The loudest noise in their shared campsite was the snoring.
The endless roar of Bog’s sleeping cut through all the other sounds of the jungle, from the night wind blowing through the trees to the chattering of the jungle insects. Next to Tarn, the fire crackled silently as it sent smoke billowing into the dark.
He loved the big orc like a sister, but at times she could make it hard to concentrate. Taking a deep breath, he pulled back up his interface.
Team status: Tarn Arisfal Pulse-shifted Captain [7] AP: 110 Status effects: none Bog Bruiser [7] AP: 130 Status effects: none Isca Needle [7] AP: 90 Status effects: flying [I] Urthin ** Shadow [7] AP: 100 Status effects: none Lash ** Trickster [7] AP: 80 Status effects: none
The two asterisks next to Urthin and Lash’s names glared at him, mocking Tarn with their lack of explanation. They had only appeared an hour ago. Since there stay in Ak Thanon had begun, he had made a habit of checking his interface three times a day ever since they had left the Axe. Right after each meal like clockwork.
There had never been a change until today. There was nothing next to his own name, nor Bog’s or Isca’s. It didn’t make any damn sense. Over the past hour, pushing through the noise of Bog’s snoring, he had gone through every screen and panel he could find in the strange mental interface created by his gem.
Absently his hands ran down to the glowing crimson stone, pulsing underneath his shirt. It had all started with this, months ago back in the realm. This small wonder had given him the power to affect real change, change that mattered. But for everything it gave, this new life seemed to take as well. Piling on mysteries and burdens with each day.
This was only the latest puzzle the gems and dungeons were asking him to solve. Inviting him to sit down at the table and play without ever explaining the rules. He felt the tension building in his neck, the stiffening of his spine. In hours they would be back in the dungeon, and there was so much left unresolved.
As if summoned, Urthin stepped out of the shadows around him. He wasn’t surprised by the Monk’s arrival. He had been aware of his friend’s frequent patrols, had even occasionally caught a glimpse or two as he stepped in between vines and shrubs. Urthin was stealthy and clever, but Tarn knew him well.
“I sense there is something concerning you.”
Of course, the reverse was true as well.
“Yeah,” Tarn said with a chuckle. “Have you looked at your interface lately?”
To his surprise, Urthin sat down next to him, facing the fire. It occurred to Tarn he rarely saw Smiley in a seated position. Bog even joked that he probably slept standing up, hands crossed behind his back.
“I assume you are referring to the asterisks next to mine and Lash’s name.” His voice was as flat and dry as a desert. “By the way, I check it hourly.”
Hourly. Tarn chuckled to himself. Of course he does.
“As usual with the dungeons, we’re left to guess what it means.” Tarn looked past his tent, flap closed where hoped Isca was sleeping. Rising beyond the profile of the jungle, the Axe Dungeon towered over everything, just as it held sway over their futures.
“There are possibilities.” Urthin steepled his fingers, touching the tips to his forehead as he spoke. “The dungeons have shown an ability to tap into our minds. Perhaps Lash and I are singled out due to our internal conflict?”
“Internal conflict?” Tarn turned to his friend, who somehow fit that definition while still being such a mystery. “I’ve sensed something is wrong with you, Smiley. I just didn’t think you’d talk about it.”
“That assessment is correct.” The bitterness in Urthin’s tone was as clear as it was surprising. “I do not wish to talk about it. But perhaps what I wish is not what is best for the team. If you have questions, you should ask them of me.”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Since the day they had met, Tarn had been impressed with the thoroughness of Urthin’s stoicism. It went beyond the flatness of his voice, or the preciseness of his body language. Somehow Urthin managed to keep most emotions hidden, even from his eyes.
Occasionally Tarn saw tension there, in rare moments of battle. He’d seen a flash of humor more than a few times, Urthin actually seemed to like to joke in ways where almost no one could tell, but Tarn would see that faint light in his stare.
But never what he saw now. Pain, confusion, and anger had been present in Urthin’s countenance for months. Ever since Yarex had revealed to the monk that his one dream had been taken from him in his absence.
“I don’t know Smiley, I just … worry about you. You know? After what happened with Yarex I wondered if maybe you regretted not going back with Jental and Aryo? Back to your order?”
