A knock sounded on her door, jolting her awake. Isabelle thrashed on the spot, throwing her mass of blankets everywhere in her mad scramble. Sadie, her maid, attendant, and friend peered through the door.
“M’lady? Are you not up yet? It’s almost breakfast!”
Isabelle groaned, pressing her palms against her eyes. The light was too much. “Not today Sadie. Sorry.”
Sadie entered Isabelle’s room, closing the door behind her. Isabelle vacated her bed as she approached, already knowing that Sadie would be tidying up the mess she just made. She was just like that, always needing to touch things that were even slightly out of place. It’s why mom liked her as a maid.
Isabelle kept her expression neutral through trained practice. It wouldn’t do to reminisce now. Nor at all, really. That wasn’t lady-like, and it wasn’t as if her mother was truly lost. She’d seen it before. When a dungeon is destroyed, the monsters they controlled would return to the wild. Under normal circumstances, it would be smart to kill the monster anyway, but that wasn’t the case when the monster under the dungeon's control was her mother.
Isabelle donned some regular clothes. Perhaps not the most lady-like of clothing, but perfectly acceptable if mother saw her. Her clothes were chosen deliberately, since they could be easily worn under her armor. Isabelle didn’t just cry last night. Well, not for long at least. She was a Bellamy! Which meant that even in times of distress, she had to think. She was required to plan ahead.
So she packed away her adventuring gear. Armor, wand, and even some of mothers magic rings from her office. Four spells wasn’t very many, but it was all she had access to. Her fireball wand, water lance, silent steps, and a lightning ring. That one required a larger stone than the others, and it was pretty old. But it would work. Her armor also had her light spells woven into the leather, but those hardly counted.
“My lady!” Sadie said, flustered. She quickly made her way over to Isabelle in order to fiddle with her hair. “You cannot possibly think that such a mess of hair would be acceptable?! Even if there’s not much to do recently, you still need to look presentable! Abby and Owyn are going to be here soon to collect the Baroness’ response to the dungeon!”
Isabelle knew. She was counting on it. “Actually I was hoping to go play with Barry and Grant. The weather seemed nice enough yesterday for a stroll by the creek.”
Sadie huffed, tying Isabelle’s hair back. “Just promise me you’ll keep out of the mud. Or at the very least, warn me before you step foot in this mansion! Just because I clean up after you does not mean I want to!”
“I love you too.” Isabelle smiled playfully, though her smile didn’t reach all the way to her eyes.
Sadie smiled back. She kissed the back of her head and patted her on the shoulders. “Good enough, my lady. I suppose if you’re going to make yourself a mess, there’s not much more I can do. Have fun.”
Isabelle nodded gratefully and left her room. She swiftly made her way to the front door, entirely of one mind. After she left, she would collect her adventuring things. Then she would go to Grant’s house, since he was closer. She would collect him under the pretense of practicing their teamwork out in the woods, and then she’d do the same with Barry. Hopefully the deception would buy them enough time that nobody would suspect something was wrong. They would enter the dungeon, destroy the core as quickly as possible, and leave. Its monsters weren’t that large or numerous. As long as nobody went into the water around the core, they’d be fine.
“Isabelle?”
Isabelle’s blood ran cold. Her one mindedness had blinded her to her mother, who stood in the entryway of the mansion. She put on her best polite smile to confront her mother.
“Hi mom.”
“Good morning dear,” Her mother laughed. “Where are you off to in such a rush? I didn’t see you at the breakfast table.”
“I wanted to go play with Barry and Grant.” Isabelle said. “It was a, um, last minute decision.”
Her mother smiled warmly at her, with that same touch of worry that only a mother could have. If it wasn’t for Abby and Owyn, Isabelle would probably have never suspected something was wrong.
“You’re not planning on going to the dungeon, are you? You know it’s too dangerous.”
Isabelle smiled back, pretending to be serious. “I know mom! Look at me! I’m not wearing my armor am I!? We’re just going to play by the creek I think.”
Her mother approached the windows nearby and looked up at the sky. “The weather was good for it yesterday. It seems good enough today too. But you’re not planning on actually going in the creek are you?”
