The door out of the dungeon shut with a boom that seemed to echo through the now empty halls and corridors. No monsters roamed the chambers or caves. No adventurers struggled to overcome dangers. The dungeon, for the first time in almost a century, was empty, but for the Guardian, and on the lowest floor hundreds of feet below the surface, the Core itself.
“Seals are in place, Master,” spoke the giant gorilla. “Whenever you are ready.”
In answer, the Core flared brightly. Green light lit up the entirety of the dungeon from the jade-like material of the Core. The Guardian exploded into visible mana that streamed through the empty dungeon. As it reached the core room, being absorbed by the Core Itself, the dungeon imploded.
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Back outside of the dungeon, adventurers wandered amongst each other asking questions, few argued. Some even prayed. Liscern and Ophelia had found themselves surrounded by a few veteran adventurers, all demanding answers they didn't have.
All stopped at the rumbling sound coming from the dungeons' gates. Collapsing into itself, the entrance to the dungeon vanished. For several moments, all was silent. With a burst of dirt and stone, a new entry grew from the ruins of the old.
It was wider than it had been, taller than it ever was. Minutes passed as jade the color of a forest grew first ten feet, then twenty and finally seemed to slow to a stop over thirty feet high. As the people below watched in amazement, a shape began to form from the smooth stone.
A flared headed cobra, the hood reaching down to merge with the neck and shoulders of a male figure that stopped at the waist. Some twenty feet in height. Muscled arms straightened down to bend at elbows, leading to hands that rested on the pommel of a weapon. The head of the cobra looked down slightly as if to judge any who dared to enter the dungeon.
Below the intimidating figure was a fifteen foot tall structure, petroglyphs carved to either side of a ten foot arched gate. On one side, more snake-like men adorned in armor wielding swords and spears going off to battle. On the other side, women in robes bowed and served another female figure sitting on a throne.
On either side of the gateway, two smaller entryways formed. No decorative carvings surrounded them. Just two simple seven foot double door gates set at an angle from the main structure.
After a few more minutes, the noise of earth and stone ceased, leaving silence before the adventurers were again in an uproar. Liscern stared at the new dungeon entrance, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Beside her, Lorekeeper Ophelia also stared I'm wide-eyed awe. “What just happened??”
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When I next opened my eyes, I actually opened my eyes. Once that realization hit, my eyes went wide, and my mind started whirling. Hands came up, two of them with eight fingers and two thumbs. I looked down, two feet with ten toes… and I blinked. I was naked.
Somebody out there has a fetish. Seriously, what is it with letting me have cloth… Wait, why do I not have any hair? Like, none. Anywhere, at all.
No beard, bald head, do have eyebrows and eyelashes, nose and ears, no chest hair. Nothing on the arms, or the legs or… other places. Smooth as the day I was born. And cold. I promise, it's the cold air. Seriously!
No, really… After I did as thorough an inspection as one can without a reflective surface, I looked around and tried to figure out where I was.
Rock. More rock and more rock. Oh, look… there's a stream ending in a deep pool of water. I turned around and saw that the cave I was in had a passage leading away.
“With the lighting, maybe I can get a look at myself that way? Where is that light coming from, anyway?” I asked myself. The voice wasn't my old one. That would take getting used to.
I couldn't see anything giving off light. It just seems to be there, like how when the sun is out, there is light, and you don't consciously realize it’s from the sun. It's just always there, unless it's raining or something.
I had no clothes. No tools to make a fire… No blankets or anything like that to sleep on. Looks like I was going to be sleeping on the rock floor when that time came.
I walked over to the pool of water and looked into it, hoping there would be a reflection. There was, and i didn't recognize who was looking back at me. The young man in the reflection looked nothing like I had in my youth.
I truly had died and been brought back to life somewhere else. Or I was dying, and this was my mind coping. Or… so many questions.
Okay, yes. I'm a little bit upset. Twice now, I've tried to get some questions answered, and twice I've never even had a chance to get one of them spoken, much less answered. It was annoying. I'd died. Or, not died. See? Questions that need answers.
Moving away from the water, I leaned against a wall, gently sliding down it to sit on the floor. Sitting there, I was kind of blank for a bit. That kind of empty headed thought that could somehow be thinking everything at once.
I don't know how long I sat there. Through the numbness, I'd managed to form a little coherence. I wasn't in any pain anymore. Joints, back, some muscles. The water lapped a bit, the flow of where it was coming from and where it was going, making gentle motions and giving off faint sounds that I could hear clear as day. Or as clear as my eyesight was.
“Dead or not, dying or not… You're here, somewhere, and maybe have a new start or just an adventure before it all ends.”
I smiled a bit at that thought. Why not? Until proven otherwise, this is real. This is my life now. I should try to make something of it… And find some clothes.
< “Your timing is either outstanding or horrible.”