time. Not that it would have helped us anyhow seeing how the passages changed during the dungeon break. Macie, can you do the mapping for us? Let Bula be the rear-guard, I think she has proved herself worthy of that role. No?”
Macie nodded in affirmation. And all were about to fall into formation when Josh exclaimed,
“What the heck?”
Normally the team would ignore one of Josh's numerous exclamations, but that time he produced an object in his hands.
“What's that?”
Asked Keegan tiring of Josh's antics.
“It's a precious stone, I think.”
That got everyone's attention, and they all looked at the non-descript stone in Josh's hand.
“What stone is that?”
“It looks like a ruby.”
Now Josh didn't know much about precious stones but one particular stone he was very familiar with and that was their family crest which contained a ruby at its centre. For his entire life whenever Josh looked at his family crest the ruby stood out clearly in his mind. Others might say he looked at the crest and admired his ancestors for their tenacity, their ability to overcome adversity. But Josh only liked the ruby in that quest and always wanted one of his own. So when Josh's sensitive rear end felt an uncomfortable stone on the ground, he picked it up with an annoyance and was about to throw it away when a familiar red tint caught his eye.
“Are you sure that's a ruby?”
“Of course, I'm sure. I've seen that enough times to know the colour of a ruby.”
The stone in Josh's palm looked about the size of a thumb. Naturally the uncut Ruby needed to be worked down, but that wasn't their problem. They wanted to find where he got it from. To which he pointed at the ground where he sat, initiating a full-blown search party.
“Not you William. You need to keep an eye out.”
For the first time that Keegan knew William he saw the man get frustrated. In some ways, it was funny to know that even someone like William had a frustration limit. Although Keegan didn't hold it against William when everybody else was having so much fun, not that they were finding much. A few minutes of searching on the ground discovered only a handful of precious stones. That was until Bula pointed out an obvious miscalculation.
“I think you need to be looking higher up on the walls.”
A short explanation highlighted a misunderstanding. We thought the precious stones originated on the floor the dungeon whereas, they must have originally come from the walls or the roof and dropped to the ground. A change of search area hit the jackpot.
“I found one.”
Shouted Macie excitedly, her voice raised a few octaves.
“Me too. I found two of them.”
Soon everyone found something, even William found a chance when he swapped out his watch with Keegan. What's more, they discovered a variety of uncut precious gemstones, sapphires, emeralds and others they couldn't identify. Embedded in the walls lay a treasure trove of gemstones. It was only when they were running out of space to store them all that Keegan snapped out of his treasure mania.
“Hey guys, I think we've been here long enough. We need to get going because we don't know what's happened on the outside. No point in having all these precious stones and having nowhere to sell them.”
That sobered everyone up and improved their resolve to find a way out. It didn't take long for them to reorganise and assume their formation again, ready to move out. When eventually they did exit the dungeon, they discovered that night had already fallen, and stars covered the sky. Their horses disappeared along with everyone else from the support team. Even the Red Backs were missing. Dead bodies of beasts lay scattered everywhere, indicating a heated battle took place there. They couldn't find any human bodies which may have been a positive thing, although patches of dried blood dotted the place.
Uncertain of what to do, Keegan decided to first head for William's family farm, seeing it was the nearest to them in a place they could sleep that night. Unfortunately travelling by foot took them close to five hours to get there.
For the duration of the trip, they only faced two previously wounded beasts making it easy to dispatch them. They reached the farm after midnight and on arrival discovered many of the buildings badly damaged and indications of battles in places, although they didn’t investigate, it being a pointless exercise that late at night. William let them straight to the family’s evacuation bunker underneath the house, with a side access door.
He knocked furiously on the door while shouting repeatedly.
“Open up, it’s William!”
Finally, someone carrying a candle and a sword carefully opened the door, one of the male farmers of the family next door appeared.
“Come on William, get in quickly.”
And ushered everyone in with haste. But he lost his voice for a moment when he noticed that Bula was an orc. Fortunately, Bula took the slight without fuss and invited herself inside.
