Thankfully, there was only a hallway on the other side of the door. We all let out a held breath as we continued forward. The lack of light made everything creepier. It made me want to learn more light spells solely so I could brighten everything up. That would also reveal our location to just about everything in the dungeon, so it was probably best that I didn’t do that.

“I assume you do not have one of the cleaning stones in your storage space, my lord?”

I shook my head but made a mental note to get one. Having a way to clean up would be pretty good. “No, but I will add one later.”

“I must admit a few of us were curious as to where you came from. I have heard the most fascinating rumors about you?” Tyrus asked.

“Is that right? Just what have you heard?”

“Oh, many things. That you wandered in from the desert. A man garbed in rags holding gold. No traders or caravans say they saw you on the usual routes. Yet you made it all the same. They say your level ranges from level 1 to level 101. I was hoping you could clarify things?”

I chuckled at that before shaking my head. “I can tell you that I am nowhere near level 101. As for the gold, that part is true. I am sure you have heard of the gold mine and the bars?” He nodded. “Well, I am not entirely sure how much money we have, but I am probably pretty wealthy by most standards.”

“You have not mentioned your family. Should we expect a wealthy brother, or perhaps a beautiful maiden of a sister, to arrive?”

I gave a bitter smile before shaking my head. “I doubt that will come up. My family is very far away. I also don’t think my sister would appreciate being called a ‘Maiden’.” I chuckled at that.

“I see if she is as unique as her brother. I would not want to be on her bad side.”

I laughed at that before looking the pantherine man up and down. “Where are you from? You don’t strike me as the type to be homeless in a city famous for adventure.’

“Ah, smart and beautiful. Some would say that you are the full package. You are correct. I am a bit of a traveler. A caravan had hired me to get them to the city safely. I couldn’t decide what to do after that. I did a few odd jobs for coin, but nothing permanent. Until your offer”

“So you are looking for a place to settle down? A new home?”

“Ah, you could say that. I suppose we are all looking for a home, yeah?”

I decided to leave that alone. There was no need to push when someone made it clear that they weren’t going to answer. I was about to ask another question when we entered a new chamber. It was circular, with three doors, each one bearing the visage of a gorgon. As soon as we reached the middle of the room, a series of torches lit up, bathing the room in red light.

“What do you think this is?” Zakia asked as she approached the leftmost door and ran a hand over the gorgon’s face. “Did your quest say what this dungeon was?”

“Yeah, it’s called the ‘Dungeon of the Lost Witch’. it’s some sort of fortress or hiding place for a group of witches. Her name’s Kaafiyo, if that helps you?”

“I have heard of Kaafiyo. A mentor of mine mentioned that she was a witch from several centuries ago who was betrayed by her liege and lord. There is an order of witches devoted to her, I think.” Tyrus added.

“Do you know anything of them that would make this room easier to deal with?” When he shook his head, I sighed. “In that case, I guess we can each take a door. Either that or we try to tackle the doors one at a time and hope that nothing happens as soon as we enter the first one.”

“I am open for each tackling a door. Can you share some of those potions, just in case?” Zakia added before selecting her door.

I summoned two potion vials from my ring, passed them to her, and then did the same for Tyrus. “I am not sure how many you both can hold, but if you need more, I can give them. They should be able to restore you to full, though I can’t promise there aren’t some ailments that it won’t work for., be careful.”

“Aww, keep that up and I am going to start thinking that you care for us,” Zakia added playfully.

“I can not wait to see what mysteries and treasure await us inside,” Tyrus added before pushing open his door. He looked back, gave a bow, and then disappeared through the doorway. Zakia disappeared a few moments later, leaving us alone.

“I suppose we should get a move on as well.” I placed both hands on the main door and pushed it open. It slid open with little resistance. I cast a sphere of light and sent it in. The sphere made it half a foot past the doorway before winking out. I pushed my rising panic down and stepped forward. As soon as we were clear of the door, it slammed shut behind us. For a moment, we were trapped in utter darkness. It was as if I was stuck in the void of space. I reached out but couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t be sure that the rest of my body was still connected, let alone Sanaa and Tenebris. Just when my panic began to rise, a storm of color came into view and my lungs took in air. I dropped to one knee as I struggled to breathe.

“Master!” Tenebris’ panic slammed into me a train. I held up a hand as if to stop the flow of emotion.

