“Do you know anything about a dungeon west of here?” I place the map on the bar for Sam to look at.

He shakes his head, then looks over the room. “Al, come over here.”

Al’s an orc, and a woman.

“You’ve traveled between here and St-Louis a few times.” He taps the ‘x’ on the map. “You know anything about a dungeon there?”

She looks it over. “I know there is one. Came across a party going and coming back from it a few times. I can’t tell you anything about it, though.”

“How far from the city is it?” I ask.

“I’d say three days. But it depends on how hard you’re pushing.” She taps a geometric shape on the other side of the line marking the trade route. “That’s Lime Rock, you can’t miss it. There’s a trail there. I figure it leads to that dungeon.”

“So, the city runs it regularly?”

“I guess.”

“Do you know how often? When they ran it last?”

She looks at Sam. “He is for real?”

The minotaur shrugs.

She looks me over. I’m still in armor. “Is this something you do?”

“No. Brandon, a friend of mine, got himself in trouble, and we need to get something from the dungeon to get him out of it. I’m trying to get a sense of what to expect from it. What we need to prepare for.”

She chuckles. “For someone who doesn’t do this for a living. You seem to know what to expect.”

“We have a dungeon back home. We have expeditions to it every month to couple of months. It’s to give it time to repopulate.”

“Is there anyone you can check with?” Sam asks. “Brandy’s a friend of mine, so anything that helps would be good.”

“I can ask around,” she replies. “But that won’t be until tomorrow.”

I want to convince her to work faster, but I also remember my other time in a dungeon, utterly unprepared for it. I probably don’t know the questions to ask to properly prepare, but I know that more information is better than nothing.

“Okay. I’ll be here tomorrow from dinner time on. If you can get details on it, I’d appreciate it. I can pay for the information.” I get the feeling it’s a way to go through the money I have left faster than I’d like, but even in Court, people expect to be paid for the work they do.

She chuckles. “Let’s start with what I can find out from the people I already have to talk to tomorrow. If that’s not enough, or if you need something specific about it, we can talk about referral fees.”

“Deal.” I take the food to our table, and we talk over strategy. Other than going there and killing everything we come across, there isn’t much more we can discuss. Brandon is our expert, but while he still shows up on the team list, he isn’t answering questions in the team chat. I don’t know if he’s being stubborn, or the old man’s somehow blocking us.

Falling asleep’s hard. Worry makes me toss, and I wake up a few times thinking I just watched Brandon’s life being sucked out of him. Or the four of us die in a dungeon.

I really need Sam’s coffee when I go for breakfast. Silver and Helen look better than I feel, but they too seem to have to force themselves to eat. After that, we shop for things we might need. Bandages, since potions are out of our budget at this point, food rations, mainly hard bread and dried fruit to go with the overabundant jerky I have. And water skins. Lots of them.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It’s only two slots, between them empty and full, and I don’t want us to run out of water in the dungeon. This isn’t like the other one. We don’t get to just turn around and leave if we run out of something. Or at least not without it costing us time Brandon might not have.

By lunch time I can’t think of anything else we need that we can afford. Better armor, weapons, mana potions, along with health potions, would be useful, but out of our range. We’ll just have to be careful.

Silver keeps busy putting on a show for free in Sam’s inn. I do my best to let that distract me, and Helen leaves the inn as soon as we’re done eating. I know I should find a yard and practice…something, just so I’m not sitting here worrying, but that’s tough to do right now.

Al returns not long before dinner time, and I have trouble staying seated. I’m sure me pestering her about what she learned isn’t going to make her want to tell me any more than she might already.

“So,” the orc says, once she’s seated opposite me with a mug of something steaming that isn’t coffee. “I have information, and people you can talk with tomorrow if you feel you need more details. All free of charge. They actually seem happy to learn someone else was taking an interest in the dungeon.”

“Did you learn how often and when the last time was?”

“They try for every six weeks, but they go in with a party of ten, and they can’t always get that many on time to stick to it. The last time they went in was a little over three weeks ago.”

“With a team of ten?” If they need that many, the old man’s promise the dungeon was going to kill us might be more true than I’d like.

“Yes. The sense I got from the conversation is that they like going in with overwhelming forces. They go in more to farm the items they can find, then for the leveling experience.”

I breathe a little easier. “Did they say how far in they go?”

“They clear it each time.”

So, the dungeon will have repopulated somewhat. “They take everything each time?” Why didn’t the old man pay them to get that crystal he wants? Even if he doesn’t have money, he’s bound to be able to trade something.

“I don’t know. When he said that they ‘clear it,’ I figure that’s what he meant, but I didn’t ask for confirmation. You can ask him if you want.”

Is the crystal something that regrows? If so, again, why doesn’t the old man have a deal with them? Or is it something only he understands the value of, and if they learn about it, he won’t be able to get it anymore? That would explain why he’s not dealing with these people.

If I talk with them, or ask them to come with us, will that make it easier or harder for me to get the crystal? I tell myself that yes, of course their help will make things easier, but Xander’s taught me that greed is a powerful thing. Detroit’s taught me that anyone can fall victim to it.

If the old man’s going at it in this roundabout way, that crystal’s valuable to him.

Can I risk Brandon’s freedom on the hope someone helping us won’t realize that and decide they want to exchange that for money?

Fuck. I hate that I see people that way now. But, better knowing this ahead of time than discovering the kind of assholes people can be when they take it from me and doom Brandon to die.

“Thank you.”

“Do you want his name? Like I said, he’ll be happy to answer more of your questions.”

“No, I’m good.” The words are out while I’m still trying to convince myself I could trust that man enough to ask questions, but I’m not sly, like Brandon. I can let something important slip and not realize it. “Thank you. Are you sure I can’t repay you in some way?”

She smiles. “It’s all good. Like I said, I was already in that area, so I didn’t need to go out of my way. Bring me back a souvenir from your time in the dungeon if you need to repay me. I’ve never had something like that.”

“I’ll get you something nice.”

She leaves for another table, and not long after that, Helen sits down.

“Unless you need to shop for more things,” I tell her. “We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”

*

The weather doesn’t cooperate with us. The rain, as we head out, is hard enough it make it through the trees’ canopy like they aren’t there. It doesn’t get any better once we’re out of the city. While pushing ourselves was part of the plan, we don’t even make it halfway to the planned stop before we can’t stand it anymore. Helen manages to get a fire started and maintained long enough for us to heat a meat and vegetables soup. Then it’s cold misery in my tent. I get in more reading, but that’s about it.

The next morning, the rain’s down to a drizzle that ends a few hours later, then the warmth of the sun and a beautiful blue sky accompanies us. I actually feel hopeful by the time we make camp, although I keep that in check. I don’t trust the system to not make something happen just to remind me the world’s harsh.

Like I need the reminder.

Two days later, we’re at Lime Rock. I’d wondered why the name, now I know. The rock pillar is kind of green. I don’t know if it’s lime green, since I’ve never seen one, but it’s a reason for the name.

The trail’s easy to find, and by the end of the day, we’re in a clearing at the foot of a cliff with an opening in it. There are extinguished campfires, as well as evidence of where tents have been set. We make camp and rest. Tomorrow we do in, and we aren’t coming out without that crystal the old man wants.