-=- The Next Morning -=-

Trillia yawned and stretched. As she stood, Ialu woke up and had a nice yawn and stretch herself. Trillia saw that her parents had never gone to sleep or had already started their day. As she left the tent, she saw most of the camp was still sleeping. Only a few morning cooking pots had started.

Trillia motioned for Ialu to follow and made her way toward the dungeon. The guards outside knew who she was - after all, the one-armed orc walking around with a giant desert wolf was hard to miss - and let her in without much fuss. The entrance hall of the dungeon hadn't changed. Smooth stone with stories carved into it with tribute bowls on one wall.

Trillia rummaged about in her pouches and pulled out some sand and sea shells she had picked up from the beach when she had been wandering about with Stas. She made a mental note to clean out her pouches at some point. She had picked up a rather bad habit of stuffing things into them at random that she found interesting.

After a few moments, Tim walked out with a toothy grin on his face. "You tame pure wolf! Impressive!"

Ialu immediately turned to the goblin and gave him an odd look. As she approached Tim, her head dipped slightly, and she began to wag her tail. She barked excitedly around him. "She good tamer? Feed well?"

More excited barking. Trillia gave the two an odd look. "You can speak to her? And understand what she's saying? I only get a general feeling. It seems most of my communication skills work like that."

Tim scratched Ialu behind the ears. Despite her apparently liking Tim, her body was still between the goblin and Trillia. "I no speak good words. I speak good animal. Help with wolves. She just bigger and stronger wolf."

Trillia nodded slightly as she moved over to join the two of them. "She's already saved me a couple of times. I wish I could speak to her properly."

Tim smiled at that. "She understand you. You just no understand her. Take time. I have many year learning animal before Father take me in. You here to challenge dungeon?"

Trillia shook her head. "Not yet, maybe later. I just came by for a visit. I'm only here for a few days this time, and while I want to do a run, I have other things I need to do first."

Tim turned and motioned for the two of them to follow. Leading her off toward the healing hall. "It early. Some goblin still asleep. They lazy and sleep much of day away."

Trillia laughed at that. "Not you, huh? You're up earlier than I am!"

Tim shrugged a bit. "Must train wolves early. Even dungeon wolf need training. Also need to feed them lately. I think Father being so low in ground forces them to eat more. Less mana in air."

Trillia gave that some thought before a realization hit her. "Wait, what do you feed them?"

Tim stopped in his tracks and turned down another hallway. As she got closer, she heard strange clucking sounds. When the door opened, she saw tiny two-legged winged creatures. They were very loud and came in a large array of colors.

[Dungeon Chicken - Fowl Warrior - 8] Impact Mana Manipulation

[Dungeon Chicken - Feathered Fencer - 4] Piercing Mana Manipulation

Trillia got close to one of the birds and poked at it with a finger. The bird turned to her with a great deal of righteous indignation before pecking her finger. Trillia giggled at the clucking and strutting the bird did after. "Wait, they are dungeon creatures. They respawn? How does that work? Does the food vanish from the wolf's bellies when they respawn?"

Tim laughed. A wheezing grating sound. "No, food not disappear. Chickens respawn much, much slower. Sometimes they fight back. That why some chickens have more levels. Gub Gub lose an eye to chicken. Stibs had to kill him, so he respawn with both eyes. Father, make these with pretty feathers the Great Enchantress bring."

Great Enchantress; That sounded an awful lot like Ba'Shoon. Trillia hoped she'd be able to see Ba'Shoon, Tormosh, and Ralrouk before she had to head back. "I can't wait until I have more time and I can finally see the other floors. Plus, I want a rematch with Stibs and Paws. I think Ialu and I can do some damage."

Tim nodded and jumped into the fenced-in area, chasing after a chicken and tossing it to Ialu, who happily snapped it out of the air. The other chickens sent a barrage of skills her way. Mostly weak, elementally-themed arrow or bolt spells. The majority of them bounced harmlessly off of the skoll.

Trillia shook her head and wagged a finger at Tim and Ialu. "You shouldn't eat their friends in front of them! That's just rude!"

Ialu stopped chewing with feathers sticking out of her mouth, staring at Trillia for a long moment before she slowly turned so her back was to the chickens before she continued chewing.

Trillia rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's leave before the two of you traumatize them even more."

Tim looked at the chickens and then at her. "They remember being food. They train to not be food one day." Nodding happily as he looked at them and then at Trillia once more. Trillia just turned and walked out of the room, mentally urging Ialu to follow her to the healing hall.

The healing hall had changed quite drastically. The sleeping spots were closer to the actual beds the glass spire had. Pillows stuffed with feathers and heavy blankets lay on top of straw mattresses. There were also more raiding goblins than Trillia remembered. Many of them were using actual healing spells now and not just [Restorative Chant].

