I didn't want Siril and Shadow to know I could write runes, but I absolutely had to make myself a shock bang grenade, so I knelt down by the pedestals, pulled a large emerald from inventory, and wrote my first Lightning Rune. It offered the choice of 'Lightning' or 'Chain Lightning', and an activation, mine being "Chain Lightning" and "Arm when I say Cowabunga, then activate when within ten feet of an enemy"

The normal, less than useful "Done" appeared, and I was the proud owner of my very own magic grenade. Cool beans.

I let them finish going through the chests, not getting any special nudge from Telina that there was anything of interest to me, and spent the rest of my time redoing my armor spell, then restoring my mana.

"That was a nice find" Siril said as we headed toward the door at the end of the hall "But I'm starting to think you were mucho lucky to find the stuff you have now"

I shrugged and said "Pretty much. Most of the things I can use is also usable by everyone, which is why I get first refusal on that stuff" I figured it wouldn't hurt to remind them of our agreement, though they hadn't done anything to really make me doubt their honesty.

"You seem pretty trusting about this" Shadow said, sort of undermining my last thought.

"Not sure if you guys know it, but the goddesses are real here, and I'm the goddess Telina's priest" I said with a grin "she'll let me know if something gets forgotten"

Shadow cast a doubtful look my way as Siril let out a laugh, but neither of them offered an opinion. The door we stopped at was larger then normal, maybe nine feet high and five wide, but it wasn't trapped, or even locked.

"Think this is the door they all mentioned?" Shadow asked Siril. At my questioning look, Siril said "Couple of groups have tried this dungeon, and all of them died in a maze that had a big door at the start of it. No one would give any info of course, but Shadow spied on them and found out quite a bit. It's supposed to be dark enough that humans needed torches, and they were attacked constantly by either rats or spiders. Maybe both"

"One group said rats, the other said spiders" Shadow said, then shuddered visibly and added "God I hope it's not spiders" refocusing on us, she said "The other teams were tank heavy and their tanks were lower health than you suggested" her eyes flicked my way on the last part "but we're going in with only three people. The creatures were one hit kills supposedly, but they attacked in waves, and if you stopped moving, you would get overrun" she paused, then added "No one said specifically, but the way they talked I think the bites are poisonous. Do low level damage over a period of time"

"Sounds like they wear you down" I said thoughtfully, my eyes on the door as I considered things, eventually shrugging and looking at the two to say "Can't plan much until we see what we're dealing with" Shadow pulled out a torch, that lit itself when she held it up, and I opened the door.

The door opened into the intersection of a stone corridor, with a hallway stretching straight ahead, and to our right and left. It was completely dark, unlike the torch lighting that was the norm for these places. Shadow's torch threw light about twenty feet in every direction, but I could see about twice that far, and after asking, found out that Siril could also. The door slammed shut behind us, surprising no one, and we stood for a moment to get our bearings.

I sent a 'Could you give me any help here', to Telina, and about fell over when I got a nudge toward the right. Siril suddenly said "Ok, I've got spiders on the left and center" I looked down the right hand hall, then said "Yeah, on the right too. I'm getting some guidance, so we'll be going right. Unless you guys have a different idea, I'll lead with Shadow so she can spot traps, and I'll call Holy Fire down on any groups in front of us. Siril covers the back and uses a fireball if we get attacked from that side. Anything gets through we kill it best we can, but keep moving"

"Oh god" Shadow muttered, actual fear showing on her face when I looked over. Siril said "I'm good for four shots, so let's move fast"

I reached over and took Shadow's hand, causing her to jerk in surprise, her whole body tense. She looked up at me as I said softly "I've got you. Stay close. I won't let you go" She nodded spastically, but kind of settled a little and focused on the right hand hallway, saying softly "Looks c...clear"

The stutter, and her obvious fear worried me, but all we could do was go forward, so I started walking, raising my mace slightly when I could see the mass of spiders clearly. There looked to be about fifty of them in a large cluster along the floor and walls, so when I called fire down on them, it engulfed the whole group. I hadn't gotten close enough to read tags, so didn't know level or health, but when the flame cleared, the spiders were gone.