“Maybe.” Isabelle tried to sound ambiguous.
Her mother’s smile softened. She gave a soft slap to the top of Isabelle’s head. “You’re not going in the water dressed like that. And you’re certainly not going to see what those boys look like without their shirts I hope?”
“Mom!” Isabelle blushed for real, backing away.
Her mother giggled in the way she’d taught Isabelle to do. “I know you’re not really going to do that dear. So just tell me what you’re really trying to do.”
Isabelle panicked. She didn’t have any other excuse. She had to think on her feet. “We’re going to catch some frogs.”
Frogs? Really!?
“Frogs?” Her mother seemed to share the same tone as her thoughts.
Isabelle’s mind raced. “I was thinking we could think of it like training. If we can catch frogs, we can… uh, be more agile. Or something.”
Her mother stifled a laugh. “I see. Frogs certainly are rather slippery creatures, aren’t they.”
“Yeah.” Isabelle said dumbly.
Her mother leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. “Well, whatever you end up doing, I hope you have fun. But please eat something. See if Mr. Mayflower has anything you can snack on.”
“Thanks mom.” Isabelle rushed away, closing the door behind herself as normally as possible. That was too close for comfort.
The rest of the plan went off without a hitch. Isabelle collected her stashed bag from the branches of a tree and then made her way to the Vernant household. Mr. Vernant was outside, chopping wood, while Grant was inside helping his mom with the stew they were going to have later. Thankfully, she didn’t really need his help, and he was free to join her for ‘training’. He collected his armor and sword, and they were off. Barry was equally easy to collect. Mr. Mayflower and Mrs. Brook were both in the kitchen, baking bread when they arrived. Far from just a snack, Mr. Mayflower sent them all along with a veritable meal for their bags. Barry got his spear, sword, and knife, and together, they left for the woods.
Isabelle did not stop marching when they were out of earshot of the village. Far from the cheerful tone she’d used against their parents, Isabelle dropped an octave to show how serious she was when talking to Barry and Grant.
“Mother was enthralled.”
“What!?” Grant shouted. He wasn’t the smartest between the two boys, so Isabelle was grateful when Barry asked the real question.
“When?”
“I think it was last time we went in with those hired adventurers. It was the only time mother’s left the house. She was touched by the core, just for a moment after she caught the one Faux threw at me. I think it was then. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“That was like, three days ago!” Grant said.
Isabelle opened her bag, donning her armor as they walked. “I know. She’s been keeping it quiet, probably at the dungeons orders.”
“We’re not going training today, are we?” Barry asked.
“No. We’re going to destroy that dungeon.”
“What are you planning on doing about the church's knights?”
“The wha-?” Isabelle remembered a second later. She slapped her forehead. Which hurt appropriately, now that she was wearing so many rings.
Of course the church’s knights would be there! She knew mother had invited the church! She should have assumed that they would take up a position guarding the dungeon! Stupid!
“We’ll sneak past them.” Isabelle decided. “I have the silent steps spell. As long as we’re not seen, we’ll be ok.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Barry challenged. “They’re going to be watching the dungeon's entrance, if not the cave itself.”
“We’ll… we’ll worry about it when we get there.” Isabelle’s plan was starting to fall apart. She had to shake it off. Deal with the punches as they came. That was one of Owyn’s first lessons.
The three of them wandered through the woods quietly. They crossed over the creek and climbed the hill behind a bit to get a better view. From the higher vantage, they could see the smoldering remains of a campfire at the mouth of the cave. Again, Isabelle should have assumed that they would camp outside. It would be easier to alert the town that way, not to mention they could have a fire for food and warmth. It was even safer outside the caves!
No, this was good. She had to see it as a good thing! That meant that all they had to do was make it into the caves and they’d be free! Nobody would stop them then! Then she could save her mom!
She told Barry and Grant to keep quiet. But more importantly, to keep out of sight. Her silent steps spell would make sure nothing they did would make noise as long as it was quiet enough. Loud noises could still break the spell after all. She was hoping that if they didn’t attract attention with sounds, maybe the knights wouldn’t turn to look at them.
