Fred had spent several years on the eastern frontier after fleeing from Guilone, which he had since learned had been renamed to Uttara. Having been an apprentice carpenter in the nation’s capital, he was far more qualified than any other woodworker along the frontier, and he had enjoyed a tremendous amount of popularity among his various neighbors.
Since moving to the frontier, Fred might not have done almost any fine work or anything with any real quality to it, but there was something to be said for trying to figure out how to use what was available to complete the jobs that others needed done.
Unfortunately, that also meant that Fred had been part of too many barn raisings and cobbling together primitive huts with his friends and neighbors.
Fred’s reputation and skills also meant that he was one of the frontiersmen who knew practically everyone within several days’ journey of his home. That included people like Bertha, who had built her home in the wilderness decades before the frontier had been settled. People claimed she was a witch, but Fred knew enough to recognize another fugitive on the run.
Fred had also helped former soldiers, like the brothers Ben and Brad, getting them connected with the various homesteaders and farmers who needed help from some unskilled laborers.
When the brothers had started to hunt as their regular job in order to trade meat with the locals, Fred had been one of their most reliable clients. He was a carpenter, not a farmer or a butcher, and he had no desire to raise animals, not even some chickens for their eggs. Fred had always preferred to specialize and cooperate with others who did the same.
It was for that reason that the brothers stopped by with Fred every fourth day, trading some fresh meat for new arrow shafts that they would fletch and tip.
Unfortunately, the brothers were already a few days late, and Fred had started to get worried about them. They might have been soldiers, but they had admitted to barely making it through training, and Guilone had fallen while they had been en route to the battlefield. With the fall of the capital, most of the army had scattered, all of the soldiers trying to find safety in anonymity. Fred would not be surprised if the brothers were completely green and had never seen a proper battle.
He was sitting on his stoop in a rocking chair he had made, enjoying a peach in the late summer evening, when he heard footsteps approaching. This put him a bit on edge, as no one should be visiting this late, and anyone who would likely need help rather desperately. After all, who wanted to return home in the dark?
Looking to the left, Fred was relieved to see his heavy hammer within reach. It was important to be able to protect oneself when they lived alone like Fred.
“Ho Fred! Sorry we’re late, but got a couple ‘a pheasants for ya.”
Surprisingly, it was Ben and Brad, just four days late. Where had they been?
“Come on up and have a seat here with me. Want a peach? I don’t have anything but water to offer you right now, but the peaches from Judith down the way are delicious this year.”
The brothers stepped out of the tree, coming around a bend in the path that led to Fred’s house. They moved through the late afternoon shadows of the trees, but did not seem to be injured, from what Fred could see.
“Where’ve you been? I was gettin’ worried about you two. Thought you might’ve run into a bear or a panther or something.”
“We’re fine, Fred. Sorry for worryin’ ya. Just got caught up in the swamp and we weren’t able to get back for a few days, but everything’s just fine.”
“‘N fact, if ya want, we’ve got more than a couple ‘a pheasants you can have. Managed to bag a few ducks and even got a goose,” Ben added to Brad’s assurances.
Fred relaxed back in his chair, relieved that the brothers were all right. They were a reliable source of good food, and with time, Fred felt they could both become decent friends.
He leaned back and grabbed a couple of peaches from the bucket Judith had left with him. He had not been lying, as they really were delicious, and the bucket had more than paid for the door Fred had made for the woman. He almost felt bad about using some of the weak white pine instead of something more solid and durable.
He tossed the two peaches over to the approaching brothers, but one of the peaches went quite astray, and Ben had to take a couple of steps to the left to catch it.
Surprisingly, Ben took only one step, but while he snatched the peach out of the air, he had moved too quickly, and he was unable to stop before he ran into a sapling and proceeded to plow right through it.
Somehow, Ben turned his trip into a one-handed hand spring and he flipped back onto his feet in an impressive display of agility that left him surprised and Brad almost on his back from laughing too hard.
“Ben, you still haven’t gotten it under control? You already ran into that thorn bush off the trail, and into the pool in the swamp. I really thought you’d be used to it by now.”
Ben flushed red, and the color even climbed his slightly pointed ears.
Wait, I don’t remember Ben having pointy ears.
The brothers stepped onto Fred’s stoop, and he rose to clasp their hands. Even more disconcerting than Ben’s ears was the fact that both of the brothers were at least half a hand taller than Fred, even though he clearly remembered looking down on them both in the past.
Fred had a terrible premonition.
“Thanks for the peaches, Fred, and sorry again for bein’ so late. We’re tryin’ to hurry up and make our deliveries, since we missed a day.”
“A day? You’re four days late, Ben.”
The brothers both twitched, and they exchanged glances. It was clear that they were missing three entire days that had passed.