"Ok. That cleared this group" squeezing her hand, I said to Shadow "I'm going to restore my mana, so I'll be a little vague for a half a minute" She nodded, none of us having slowed our walking pace, and kept hold of my hand as I did my first walking mana restore. It took a little longer, but by the time we had gone one hundred steps and came to a four way intersection, I was good.

Telina nudged me forward, and I didn't slow, just saying "Straight ahead" as I focused on the next batch of spiders. I called down fire, catching all but three of them. One of Shadow's knives flew out to impale one when it entered the torch light, and Bruce accounted for the other two when they jumped at me. I had stepped forward to get them to focus on me, and got one in the air. The other landed on my arm and bit me before I bashed it with the mace. They read as

"Cave Spider"

Level 4

Health 10

The bite burned, and my health dropped a couple more points over the next thirty seconds. The bite and the poison did maybe eight or ten points of damage. Not much, but multiply that by fifty and it could get ugly.

A whoosh followed by an explosion preceded Siril saying "They had massed and were moving closer" I didn't look back, just saying "Keep moving" as I did another restore.

Every time we came to an intersection we repeated our efforts. I cleared the path forward, Siril usually had to throw a fireball back, and a couple spiders usually got through. Shadow screamed when one jumped on her, and she was nearly hysterical by the time I killed the thing and healed her. I had been ignoring my bites, but the healing spell gave you a feeling of warmth, or comfort, so figured it would do her good. We didn't stop walking, but I had her begin moving behind me when an attack came.

Two rights, one straight, two lefts, and an endless number of 'keep moving' later, Siril ran out of mana. I gritted my teeth, pulled out a mana potion, and handed it back, not looking at him as I said "Here, drink this. You can ask about it when we get out of here"

I could almost feel Siril holding back the questions, but Shadow said stridently "Keep moving!", ending any comment he might have made.

The dark halls, the reflected light from hundreds of eyes, and Shadow's palpable terror made this one of the most unpleasant experiences so far. I'm guessing we couldn't hyperventilate and pass out or Shadow would have after a spider got by me by sticking to the ceiling and jumping down on her from above. I think if I hadn't been getting directions from Telina, we would never have made it, and I could see why no one else had. Someone designed this dungeon to be almost impossible for anyone to get through if they couldn't restore their mana like a priest.

Four or five more intersections later, we eventually reached a point that we saw light ahead. I was braced for an all out attack, or some kind of boss spider, but it was just a twenty by twenty room, with a door on the other side. When all three of us entered it, a stone slid down and blocked the hall access, ensuring we didn't leave, and the spiders didn't get in. Shadow let out a huge sob of relief and hugged me tight, laughing, crying and shivering spastically for a good two or three minutes. I couldn't think of anything comforting to say, so I just held her as I looked around.

The room was just a square, empty room, with a door directly across from the blocked entrance we had come in. It made me think of a waiting room without a couch or chairs. When Shadow finally got herself together and moved away, she mumbled a few embarrassed things I couldn't understand, but I shrugged and said "We all have things that get to us. If we ever come across my old high school math teacher, Mrs. Grinkowski, you'll see me scream in fear and run away" I shivered exaggeratedly and added "Totally a boss type"

"Ok, where'd it come from?" Siril asked, ignoring our byplay. I rolled my eyes, then looked at Shadow and nodded at the door, before saying to Siril "Store in the capital sells them now. Adventurer's Emporium. Bring lots of gold"

"I'll buy whatever you have on you" Siril said, making me stop and think about it. If I didn't sell them, and we came on a situation we needed it, I would end up just giving it to him. Nodding to myself, I pulled out two potions and said "Ten gold each"

"Done!" he said, grabbing them and making them disappear in a heartbeat. He gave me twenty gold, but I was realizing as I put it away that I should have charged more. A lot more.

 We joined Shadow, who hadn't found any traps and told us the door wasn't even locked. The three of us kind of eyed it, probably all thinking about how hard it was to get here, and what that might mean. Siril finally shrugged and said "Got to go forward"

"Damn right" Shadow said back "going back is right out!"

I reached forward and opened the door. It was a bit of an anticlimax since we found ourselves looking at a huge piece of cloth about ten feet away. Sliding forward a little, I looked right and left, then slid back and said quietly "Ok, I think it's a huge room. It has these big drapes hanging from the ceiling about ten feet from the walls for some reason"

"Wait here" Shadow said, her grin coming back as she slipped through the door and disappeared.