The underground bunker took the form of a large interior room with nine smaller alcoves recessed into the walls and curtained off for privacy. The remains of a fire burned in the fireplace keeping the place relatively warm and cosy. Their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed and soon the people sheltering there started waking up and greeted them. About forty people crammed into that bunker.
William’s mother immediately greeted him with tears in her eyes.
“When the dungeon monsters appeared, we thought you were dead. Everyone headed for the shelter, but you father and brothers stayed on the surface to protect the animals. We haven’t heard from them since, and no one has gone out to look for them because of the beasts.”
She lamented. With that news, William didn’t hold much hope for his father and brothers and neither did the rest of Sunkiss.
“We’ll go out at first light and see if we can find them. We need to get as much rest as we can. I’m sorry we are not going to be much conversation because it’s been a hectic day for us.”
Offered Keegan to the distraught mother on William’s behalf.
“Did you encounter an exceptionally large beast here perhaps?”
Asked Macie.
“N, no. Is there something like that out there?”
She nodded causing William’s mom to fall silent. She didn’t volunteer anymore information about the beast, not wanting to distress the families and their children any further.
Some of the adults kindly vacated two alcoves for them to rest and they fell asleep in their gear, ready to stand up at a moment’s notice should an emergency require it. They were so exhausted they didn’t take long before sleep found them. Only at first light the next morning, as the sun started to rise did their hosts wake them up.
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“Here, first eat and then we can talk about what you plan to do.”
Afterwards the team carefully exited the bunker and headed directly to the stables where the men most likely staged a defensive wall against the beasts. A barricaded entrance to the stables confirmed their guess although it looked like the beasts penetrated the wagons and barrels stacked up against the entrance.
The stables consisted of an open court enclosed by stables on all four sides except for the main entrance. Sunkiss didn’t have a problem entering the facility, but they soon dispatched a lone beast still feasting on the remains of the horses. That didn’t bode well for the men, and they soon discovered the remains of William’s father and brothers. It looked like they shifted to locking themselves in the stables when their main barricade failed.
The signs that the beasts entered the stable’s courtyard via the roof were all too clear. The creatures jumped onto the stable roof and circumnavigated the barricade altogether, catching the men from behind. William didn’t look good, but he took the situation very stoically, staying strong for his mother.
They didn’t return to the others with good news and the looks on their faces portrayed their findings.
“There is nothing more for us here mother. We need to leave here as soon as possible.”
Michael told his mother who was still in despair over the news. All the animals, and the men of the family disappeared in one foul swoop. Many of the families there with them suffered the same situation, each demanding that Sunkiss investigate their farms as well.
“We can’t inspect your farms.”
Keegan put his foot down and made it clear to the people what their option were.
“We are leaving for the city first thing tomorrow morning, it’s the only hope we have of survival and if adventurers are available, they can later be dispatched to find your loved ones. We don’t have a means of travelling quickly, all the animals have been destroyed so getting to the farms in a day would be a push at best and we don’t know how many beasts are still roaming out there.”
Keegan knew they needed at least a day to travel to Hafeld with both elderly and young folks that couldn’t push too hard. That and the inevitable beasts they needed to defend against meant it would be an eventful day. Even then, who knew what waited for them in the city. If the beasts’ incursion overflowed into the Hafeld City, then little hope remained for them and then migrating to Northport would be their only recourse. But that was putting the cart before the horse.
“The Sunkiss team are leaving with or without you, sunrise tomorrow. We may be the only rescue you will see for a while until things settle down again. Before you make your decision, consider this first; there is no one to protect you here or when you go back to your farms. If you managed to make it, what will you eat and for how long? Chances are that if Hafeld was overrun, the survivors will likely head east for Northport, leaving you stranded. That’s all I have to say about it.”
Dawn found everyone ready to leave. Fortunately, no one stupidly stayed behind. It put a huge strain on Sunkiss to guard the entire group since forty plus people made for a large group for one team to cover.