They snuck down the hill in sync, like Abby and Owyn had taught them. Grant took the lead, shield and sword at the ready, Barry went next since he had the spear, and Isabelle took up the rear, keeping an eye on everything. It felt almost eerie, with how quiet everything was. Snapping twigs, moving leafy branches, nothing made a sound. If it weren’t for their dire circumstances to focus on, Isabelle would probably go mad. She had no doubt the boys would too.
They could see the church’s camp ahead of them. Two men sat with their backs against some trees, the grass surrounding them flattened from use. They seemed to be conversing quietly with each other, probably to not wake the third that seemed to be using the tent, judging by the equipment around. A crossbow next to one man, a mace and shield next to the other, and a bow rested against the tent. Ok, this was doable. They’d stay behind these bushes on top of the mouth of the cave, and when the coast was clear, they’d slip through.
Isabelle motioned her plan to the boys. Stay behind the bushes and wait.
They both nodded, lowering their weapons below the foliage. They crept forward, trying to find a position where they could possibly enter the dungeon at a moment's notice. Isabelle noticed how soft the ground was up here, despite the bushes.
Grant's foot slipped.
His whole body lurched towards the mouth of the cave, crashing through the bushes at such a volume that not even Isabelle’s spell could hide it. He crashed into the stone below, shield first, only furthering the noise.
Both knights were on their feet, weapons in hand in an instant. They relaxed when Isabelle released the silence spell and raised her hands.
“Sorry!” She cursed Grant mentally. Now what could she do to salvage this!?
“What are you doing out here?” The paladin asked, moving to help Grant to his feet. “It’s dangerous here, didn’t you know that?”
“Whuzzat?” A bleary voice poked out of the tent. His eyes surveyed the situation.
“Sorry,” Isabelle repeated. “We were just doing some training exercises and we thought it’d be cool to see the church’s knights.”
“I was hoping to see a spearman, personally.” Barry added. Nice! Good catch!
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“I’m sure.” The paladin muttered. “But I hate to say it, but you’re not allowed to be-”
“Is that Lady Bellamy?” The sleepy one asked loudly, catching the attention of the other two knights.
Isabelle stood up straighter. “That’s right. I am!”
“Ooh!” He clapped lightly. Then, he took a bow. “It is my pleasure, m’lady! Pleased to meet you!”
Seeing no point in hiding now, Isabelle and Barry descended around the mouth of the cave to join Grant. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure.”
The archer in the tent muttered something to the crossbow man. He seemed to like the idea. “Say, do you guys want to train in the dungeon for a bit?”
“I thought we weren’t allowed in the dungeon?” Grant asked.
Isabelle slapped the back of his head. “Actually we would love that! But wouldn’t you get in trouble? I sure would hate for you to lose your jobs just for looking the other way.”
The paladin studied his two comrades for a second. Then, he nodded at them, turning his attention back to Isabelle’s Troop. “Well, I’m sure we can make an exception for the Baroness’s daughter. Only if we come with you, to make sure you’re safe.”
Isabelle melted. This was such a good opportunity that she simply couldn’t pass it up! “That sounds wonderful! We would be really lucky to have such experienced delvers accompany us!”
Barry nodded. “You could give us pointers, and if we were ever in trouble, you could help bail us out!”
Subtle Barry. Subtle.
If the church knights noticed, they didn’t care. “Give us just a minute to get ready, and we’ll be right with you.”
Isabelle bowed politely and retreated into the cave with her troop. She spoke in a harsh whisper.
“You idiot, what were you doing! You almost ruined the mission!”
Grant raised his hands defensively. “Not my fault! The moss was slippery! Besides, now we’ve got backup, right?”
“Do you think we should tell them about the Baroness?” Barry asked.
“No, there’s no point.” Isabelle affirmed. “Once we go in there and destroy the core, it won’t matter. She’ll be freed without anyone knowing any better.”
“What’s the dungeon like?” Grant asked. “Is it like a proper dungeon!? With traps and multiple rooms and everything?”
Isabelle shook her head. “Two monsters, both mimic crabs. One has a shield and lance instead of claws, and the other has an extra finger on its claws. Faux used to be there too, but I heard he’s dead now.”
