Eating and resting for a bit really lifted our spirits. It made me feel a lot better and gave me some extra energy from the sustenance. I knew I needed to rest in a bed after this, but until we finished there wasn't a safe place for us to stay for an extended period of time. So we had to press on. It would be hard to sleep in here anyway. The lights were not stopping, even after we put the minotaur down for good. Looking over at the exit, it didn't seem any different than the other tunnels, but I could feel something different coming from within it this time.
"Callan!" Someone yelled from beside me.
I jumped and turned to see Vokin yelling at me.
"What is it Vokin, and why are you yelling?" I asked.
"I've been callin' yer name for two minutes now. Ye were looking at that there tunnel and mumbling something and not respondin' to us." Vokin said, looking concerned.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know. I can sense something coming from that way. I'm pretty sure that is where the Shadow Beast is. We need to be careful, but we need to put it down." I said.
"We will, lad. For now, take the time to rest and we will make sure we are ready. But we will be useless if we just run from fight to fight and don't stop to at least regain our stamina and strength from food and water." Vokin added. "We can't afford to be careless in these fights or we won't be here for the next one."
I nodded, but I felt like he didn't really understand what I needed to do. For now, though, I would eat the food and prepare for the fight. I would kill this monster and make sure it knew its place. It tried to hide in this dungeon from me. It had put things in place to stop me and had almost killed a second friend of mine. There was no forgiveness for the atrocities it had committed. Nothing could stop my wrath.
We finished our dried meats and fruits, washed them down with water from our skins, and stretched to prepare for what was to come. Forming up in our standard formation we entered the hallway. The last couple of hallways had nothing in them, but we weren't taking any chances so we stayed ready. This hallway felt darker than the last one had. We still had Rutherford's Illumination spell, but even it seemed slightly dimmer. As though the light was being siphoned off by the overwhelming darkness.
We continued to the end of the tunnel, meeting no obstructions, and once again were faced with a large set of doors. This time though the wood was jet black. As though it had been burned to look this color. The handles were also jet black and pitted making them look really old. I stopped and looked back at the team. They looked back with steely-eyed gazes. I nodded to them and put a hand on the door to push it. Then I smashed my nose into the door as I tried to push it open, but it wouldn't move.
"Seriously!? Is every door in this world switching directions just to mess with me?"
The entire rest of the party was now laughing at me. Even Zephyr appeared to be chuckling, which was odd to hear from a cat of his size.
"OK, get it all out, it's so funny. This has literally been happening in every dungeon I've been in."
"If ye wouldn't walk into it so confident of the direction and just push and pull from a standing position like a normal person, that wouldn't happen to ye," Vokin said through laughter.
I could feel my ears turning red from embarrassment.
"Well, now that we know it's a pull, please 'pull' yourselves together. We need to be ready for this fight." I said.
Everyone sobered up and got their laughter under control. We once again readied our weapons and I pulled on the handle this time, swinging the door open. The room was pitch black. The darkness took on a thickness that I had never experienced before. It seemed to almost be an oppressive presence. I couldn't believe the feeling was so strong. It almost felt difficult to breathe. As we stepped into the room, I could see the darkness press on what little light we had. It caused the light given off from the Illumination spell to be stopped in a bubble around us. We couldn't see the end of the room in any direction except the way we had come as the light was still within range of the door. Once we moved past that though, we would be unable to tell which way to go.
Not ready to let the one direction we knew about out of my sight just yet, I paused.
"Anyone have any spells to help with the darkness?" I asked.
"I've got one thing that might work," Rutherford offered. "Though I can't guarantee how it will work, or what exactly will happen."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's my channel divinity. It can be used to help out in a situation, but the god decides how that help happens."
"Seems like better odds than just standing here hoping for something to happen. Unless someone else has a better idea?"
Everyone else shook their heads.
"Alright Rutherford, let's see what you got."
"Just as a side note, I can only use this skill once a day. So this is it until this time tomorrow."
"Well, then let's hope the gods come through for us. Can you choose which god to ask for help from?"
"No, I have to choose the one I swore service to. The one that made me a Cleric."
"And who was that?"
"Geneva, goddess of light and life."
"Well, I must admit, that sounds really promising right now. Let's do it."
"Keep watch for me, this might take a minute," Rutherford said, and then closed his eyes, went down to one knee, and put his hands in a prayer position.
