With the Funeral pyres finished we took the loot and left the cave, we had to sort it all and decide what was worth keeping. Assuming that they were all dead, Iva began moving rubble from one of the caves that had housed the orcs. If there was decent loot to be had it would probably be in their caves, we were mostly hoping for some clothing, maybe even some armor pieces, anything would have been helpful at that point. With Iva's help we got through the pile of rubble fairly quickly.

We found a worn hooded cloak in the cave along with a few more loincloths, in one corner we found the sacks of food Iva’s party had brought with them. The second orc cave was a bust, nothing useful at all just some smelly old rags that I had no desire to save. We didn't even bother with the goblin cave, doubting that orcs this poor would allow their goblin slaves any riches. While Iva began sorting the loot we had gotten into smaller piles, I pulled out the small locked box we had found and fiddled with it some.

After messing with it for a good 10 minutes I decided I wasn't ever going to be a thief. I had found a few bone fragments and attempted to pick the lock with no success. Eventually I had the brilliant idea of a tiny explosion, just large enough to damage the locking mechanism without breaking the box. For this I dug out the pair of nipple piercings I had looted from the first body I found. The jewelry was very simple, they consisted of two small iron balls with an iron rod connecting them together, the ball on one end twisted off showing crude threading underneath.

I scribed tiny exploding runes on opposite sides of the ball that didn't screw off. The rune I chose from my journal would generate a blast of energy away from the rune. I placed the activation portion of the rune on the back of the ball that screwed off, it would act like a switch when it touched the end of the rod. Sliding the small piece of jewelry into the keyhole so it rested firmly against the back of the lock I tapped the activator ball onto the rod. A small pop rocked the box slightly in my lap and to my surprise the lock fell off of the box.

Screwing the ball back onto the rod I now had a safely storable lock breaker, smiling at my ingenuity I was about to drop it back in my sack when Iva came over. After having heard the small explosion she became curious and upon seeing the piercing I was holding she confronted me angrily.

“Those were Sasha’s!” she said stabbing a finger towards the jewelry in my hand.

“Um, well possibly, I took them off of the first body I found shortly after waking in the dungeon” I replied.

Iva then told me of how Markus killed Sasha when she talked back to him at the start of all this, she had been the top fighter on the slave block that day. The piercings prove that she had mastered both the combat and scout training before reaching the age to serve a new master.

“Well, now this one’s a lock breaker, see?” I said. Holding up the rune'd jewelry I explained it's use.

After taking it and examining it closely she pinched her nipple, pulling it tightly she jammed the pointy end of the rod through the base of her nipple and screwed the ball onto the bloody end.

“I'll hold on to this” she said smiling at me.

“Where’s the other one?”

I dug it out of my bag and after another slight wince of pain she was screwing the second ball on. I suggested she let me put a rune of protection on that one the next time we had a break, since it was metal it should last quite a bit longer before failing.

After a nod she walked off again leaving me alone with my broken lock box. Looking at it closer with a glowstone I realized that the lock had just been a decoy. It originally looked like it was inset into the box but it had actually been a metal plate that didn't do anything at all. What I held in my hands was actually a puzzle box not a locked chest. Deciding to play with it more later when I had time I slipped it into my sack and went to aid Iva in deciding what was worth bringing with us.

She had found quite the haul of semi useful loot. We ended up taking nearly all of the food, mostly travel rations and some unidentifiable dried meat. We kept several of the best weapons and the sack of collars that matched my bracelet. You never know down here when we might run into someone who would be of better use captured rather than killed.

I had donned the cloak and buckled a short sword onto my belt to accompany the stone knife I had taken a liking to. Iva had taken several weapons and had belted on multiple loincloths, two around her waist covering both front and back and another pair with one centered over each breast. It was quite humorous watching her try to tie them on and after she glared at me for laughing, I helped her tie them in a way that would stay in place. We also acquired a decent length of rope and an old rusty grappling hook, this we intended to put to use right away.

Once loaded up we went to the wall where the man who attacked me had died and after several attempts hooked the grapple onto the ledge securely. Climbing up to the top, we found that the ledge was very short, the first man had fallen after losing his grip right at the end of the walkway. It led up to a small cave out of sight from the camp below. It made us wonder how long those two men had been here, they were probably the batch of prisoners before ours at least.