Siril started to ask something a couple times, but I just shook my head when he opened his mouth, not interested in answering any questions. I was actually kind of irritated that I was feeling protective of Shadow, now that she'd shown she needed it. Guys in my unit used to say I was a soft touch for sob stories, which was unfortunately true. It was such a...dumb thing. Especially when you considered what I had spent my adult life doing and how capable Shadow was. But as soon as a kid or a girl threw tears at me I turned into a spineless wuss. Every time.

Luckily Shadow came back about then since I was just making myself grumpy. She rolled her eyes as soon as she stopped in front of us, and said "You are not going to freaking believe this" When she didn't continue, I said "Unless you tell us something, I'm going to have to agree"

"It's a throne room" she said with a grin "The guy wearing the crown isn't a goblin, he's some kind of weird, dark skinned elf. Aaand..." she paused theatrically before saying "he has four level 14 ogres as guards. Ogres with 400 health, in full plate armor, carrying war hammers"

"What the hell?" Siril muttered, his face screwed up in confusion "what the hell's the king then?"

"Oh, you'll love this" another theatrical pause and grin "Level 20. 600 health"

"Jesus!" Siril said, loud enough that I shushed him with a glare. I sighed as I tried to see how we could manage four ogres and a level 20 boss. I eventually said "Ideas?"

"We're screwed" Siril said helpfully "Ignoring the king for now, we have to do twelve hundred points of damage to take out the four ogres. I can shoot my wad on a meteor swarm that will do 150 points to everyone in the room, but they have to stay there for the full fifteen seconds" he shook his head in aggravation as he added "They'll be on us like white on rice as soon as the spell starts, and even with your potion, what do I use after that? Fireballs?"

"Wait" I said, thinking about what he had just said. My new grenade stunned for ten seconds. That would be even more important than the damage for this. Oh crap, I forgot the damn armor again! My chuckle got surprised looks, so I said "Alright, I think I can keep them in place for twenty seconds, and do fifty points of damage. I can throw three holy fire spells, which will do 120 points each, and 30 points splash damage, which brings us to 350..." I paused, losing track of the numbers, finally shrugging and saying "Shadow can be throwing knives while they're stunned, and you can take a potion and lob fireballs until they get too close"

It was weird as hell doing math before a fight, but I kept at it, finally saying "I'll finish by targeting the king with as much fire as I can, but I think Shadow needs to disappear as soon as they start moving and see if she can do a backstab" We worked on the details, with Shadow planning to slip behind the drapes after the attack started to get positioned against the king, and Siril getting tasked with ensuring the ogres went down, while I focused on the king.

Shadow said the room was fairly long, with the enemy grouped at the other end, with the king on a throne, and the four ogres standing around him. I pulled up my flame gem and had it in my off hand when I finally stepped out from behind the drapes. The king was an elf of some kind, but his skin was a sort of greyish black color, and he was holding a staff in his left hand. The ogres were all about nine feet tall, and they really were wearing plate mail. Helmets, chest armor, greaves, everything. I was betting Bruce would be doing minimal damage through all that armor. They were all kind of just frozen until I stepped out, then the ogres all raised their hammers, and the king leaned forward with a grin and said "Ah, eternals. I had begun..."

The flash of light from my armor was way up on the nuclear bomb scale, and if it wasn't magic, I would have been completely blind. But it was, and I wasn't. The ogres and the elf were all on their knees, hands covering their faces, moaning in pain. I grinned as I raised the gem and focused on the ogre closest to me, saying "Flame on" just as Siril finished casting his spell.

A swirling black cloud formed over the group, red flashes rippling through it, until my holy fire formed on an edge close to us. The holy fire flashed down, impacted on the ogre I had picked, then splashed outward to cover the rest of the group. By my second 'flame on', fist sized balls of fire began streaking downward from the black cloud, impacting throughout that side of the room.

I had gotten three holy fire spells off, and switched to my shock grenade before the stun completely wore off. The King was actually kneeling upright and looking at me as I said "Cowabunga dude!" and pitched the gem up to arch down in the center of their group.