“Pfft,” Grant waved a hand. “Crabs are easy! This’ll be a piece of cake!”
“They’re this tall.” Isabelle said, putting a hand to her waist. “And the waters are so full of meat-eating fish that stepping foot in there will kill you instantly.”
“I feel like that’s more important to know.” Barry muttered.
“Alright, you ready to go?” The paladin joined them along with the other two knights.
“Yes!” Isabele said. “We’ll lead!”
The paladin gestured down the path to Lucid. “Lead the way.”
That’s weird, how does he know where we’re going?
“This way?” Grant asked Isabelle, pointing down the same road.
“The other way has hundreds of rats and stuff all in one big swarm.” The crossbow man said. “We saw them go by not long ago. So we’re pretty sure there’s not much that can harm you in the other direction.”
“Makes sense to me!” Grant began his march into the caves.
Isabelle didn’t necessarily agree, but she wasn’t going to argue. She needed to save her mom, and she’d take every lucky break she could.
Isabelle activated her light spells, illuminating not just the path directly ahead of them, but the space around them as well. Grant was too stupid to keep a light spell going while fighting, and Barry was never more than a few steps away from Isabelle, so it didn’t make sense for him to split his attention between maintaining spells and fighting with his array of weapons. They walked under Isabelle’s light, using the powerful directional light she emitted as an indicator for direction.
They didn’t get far before the scratching began. Behind them.
The church’s knights pulled back, silently encouraging Isabelle’s Troop to do the same. They shifted over to one side of the room they were in, off to the side of the worn path between the two doorways of the room. Barry, Grant, and the paladin with the mace stepped forward, getting into defensive positions to protect their respective ranged dealers.
A small ratkin ran through on two legs, pumping its arms as it ran. Isabelle noticed a blue crystal in one hand, pulsating angrily. A dungeon core. Dozens of smaller rats, mice, and snakes crawled along the floor after it, matching its rapid pace. A singular bat hovered above them all, patrolling the air above them. Quite a number of them seemed to be injured in one way or another, but none of them fatally so.
The small army of creatures noticed the humans as they entered the room, but blatantly ignored them. They ran straight through the room, taking the scratching noises with them.
“That’s not very many.” The crossbow man muttered.
“There was more?” The archer muttered back.
“At least ten times more than that.” He responded. “But none of them were evolved. The ratkin’s new.”
“They’re Lucid’s creatures, obviously.” The paladin said. “It seems it’s starting to expand. Or maybe aggressively evolve its monsters.”
“Aggressive is the right word.” The archer muttered. “It’s taking risks. Think it has something to do with the other dungeon?”
“What other dungeon?” Isabelle asked.
The paladin looked like he just remembered they were there. He gestured for them to continue as he spoke. “According to the high priest, Lucid has encountered a dungeon that’s been expanding up from the depths of the caves, beyond the reach of humans. Apparently, it’s causing Lucid enough trouble that it’s taking risks. Sending out armies like the one you saw there. Although that was recent enough that I’m not even sure the high priest knows of it yet. In fact, you might be the first people of Setterton to see them.”
“Not even Abby or Owyn?”
“This happened after they left.” The paladin confirmed.
Good! “That means it’s struggling! Desperate! Come on guys, let’s go!”
The timing couldn’t be better! If they only had to deal with two dozen mice and rats and such, plus the two large crabs, that’d be fine! Even better, maybe if they waited long enough, the small army of rats and stuff would go back for more and then they’d only have the two crabs to deal with! No, wait! At least one of the crabs would be busy dealing with the other dungeon! Yes, that was a safe assumption! This was perfect! The dungeon was weak! They could do this!
Isabelle marched on with deeply assured steps. Everything was falling into place.
The dungeon came into view soon after. It had clearly expanded its territory, as all dungeons do, so Isabelle wasn’t too surprised at that. She just hoped the core was in the same room as before. Thinking of the ratkin and its army, she motioned for everyone to go to the side of the room and wait. Although the church’s knights seemed confused at first, they complied.