The rest of us took up position around Rutherford and kept an eye out for any danger in the room. All was quiet though. Then out of the darkness, something jumped at us. It hissed in pain and its attack was thrown off slightly as the light from the spell started burning it, but it barreled out at Vokin. He was ready with his shield though and held it up to stop the attack. As it struck we all turned our heads to look at it. It appeared to be a ram made almost entirely of shadows. It hit the shield with so much force it sounded like a gong had been struck. Vokin cried out and then activated a skill. It looked like Shield Bash, as the creature was suddenly thrown back into the darkness with a huge push from Vokin. Vokin Grunted and held his arm.
"You alright Vokin?" I called to him.
"Aye, but I think me arm might be broken. That really hurt!" He called back.
"I can cast a minor heal, but Rutherford is going to have to heal it if it's a break. Hopefully, he can finish soon."
We stood there again, not hearing anything. Then we could hear the sound of hooves and claws around the outside perimeter of light. Nothing came into the light though. Whatever creature had hit us before apparently not liking the burning of the light. A minute or two later a brilliant white light came from behind us. Turning to see what it was, I once again saw a woman standing in our midst. This time the woman wore flowing robes of the purest white I had ever seen. They almost hurt my eyes to look at. She was absolutely beautiful, with delicate features that any supermodel on earth would have been green with envy over. She looked down and touched Rutherford on the head.
"My child, you have called for divine intervention. I am however curious about what my sister saw in your band of adventurers and decided to come see for myself." The woman spoke.
Her voice was smooth and light, like the sound of bells on a breeze. I couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and happiness looking at her. She turned to me then.
"Hello, Callan Ryder. I am Geneva, goddess of light and life. My child, Rutherford has told me of your plight and I have come to see what I can do to help. My sister was with you earlier, and I was curious to see what her fascination was about. I must say, that I am not sure what she sees, but then again the balance of all creation is not the burden I bear. I see you are in a place of much darkness. A place that should not exist, but somehow has been created with a power that is not natural."
"It is an honor to meet you, my lady," I said, bowing slightly.
"I have seen that you, yourself are in a dark place. You hold much sorrow and anger in your heart. You must learn to let those emotions go, lest they consume you. The heart of mortals are not meant to hold such terrible feelings."
"....It....it is difficult for me to let go so soon."
"Of course, it is, child. You have experienced great loss. But as my sister has no doubt told you, it is for a purpose. What that purpose is I could not tell you, even if I knew. But I have seen the work my sister does, and it always is for the greater good."
"You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe."
She chuckled lightly, the sound of bubbles on a spring day.
"Of course, you cannot understand the vast concepts that are involved with the balance of the cosmos. I do not begrudge you those feelings. I merely warn you not to let them consume you."
I looked around and noticed everyone else was kneeling.
"Oh, don't worry about them. They have been raised in a different world than you. A world where the gods and goddesses are actively involved in the world. Besides, I am not so proper that I feel every mortal needs to bow to me. Sometimes it's nice to just have a real conversation without my goddess this, and my goddess that."
"Well, Geneva, while it has been a pleasure meeting you, we are in a bit of a hurry here, what exactly can you do for us?"
"Straight to business, I like that. Well, I have come personally to offer you a choice. You can take option A, where the help will be immediate and help you in this one situation, or you can take option B which will offer less help now but will be more valuable over time."
"Can I know the details of each option?"
"No. Consider this to be a bit of a test," Geneva said, a small smile appearing on her face.
"A test...Like I'm a plaything for someone of your status and power?"
"Not at all, Callan. In the same way, when you meet someone new and wish to determine the 'cut of their jib' as it appears they say in your world, I too wish to see your character."
"How so you know that saying?"
"I'm a goddess Callan, I know of many things. There are many perks to being in this position. Yet, almost as many downsides as well." Geneva said, looking sad at the last bit.
"Let me think, this is hard..."
"That's what she said," Geneva said, interjecting quickly.
I had to chuckle at that one. I had used that phrase so many times with my friends back on earth.
"I was saying this is hard without knowing what I'm signing up for, but nice to see that the goddess of light and life isn't so straight-laced."
The others had now stood, realizing that I was having a normal conversation with a goddess who had essentially said all their respectful gestures were nice, but not necessary right now. Vokin was once again staring at me in open fascination. The goddess took notice.
"Vokin Ironspine. Why do you feel such awe with the way that the Dragonrider and I converse?" She asked turning to him while I thought about my choice.
Vokin immediately went to one knee again.
"I...well you see... it's just that...." He stammered for a moment. "We were taught that the gods would be angry if not shown the greatest of respects. That they be so far above us that to not kneel in their presence would be to bring about one's own death."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"It is proper to show the gods and goddesses respect, but it is not necessary to always grovel before them. We are beings as well, though beings far above your power, we are bound by rules just as you are." Geneva said staring down at his kneeling form with a bit of a mischievous smile. "That said, I saw what you did that one time in a temple!" She said, suddenly.