From the looks of the cave the men had been here for quite some time, possibly even before the last batch of prisoners. It was a disgusting mess, they had used one side of the small cave as the latrine so the entire cave smelled of urine and feces. They had a torn blanket that, upon closer inspection was actually several of the prisoner sacks that we each got before entering the dungeon, they had been cut open and crudely sewn together. We ended up draping the nasty blanket over the even nastier pile of refuse. The stench dissipated somewhat after being covered and it was tolerable enough to attempt to sleep.

I studied my runes a bit in the faint light of the glowstone I had made days ago while Iva ran a whetstone over her newly acquired weapons. We ate some of our new provisions and I scribed a second water skin for Iva to carry. Eventually we both began to yawn and prepared to sleep.

Putting out the light stone we cuddled in the dark corner furthest away from the refuse pile. Spooning for warmth under the single cloak I wore, now acting as our blanket. I actually slept well for the first time since being in the dungeon. Whether it was the warmth of a body next to me or the feeling of safety Iva and this hidden cave provided I didn’t know.

I awoke feeling both warm and well rested, I was on my back and felt a weight on me, more so than the cloak could have offered. Blinking in confusion I was surprised to see Iva straddling me, she had stripped off her makeshift clothing and was gently rocking her hips rhythmically. I had never actually bedded a woman before and thought it felt wonderful, I remember blushing, looking up at her as she moaned. Then without warning she cocked her arm back and punched me in the ribs. Pain exploded in my side and I groaned, trying to clutch my side but one arm was pinned and for some reason I could no longer see.

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“I asked you to stop” Iva growled her, voice sounding angry. I was so confused, I didn't remember her speaking at all, besides she had been the one doing everything and I had just laid there. Rolling over and facing me she continued to glare for a moment before laughing out loud at the total look of confusion on my face.

“You were rubbing on me and wouldn't stop so I elbowed you.” she said laughing.

“I think you might have been having a wet dream!”

I was glad for the darkness at that moment, I think I turned several shades of red. Apparently I had been humping her rear in my sleep like an overly excited dog that just found your leg. I think I can safely say that was the most embarrassing moment of my life. I rolled over and mumbled an apology as I curled up into a ball and wished I could wake up from my newest nightmare. Laughing she pulled me closer and wrapped her arms around me after adjusting the cloak to cover us both once again.

“I didn't hurt you did I?” she asked amusement still clear in her voice

“if I'd known you were having a wet dream I would have just let you continue” she said patting my arm.

I only grunted in return still totally embarrassed and wishing I could just disappear but with my whole body fully awake it was difficult to find sleep again.

Iva woke me some time later, telling me that the goblins had broken free from their cave. They were now dancing around a roaring bonfire made from a mound of orc bodies they had collected some time in the night. Luckily for us the acrid smoke wafting up from the top of the fire was flowing along the top of the cavern in the opposite direction.

“With the amount of smoke pouring from that fire I'm guessing that it smells horrible.” I said while nibbling on some rations for breakfast, a grunt was Iva’s only reply.

After taking a big swig of my water we began packing, we needed to get moving if we had any hope of finding the village. Iva kept giving me funny looks while we packed and after a few moments of this I turn to her.

“What? do I have something on my face? I asked angrily.

“No.” she replied with a giggle.

“I was just wondering if I should expect to be woken up by getting poked in the ass every night or if it was just a one time thing?”

I groaned loudly holding my head in my hands, I had thought that I had dreamt that, especially with her saying nothing when I first got up.

“Oh you thought it was all a dream?” she laughed.

“Should I try to be a little more gentle when I wake you next time?”

In an attempt to change the subject I suggested we get moving and began packing up a little faster. With one last laugh she let it go, and began belting on her weapons and hefted her pack. Sneaking down to the edge of the walkway we lowered the rope and shimmied down trying not to alert the goblins.

It took several flips and yanks on the rope to finally get the hook to come loose allowing us to retrieve our rusty grappling hook. I had to jump back as it fell and the loud clatter when the hook hit the ground where I had been standing made me cringe, after glancing back at the fire we both sighed in relief. The goblins hadn’t even noticed, they were still happily dancing around the fire waiving chunks of what I could only guess was burnt orc meat in the air.