“There is nothing for me to return to in the Realm.” His voice suggested he was speaking of something as trivial and mundane as the weather. “Yet I concede Yarex’s revelations have left me … uncertain as to my path forward. It is this uncertainty that I suspect I may share with Lash.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You know why you are going after this journey, Tarn. You have something beyond the Dungeon you wish to achieve, a goal you share with Isca. Bog has resolved her inner conflict, and her path beyond seems clear as well. But Lash and I-“
“Wait a minute. What makes you think I know what I’m going to do when this is all done?”
“One assumes you will make a life with Isca.” Urthin narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Bog and I have discussed this, and we both came to that conclusion. You will undoubtedly see this current task to its end, of course.”
“Of course.” Tarn nodded, trying to keep the storm of different thoughts at bay. He needed to focus, and the ongoing question of what was next in his own life was an unneeded distraction.
“But you don’t know what you’re doing next, Smiley?”
“I appear to have no option.” Urthin allowed the subtlest of sighs to escape his lips. “My passion for all that has been, the rivers of time and history of the Realm, it has been barred to me. My heart, as it were, is a ship now barred from the only port it sought to dock at.”
Poetic. Which was also unlike Urthin. As much as Bog seemed to have found herself, the rest of the team seemed adrift and lost. Not all of them, he reminded himself.
“You mentioned Lash. He has an asterisk too.”
“Yes, there is also the consideration of Lash. He has no plan, no tactic. Lash simply is. If the dungeon is focused on our future intent, it may be unsure of him as well. Or it could it has the same larger concern regarding the Gremlin as I do.”
“You mean, if he’s the main goal of the Progenitors, why is he coming?”
“No one is suggesting you have not thought about this, Tarn.” Urthin put his hands up, his concern for Tarn’s reaction a surprise in itself. “But it seems prudent to have the discussion. We would be delivering our enemy the exact thing they have been looking for.”
“Yeah.” Tarn nodded. “That’s the big risk, isn’t it? Of course, we only know that they wanted him. We don’t really know what they want Lash for, but to throw all these resources behind it the reason certainly can’t be good.”
“Yet he is going.”
“Yeah, he’s going. And there are a few good reasons for it in my defense. We don’t have any replacement for him in combat, we need his healing. We also have needed him twice now to open the dungeons themselves. Lash may not be a mage, but he certainly has an … affinity with magic that the rest of us lack. Without him, we might get to Kitharia only to be stuck there.”
“That rationale has merit to be sure.” Urthin stroked his chin, waiting for Tarn to get to the point he was building to.
“Most importantly though, is I explained all of this to Lash. I asked him what he wanted to do.”
“Your desire to respect him is consistent, and I share it.” Urthin’s concern was clear. “But are you sure he understood your words?”
“If want know what Lash think, why not ask Lash?”
They turned to see the tiny gremlin staring at them, arms folded. The customary grin was gone from his face, his normally wide eyes narrowed into serious slits as he regarded them.
“Lash, we don’t mean to imply…”
“Boss, stop.” He put his small hands up. “Lash know he not think like others. That you and Frowny worry makes sense. ‘Does Lash understand big bugs want him?’ Good question to ask, and Boss did ask. Lash do understand. Lash want to fight and help friends.”
“We appreciate your bravery, Lash.” Urthin knelt down, putting himself on the gremlin’s level. “But consider the risk to-“
“If Frowny smart, tell Lash this. Bugs looking for Lash, probably long time, right? Keep coming, over and over, like water on roof. Want to find way in.”
“Yes.” Urthin nodded. “All indications are the Progenitors are determined to acquire you.”
“Then they never stop, so why hide? If big bugs were hunting Frowny, would he run? Would he hide from bugs, knowing they would just chase him wherever he went?”
“Rather than bear witness.” Urthin stood, a faint wash of anger coming over his face. “You choose to act. Positioned this way, I can understand this choice.”
“Good,” Lash chirped, satisfied. “Because choice to go is mine, and Lash made it. Lash not run, he fight! Besides, without Lash – none of you go. No one else can open door. Well maybe wing-girl knows, she has been studying Lash. Paying a lot of attention to him when he practice. A bit annoying actually-”
Tarn felt a sudden flare of worry shoot up his spine. He quickly looked over to their shared tent, seeing an open flap where it should be shut. The tent was empty, just as the moon crested above the tree line.
Isca!
He saw that look in her eye when she had walked away earlier, the worry and fear that had been hanging over her like a cloud as the days got closer to this moment.
Maybe wing-girl knows. She has been studying Lash.
“Damn it!” Heart pounding, he was already running toward the Axe. “Get Bog up and meet me at the door – she’s trying to open the dungeon without us!”