“I’m going to put this straight to you folks. This trip will tax all of us to the limit. Sunkiss will have their hands full trying to keep the foul beasts from getting to you. If don’t listen to us, stray from the group or move in unpredictable ways we will not be able to help you and you will see us watching you from afar while the beasts take their time eating you. We will have toilet breaks on the hour, make it quick and return to the group. We learn early in adventuring that modesty will not protect you when it counts. Having said that, we will try our best to accommodate you, but our efforts will be spartan at best. That’s all I have to say. Let’s get moving.”
Keegan thought his speech made its point.
“Wow, remind me not to push you too far, sir.”
Mocked Josh at Keegan’s authoritarian attitude. Farm roads were little more than double dirt tracks with slightly lowered grass and bushes in the middle. Most folks needed to travel in two lines if they wanted to walk unencumbered through the bush and grasslands. At nearly twenty people per line, it left each team member responsible for eight people.
Most mothers carried children or walked with them holding onto their hands. Boys, girls, or young adults in the group carried either hay forks or spears. They might not be able to inflict any damage to a beast, but they could hold one off long enough for one of our team to get there.
If each line measured about two and a half paces per person, it measured a total of fifty paces, a nearly impossible area to cover from a beast’s sneak attack. To offset that, Sunkiss came to arrangement whereby William took point two paces at the head of the civilians, Keegan travelled about a third of the way down the line on the left, Masie opposite him on the right. Behind Keegan, two thirds of the way down the line walked Bula and opposite her, Josh. That way they spread out the fighters and the ranged attackers.
Keegan could only thank his luck that dungeon hadn’t produced beasts with ranged attacking ability. Goblins or worse could fire arrows or skilled attacks which could devastate their makeshift arrangement. Beasts didn’t discriminate between species or kind so Keegan considered that thankfully any goblins in the area would be having their own problems with the beasts, which would at least keep them occupied with their own survival.
The first attack occurred a couple of hours into the start. The beast’s approach could be clearly seen from the way it parted the grass on its approach. Luckily those creatures didn’t leave much in the brains department otherwise the tables would be easily turned on the humans.
Macie’s keen eyesight helped her raise the alarm first.
“Josh, a beast on your side.”
With a shout Josh closed the distance between him and the beast, attracting its attention to him and away from the civilians. Sunkiss’ arrangement was that the team member opposite the line of civilians would assist, the plan being that an attack would likely happen from one side, although that thought came from pure speculation on their part. Bula rushed through the lines to assist Josh and arrived just in time to see the beast get severely lacerated by Josh’s sword. Bula produced a sharpened earth spike, a modification of wall, piercing the beast through the rear but leaving it still capable of fighting. However, Josh used the earth spike to keep his distance from the beast, occasionally distracting it with his sword until Bula finished it off with a second earth spike through the heart.
“That one’s my kill.”
Pronounced Josh proudly. Baiting Bula into a blatantly obvious trap.
“I killed it.”
Said Bula in an irritated tone.
“No, you didn’t. I did most of the work and took the risk, I deserve the credit.”
“Take it.”
“What?”
“Take the kill. You deserve it.”
Bula returned to her post leaving a deflated Josh behind.
“Bah, you’re no fun.”
Josh didn’t realise that to an orc, disagreements rarely ended in violence which meant orc posturing took on an entire artform of its own. Humans couldn’t outwit an orc when it came to oratory smarts. But if there were any issues remaining between the two, they were soon occupied by the next couple of attacks. The first beast attack Josh and successfully defeated but it was quickly followed on the heels of another attack from Bula’s quarter, then undefended. Whether by chance or by skill, that move by the beasts blew all their theories about beasts not dual attacking, right out of the water.
Keegan thought the civilians in that section were going to die before he could get there. To his surprise he found an angry wall of spears and forks keeping the beast at bay long enough for an earth spear to pierce the beast well into the sky, leaving it dangling there like some medieval war memento. It seemed the people’s anger needed an outlet, unfortunately for the beasts there wasn’t any sentiment from them.
“You broke our agreement.”
