Abby and Owyn weren’t used to working with anyone else. For them, each other's company was plenty. And yet, here they were, gearing up for a dungeon run with people they’d never met before.
“Let’s get this over with.” An adventurer called Denzel yawned.
“Dude, we just got here.” His partner named Ryker shook his head. “You can’t possibly want to go home already.”
Both men were suitably large, and extraordinarily well equipped. Steel studded leather armor, an expensive balance between stealth, mobility, and protection. Two swords each, of differing lengths, not to mention half a dozen top of the line knives each, strapped to varying places for nearly every circumstance. They also had padded kite shields, and not just the standard ones either. These ones look custom, and effective.
Compared to them, Abby’s shield looked like the lid of a barrel with a handle. Which, to be fair, wasn’t far off the mark.
“This dungeon has already killed one of the most capable people in Setterton.” Baroness Bellamy told the new adventurers in a chilly manner. “You would do well to treat this situation with the respect something as dangerous as this deserves.”
Denzel looked out the window of the mansion, not apologizing, but clearly listening.
Owyn cleared his throat, gathering everyone’s attention once again. “We’ll be going into the Setterton Cave system, where dungeons are plentiful, but young. There are several pathways down, and although we haven’t explored all the way to the bottom, we don’t expect anything dangerous. Ratkin, rats, bats, mice, and snakes are the most common thralls, although in the lower levels, monsters such as crystal lizards, giant arachnids, and various troll and goblin variants can be found. The path we will take should be cleared all the way to the dungeon, but don’t bet your life on it. Our dungeon had previously enthralled two thausens, though those are now dead. As of our most recent expedition yesterday morning, it has two mimic crabs, our undead librarian, and hundreds of fish under its control.”
“Really?” Ryker raised an eyebrow. “Hundreds? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”
Abby shook her head. “Not even in the slightest.”
Owyn continued. “Despite the number of creatures under its control, it doesn’t seem to be struggling. Its will is by far the most powerful we’ve ever encountered. Abby was fortunate to not get enthralled herself.”
The Baroness picked it up from there. “This core is dangerous, which is why I hired you two. Keep it in mind that I’m paying you enough to compensate for the core, so you should have zero reservations about destroying it outright. Do not touch the core. Do not get close to the core. Destroy it as soon as you can.”
“Abby said it has a cage around it!” Lady Bellamy offered excitedly. “A very fancy one!”
Every adult in the room eyed the fifteen year old girl with a touch of hesitancy. Denzel, apparently less so than the others.
“Are you sure we should bring her along?”
“There are three magic casters in Setterton.” The Baroness said. “The two of us, and Jenny. Jenny is nearly three times your age and struggles to walk from one end of the village to the other. If anything were to go wrong, you will want the backup.”
“I’m just saying that-”
“I will stay behind mother at all times.” Lady Bellamy said, placing a hand on her chest. “You have my word.”
The Baroness sighed. “She needs to see for herself exactly what sort of dangers more powerful dungeons can pose.”
“Ah, and you want her to do so while you can still protect her.” Ryker nodded. “I get the feeling. I just had a daughter of my own, you know!”
“Everyone knows.” Denzel growled. He gestured for the door. “Can we just get going already? Otherwise this guy won’t shut up about his stupid offspring.”
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Abby and Owyn took the lead, followed by Denzel and Ryker, and then the Bellamy’s. Each of them had their own source of light, though the Bellamy’s sources were a little more direct than the widespread lights of the adventurers. Abby supposed it was a difference in fighting style. The mages needs to focus on what they were aiming at, so more light in a single direction was important. For melee fighters, a wider source of light meant they could react to things at the peripheral of their vision. Maybe Owyn should get a new light magic core to do the same.
Ryker whistled sharply. The dungeon was straight ahead.
Denzel and Ryker both crouched into mirrored ready stances. They moved forward silently, taking their steps at the same time. Abby and Owyn matched their pace, but slowed down to walk behind them. Before they got close enough to be overheard, Abby whispered to Owyn.
“Are we sure negotiation is off the table?”
“It’s not our decision.” Owyn responded.
Abby already knew that much, but it didn’t make her feel any better. The new book and pen in her bag weighed heavily on her mind as they approached.
Denzel and Ryker paused just before the entrance to the dungeon, peering in. As they did, their own bags slowly slid to the ground, quietly resting against the wall. Abby and Owyn hesitated, but did the same. They weren’t used to taking off their bags. Normally they would just wear them while they cleared the dungeon. Then again, this wasn’t a normal dungeon.