The gem was still in the air above them when it went off. Five bolts of electricity shot down to hit all five of the enemy, then the bolts kind of bounced and arced between the ogres and elf. The fire storm came to an abrupt end, the black cloud seeming to get sucked back in on itself before disappearing completely, but the loud snaps and pops of the lightning show kept things interesting. I heard Siril drinking his potion, making me wonder why he waited this long. Ignoring that for now, I ran to my right, trying to get a visual on the king since he had dropped behind one of the ogres.

I called flame down on the last ogre as the lightning quit. My flame impacted and splashed out, turning two ogres into gear piles as a fireball shot in from where Siril was. The king was still kneeling, but his right hand flicked out, and a silver whip shot forward to hit the fireball, causing the ball to get sucked into the whip. I blinked in surprise, losing a second before I turned and raised my mace to call down my last flame spell.

The whip shot out again, but this time it hit me...right in my left eye. Then everything exploded. I flew backwards, flame seeming to shoot back into my head, searing my sinuses, and, I'm pretty sure, cooking my brain. I ended up on my back, one bleary eye looking up, as I thought "So that's where that fireball went"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

There was probably a stunned message floating around, but if so, I didn't see it. I had lost a huge amount of health, and was trying to get enough brain cells working to do...something, when the whip snapped down and pulled Bruce out of my hand. It also left a message behind

You have been Silenced

Of course I was. I was so going to apply for serious disability benefits, since you know, blind and mute. It would be hard to argue with a blind and mute guy about how disabled he was. Line of work injury too, so we were talking big money.

The babble running through my brain tapered off some, and I levered myself up on my elbows in time to see Shadow back stab the dude. It was close. Really close. But he still had some health left when he turned and did a magical gesture at her, causing a stone hand to rise up from the floor and grasp her tightly. I shook my head to see if that helped, but when my eye came back to her, she was still being held in a stone fist. Looking around, I saw Siril in his own fist, making me giggle as I realized they were both right hands.

"Priest of Telina" elf boy said mockingly as I forced myself up to a sitting position. The whip was gone, but the bastard was holding Bruce in his right hand, staff in his left. Holding Bruce up, he said to me "A valiant effort from such weak opponents. To think that one who serves the half breed bitch would garner the power to reach this far" his grin turned into a sneer as he turned toward Shadow and said "I believe I will use your own weapon to kill your friends" glancing back at me he asked "Unless you wish to beg me for their lives"

Wow, this guy had the whole Doctor Evil thing down pat. I couldn't help but laugh for a second, getting him to throw the sneer at me, before I tried to do a one-eyed tough guy thing and said "No one disses my goddess while I'm around" I paused, another stupid giggle breaking free (I know, overconfidence, but you had to be there)...anyway, I paused, then trying to sound like something other than a one-eyed, blown up priest, I said loudly "By Telina's Sultry Smile, it's Clobberin Time!!!"

It was truly a thing of beauty. Bruce did himself proud, blowing the elf's hand off and getting a look of absolute horror from the elf  just before he turned to ash.

It really is the little things that make life worth living.

The silence spell disappeared with the elf, and a level up message appeared, but I had collapsed backwards again and I spent a short time healing the shit out of myself instead of reading it. Every time I think I've found the new worst thing, something like this happens. A fireball in the eye? Really? 

I levered myself up, still a little woozy, to find I had a silver...thing on my arm. It had a tag that read 

Serpent's Strike

As one of the legendary weapons created by Xirat Krisnon, Serpent's Strike must be won in battle. This weapons capabilities are determined by the wielder's skill, experience level, attributes, actions, and intent. Wielder be warned, once earned in battle, it can not be removed, and a legendary weapon takes great patience to truly master. Becoming one with it's wielder, the Serpent will draw strength through the bond.

-1 Strength

+3 Dexterity

+1 to attribute of choice other than strength, for every 10 experience levels earned

Damage:

1 point/level of impact damage

1 point/level of elemental damage (type determined during strike)

Level 1-5: Wielder may channel a spell through the weapon with 20% less mana required

Level 6-10: Wielder is capable of hitting targets up to 50 feet away. Wielder may cast silence once per day upon successful strike.

Level 11-15: Wielder can disarm an opponent with a successful strike against the opponents weapon

Level 16-20: Weapon strike can absorb incoming spells, then Wielder can direct the damage on any following strike.

Level 21 and above: ??

"It crawled over and wrapped itself around your arm" Shadow said. I looked up to see both of them eyeing my arm distrustfully.