Bula accused Keegan from a distance.
“Huh?”
His confusion clear to Bula.
“You abandoned your post.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Oh well then. I agree, you are right.”
Bula felt surprised at Keegan’s admission of guilt. Humans typically avoided guilty feeling thrust upon them by others.
“Does it surprise you that I applied your own strategy against you?”
With a start, Bula realised Keegan expertly levelled her previous posturing with josh, back at her. Keegan laughed when he found Bula grinning at him. It was the first time she smiled, giving him a first good look at those evolving canines of hers which would one day become fearsome weapons.
Even with all the breaks and interruptions they arrived at the city gates, weary but all alive. Keegan felt relieved when the city guards rushed out to escort them inside. It seemed Hafeld survived the dungeon break.
The guild master sat with Sunkiss in the adventurer guild discussing the events leading to the dungeon break.
“I’m sorry to have to put you through this, especially after what you went through, but we need to understand what happened in that dungeon.”
“I understand guild master, but we may not have much of value to report.”
Keegan offered little in return of the guild master’s expectations, but Grud countered that with his own analogy of the situation.
“Keep in mind that no person in history as ever been in a dungeon during a break, let alone a whole team. So excuse me if I warn you in advance that you are about to receive future visits from prominent scientists and various other royal quacks.”
Sunkiss released a collective sigh of despair.
“That’s unless you tell me everything you can, then I can deflect most of those people for you, and the sooner you tell me, the better. But first I need to bring you up to speed with what happened here while you were gone.”
The guild master paused for a moment.
“I first want to apologise for putting you through a dungeon break.”
“No guild master, please don’t apologise. We know you would never knowingly put us in danger.”
“If that were all then I wouldn’t be too concerned, but then I cannot condone the actions of the Red Backs.”
“What has that got to do with the dungeon break?”
“The Red Backs were caught with their pants down. They were supposed to look after you and because Valence couldn’t get over his personal issues, he instead found himself outside the dungeon dealing with a dungeon disaster, instead of helping Sunkiss. Not only did he fail that, but the unknown beast you encountered didn’t even attempt to engage the Red Backs, instead it skirted them while a large group of smaller beasts kept them tied down. It’s strange behaviour to say the least.”
Worryingly the large beast disappeared somewhere, never attacking any of the farmsteads or the city. That meant the beast used its lesser minions as a distraction while it moved somewhere else. That denoted intelligence, a concerning trait for a beast of that size.
“We’ve never seen a dungeon behave in this way before. All indications are that the large beast somehow absorbed most of its minions, strengthening itself while only allowing minimal contact with the outside world. Your initial contacts with the smaller beasts prove that this was anything but a normal dungeon break.”
“What happened to the city during the dungeon break?”
“As soon as we realised that there was a situation, the city guards quickly rallied and were able to stop the creatures with enough time to properly shut the gates and save some people trapped outside the walls. Unfortunately, not all of them were able to escape the initial rush of beasts.”
He seemed saddened by the news.
“Something changed the dynamics of the dungeon break, something that should have been easily dealt with by you, became a fundamental problem in less than a few days. I want you to rest for now, there’s many quests for you, but first you need to be back here first thing tomorrow to report on your situation.”
“What about our initiate quest? Has that been forfeited again?”
Josh lamented.
“Don’t jump to conclusions son. First report what happened and then I will take appropriate action. Come to think of it, why don’t you all submit reports tomorrow morning.”
A collective sigh of regret emanated from the rest as Josh got a painful punch on the shoulder from Bula, who looked upset as his faux pas.
“Ouch, why did you do that?”
He protested.
“Because you’re an idiot.”
Macie defended Bula’s actions.
“Right, off you go. I’ve already got enough work to do without babysitting you lot. Good to see you all made it back safely.”
Grud watched the Sunkiss team leave the training room, and for the first time Melody spoke to him.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking they must be the luckiest team alive. Somehow, they not only witnessed a dungeon break but lived through it on the inside. And all of that when facing a massive beast.”