And just like she predicted, the ratkin and its small army ran out of the room, dead set on returning to wherever they were before.
“We need to be quick.” Isabelle told everyone once the monsters were out of earshot. “Get in there, and destroy the core before it can summon reinforcements. Got it?”
They all nodded. So Isabelle turned to her troop.
“Go.”
The boys took off at a sprint, abandoning all pretenses of stealth. They were in the dungeons territory anyway, there was no way they could hide. Time was the imperative.
Grant and Barry ran nearly abreast, with Barry’s spear leading the charge. Isabelle, although not as fast as the boys, didn’t stray too far behind. Her mothers life was on the line here. There was no way she would let the boys do this alone.
Room after room they passed, and not a single creature could be seen. Not dungeon creatures, not wild creatures, nothing. Isabelle, being on high alert and ready to destroy them with a fireball at the slightest movement, found the lack of creatures to be rather odd. In fact, looking back, besides the small army of rodents, they hadn’t really encountered any other signs of life. The dungeon must have enslaved all the creatures it could.
Isabelle didn’t have time to consider the implications of this. They were there.
Barry and Grant skidded to a stop, causing Isabelle to crash into them just inside the core room. She was about to shout at them for stopping so suddenly when she finally noticed what stopped them.
The room was not the same as last time. Not even close. Water lined the whole room, save for the corner with the exits. Six piles of rocks lined the shores, and at the opposite end from their entrance two giant statues stood guard where the two remaining piles of rocks would have been. Sitting half in the water between the two statues, guarding an empty alcove, sat the largest creature Isabelle had ever seen in her life. A mimic crab, with one claw shaped like a lance, and the other large enough to act as a shield. The giant crab must have weighed more than a carriage and the horses that pulled it all put together.
Off to the side of the room, sitting in the decorative alcove like before, sat the dungeon core. An amber sphere, sitting atop a spiraling pedestal. Patiently standing before the core was a second mimic crab, although this one had an almost human body coming up from the shell. Too pale, too featureless, too little of anything else to be considered perfectly human. It held its hands before itself, both the human hands, as well as its crab claws, which had four dangerous looking digits each.
The yellow eyes of both crabs studied the humans patiently, although the larger crab seemed eager to move.
Isabelle bristled, but she wouldn’t back down here. Her mothers freedom was too important to her.
“Distract the big one!” Isabelle shouted at the church knights. She shoved her boys into the room, aiming for the smaller crab and the core behind it. She pointed her wand over the shoulder of Grant and spawned a fireball at the end. Will formed in and around her, forcing nature itself to obey her. The fire shot in a straight line, faster and more accurate that it’d ever done before. Her aim was true, and it was about to hit the dungeon’s core.
The mimic crab leapt in the way, taking the hit. Its hinge opened up, screeching in pain and anger. It reached in behind it, taking the core in its human hands. It dove into the water, bowing its human body in order to dunk it in the shallow water. A hiss of water sounded at the contact, cooling the crab.
A giant claw slammed down in front of them, blocking Barry and Grant from charging forward. The giant mimic crab opened its chest, revealing large, toothed tentacles and a dangerous maw. It screeched, swiping its lance arm for the party.
What are those moron knights doing! Isabelle thought, just as her upper legs were struck.
She slammed into the boys, sandwiched between the lance and shield claws. Her legs burned, and she definitely felt something break. But she shared the burden with the boys, which was probably the only reason she could remain standing in the first place. The lance claw disappeared from behind them, and a great force from the shield claw launched them backwards. Isabelle and Grant flew through the air shortly before striking one of the rock piles. Barry rolled backwards, sliding along the floor beneath the giant claw as it threw the other two. His spear snapped in half.
Isabelle gasped, feeling dazed from the harsh strike. She glared with one eye closed, seeing the church’s knights standing passively in the doorway.
“What are you doing!” Isabelle shouted angrily. “Help us!”
The knights pretended not to hear her, and just observed the mimic crabs as the smaller one joined the larger one.
Isabelle grit her teeth. If either of the ranged dealers took a shot, maybe they could destroy the core!
