I awoke with a start, desperately sucking in a breath. I tried to survey the room, frantically checking for threats that were no longer there, but everything was rather blurry. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I whipped around, slapping it away in the process. On the receiving end of my attack was a large armored figure, standing in shocked silence.
“Selka,” I asked, my wits starting to return to me. A wave of relief swept over me as the figure nodded. “What happened? I remember touching the crystal and being blown back, but not how we got here or where here even is.”
“After you destroyed the core, the revenants were wiped away, and the corpses became dormant again,” he explained. “Arlin and I found the teleport shard you mentioned on Irayim’s body, and used it to bring us all back. We’re currently in the healing ward of the academy.”
My mind was pulled in several different directions, attempting to process the information against my own recollection of events. I felt a pang of guilt, remembering Irayim’s death. Had I stopped to consider that I was meant to be escorting and protecting him, rather than charging through the dungeon in a mad dash for money, maybe we’d have all come back. The guilt was swept away by a strong fear over how quickly he had become the dungeon’s puppet, nearly being reanimated before I could realize he had died in the first place. I had definitely taken for granted how dangerous the task could be.
“Okay, so we did it,” I began. “But what the hell is a revenant and why did nobody tell me that a crystal was capable of manipulating the dead like they’re just tools? You guys warned me there would be traps in the labyrinth, but specifically said it was unlikely there would be any monsters. And there were hardly any traps!” Selka remained silent for a moment, a ruminative expression painting his face.
“Revenants are pure magical energy given form. While not common, dungeons have been known to contain them from time to time. However, for any one dungeon to contain so many is unheard of,” he stated. “Most dungeons have some level of control of the magic around them, which is what causes them to be dangerous. Never before have I encountered a core that is capable of multiple magics, let alone one with such a level of control. There have been recent rumors of such occurrences, but they’re widely regarded as myths, so we did not know to expect it.”
A small pit formed in my stomach, allowing paranoia to take root. Astema was already leagues more dangerous than Earth, but I had already encountered several signs that the danger was only increasing. There’s a war bad enough to distract literal gods, something that was able to scare a man into abandoning his own universe, and violent crystals are growing more violent, I thought. Can’t help but feel like I ended up here at the worst possible time.
“Shouldn’t we be telling someone what happened, then,” I asked.
“Arlin is at the Dungeoneer’s Association making a report now, do not worry.” I relaxed, if only marginally, before remembering that the money I needed to get home was awaiting my arrival.
“What are we waiting for, then? I’m sure they’d like to hear it from us, too,” I said, as I hopped out of the bed I was laying in. My legs gave out the moment they touched the floor, and the movement reminded me I had lost quite a bit of blood by making the entire room spin. Selka rushed over and helped me to my feet, trying to place me back on the bed. I protested, saying that I’d be fine with a little bit of help, and asked him to grab my stuff instead. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided that delaying was of no use.
“While you managed not to burn yourself to death in your attack on the core, the same cannot be said for your equipment,” Selka said, gesturing over to a nearby countertop. To my horror, I saw a mostly melted heap of plastic and metal that was once my plate carrier. The heat of the flames had managed to melt the nylon into a misshapen lump, the ammunition that had been in the magazines having cooked off and further warped what was left. It had apparently been recovered due to it melting onto me before the fire went out, but the only thing left that even slightly resembled its former self was the blade of my knife.
“I need the platinum even more now, then,” I said dejectedly. “So please, let’s just go. I’ll worry about that later.” Selka reluctantly obliged, throwing one of my arms over his shoulder and practically carrying me out the door. Before long, we were entering the dungeoneers’ headquarters and making our way to the desk in the reception area. By the time we had arrived, Arlin had finished making his report and was waiting on one of the lobby benches.
Selka and I gave our accounts of the events that transpired, which ended up taking a few hours. After all was said and done, the receptionist stepped into the back to grab a small bag of coins. While we hadn’t been able to search for artifacts, we had still managed to clear the dungeon, so any recovery of items or bodies could apparently be safely handled by just about anyone. We thanked the woman and made our way over to Arlin, and I took out my ten coins, handing the rest to the pair of dungeoneers.
“Should be ninety pieces left in there for you guys to split as you see fit. You did even more than I asked of you, and I’m nothing if not a man of my word, so enjoy,” I said. “Plus, if you guys didn’t come along, I would’ve been just another body for the dungeon to use. So, thank you.” I turned to leave, but was stopped by Arlin putting a hand on my shoulder.
“We wouldn’t have gone if you didn’t take the job, and we’d be dead as well if you weren’t dumb enough to run through a horde of revenants and coat yourself in holy fire,” he said, handing me another twenty coins. “Let the reward be worth the effort.” I took the money without a fuss, realizing I might need it if Casten had trouble and raised the price, and thanked them again.
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“And while you were critical to removing this dungeon,” Selka interjected. “I would suggest you stay away from any others until you are more prepared to face them. It would do you no good to rely too heavily on luck.” I nodded along, as I had no intention of entering another dungeon for the rest of time. It seemed neither had anything left to say, so I bid them farewell.
My first order of business upon leaving was to head back to the academy to check in with the artificer. It was early in the morning, so I figured I was only a day early to check in, anyway. I made my way back to the stone behemoth and entered the lobby, checking in to be brought up to Casten’s office. Upon knocking, there was a clattering sound, followed by a few expletives, then the clicking of several locks, before the door swung open violently.