Vokin threw himself to the floor and began shaking slightly and begging for forgiveness.
The goddess really laughed at this display.
"Rise, Vokin Ironspine. I am, but joking. You take things far too seriously."
Vokin began picking himself up from the floor and looked much paler than normal. I couldn't help but laugh at the joke as well.
"I think I have made my decision. I will choose option B."
Geneva smiled warmly at me.
"I am glad for this choice. It shows me there is still hope, Estel." She said, using my title to emphasize my role in this entire endeavor.
My smile faltered slightly at the use of the title given to me by Al'Doran. The goddess waved her hand and a light flew from her fingertips to my chest.
Congratulations:
Spell Learned: Dispel Darkness.
Casting Dispel Darkness will remove magical darkness in the area around you for a range of 60 feet. Magical Darkness cannot be cast again in the area affected by Dispel Darkness for a period of 30 minutes.
Casting Time: 1 second
Mana Cost: 25
Cooldown: N/A
Spell School: Light
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 1
Spell Rank: Beginner
"Well, that was exactly what we needed right now. Really makes me wonder what option A was."
"Oh, I was just going to purge the dungeon for you. But then you wouldn't have that spell for later."
"I see. Knowing that would not have made my decision easier actually. I really want to kill this thing myself."
"There it is again. That anger you are holding onto. Remember, the seeds born from anger grow roots that dive deep. If you let it take root, you will struggle to remove it and it will try to consume you."
"I'll keep an eye out, but these creatures have done too much harm already and need to be destroyed."
"I do not disagree, but do not let your hate and sorrow cloud your judgment, Callan Ryder. You have to be a light in this darkness, not more darkness. With that, I will leave you. Rutherford, keep the light and life of your heart alive, you have done well my child. To your party I offer you a blessing, continue to let the light guide you, and you will walk the right path."
With that, Geneva spread her arms wide, a mote of light touching each of us on the forehead, including Aeolith and Zephyr, as she vanished in a bright flash of light.
Blessing of Geneva:
You have received the blessing of Geneva. You have been granted the bonus Darkness resistance +25% for the next 24 hours.
For the next 24 hours, all dark spells are 25% less effective against you.
The room appeared much darker than it had while Geneva was here. The noises also resumed, but this time with growling and hissing from the darkness. It appeared that nothing wanted to join us in the light while Geneva was here. I couldn't blame them. Shadows in the presence of the goddess of light sounded like their worst nightmare. Though I also noticed how she kept her light in check and didn't let it go much past our bubble of light.
"I guess I should get to work on this darkness. Be ready though, anything could jump out at us once I start getting rid of its hiding spots. Rutherford, give Vokin a quick healing before I start."
He nodded and turned to Vokin, casting a spell. Glowing light surrounded Vokin and he visibly relaxed. He had probably been in a lot of pain throwing himself to the ground in Geneva's presence. Just going to show his fear of what they could do to someone.
"Alright, let's get this party started," I said raising a hand toward the darkness instinctively.
I cast Dispel Darkness right in front of us. As I did, the darkness began to swirl in on itself as though it was water being pulled down a drain. Soon the darkness was gone sixty feet in front of us where the light could now shine. Two creatures darted into the darkness on either side of the newly lit areas, smoking slightly as they moved out of view.
"Oh no, you don't!"
I cast Dispel Darkness again to the right, then to the left, the darkness being sucked away again. The room was proving to be a lot larger than the last room, I still couldn't see the walls and I had cleared the room to about one hundred and eighty feet across. Turning directly to my right I dispelled the darkness there as well as to my left.
"I'm going to burn a lot of mana this way. How big is this freaking room?" I said.
We moved forward and I cast Dispel Darkness three more times Still not seeing any walls to the room. I downed a mana potion to up my regeneration and give me back three hundred points. Then we moved to the edge of the darkness again and I cast it in front of us. This time when I cast it, the back of the room appeared about fifty feet away. Good to know. We also saw what we came here for, a man sitting in the lotus position in front of a stone door. I rushed at him, intent on not giving him a chance to do anything. His eyes opened and he rolled out of the way of my blade, the rest of the magic darkness dissipating as he did.
"Oh, did I break your concentration?" I taunted the man as he turned to me, his face full of fury and his eyes bright red.
He yelled, throwing his hands out to both sides and a wave of force left him and hit me, tossing me backward. I landed and rolled to get back to my feet. His shadow extended as the others had and grew into a large lizard-like creature. It was much less transparent than any of the other beasts except the general we had fought.