"It was the whip that elf was using" Siril added helpfully "I suppose its yours now, though Jeff will probably bitch a little"

"Screw that" Shadow said as she turned to go scrounge through creature piles "I'd say Jake earned that thing...whatever it is"

This thing looked damn cool, like a silver snake wrapped around my forearm, with the head resting just above my wrist. Unfortunately, right at that moment I was still running on fumes. All my numbers were fine, but having my brain shake and baked left me feeling pretty...drifty.

I must have fallen asleep for a moment, because the level up message was floating in front of me when I opened my eyes, as well as one from the snake. The snake message asked what attribute I wanted to enhance, and my mind was clear enough now for me to actually think about it. One point every ten levels. So basically two points this year, maybe less. I decided that since I would be putting regular points toward wisdom, and all the rings and stuff were tied to strength and dexterity, and I had enough stamina, I would allocate these toward the intelligence numbers.

Since I had made level twelve, I would be allocating the one wisdom point and gaining one intelligence point, three dexterity points, and losing a strength point. All in all, not a bad day, though getting a weapon that tells you to 'be warned', is a bit of a mixed bag.

You have reached Level 12

You may choose one new spell

Telina's Beneficent Word

Shouting this holy word will cause all who hear it to do the following

Friends:

Heal 50% +1%/level of accumulated damage.  

Restore 50% +1%/level of used mana

Dispel all enemy spells presently active.

Enemies:

Do 8 points/level of damage (Double damage to undead)

Stun for 1 second/level

(Cannot be silenced)

Mana: 200 (One day cool down)

Telina's Enhancing Word (Strength) 

Shouting this holy word will cause all friends who hear it to gain:

+1 strength for every 5 levels you have gained

Duration: 8 hours

(Cannot be silenced)

Mana: 160 (Two day cool down)

This was a no brainer. 96 points of damage by shouting at my enemies? I'd be crazy not to take it.

Ring of Serizon

+1 Strength

+1 Dexterity

+2 Armor

Warrior's Heart (Ring)

+3 Strength

+2 Dexterity

+4 Armor

Serpent's Strike

-1 Strength

+3 Dexterity

+1 Intelligence

Healer Priest (Dragonsbane)

Level 12  (60%)

STR 10 (13)

DEX 10 (16)

STA  20

INT 10 (11)

WIS 16

Health: 320

Mana: 160

Endurance: 200

Armor (+30%): 46

I was moving up in the world.

Shadow and Siril had done their scrounging, and Shadow had found the exit door behind the throne, so I dragged my lazy ass up and decided I better get back to work. I cast a group blessing, then my armor spell and did a restore before we opened the door. I didn't know diddly about the snake, so for now Bruce was still my go to weapon. I would have to practice with the whip after I got rid of my tour group, not wanting to advertise any strengths or weaknesses.

That last fight had been a bit rough, so I was happy to find a set of stairs leading upwards, and no enemies when I opened the door. Shadow led the way, and Siril and I followed a few seconds later. Siril surprised me by not asking me questions about the mana potions, but he did jabber on about the double level up they got for killing all the high level creatures, and for completing a quest. I hoped Jeff was smart enough to put at a point into his stamina, though I didn't think there was much he could do to salvage things unless he dropped down and resorted his points.

It was a long walk up the stairs, but we didn't have to fight anything, and when we got to the top we came out in a shallow cave. The door shut behind us, disappearing into the rock wall, getting Shadow to say "Totally gone. Doesn't even show up as a hidden door"

We were a fair distance from the start of the dungeon, so it took thirty minutes of walking to get back to our horses and night was coming on, so we set up camp. With only three of us, standing guard would be a bitch, but no one wanted to risk getting killed in their sleep.

"Jeff wants to be there when we settle up" Shadow said with a grimace, her eyes unfocused as she read a message. I shrugged, but said "I guess I did say we would settle up when we got back to Riverbend, and he was part of the group. Kind of a waste for him to make the trip for just that though" I'd dealt with enough criminals to recognize that someone was maneuvering for an advantage, but didn't see any real risk in it for me.

My dreams that night included a visit by Telina, and I was happy that it started with Mary and I having a picnic, and not something more risqué. Telina walked out of the woods, causing Mary to fade, but not before throwing me a kiss. I stood up, then joined Telina as we started walking through my forest.