“Mom’s been enthralled!” Isabelle shouted at the top of her lungs. She pried herself from the rock pile, aiming her wand at the core. “PLEASE!”
A fireball formed with her will, launching for the core. The giant crab landed its shield claw between the attack and the smaller crab holding the core.
And still, the knights did nothing.
Barry got to his feet, drawing his sword. Grant did the same, charging recklessly for the giant crab. It swung its lance in a great overhead arc, slamming it down. Grant caught the attack with his shield, deflecting it off to the side where Barry followed up the charge. The lance struck the ground, and Barry leapt over it, swinging his sword for the eyes of the larger crab. The one eye of the crab retreated into its shell, but it was too late. His sword struck true, digging into the shell at just the perfect angle. The metal bit into the shell, drawing blood.
The giant crab screeched, opening its hinged mouth wide. Barry would have been dragged into the air above its open maw if he hadn’t let go of his sword, letting it remain in the crabs upper shell. Its shield claw slapped for Barry, but missed. The giant crab struck itself, staggering backwards with the force.
Isabelle saw a chance and took it. She reached her open hand for the core and willed the wrath of storms to form before her. Lightning flared, cutting the distance between herself and her target in an instant. The lightning thrashed wildly, striking the mimic crab holding the core instead of her intended target. The resulting explosion was deafening, rocking the earth itself.
When Isabelle could see again, the core was rolling on the floor towards her. The smaller mimic crab looked like a shadow of its former self, with blood pouring out of the sockets where its eyes used to be.
The core nearly rolled to a stop right in front of her. It was the perfect chance! She knew she couldn’t risk touching the core directly, and so looked around for anything she could use to destroy it. The rock pile! She picked one at random and collapsed to her knees just in front of the core, rock raised high.
The lance of the large crab cut the air right across her nose, cutting off her vision. Blood exploded to her right. Isabelle reeled backwards, away from the attack that just barely missed her. The paladin stood next to her, mace upraised, ready to strike her. Isabelle barely registered that fact as she noticed the source of the blood was his stomach, where the lance had pierced clean through the weakest point of his armor. He coughed up blood.
An arrow and a crossbow bolt shot through the air behind the lance. The arrow missed the large crab, striking Barry in his arm. The bolt thumped into something Isabelle couldn’t see. Grant gargled out a cry of pain.
The giant crab swung its lance upwards, striking Isabelle’s chin. She was carried upwards, back into the pile of rocks. It didn’t stop pushing against her throat, shoving her through the pile of rocks. It cascaded down upon her as Isabelle fell into the open space beyond. Her head splashed in the water just as the pile of rocks collapsed all around her. A sharp stone struck her shin, pushing it into the space below. A sharp crunch sounded, and Isabelle knew then that her leg was broken in half.
Her cries of pain joined the knights in the doorway. Screeches of mice, rats, bats, and other creatures indicated that the cores reinforcements had arrived, and were currently tearing their way through the two knights. Isabelle shoved her way upright, trying her best to scramble away from the water. She looked desperately at the exit, even just to judge her chances at escape.
Her mother stood at the entrance, out of breath with Abby and Owyn at her side. All three of them were watching the two knights before them being swarmed by hundreds of bodies. Blood and metal tore away from the knights as the creatures ripped them apart, piece by piece.
Isabelle felt tears flood her eyes. Whether it was from the pain or the sight of her mother, she didn’t know. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want her mom to be enslaved to the dungeon. Her struggling faltered, and Isabelle collapsed back into the water, too tired and hurt to even keep her head above water.
“Isabelle!” A watery cry shouted.
Hands jostled her, yanking her out of the water. Isabelle's mother pulled her in close, on the verge of tears.
“You’re alright dear. It’s ok. You’re ok. You’ll be fine.” Her babbling mother stroked her hair with shaking fingers.
Isabelle sat limply in her mothers arms, tears flowing freely down her wet face.
“You’re not my mother.”
The pain washed over her anew.
“You’re not my mother.”
Her mother held her tighter.
“I love you.”
She didn’t argue. She didn’t refute the fact. She just said ‘I love you’.
And Isabelle believed her.
She wept loudly, wrapping an arm around her mother.