“Fine... I am fine, Tenebris” I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on breathing. When I got control of myself again, I stood up and looked around."Sanaa? Are you alright?"

I found her a moment later lying on the ground. She was unconscious and her scales had dimmed, but she seemed otherwise alright. I gently picked her up in my arms. I stepped back and to the side, placing my back against the stone wall. I scanned the room, but we seemed safe for the time being. The room was large, probably as big as a school gymnasium. In the center was a statue of three dark-skinned women. One was an elderly woman slightly hunched over, the middle was a pregnant one with a crown on her head, and the third was a woman around the same age as me. She held a spear in her left hand. Together, the woman was reaching out as if offering me a hand. Part of me wanted nothing more than to walk and take their offer, but something held me back.

“Tenebris, can you move throughout the room? I want to make sure we are safe here.” There was a brief moment of hesitation before he took off. He arched up and around a corner. I listened, ready to cast at the slightest sign of trouble. When he returned a few minutes later, I let out a breath.

“I don’t sense anyone else, Master.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Thank you, Tenebris. Keep watch for a moment.” I pulled up Sanaa’s status page, hoping to find out why she wasn’t conscious, but there was nothing. I shut it down and then pulled up the blinking notification light.

You are under the effect of Nocturna's Lament. Lumos magic cost 100% more to cast and is 50% weaker.

That hurt. Lumos was the best magic I had and now it was well completely worthless. Thankfully, the other schools I had weren’t affected. “Tenebris, are you able to cast Lumos magic?”

“I can not. This room is limiting the magic I have access to and Lumos is especially difficult for me.” I made a mental note to address that part later.

“Did you see a way out? Or an enemy for us to deal with? I am worried that the darkness did something to Sanaa.”

“No, but I think that you have to touch the statue and a doorway will be revealed. There are words written on it, but I can not read them.”

I nodded before gently picking the radiant dragonette up and placing her on my shoulders. Stretching her serpentine body felt weird, a bit like holding a snake, only with much harder scales. When I was sure she wouldn’t fall off, I took a deep breath and sent my stuff back into the ring. Its light had already started to dim and the last thing I wanted was for it to be destroyed. Once I was ready, I made my way over to the statue and grabbed its outstretched hand.

Darkness exploded outward from the statue in all directions. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were still open or if I had closed them. I couldn’t even tell if there was a difference. “Tenebris? Tenebris, are you there?” I spoke to him once through our bond and then once out loud.

“I am here, master.” His voice sounded distorted in my mind as if he was speaking from underwater or from down a hallway. I turned my head to search for him, or at least I thought I did. I couldn’t tell up from down in the darkness. I was about to ask him where he was when the darkness shifted. I didn’t see it exactly. It was more like a part of my brain just knew that something had shifted.

“Tenebris, where are we?” I immediately started casting the green of Spira magic, breaking the darkness for a split second before fading. I could still feel the magic which told me that I could still cast. A moment later, a cyclone of air roared into space around me. I felt the wind slam into me, but I still couldn’t see anything. I brought my hands together and started casting a pyro spell. I had only gotten through half of the casting when something slammed into my chest.

The impact sent me flying back until I crashed into something hard. I turned and pushed myself up, looking for somewhere to place my feet. I caught a flash of purple to my right and heard a muted roar. I turned in that direction and unleashed a bolt of flame. The magic shot forward and hit something. It was only illuminated for a second, but that was enough to feel my dread. The creature was some kind of serpent with pitch-black scales.

“Tenebris! Can you see it? Do you know where I am?” I called as the hair on my neck stood up. Suddenly, every instinct I had screamed at me to duck. I threw myself to the ground just as something whipped through the space my head had been. I rolled and got to my feet. A second later, something landed on my shoulder. I brought my hands up, ready to blast, when Tenebris’ voice filled my mind.

“I am here Master! I can see our prey.” His blood lust surged over our bond and hit me like a shot of caffeine. My desire to retreat fled. Instead, I wanted no. I needed to hunt.

“Help me aim.” I wasn’t sure if I spoke that part or thought it at him. I felt Tenebris’ claws dig into the right side of my arm. I shifted in that direction and started my casting. One second later, a blade of wind shot forward into the darkness. A hiss of pain told me my attack was a success.

“Down!”