"Thanks for the guidance in the maze" I told her, looking over to see her grin and shake her head before saying "My dear priest, I do wonder about you sometimes. I am a goddess. You are my priest; my voice and presence on this land. As with the Cup of Charity, you are a conduit for my power, and through you I can affect events in ways that benefit my people. Your unwillingness to ask me for any help is something my sisters find great humor in, though they envy me greatly for having gained your willing aid" she looked sideways at me and added "There are many limits upon our powers, but giving you directions in a maze, while affecting many things indirectly, is not something any of my sisters would begrudge me"

"Umm.." I said intelligently, then shut up as I considered what she was really telling me. I already knew she was couldn't speak directly about a lot of things, and it was clear she was telling me something here. The problem was, I didn't have enough information to figure out what, so I finally said "You acted directly against Carlos the Damned. What was the difference between that act, and giving me directions in the maze"

She nodded, but didn't look at me as we paced between the trees, just saying "When I or my sisters act directly, we are drawing upon our own well of power. This power is given to us when our faithful act in our name, and is limited and slow to be regained if our flock is small. My actions in damning the eternal used most of my power, leaving me temporarily weakened, and less able to affect events. But the ripples from the event will stay in motion for centuries, so I decided the risk was worth the future gains. None of my sisters can presently match the size of my growing flock, so they will not risk anything similar"

We walked along quietly as she spent time considering, finally saying "This is not a simple thing, but a priest or paladin, when drawing upon their powers, is using the mana around them, not their goddesses. A mage absorbs power slowly from environment around them, but a priest has it...channeled to him through his or her goddess. This is also gathered from the environment, but done without any active participation by a goddess, other than her existence. Beyond the use of spells, when a priest, paladin, or one of her faithful calls upon a goddess, she can respond if this response is not...resisted" Telina grimaced slightly, then sighed and said "which I will not discuss. But you should know that in these instances, the power is channeled by the faithful and is not drawn directly from the goddess. The difference, while seemingly small, is very important to the balance we maintain"

Uh-huh. She was basically talking about the difference between doing something because she wanted to, and being asked to do something. I already knew from the potion making that things were affected by our will, or more directly, by our choices. Maybe this was all about shifting responsibility from her to me, allowing her to work around some of the limitations she was operating under.  Summarized, I was pretty sure it meant she thought I should be trying to involve her more. I didn't see that becoming a habit, but I might start looking more closely at situations that could help her reputation.

"The Serpent's Strike appearing now is unexpected" Telina said, obviously moving on to a different topic "and had you not included yourself in the quest, it would still be in the hands of the Goblin King. Many things of power were hidden, or placed in areas not accessible by eternals, with the Serpent being one of them. My sisters and I are discussing how your involvement affects the balance, though I do not foresee any of them resisting these things coming to light again"

"You want me to look for them?" I asked, wondering if they fell into the same category as the cup

"No" she said definitively "It is better to leave them to be found without our involvement, though you would be wise to take possession of them if you do come across one. Let the Guardians see to such things for now, as it will appease my sisters greatly if you appear to be allowing power to pass you by"

"Well" I said with a grin "letting other people do all the hard stuff works for me. This dungeon tour thing turned out to be a lot more work than I had expected, and Dalmar and Maria spoiled me. I'm also rethinking my mana potion business, or at least what I'm charging. Instead of gold, I was thinking about bartering for magic items to equip my people with. Andulin and his guards can always use the boost, and I might find something useful for me too"

"Few of your fellow eternals act as if their lives have any meaning, or seem to care about the propriety of their actions" Telina said, ignoring my potion business. I realized about then that my forest seemed a lot bigger, but shrugged the thought away as I told her "Be a while before eternals start reevaluating things. I imagine Jeff and his crew is a good representation of most eternals"

Telina stopped and turned to face me, her sly smile coming out as she said "The eternal named Jeff covets the Serpent, and intends to withhold your agreed upon earnings. None of my sisters would dispute the requirement that one upholds his word is such situations, so perhaps you might ask a goddess to bring bad luck to such oath breakers" her smile turned into a laugh as she added "Though if you do not call on me, you might wish to limit mention of bouncing bosoms or sultry smiles"

I was actually chuckling when I woke up, something that drew an odd look from Siril, who had the watch.