“Fred, what’s today?”
“It’s thirday, second week of the third summer moon.”
The brothers both jerked back, clearly startled and disturbed.
“Fred, has anything happened while we were gone? Anyone go missing or anything?”
“Just you two, Brad. Though I doubt most even know about it. Not sure who else you were needing to deliver to, but don’t think you’ll be able to make up for four or five days of missed deliveries.”
Ben grimaced as Brad started counting on his fingers, clearly trying to understand how far behind they were with their hunting. His increasingly wide eyes and pale face made the matter quite clear to Fred.
“Ben, we need to go. By tomorrow night, we need to stop by with everyone we owe. We can’t afford to lose any of these orders. Do you think we should…?”
Ben shook his head, but also stood back up and moved to leave. “Thanks for the peaches, Fred, and sorry for bein’ late. This one’s on us, as an apology for bein’ late. Won’t happen again.
“Also, we… found somethin’ that might be of interest to a few folks here and there. We need to look into it a bit more, but we might try to put together a group in a few weeks for… some exercise.”
At that moment, Fred understood his fears that had grown stronger and stronger as he had spoken to the brothers, as he heard the echo of his father’s voice from the two’s words and actions.
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These two had somehow managed to find a dungeon in the eastern frontier!
As the brothers bade their goodbyes, Fred was so shocked that he had no idea what he said to them. By the time he came to his senses, the sun had set and the second moon was high in the sky.
The next day also passed in a blur as Fred automatically worked on a few of the projects he had in process. If anyone had spoken to him, he would not be able to tell them if he was thinking about the past or the present, as the two had merged together. Fred was reliving the trauma of his last weeks in Guilone, and seeing it play out again among his neighbors on the eastern frontier.
“Ho, Fred. Got the second bucket of peaches for you. The door to the storage shed’s already paid itself off, as the vermin haven’t been able to force their way through it. Might need to have you replace the door on my house as well if that bear returns this autumn.”
Judith walked right into Fred’s workshop and plopped the bucket down on the small cupboard he had been working on, scuffing the wood and leaving a small dent that he would need to sand out.
Returning to his senses at the disruption, Fred looked up at his nearest neighbor. Judith was old enough to be Fred’s mother, but life on the frontier had made her look like she had half a step in the grave. Her face was a wrinkled mess, and her hair was a shocking white. However, unlike what Fred had seen in Guilone among the elderly, Judith still had all of her crooked yellow teeth, and they made her smiles appear terrifying in his eyes.
“What?”
“I brought you the second bucket of peaches. We agreed on three buckets of peaches for the door for my storage shed. Remember?” It was clear that Judith was quite amused at Fred’s confusion.
“Right, right. Sorry, I’ve been a bit distracted today.
“Say, Judith, did Brad and Ben stop by and see you yesterday evening or today?”
“They came back? Glad to hear the boys are fine, though I haven’t seen them yet. I don’t rely on them as much as you do. I’ve got my chickens, who keep me fed and give me a bit of company.”
Fred grimaced. He really did not want to hurt the two young men, but he had already seen how using dungeons twisted people and ruined all that they touched. After losing both his family and his city, Fred had moved to the most remote place possible. He knew that the only thing that had kept him alive when his father and brothers had been questioned had been the fact that they had somehow managed to stay quiet about him. After all, his mother had also never visited the sewers, and she had also been arrested.
That had been the worst day of Fred’s life, and he still woke up in a cold sweat some nights.
If he wanted to protect himself and his neighbors, they all needed to stay far away from Ben and Brad before everything came crashing down.
Steeling himself with a deep breath, Fred continued, “Well, you need to be careful around them now. They got themselves caught up in the same mess as my da and brothers, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”
Judith might not know the details about Fred’s past, but between the news that had arrived with the other immigrants to the frontier and a few hints that Fred had dropped over the years, the old woman knew that Fred had lost his entire family because his father and brothers had gotten caught up in some mess that had seen the army fall down on them like a hammer. There had only been one incident that had caused such a commotion, other than the empire’s invasion: the dungeons.
If Brad and Ben were caught up in dungeon stuff… Actually, Judith had no idea what it meant at all, as the details concerning such events had been either dismissed as delusions of those telling the stories, or suppressed by the governments of every nation involved.
As the hours passed, the peaches in the bucket disappeared, and Judith finally learned some details about Fred’s past, as well as some of the more closely guarded secrets regarding dungeons.
“You’re telling me that people go into these monster infested holes in the ground, and by killing them, they can become faster and stronger? Are they from the gods?”
Judith’s initial reaction was the same as most people’s, as for hundreds and thousands of years, magic had belonged solely to the gods and their chosen few. Thus, anything supernatural or magical was naturally associated with the gods in people’s minds.