I threw myself to the ground nearly as soon as the words hit my mind. As soon as I hit the ground, I rolled and unleashed a bolt of pyro magic. The dull red bolt shot through the air giving me the time to get back to my feet."Where is it, Tenebris?"

“I don’t see it anymore, Master. It has pulled back further into the darkness.”

I took a breath and considered the situation we were in. It only took a second for me to realize my mistake. Why was I working to avoid being hit when I could create a literal shield? I brought both hands together and began casting my barrier. The bubble of flames formed just in time to block an onyx black tail. The scales emitted a smoky shadow that began squelching the flames almost immediately. I gave it a second for the barrier to stabilize and the tail to draw back before I relaxed. I was about to start casting again when I had an idea.

“Tenebris, if you cast a barrier like mine, will the barrier be the same size as mine, or will it shrink to match your size?” There was a pause, during which the snake slammed its tail into the barrier. I bit down on my bottom lip and unleashed a gout of flame.

“It will be sized for me. I do not believe we would both be able to take shelter.” I was only half listening to him as I stopped the dual casting of my spell. All of my pyro magic spells were on cool down, which was not doing me any favors. I turned and began casting lesser swiftness on Tenebris. Before I could finish the spell, the serpent slammed its body into the barrier. Flecks of pyro magic fell to the ground as a spiderweb of cracks spread out from the impact site. The spell finished and a surge of speed spread through my body.

“We have to split up. If you have to stick with me, we can’t take advantage of your best weapons. When the barrier falls, I want you to launch into the air. I will take the creature on directly while you strike from behind.”

I could feel his disgust at the idea, but before either of us could say anything more, the barrier shattered. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as a tail the size of a car door flew toward me. I immediately knew I couldn’t dodge it, so I brought up both arms and braced for the hit. The tail slammed into and it felt like a linebacker had run me over. It threw me to the side and my health points dropped like a stone. I went down to below 20% in an instant. The sound of breaking bones filled my ears as a prompt filled my vision.

You are suffering from a Traumatic Chest injury. Movement speed is reduced by 50%. Mental Concentration was reduced by 30%.

I hit the ground with a whimper as my mind went completely blank. I immediately lost all sense of direction. Every part of me wanted to lie here and let the darkness claim me. Let this pain wash over me, but I couldn’t. Tenebris wouldn’t stand a chance if I stopped moving. I wasn’t sure what happened to Sanaa. I rolled over to my side and then got up to my knees. The movement sent a fresh wave of torment through me. The part of my brain that didn’t like being in pain begged me not to do this, but I ignored it. I held up both hands and summoned a sphere of light. The surrounding darkness recoiled as if the presence of the light hurt it. A moment later, everything grew a shade darker and the room forcibly crushed the sphere into nothing.

“Alright Darterrius, we probably got its attention. Now we just have to not die.” I summoned a potion from my ring, poured it into my mouth, and stood up. I caught a burst of black and purple to my right and began my next casting. A gout of flame erupted from my hands seconds later. This time, the serpent let out a hiss that made my teeth ache. I walked around, bringing both my hands closer together. As soon as I was close enough to see my familiar, he began casting. A second gout of flame joined mine. I watched my MPs tick down faster and faster until a notification popped into the right side of my vision. No sooner than I decided to end the flow of magic did the room erupt into color. The change was so abrupt it blinded me and forced me to my knees.

I blinked while backing away, expecting to feel a new attack come at any moment. The blinking notification in the right of my vision slowly ticked down, explaining what had happened. When the blindness faded, I got to my feet and looked around. We were back in the chamber. The trio of statues stood in their original positions. Only the young girl’s spear had changed. The tip was made of a dull black onyx with a dark core. The core moved as if it were made of a black gas. I tore my eyes away from the spear when Tenebris landed on my shoulders.

“Master, Sanaa is not well.” My eyes went wide. I had forgotten about her. I turned and found her lying against the rightmost wall. Her serpentine body was unfurled, her golden scales dulled as if they were fool’s fold. I rushed over to her, and gently picked her up before tipping a potion into her mouth. I couldn’t find anything wrong with her when I pulled up her status screen.

“Tenebris, go to the top of the chamber and keep watch. We can’t risk moving forward without her, and I don’t want to be ambushed.”

He lifted off my shoulders and flapped his wings. Once he was gone, I placed my back against the cold, jagged stone and pulled her into my lap. “Come on Sanaa. Come back to us.” I gently stroked her scales and waited for anything to change.