"This one might be tough, watch yerselves!" Vokin yelled, running to the front to take up defense.
The shadow creature struck out toward us and Rutherford threw out a life shield in front of it right as it was about to try to bite down on Vokin. It got a mouth full of life magic instead, and while it didn't have the same effect as light magic did on the shadows, it clearly wasn't happy with the experience. Aeolith and Zephyr ran around to flank it but were cut off by two other shadow creatures one shaped like a ram, and one shaped like a snake.
Zephyr halted in his tracks to growl at the snake-shaped creature, not having light-based attacks to deal much damage. Aeolith, however, pounced on the ram and bit and tore into it and then released a light breath attack at point-blank range with her mouth around the ram's neck, killing it almost instantly. That was new. It must have been one of the really weak Shadow Beasts.
"Rutherford, go help Zephyr!" I called over to him.
I could hear the movement of his heavy armor as he went to help.
"This one is mine."
I ran past vokin, through the light shield, and straight at the lizard. I slashed my sword up at its face. Its clawed hand was already on its way down to step on me though and got in my way. The sword slashed into its front and exploded with light, almost completely destroying its hand. The beast hissed and drew back in pain and fear from the attack, clearly not expecting to meet such force. I didn't let it get far and let loose a light breath attack into its leg causing it to stumble, then I ran forward and slashed at its chest. Another explosion ripped through the beast and then Aeolith was there, jumping on top of the beast and wrestling it to the ground. It tried to fight with her, and they were about the same size, but the lizard clearly didn't have the upper hand. It clawed at her scales and cut her in a few places, but her scales were tough. She was bleeding in a few places, but that was nothing compared to the devastation Aeolith brought with her. She had bit down on the neck of the beast and was using her hind claws to dig at the beast's back like a dog trying to bury a bone.
The creature howled in pain and fury as it tried to get free. Missing most one hand though, it was at a disadvantage. They rolled around while it tried to get free, but Aeolith used her wings to keep herself on top of the beast. Vokin had run past during the distraction and had used a shield bash on the man behind it to smash him into a wall.
"Callan! Come end this!" Vokin called.
I ran to him and looked down at the man holding onto the shield while Vokin struggled to keep him in place. He saw me and grabbed the shield and tossed Vokin aside with a single huge exertion. I rushed forward, determined to not give him a chance, and rammed my sword into his gut. The man's eyes bulged and he tried to grab onto the sword. I put my hand on his face and cast the spell.
"From darkness, you came, to darkness, you shall return, LUX NEGAT TUUM ESSE!"
The light shone from every orifice on his face and the shadow lizard was destroyed. I heard the sounds of fighting from my left and then saw a bright flash of light and the sounds stopped. I looked over to see Rutherford with his hand outstretched and Zephyr laying on his side, but his chest rose and fell so he was still alive.
Randal, who hadn't been much help in the shadow fight, rushed over to Zephyr to check on him. Rutherford was already there casting a spell on Zephyr, who sat up and licked Rutherford's face. He moved over to take a look at Aeolith next and healed her as well. Then he noticed the man still impaled on my sword.
"Callan, you stabbed him?"
"I had to keep him still. Besides. I didn't pull it out. Rule one-o-one of stabbings, never pull out." I said, chuckling to myself slightly, thinking about a YouTuber I used to watch on earth who had a skit about that.
"Well you have to take it out now so I can heal it," Rutherford said.
I yanked the sword out of his stomach unceremoniously, and let him fall to the floor. Rutherford gave me a dour look and then set to work healing the man. I meanwhile went to go look at the door that was behind where the man was seated in the lotus position at the start of the fight. I put my hand on the door and it opened easily. Behind it was a small room, about a ten by ten area with a stalactite and a stalagmite reaching toward each other with some kind of smooth, oval-shaped crystal in between them. It shone with a blueish light and appeared to float in between the two rock formations with glowing lights reaching into the top and bottom rocks.
I approached the stone and reached out to touch it. As my hand touched the smooth surface a prompt filled my vision.
Item Found:
Dungeon Core
You have found the dungeon core of the Dungeon of Shadows. This Dungeon core was corrupted to become the Dungeon of Shadows by a Shadow Beast that drew off of its power, now that the Shadow Beast has been killed, the power that poisoned it has been removed. You may claim the Dungeon core for yourself and it will change its nature to suit the needs of the one who claimed it. Take this to a settlement that you control and you may integrate it into your settlement. Would you like to claim this dungeon core?
Yes No
I decided to select Yes this time since we were not in fear of hiding anymore. I received another prompt in response.