“Mm. Valence told me that he gave up on Sunkiss being alive after the first wave of beasts exited the dungeon. He also said that he nearly wet himself after facing the beast, and he wasn’t exaggerating. He said the only reason the beast avoided them was because it didn’t consider them as worthy prey.”
She commented.
“I see. That’s a revelation. We need to track that monster down.”
“Already happening. The Red Backs must feel bad for not looking after Sunkiss and want to make it up to you by finding the beast.”
“No. More likely they’re afraid of what I might do to them and are staying clear of me for now.”
“A wise choice. They probably don’t know that Sunkiss survived.”
“Probably.”
Over the week Suri became deeply entrenched in the guild’s arrangements. Vast numbers of quests originated from the civilian population looking for missing people from the farming community. Friends, family, and acquaintances disappeared in as little as a day, and few could be found afterwards. Not to forget that just as many quest completions needed finishing as well.
She filled out yet another personal request for a search party from a particularly distraught lady who earlier poured out her grief to someone finally willing to listen. Even if Suri knew it was her job to take quests, she found herself mentally exhausted by the onslaught of emotions throughout the day.
When she looked up from the quest completion sheet, she noticed a young boy standing at the front of her reception desk, someone she immediately recognised.
“Carl… Is that you?”
The tattily dressed boy nodded, looking unsure of himself.
“Hi Suri, you’re looking good.”
“I am, and it’s good to see you again. Unfortunately, I’m a bit tied up now and I can’t talk right now. Can we catch up later in the week perhaps?”
“I want to join the guild.”
She thought she heard him say something about joining the guild.
“Did you say you want to join the adventurer guild?”
He nodded.
“You realise that you’re a bit young for that, right?”
He shook his head.
“I’ve seen that other boy Tommy working here. He’s younger than I am, and you owe me one for never buying me lunch.”
Suri couldn’t deny that, in fact she felt particularly guilty for it. Work kept her so busy that she totally forgot about her promise to him. A while ago, Carl pointed her to the adventurer guild on a tip he received from a friend. Now he wanted to cash in on that help, something she couldn’t say no to.
“You’re want to face fierce beasts and dark dungeons for a job?”
“I’m willing to do that. No one wants to give me a job. Ever since you came here, no one has interviewed me. I want to help the city; I know I can.”
He looked close to tears. She couldn’t deal with puppy dog eyes after such an emotional day.
“Come with me.”
She said bluntly.
“After this, we’re quits and I don’t owe you anything, right?”
“Yeah, sure.”
At least his attitude improved. The last thing she needed was a snivelling beggar boy begging for a job in front of the guild master.
“Guild master, can we come in?”
Like Suri, Grud had paperwork coming out of his ears. Judging by the piles of paper on his desk, Suri realised she might not have chosen the best of times to put forward Tommy as a future adventurer candidate.
“Suri. Sure, come in. I see we have a guest.”
Grud didn’t need introductions, he did enough past interviews to know a prospective job candidate when he saw one. The young boy hardly had a piece of clothing without a hole in it. In fact, there were enough holes for Grud to see the boy washed himself regularly. Even his fingernails looked clean, unusual for a beggar without regular access to soap and clean water.
Despite the obvious situation, Grud humoured Suri because he respected her. Suri didn’t come to his office unless it was something important, so he waited for her to introduce the boy.
“Guild master. This is Carl. He is a friend of mine, looking for a job in the guild. Would you perhaps have time to listen to him?”
“Suri, you know I am busy now.”
Suri gave Carl an apologetic look, something that Grud didn’t miss for a moment. In fact, it told him volumes about the situation. Luckily for them, Grud loved those situations.
“Carl right?”
“Y, yes sir.”
Carl’s knees were knocking. He never expected to be dragged in front of the guild master straight after asking Suri to help him get a job. He didn’t have his normal confident style ready, the one he liked to portray in front of potential bosses. The whole situation caught him off guard. Even worse, the guild master gave out some serious vibes. Not someone to be messed with.