We worked our way back to the large intersection where the battle had taken place yesterday. Our current dilemma was which way to go next, we knew where the route we had come from due to my marking the orcs tunnel. I was pretty sure only one way was safe and other paths would probably take us to other traps or encampments.

Since we didn't know where we were going to begin with one way was just as good as the next. We walked down the leftmost tunnel, I figured we would just check each until we either died or found the right path. After walking for at least an hour we noticed that it was getting darker, the wall sconces were becoming less frequent until finally we had to pull out a glowstone just to continue.

I groaned after activating it, this was the last place I wanted to be and immediately suggested turning back. Upon Iva’s request I had activated the brightest glowstone and the scene before us terrified me far more than the orcs and goblins ever could. From where we were standing we could no longer see the stone of the tunnel. As far as we could see both in front of us and behind, every inch of stone was covered in the greyish white webbing of cave spiders.

I immediately readied my sling, dropping a scribed stone into the pocket and after taking a step forward sent it flying down the tunnel. When it struck the ground far ahead of us in the darkness it ignited, flaring up brightly and burning away the webs nearby. We heard an inhuman shriek and even from where we stood I could make out the shadowy hulks of multiple enormous spiders in the flickering fire light.

Running back the way we had come, we put some distance between us and the ignited webbing, if we hadn’t moved we probably would have been roasted along with the spiders. Unfortunately the flames had irritated the spiders more than harming them. It wasn't long before we heard the clatter of chitinous feet, clacking on the ground and getting closer with each moment we waited. Once I felt they were close enough to hit I sent an exploding stone down the tunnel, scoring a lucky hit. The explosion splattered spider guts all over the walls and onto it's fellow spiders charging in from behind.

Seeing one of their number fall didn’t even slow the horde of spiders and I was soon sending stones flying as fast as I could get them into my sling and up to speed. Iva began pulling out the few stones I had readied for her the night before. Once they were close enough she began throwing them at the rushing monstrosities. I only had four scribed stones left once the final spider met its end, decorating the tunnel in a macabre scene.

It was like a painter had painted a long dark tunnel then in a moment of madness dipped each finger into a different color and swirled them around until nothing else could be seen. It was far worse than the orc camp had been, chunks of spider goo still dripped onto the ground. Here and there a chunk fell or a severed leg still twitched. I was suddenly struck with a gruesome thought.

“I wonder if spider legs taste as good as crab legs?” I said giving Iva a quizzical look.

Handing Iva half of my stones I led the way as we wove through the carnage. Occasionally we stopped and I collected spider bits, an intact leg here, a thicker piece of carapace there. The spiders hard exoskeleton could be used as armor plates if I was ever able to find a way to cut it. Most bladed weapons down here can't even scratch the shell let alone cut thru them.

We must have killed two dozen of them and spent nearly all of my ammunition in the process. As we walked through the mess I started looking to the ground, picking up small stones wherever I could. I had a few left that weren't scribed but I couldn't carry many from the other cavern without being seriously burdened.

Eventually we came to a dead end, all around us were the shriveled and now charred husks of the spiders victims. Luckily we had killed all of the spiders and I promptly flopped down in the center of the room. Digging out my silver scribe I began frantically scribing my newly acquired stones to replenish my stock. We hadn’t even been walking long enough to be hungry for lunch and already I was out of ammunition yet again.

While I worked Iva spent the time poking around the piles of dead, she came up with several broken swords and bones but nothing immediately useful. The broken swords I decided to keep and use as fuel for cooking fires. I could scribe them with fire so that they would glow red hot, the perfect lightweight cooking set.

I remembered seeing Master Bertol turn a thick round metal plate into a travel stove, the trick was to scribe it with an ignition key that acted as an activator. That key for the burner was actually what gave me the idea for the lock breaker I made yesterday. The bones I used to make more standard fire bombs similar to the one I had launched first, they lit things on fire when struck instead of exploding.

We stayed there until lunch, allowing me plenty of time to replenish our stock of sling bullets, I also fashioned Iva a sling out of the scrap I found, it wasn't as nice as mine with the leather cords but she could send a stone further than she could throw it. Being a warrior she was able to carry far more stones than I could without getting tired so it wasn't smart for me to be the only one with a powerful ranged weapon. After lunch we headed back and started down the next path. Though I didn't think it possible, I was wishing for more of those spiders by the time we got half way down the next tunnel.