[Dungeon Goblin - Cleric of Knowledge - 47] Restorative Mana Manipulation

Trillia walked over to one of the goblins, using the only healing she knew to help speed the process along. She also claimed all the goblins in the healing hall as 'allies' and shed a hundred thousand mana. All of them perked up a bit as their mana pools were refilled. The goblin she had gazed at with mana sight turned to her.

"Gracious Lady Trillia!" the goblin did his best to straighten his robes, which were plain white cloth with no markings on them at all, before bowing to her. "Father says that you are my patron's avatar. I am most honored to serve."

Trillia smiled and gave the goblin a hug. "Don't be so formal. I'm Trillia. I take it from your class that you are a cleric of Lord Arlyss?"

The goblin nodded excitedly to her. "Yes, yes. We offer prayers to him after we pray to Father every night. In return, he gifts us with mighty healing magics and moments of clarity. When he visit us, he told us that we had you to thank for his appearance."

Trillia offered a little smile at that. Arlyss had been true to his word for everything so far. "I just wanted to make sure my friends and family were safe. Keep offering prayers to Lord Arlyss and your Father. They are the ones deserving of them. Is it ok if I come by and watch you work? I'd like to learn more healing abilities myself."

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The goblin once more nodded excitedly and motioned for her to follow. They went further into the healing hall and through another door. Trillia was startled to see a few dozen orcs laying in beds, various goblins in robes running about and applying poultices and healing magic to the wounded. "What happened? Is this all from the dungeon?" Trillia turned to look at the cleric who now stood at her side.

"Some of them, yes. Others are from the long bugs on surface. Our healers are quite strong. Not many of your tribe wanted to follow Lord Arlyss. Many of us did, so they bring us the wounded to heal, and in exchange, they bring us many tributes and gifts. Good trade."

Trillia bobbed her head slightly as she looked around at the orcs. Most of them were smiling and joking with the goblins. Trillia was happy to see everyone was getting along. One of the many side doors opened, and two goblins dragged two badly wounded orcs in. A dozen healing spells descended on them in an instant to stabilize them before they were placed in beds. The Cleric chuckled at the sight of it. "Stibs is in a mood today."

Trillia was itching for a go at the dungeon. But for now, she would behave. "May I ask your name?"

"Father calls me Lead Bandage. Everyone else call me Band." The goblin looked at her with his default toothy grin.

She smiled and extended her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Lord Bandage. I'm going to get the rest of my official business done. I'll be back to observe your healing techniques and challenge Stibs again."

The cleric offered a nod. She found Tim on her way out and said a brief goodbye. All in all, she and Ialu had been in the dungeon for a couple hours before she finally left. By this time, the camp had come alive with morning activities. The portal was lit up, and people were coming and going. Maldoun and Kismet were no were to be seen. Amara was at the portal and motioned to Trillia.

"Your friends went through to see the Minotaur city. Amelia is with them. I was hoping I could convince you to join me on a short trip. It's to see your brothers and Ba'Shoon." Amara looked down at her with a smile. Trillia nodded happily and took her mother's hand. Happy to walk alongside her.

"I'm happy to see things are going well with the dungeon. I was worried." Trillia spoke somewhat idly as they walked out of camp.

"They've been rather invaluable allies. Not only do they offer healing, but they also offer spices and different types of meat. I believe the dungeon core is trying to get gemstones to grow and respawn in his dungeon as well. The other orcs and I are thinking about using the dungeon to train children. Instead of our old way."

Trillia's eyes widened a bit. "That's such a good idea! Especially with all the healing they have on hand. It'd be safer than the old way, and children could get pushed harder to gain levels faster."

Amara nodded. "I'm trying to do and be better. I need to remember that our people weren't raised like I was. That they deserve better. I don't want us to lose our culture or become weak, but I also don't want to be seen as barbaric to the rest of the world."

"I don't think our people will accept becoming weak. I think it is why all of us feared living in a walled city because it would take our edge from us."

After a few minutes, Amara picked Trillia up, and they made the rest of the trip utilizing Amara's wings. The landscape flew by under Trillia. Ialu, surprisingly, kept up fairly well with the rapid flight. Trillia wondered if she could work with the wolf to increase their speed while mounted.

A few hours later and significantly closer to the rift, Amara landed. Her brothers, Ba'Shoon, Cordaos, and a few other minotaur, were working on another of the gates that Arlyss had created. The archway itself seemed like a perfect replica. Ba'Shoon was in charge of the half dozen or so minotaurs that were all carefully carving runes into the stone.

Trillia waved to them all. Ralrouk was keeping watch in the direction of the rift. Tormash was helping with the etching process. Cordaos was in charge of smoothing out stone anytime someone made a mistake on the carved runes. Ba'Shoon called for a brief stop so that they could chat.