“Why don’t you join the city guard, son. They’re always looking for young recruits.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not? They train you, feed you and give you a roof over your head. They’ll even pay you if you’re good enough.”
Carl shook his head in embarrassment. Everything the guild master said was true, but he learned some things about the guards he didn’t like.
“I don’t trust the guards.”
“I see. Why is that?”
Grud thought that Carl’s beggar-like background probably put him on some city guard blacklist. Understandable if surviving in a pioneering city like Hafeld required a bit of dishonesty to stay alive. Carl seemed somewhat reluctant to divulge his reasoning and Grud started becoming impatient when Carl said something the guild master didn’t expect.
“The guards send their own people to die in the dungeons.”
“That’s a large accusation to level at the city guards, son. What makes you say that?”
“I saw them leave for the dungeon with my own eyes and they never came back.”
More questions rose up in Grud’s mind, but he played them down as the kid’s overworked imagination.
“Did they tell you they were going to a dungeon?”
It was fully possible that for some reason the commander wanted his troops to have some beast subjugation training, although unlikely. He knew commander Rothman well enough to know he typically left things relating to dungeon beasts for the adventurers to sort out.
“No. Guards wouldn’t tell someone like me about what they do.”
Carl said matter-of-factly as if Grud asked a stupid question.
“My friend Jack had an oldest brother who joined the guards. I watched him leave the city with his platoon and he never came back. Jack told me his brother died because they went into a dungeon.”
“Which dungeon was that?”
Grud assumed one of the older dungeons scattered around the area. But even that was strange because even if the military intended to delve into a dungeon, they would inform the guild of their activities so as not to let adventurers get in their way.
“The new dungeon.”
“You mean the one with the dungeon break?”
Grud asked incredulously. Carl didn’t answer, he wasn’t expecting such an intense interview that had nothing to do with him. He realised that he made a mistake asking Suri to help him.
“I think I better leave.”
“Please wait Carl. I’ve been rude to you, and I apologise. Sit down and relax, I’m just surprised to hear the news you told me, that’s all.”
Carl’s perplexed attitude caused Grud to laugh.
“I like you, boy. I think I’m going to call you boy from now on. Suri, get this young man and me some tea please.”
Suri smiled as she ran off to get some tea. That outcome far exceeded her expectations. Calling Carl a ‘young man’ meant the guild master would give him a decent interview. By the time she returned holding a tray of teacups, the atmosphere in the office had significantly improved.
“So, you worked for the labour guild?”
“Yes, many times when they needed more people for jobs. But they don’t always need extra people.”
Grud sensed the boy didn’t skirt his work, not if the labour guild took him on. As a young boy, Carl couldn’t lift heavier loads like the adults, so he probably wasn’t of much value other than to do menial tasks like courier work or tidying up after workers. Grud suspected the labour guild gave Carl just enough work to keep him engaged, possibly with the eye to keep him as a future work candidate when he came of age.
“Can you read?”
Carl shook his head.
“Not really. I can write my name. That’s all.”
“To become an adventurer, you need to be able to read and write, but it’s not a big requirement. Well, I think I’ve heard enough to make my decision. Suri, Carl is going to join our guild as an apprentice adventurer starting now. He will need to train a few years first before he can become a fully-fledged adventurer at sixteen. Suri, besides letting him help with Tommy’s tasks, I want you to teach Carl a letter and a number each day. At the end of next month, I want him to be able to at least write and pronounce each letter of the alphabet and count up to twenty nine.”
“You don’t want to teach Carl?”
“No. I don’t have the time. Besides, you obviously have more than enough time if you can bring Carl to me for an interview. Good luck Carl, let’s see if you have what it takes to be an adventurer.”
Before Suri left with Carl, Grud asked her to send for someone.
“Suri, please call Harrisman to come and see me when he has the chance.”
“Yes, guild master.”
Grud wanted Harrisman to investigate as to why the commander sent in a platoon of men to their deaths in the dungeon and never bothered to inform him. Grud’s gut feeling told him someone was hiding vital information about why the dungeon break happened the way it did.