Item Acquired:
Dungeon Core
As you are the first person to claim this core, you are given a bonus stat boost.
+2 to Intelligence, +2 to Strength
You may now remove the core and the powers of the dungeon will no longer affect the area and the creatures it can create will no longer respawn. Take this core to a settlement you have control of and you can integrate it into your settlement.
I reached out and took the stone from its perch and put it into my bag of holding for now. I then turned and went back out to the rest of the party, who were now all healed and looking much better.
"What was in there?" Tristan asked.
"The Dungeon Core. Al'Doran told me if I claim it I can get a stat boost and if I ever own a settlement I can add it to the settlement." I replied.
"That is really cool! Great prize for all the effort we put in. Too bad you don't own a settlement."
"Not a big issue. I can hold onto it for now, and the boost to stats was worth taking it."
We gathered with the rest of the group and Rutherford approached me.
"Next time you probably shouldn't stab the guy who is possessed. We almost lost him."
"Look everything worked out didn't it? Besides, we needed to stop the Shadow Beast. It was trying to kill us."
"And that just gives you the right to kill whoever to get to it? What happened to saving everyone we can?" He shot back.
"We are saving a lot of people doing this, but what if it had gotten away? Ran off and we couldn't catch it? Then how many would it have killed?"
"We're in a dungeon, Callan. Where was it going to go? Are you just going to tell me the ends justify the means now so you can do whatever you want to kill these beasts?"
"Don't you remember what they did? They killed Al'Doran! They are dangerous. We have to stop them. I have to stop them. We can't just play it safe and let them run loose. They must be killed!"
Rutherford paused and stared at me with a mix of confusion, concern, and sorrow.
"You've changed, Callan. We are the heroes of light. We are here to save people, not kill them."
"I'm not saying that we are here to kill people, Rutherford. For crying out loud, I may be the only person that can kill some of if not almost all of these things. Sometimes in war, there are casualties. We can't save everyone, but we can kill all the bad guys here. And that is what I am going to do."
I pushed past him to check on Aeolith.
"You shouldn't be so hard on him," Aeolith spoke to me mentally.
"He doesn't understand what's at stake here."
"I think he understands perfectly. He did bring Tristan back from the dead if you recall."
"Maybe we should take this fight on without them next time."
"You really think it's wise to go without them?"
"We almost lost Tristan, and Rutherford doesn't seem to have the guts to do what we have to in order to win. Vokin and Randal don't have light damage so we would be faster and better off without them at this point. They can help when we find the generals. Until then we can even travel faster if I ride with you."
"I'm not sure, Callan."
"Look, do you want to avenge Al'Doran's death or do you want to let more people die while we mess around being high and mighty about this?"
She looked sad for a moment, then looked back at me.
"I'm with you, my soul. You know that."
We touched foreheads and I placed a hand lovingly on the side of her face.
"Then when we get back and rest, we leave for the next sighting without them for now. They will be able to help in the future, but for now, we need to start doing this faster to kill as many as we can."
I walked back over to the group and we packed up to start heading out of the dungeon. The man Rutherford had healed, who had been possessed by the Shadow Beast was coming back to consciousness and we told him what had happened. Apparently, he didn't have any recollection of what had happened and had no idea where he was. He was grateful that we were able to rescue him, though, and was ready to head back to the surface.
We walked back through the tunnels we had fought through, no door opened at the end of this dungeon as they had in the past, which was odd.
"Brutus, why were we not able to get out at the end as we had in other dungeons?"
"There are a good number of possible reasons. This dungeon may not have been allowed to make that kind of exit because of the Shadow Beasts' control, or it may have not had the means to get you four stories back up to the surface in a quick manner. It also could be simply because it didn't want to create that exit. It is up to the dungeons to create the layout they desire most of the time."
"More and more I find I just don't know. Thanks, Brutus."
Once we got back to the entrance of the dungeon, we found the front door already open for us. It seemed that taking the core opened all the exits since it removes the source of power that would normally control the doors opening and closing functions. We left the tower and went through the garden and back into town. The man we were with, Steven he had said his name was, called out to the townspeople and let them know he was OK.
The townspeople came out to see him. They all seemed very skeptical at first, but soon more and more people came out to see him. Relief flooded through the town that they were safe from the repercussions of possibly having their loved ones killed. They thanked me profusely for helping to rid the town of the Shadow Beasts.
Since the Shadow Beasts had dug down into the dungeon and taken over that area mostly, not much damage had been done to the town. So it seemed safe to let the townspeople stay there. We said our farewells, mounted up and left the town headed back for Jewelston.