“Wha- oh, you. Come in,” Casten said gruffly, stepping aside. He waved off the receptionist as I entered, the door once again locking itself behind me. It seemed every interaction was an interruption in the eyes of the artificer, so I tried my best to be brief.
“Just here to check in on progress. I’ve got the platinum you requested for the repair,” I said, jingling the coins around in my pocket for emphasis. He shook his head, before walking over to a table and grabbing the pieces of the crystal I had brought him.
“There are too many fragments missing for a proper repair to be made,” Casten stated plainly. “If I were to bond it as it is now, any number of things could happen upon its use, including the possibility of your own energy being consumed to empower the spell. I doubt you need me to explain why that is bad.” A quick flashback to every time I used too much energy in a spell reinforced that I understood enough. Not wanting to lose hope, I clung onto the next best idea.
“Could you make a replacement? I’m assuming the price will go up, but that should be fine,” I said, mentally embracing the idea of slaving away for months in order to afford the return trip home. Realistically, that wouldn’t have been too bad. First class flights were expensive, but even those couldn’t instantly get you to your destination, so it was a fair trade-off.
“It would take me significantly longer, but that’s not the issue. I simply don’t have the materials required to do so,” he explained. “I would need the claws of a bear, or the antlers from a knell, but they are rare. Most of the monsters within two weeks’ travel of Nakstal have been eradicated, and as such, keeping them in supply would be too costly.”
I mentally punched myself for selling the antlers when I got into town, but that in itself might have ended up being a silver lining. If I hadn’t sold them, they would’ve burned up with everything else in my backpack and I’d have no chance of getting them back. “But it can be done if I can get the antlers,” I said, more than asked.
“Yes, but knells are dangero-” Casten tried to warn me, but I waved off his statement with my hand and a slight frown. I didn’t want to waste time explaining how I planned on getting them, and turned to leave.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll be back,” I said as I made my way back into the hallway. I rushed back downstairs as quickly as I could manage in my weakened state. I wracked my brain trying to remember the name of the shop I sold the antlers to, not favoring my chances of remembering how to get there by wandering the city. Eventually, the name Keran popped into my head, and I was able to find someone who could escort me there. I spent the walk over doing my best to mentally map out the area, which was easy enough, considering it wasn’t too far away from the main street. Within fifteen minutes, we arrived, and I thanked my escort, stepping inside.
“Welcome to Keran’s Enchanted Emporium! Is there anything I can help you with,” the clerk asked. I walked up to the counter and pulled out ten of my platinum pieces to show I meant business.
“Not sure if you remember, but I recently sold you two knell antlers,” I began. “I need one back, even half of one would be enough with how large they were.” I pushed the coins further toward the man, practically shoving them into his arms, but he shook his head and slid them back to me.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I’ve already sold them,” he said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you, but if you’d like, I can take your information. With a deposit, I’d happily place a hold on my next stock for you, and you can finish paying when you pick it up.” He reached under the counter, presumably to grab some kind of ledger, but I held up a hand to stall him. I retrieved five more platinum from my pocket, placing them on the counter.
“Maybe you could tell me who you sold them to,” I asked, looking around the shop. “It doesn’t seem like people are in here too often, so I’d imagine they were reserved. Just point me in the right direction and you can keep the money as a finder’s fee.” I hoped that he’d be greedy enough to take the bribe, allowing me to be on my way to find the new owner. Unfortunately, it seemed to offend the man, as he crossed his arms with a scowl.
“I will not violate the privacy of my customers. You may find somewhere else to do business, sir,” he ordered, pushing the coins toward me, causing some to fall to the floor. Frustrated, I began to collect my money, but an idea struck me as I bent down to collect the platinum from the floor. What if I just… make you tell me? I stood back up, pocketing the coins, and stared into the clerk’s eyes. There is a spell for everything, after all. If a dungeon can control the dead, I could just try a little hypnosis and skip a few steps, I thought.
I took a slow breath, gradually opening up the flow of magical energy. As I felt myself cross the threshold needed to cast, I was hit with a sudden stabbing pain behind my eyes, and one of the clerk’s rings violently shattered. The man didn’t miss a beat, sprinting toward the door as I clutched my head and stopped the spell, and charged into the street.
“Guards! This man just tried to enslave me,” he screamed at the top of his lungs. My heart rate tripled as the words left his mouth, and I tried running to the door in a panic. As I left the building, I tried to turn and run down the street, but was stopped by something slamming into my side at an immense speed, and was thrown to the ground. I tried to scream from the pain, several of my ribs having snapped as I hit the ground, but the impact knocked the air from my lungs, transforming it into a desperate croak. Before I had time to react to what was happening, I was hogtied with a bag thrown over my head, and hoisted into the air.
The movement only served to increase the pain, and I finally managed to cry out. I attempted to plead my case, but was met with a blow to the side of my head the moment I started speaking. Everything began to spin and I threw up into the hood, the pain growing ever more from the heaving. Desperately, I attempted to see, but no light was getting through whatsoever. I wasn’t even able to pick out magical energy around me. At some point while I was being transported, whether from the pain or the concussion, I faded from consciousness.