“What the…”
Denzel and Ryker barely poked their heads through the door before they retreated into Abby and Owyn.
“What?” Baroness Bellamy accused.
The large men ignored her and turned to Abby and Owyn, half paying attention to the doorway.
“Remind us again. What monsters did it have?”
“It seems to change monsters daily.” Owyn defended them before any accusations of lying could take place. “But last time we were here, it had two mimic crabs, one undead human, and a bunch of fish.”
“How many fish.”
Abby’s eyes narrowed. They didn’t believe Abby last time she said ‘hundreds’ and now they were asking about it? Something was up. She marched up to the entrance to the dungeon, shield at the ready. Owyn, equally curious, joined in behind her.
Dozens of silvery fish-like creatures crawled out of the water, each about the size of a mouse. They dragged themselves along the shallow water on two forearms, webbed at the end. None of the creatures had rear legs at all, maintaining the features of actual fish. An exaggerated fin rose and fell over the spines of each of the fish creatures, in time with their breathing. The most worrying part about it all was their sharp teeth, filling their jaws.
“AWWW!” Owyn cooed. “Lookit them! They’re so small!”
Abby eyed the teeth a little worriedly. “I wouldn’t say that. You think they’re all like that?”
“I hope so!” Owyn was practically vibrating with excitement. Abby watched as all of the silvery fish creatures crawled back into the water, disappearing into its shallow depths. She pulled Owyn back out of the doorway.
“Anyone got a clue on what those are?” Ryker asked the group.
“No idea!” Owyn announced excitedly.
“If all of them are like that, getting to the core is going to be a lot more dangerous than we thought.”
Denzel picked up his bag and rooted through it. “Anyone bring poison? I didn’t think to bring any.”
“Who would?” Ryker muttered. “We thought we were just going up against some stupid fish. Not… those.”
“The dungeon learned to evolve its creatures!” Owyn said uselessly. “It probably hasn’t killed enough to gather the mana necessary to evolve them and shape its alcove the way it has and create all its undead! That means it conquered another dungeon!”
Lady Bellamy sharply raised a hand. Owyn pointed to her with a grin.
“Yes! A question!”
“What does conquering a dungeon have to do with evolving its thralls?” She asked.
“There are two ways a dungeon can evolve its monsters.” Owyn said. “The first is the same way we cast our magic. By injecting a thrall with mana and will, a dungeon can direct its thralls evolution, changing it into something of its choosing. The more drastic a change, the more mana and will it costs the dungeon. So you’ll never see a fish evolve into a bear, or the other way around. Typically, evolutions will retain some of their base creatures’ attributes. However, if the dungeon doesn’t have enough mana, it can substitute a dungeon core or its fragments instead!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Dead cores don’t work.” Denzel added. “Magic cores do though. So if you’re ever captured by a dungeon, you should absolutely waste your mana and try to kill any cores you have on you.”
“So that’s why mages are super protected in dungeons!” Lady Bellamy said. “People without magic cores are just worth less to a dungeon!”
Ryker glared at her. “I have a family back home. Rest assured, if this mission is lost, I will abandon you without hesitation.”
“Oh…” Lady Bellamy shrunk away from the large man.
The Baroness grit her teeth. “Did you forget what we were here for? The entire point in our being here is to destroy the core before it becomes even more dangerous. Before it takes even more lives. We are not going home until it is destroyed.”
“Do you have a way to keep us out of the water?” Denzel asked. “Because otherwise this is a lost mission.”
The Baroness raised a hand. One of her many rings shone a low, red light as the core that decorated it absorbed her mana and will. Off to the side of the group, a small wall rose out of the ground.
“I’ll create stepping stones for you. Does that work for you?”
The men nodded, but Ryker added a new question. “Can you make stuff like that go away, or does it just create? If not, if we’re going to get through the cage it built around itself, we’re going to need some bracing.”
“It has a hole in the middle, large enough for one hand to reach through.” Abby offered. “Uh, could we use some sort of tool to pick it up?”
“Salad tongs?” Lady Bellamy offered.
“Left mine at home.” Ryker muttered with a smirk.
“I have a sling?” Owyn offered. “I keep it with me as a spare ranged weapon. Just in case.”