Cordaos was the first to approach. "Let Stas know that I'll pay him back for that one day. It's good to see you're alive and well." Cordaos rubbed the spot on his head where Stas had knocked him out.

Trillia bowed to him. "I'm sorry, Uncle. I didn't expect him to do that. I stand by my personal decision to leave."

Ba'Shoon moved up and gave her a hug before holding her at arm's length. "This outfit is interesting." She ran her fingers along the sleeves of Trillia's clothing. "It won't do much if someone swings a weapon at you, but it's so light. It also flows enough you can use it to feint. Who made this?"

Trillia returned the hug and smiled at the barrage of questions. "A woman named Rakana. She's a very kind and very skilled tailor. I think you'd get along with her. My old armor was a bit beat up after all the dungeon running I did. This stuff will mend itself if I feed it mana. So it's a good fit."

Tormash offered her a little wave and gave her a hug when Ba'Shoon let her go. Ralrouk joined them shortly after. "The runt finally ran off on her own. I hope you remember our promise?"

Trillia nodded. "I plan to be at a higher level than we promised. D'Jamu has its own problems surrounding it. I'm glad everyone is here, well, except Amelia and Father. I'd like to talk to all of you about a plan I have."

Cordaos and Amara shared a glance and raised their brows. Ralrouk hoisted Trillia up on his shoulder, and the troupe moved towards a small tent to get something to eat. Ialu ran around Ralrouk's legs and barked somewhat angrily at him. "What an excitable wolf you have. Seems like the jealous type." Ralrouk smiled and extended a large hand toward the wolf. Trillia reached out with telepathy to calm her down.

General Skill: [Minor Telepathy] Level 5 - > Level 6

Species: [Mortal]; [Orc] Level 51 -> Level 52

Trillia couldn't help but laugh a little at the timing of the levels. Once they were all seated and had food in front of them, Trillia brought up her plan. "I am going to discuss returning once a month with Lord Arlyss. I also wanted to ask all of you if it would be ok to bring a few citizens of D'Jamu with me each time. Not only to level in the dungeon but also to bridge the gap between our people. The city evidently has a history of slavery. Lord Arlyss is still working to remove the last remnants of it."

Just the word slavery caused everyone to wear a disgusted face. "Much like Kismet and Maldoun - the two representatives I came with this time - I think it would do the people of the city good to see an entire species of people who escaped that life and live freely. I also think having some form of trade will do them wonders. At least until we can deal with our undead problem."

Tormash's grin grew ever wider as he stared at Trillia. "You certainly aren't a normal orc, are you?" At first, everyone gave him a bit of a dirty look. Even Trillia looked shocked. He didn't waver and continued. "I was all in on smashing megapedes when I was eight. You're thinking of bridging a diplomatic gap between two continents, two cities, and two entirely different species. As well as opening up trade."

Trillia flushed slightly with embarrassment at that. "Well. I'm not as capable of smashing megapedes. I said it before, I want to be useful."

Amara was the one to ruffle her hair. "You need to stop saying that. You are useful. There is no becoming useful. You've brought a gateway into our lives that let us live free and still be within range of the city if an emergency arises. You've very successfully negotiated an alliance with a dungeon that's proving far more intelligent than any of us thought, and now you're actively working towards expanding our trade routes and maybe introducing new skills to our people."

Trillia didn't really know what to say to that. Cordaos didn't relent. "You also gave up mortality and were willing to leave your family and friends behind to save the adults that are supposed to save you. Don't ever assume you are anything but heroic in the eyes of the Shattered Plains."

Tears formed in her eyes, and she quickly rubbed them out with her arms and cleared her throat. "I'll keep doing my best. For all of us."

Ialu sat behind her and nuzzled her, laying her head on Trillia's shoulder. Amara ripped off a piece of smoked meat and tossed it to the wolf. "As for your idea. I am ok with it. Under the agreement that anyone you bring over is made very, very aware that an attack on our people will result in death and that any attack on the raiding goblins that don't respawn will also result in death."

Trillia nodded immediately. "Of course. I won't let them betray any of you."

Trillia felt more at ease. That was the big thing she wanted to clear up and get done. She wanted more people to see her and Arlyss as a way out. Less support for the resistance meant they could focus more of their efforts on dealing with the Sage.

Ralrouk scratched his chin and looked at all of them. "I'd like to return with Trillia. If everyone is ok with that."

That brought quite a few quizzical stares. "I don't trust anyone in that city. I just barely trust the deity she is sworn to."

Trillia smiled at just how blunt he was. "I'd be happy to have family close."

The conversation drifted towards other topics, but the plan was in motion. Tomorrow Trillia would try at least one run at the dungeon before contacting Arlyss. It had been a good couple of days so far.