“From what I could learn, the gods have nothing to do with the dungeons, and the government even made sure to keep the priests away from them. All I know for sure is that the gods did not make the dungeons, but they change anyone who goes into them. People might become faster and stronger, or gain magic, but they stop being who they were. Saw that for myself, and the only thing that scared me worse than seein’ them change, was having them taken away. I’m not going through that again, and Brad and Ben are already too far gone. I saw how they moved. It’s not right.”
While Judith did not say anything about agreeing with Fred’s assessment, he could see that she was already essentially convinced.
However, having successfully convinced one neighbor just made what Fred had to do next weigh on him even heavier.
***
Ben and Brad were feeling quite lost and confused, despite knowing exactly where they were. When they had entered the dungeon in the swamp, they had spent less than a day in it hunting beasts and exploring. It had been slightly more difficult than they had expected, but none of the battles had been particularly difficult or dangerous.
They had seen the boss at the end of the cavern, but had turned back and continued to explore the cavern instead of risking their lives against an unknown boss.
They had both reaped significant rewards from the dungeon, and they had only rested briefly in the safety of the tunnel before leaving.
Yet somehow, they had managed to lose nearly a week of time, and on top of that, the moment they had emerged from the dungeon, it had become apparent that more had changed than they had expected.
They had heard of people dealing with increased strength, speed, and various senses, but other than a bit of age taken away from some of the older soldiers, neither of the brothers had ever heard of anyone undergoing the physical changes they saw in each other.
Both of them had grown several fingers taller, and yet they seemed more slender than ever. Their eyes were a bit larger than before, and their ears had grown noticeably longer and even tapered slightly.
Neither of them had gained any sort of skill or magic, and so they really did not understand the comfort they felt when they entered the forest, and the feeling of being watched they experienced when they left the trees.
Fortunately, Brad usually wore a hat, and Ben’s hair was long enough to conceal their ears as they tried to make their various deliveries.
Their first delivery had been when they had learned that they had spent several days in the dungeon without being aware of it.
They immediately decided not to return to the dungeon for the time being, terrified at the prospect of potentially losing more time.
However, things did not improve for them. As the days passed and they made their rounds and completed their deliveries of fresh game and meat, they found that almost no one was willing to place any new orders, and some people outright refused to accept anything from either of the brothers.
It was clear they were no longer welcome, but what had changed with their neighbors?
About a month after their delve into the dungeon, Cassian, another former soldier, had finally taken pity on them, and had approached them in a rather covert manner. Even if he was willing to speak to Brad and Ben, it was clear that Cassian was unwilling to be seen doing so.
“Cass, what happened? Are people really this upset that we were a few days late? We haven’t been able to get any orders or make any trades in more than two weeks! Talk to us.” Ben was practically begging the man.
Cassian shook his head. “You two really made a mess of things, you know that? All of us are being checked and examined now, and a few more old soldiers are being shunned the same as you.”
“But why? What did we do?”
“Did you two fools really believe you could keep a gods damned dungeon a secret? You think no one noticed how you’ve changed? Or would understand what could do that? Fred’s from Guilone! His own da went to the sewer dungeon! It’s what got his whole family killed!” Cassian’s voice rose higher and higher as he spoke, his irritation transforming into open anger, startling the two brothers.
Brad spoke up first. “Cass, I don’t understand. Sure, there’s a dungeon, but why are folk avoiding us? What’s wrong with goin’ to a dungeon?”
Cassian glared at the younger man, but as he stared, the anger seemed to drain out of the man, visibly aging him. “Where are you two boys from?”
They glanced at each other, and Ben said, “Up north. Small lake town called Fisherman’s Roost.”
“No wonder you don’t know better. You two even finish training with the army?”
“Basic, sure. Our squad was also scheduled for a dungeon delve as a reward, but the empire invaded and we were sent south. Never even made it to the army before everything fell apart.”
Cassian nodded. “Makes sense. See, the army don’t want you knowin’ before you get sent in, but while it’s amazing what you can get from a dungeon, those kinds of changes can scare a lot of people. There’s no denying that it ain’t natural, and lots of folk see anything unnatural as evil. ‘Specially in Farun, things are pretty bad with the regular folk. Nobles don’t mind too much, but after the sewer dungeon was discovered and all the people who had used it were rounded up, Farun’s had a real negative view of dungeon delvers.”
As the man spoke, irritation and confusion warred for control of Brad’s features, but Ben’s face grew paler the more he heard.
All of their experiences over the last month clicked into place, and Ben understood just what it was that they had been dealing with. This was a matter of superstition and fear, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the two brothers to ever reconnect with the community.
He had been saving up and working towards being able to formally court Anna, but what Cass was saying made it clear that Ben would never be able to be with Anna.