“It’ll have to do.” Denzel gestured for Owyn to go grab it. “Then let’s stick to the plan. Abby and Owyn cover our exits. I didn’t see your undead in there, so it’s likely on an expedition. Ryker and I will escort the ladies to the shore, and then we’ll get the core. You two will provide magic support from a safe distance. Does that work for everyone?”
Nobody argued.
“Then let’s go.”
Denzel and Ryker took the lead again, with Denzel carrying Owyn’s sling in his pocket. Abby and Owyn followed, only going as far as a dozen feet into the entrance before stopping and turning their backs to the rest of the group. Having been forewarned about the blue square, nobody was surprised when it appeared in front of them. The Bellamy’s followed the more experienced adventurers deeper into the dungeon, seemingly unconcerned about anything. It annoyed Owyn a little about the noise they were making, but he supposed they’d already made enough noise that it didn’t really matter. Still, he would chastise Lady Bellamy about it later.
“Fuck!” Ryker jumped back half a step.
All attention turned to him, but he kept his eyes on the water. Denzel followed his gaze to where a large wave pushed its way sideways, away from the core.
“Well, there’s your mimic crabs.”
Their crowns rose out of the water, gradually followed by the rest of their bodies. The water rushed off their massive shells, cascading down into the pond below them. Both of the mimic crabs were no longer just the size of, well, crabs. Now, they were the size of chests. Both of them rose up at least to the humans knees, but one stood slightly taller than the other.
The larger one had an exaggerated claw, equalling half the size of the entire rest of the body. Its other claw was much smaller, and thinner as well. One half of the claw was much longer than the other, and ended in a wicked point. Paired with the larger claw, they resembled a shield and lance. The other mimic crab’s claws were also mutated. Instead of two claws on either arm, it now had three. The claws had more joints to them too, resembling crude, sharp fingers. It held one ‘hand’ closed, and left the other one relaxed.
The larger crab raised its large claw, slamming the tip into the rocky ground. It dragged a line through the stone, carving a shallow, jagged line between it and the humans. Then it drew a second line, parallel to the first. Then two more vertical lines.
Owyn brightened slightly. “Tic tac toe!”
“What?” Denzel and Ryker stood guard uneasily before the Bellamy’s who each had their magic at the ready.
“It wants to play a game!” Owyn called to them. “Find some rocks! There should be some in the fort thing over there!”
“Absolutely not.” The Baroness scoffed. “A game with dungeon monsters? Preposterous.”
“The colorful rocks are too small for that board.” Abby whispered to Owyn. “How are they supposed to keep track about whose is whose?”
Owyn just shrugged.
Denzel and Ryker glanced at each other. Without a word, they settled down into proper fighter stances. Lady Bellamy took up on the signal. She stepped between her mother and the adventurers, wand raised and at the ready.
A fireball spawned at the end of her wand.
It grew to the size of her head and shot forward. The fire slammed into the larger mimic crabs shield, burning the edge but otherwise leaving it unharmed. Denzel and Ryker shot forward, shields first. The larger crab reacted, lunging its lance at Denzel. Denzel’s shield dented slightly at the impact, but he held his ground, occupying the crab for long enough that Ryker swung his sword horizontally, over the shield. The mimic crab’s eyes sunk into its shell, dodging the attack.
Owyn noticed a purple glitter fly through the air over his shoulder. Startled, he whipped around to see the source, only to see a heavily bleeding Faux standing quietly behind him, arm outstretched as if he threw something. Only then did Owyn recognize the object thrown. It was a dungeon core.
“Look out!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.
The purple dungeon core was flying straight for Lady Bellamy. Since she was preparing another fireball, all the shout did was startle her, and make her flinch. She wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. The Baroness reacted without thinking, lunging in front of her daughter. She caught the core with an outstretched arm.
The air around her changed instantly.
She roared, swinging wildly. A wide arm struck Lady Bellamy across the cheek, drawing blood with the rings the Baroness wore. Owyn ran towards her, leaving Abby to hold Faux back. Denzel pushed forward, shoving the larger mimic crab back. The smaller one retreated, sliding into the water smoothly. Ryker abandoned the fight, running back for Lady Bellamy.
The Baroness, having found a target, rounded on her own kid. She struck with a powerful fist, hitting her daughter across the temple and drawing more blood. Before she could hit her again, Ryker dove between them, protecting Lady Bellamy with his shield. He took a few more blows before Owyn caught up to her, grabbing her under her arms. His own, far more powerful arms locked her in place. But even with all his strength, he could not stop her thrashing.
The Baroness, refocusing her attention on Owyn, hunched her back and pitched forward. Owyn pulled himself to the side of her, unwilling to let his feet leave the ground. He pulled back, trying to pull her away from Lady Bellamy and Ryker. His strength wasn’t enough, and together they toppled into the shallows.
The Baroness thrashed about, crying out in a violent rage.
“Mom!” Lady Bellamy shouted. One eye was held shut, blood pouring freely over it. Ryker held her back with one hand.
“Leave her! She’s been enthralled!”
“No! Mom!”
“We need to kill her!” Denzel shouted. He stood face to face with the larger mimic crab, though neither made the first move to engage. The larger crab held its claws at the ready, prepared to strike at the first opportunity.
Owyn rolled around, getting on top of the Baroness. She laid face down in the shallows. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep enough here to block her breathing. Owyn adjusted his grip, clamping his hands around the Baroness’ biceps, holding them down with his slightly heavier weight. She continued thrashing, trying to buck him off like a horse. An amber glow caught Owyn’s attention, out of the corner of his eye.
One of the small fish-like creatures was crawling in the shallows, the dungeon’s core in its mouth. It was about to touch the Baroness’s leg, out of sight of the others.
Owyn let go of the Baroness, falling onto his back so he could slap away the fish. His pinky accidentally made contact with the core in the same instant the Baroness’ leg smacked into the fish.
Calm-
The fish flew away, releasing the core. Both landed in the knee deep water, and Owyn watched as the second mimic crab scuttled down the staircase it was on to retrieve the core. The stone cage that once surrounded the core was broken. It must have happened when Owyn and the Baroness splashed into the water.
The Baroness lay still. She raised the fist that held the purple core. Owyn scrambled back to his knees, lunging to hold her down again. Before he could, the Baroness opened her hand and smashed the core into the ground beneath her hand.
She coughed, no longer thrashing.
“Get off me.” She muttered, spitting out some water. “Disgusting…”
Owyn obeyed, though he wasn’t sure why. Everyone watched as the Baroness rose to her feet, swaying as she did so. She brushed the back of her hand across her chin, where a scrape was the only evidence of her struggle. Her eyes widened, suddenly darting to her daughter.
“Isabelle! Oh goddess, are you alright! I’m so sorry!” She rushed to her daughter. Lady Bellamy broke away from Ryker and fell into her mothers arms.
“Mom! You’re ok!”
“What happened?” Owyn asked.
The Baroness growled, holding her daughter protectively. “That f- stupid dungeon… The purple core caught me by surprise. I didn’t raise my defenses when I caught it out of instinct. I was… Oh god, Isabelle, I’m so sorry.”
Lady Bellamy pushed away from her mother. “Owyn told me that once enthralled, nothing can break it. How are you ok?”
The Baroness brushed aside the blood she created. She spoke apologetically. “You also know that enthralled creatures retain their memories. I couldn’t stand hitting you, so I fought back as hard as I could. But I couldn’t do anything. Then the… the other core touched me, and fought for control over me. When the two cores fought, I managed to break free.”
Owyn judged her with his mana vision. As far as he could tell, she wasn’t enthralled any more. She was telling the truth.
The Baroness frowned. “It was strange. All the core told me to do was to ‘calm down’. It still wanted control of me, but first it wanted to make sure I was not fighting any more.”
“Checks out!” Abby shouted from across the room. She stood next to Faux, who was just waiting with his hands in his pockets. He turned to Abby, tapping her shoulder. He made writing motions with his hands. Abby nodded and walked away, heading towards their bags.
“What the fuck is up with this dungeon?” Denzel said, still standing in front of the larger mimic crab. Having done its job, it moved sideways, slowly disappearing into the waters.
The Baroness regarded her hands. The cores sitting in the rings of her fingers were mostly missing, with only some crumbled remains miraculously hanging on to the latches that initially held them down. “I think it’s time for a retreat. I won’t be able to keep you out of the water without my spells.”
“Works for me.” Ryker muttered, getting to his feet. He eyed the waters, watching hundreds of silvery flashes dart beneath its surface. “I feel off just standing near this water.”
“We’ll gather supplies and try again later.” Denzel said. “Namely, poison. Just in case.”
Owyn got to his feet and helped a wet Baroness do the same. Together, they walked for the exit. Faux stood back, writing in his new book. Everyone eyed him suspiciously when he presented his book to them.
“Thanks for the fun!”