Dungeon Champions

Chapter 14: Fishing is Fun

I hurried through the dungeon, winding through the familiar stone halls and making my way back to the grotto where I’d rescued Zuri. I didn’t know how much time I had on the basilisk corpse, but that wasn’t my only reason for haste.

“In a hurry?” Skullie asked, flopping against my armor as I ran.

“I’d rather not leave a bunch of low-level people outside of a dangerous dungeon all by themselves.”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Skullie said. “I mean, they have a gorgon with them. You saw those mushroom monsters, right? Between the venom and her stone gaze, not much will hurt our new friends.”

I shook my head. “You’re probably right, but they’ve been through a lot. Won’t hurt me to move things along.”

Rounding a corner, I came into view of the steep slope that led down to a series of stairwell switchbacks. I was getting closer to the grotto and needed to slow down.

When last I’d come this way, I’d discovered quite a few nasty traps, most of which I’d bypassed. Rushing could cost me more than time.

Using my Dungeoneering skill was a combination of intentional focus and activation. I had to want the skill to come into play, then attend the desired objective. It felt a bit like trying out a hobby I’d left behind years ago, even if I could remember no such thing. Picking out half a dozen tiny, squiggly lines across one of the steps, I tracked a path downward, to ones further below.

As I’d expected, three more steps were trapped, although less overtly. One had a subtly shaved side, and another a sheen just beneath a layer of dirt. The last one looked entirely normal, other than a few black droplets along one edge.

I leaped down, bypassing five steps instead of four. There was always a chance I’d missed one, and room for error was the name of the survival game in adventuring.

“You didn’t remember this from last time? Why did you pause to inspect the stairs again?”

“Dungeons with an active population can change. Case in point, you’re a lich with access to spells, right?”

“Yes.” He sounded bitter. “I can’t cast any without hands, though.”

“Still, you get the point. All it takes is some monster with the right abilities and cunning, and all my assumptions get me killed. I’m pretty sure the Core can change the layout, too. If it wanted to.”

“Which we both know it doesn’t.”

I frowned down at him. “I’m not going to make a habit of being sloppy. Plus, don’t forget trap fairies.”

The lich bobbed an approving nod. “Trap fairies are, indeed, a thing. Also, as a spellcaster, I agree with your sentiment wholeheartedly. Not that I’m whole. Or have a heart.” He laughed at his own joke.

I made it to the bottom of the stairs, then turned down a series of confusing intersections. The stone walls were all precisely the same, and each ended in doors cunningly made to open at confusing angles. From the Core’s diagram, the aerial view of this section of the dungeon looked a bit like a pinwheel, designed to have a group of adventurers walk into one of six deadly traps.

Once I was through the maze, I stopped. “Skullie, did you just nod a moment ago?”

Skullie looked surprised. “I did, didn’t I?”

I inspected the ancient, weathered head. “Are you regenerating? Don’t try to hide anything from me.”

“Honestly?” Skullie asked in a sheepish tone.

“You know the answer to that.”

“Probably. As long as my phylactery is intact, my body will try to grow back.”

I gave Skullie a hard look as I thought about what to do with him. As it currently was, Skullie was rather useful. If he regenerated a body, things could get hairy. He could turn on me without any notice, and potentially put me and others in danger.

His jaw waggled frantically. “I’m with you now! You don’t have to kill me!”

I shook my head. “Skullie, you’re a lich. I’m going to need a lot more than just your word for that. Is there something we can do, maybe some sort of binding pact or arrangement, to prevent you from backstabbing me the second you regenerate a finger?”

“Maybe.” Skullie’s spine twitched in a squirming motion.

He’s further along than he let on, I thought. “Maybe isn’t good enough.” I kept my tone hard and unwavering.

With a whistling sigh, the lich relented. “You took phylacteries from my kin, yes?”

“Two of them, yes.”

“There is a ritual of binding. It’s how wizards in our world transform animals into familiars. Liches and other undead spellcasters can use them to make other undead into the same. Kind of like a wizard having a cat familiar, only both are dead.”

“I’m not dead.”

“With a phylactery, you won’t have to be. It’ll take some serious coin and resources, but I can teach you a ritual. It’ll basically make me into your familiar. It’ll work on any willing undead of lower level. I don’t think that’ll be a problem with you.”

I resumed walking and we arrived at the outskirts of the grotto, next to the basilisk corpse. “I’ll think about it.”

Crossing to the body, I drew my knife. Part of my expansive array of new talents included knowledge of how to properly dress a monster corpse. That knowledge wasn’t specifically about basilisks, unfortunately.

***

Over the next several hours, I retrieved nearly a hundred pounds of basilisk meat, thirty yards of intact scales, its heart, gizzard, and liver. I also managed to extract a magical eye, although the other popped like a disgusting, wet balloon on my attempt, spraying greasy ichor down the monster’s face.

Even Skullie admitted it was disgusting.

Extradimensional Storage: 21% full.

After I’d stored the take, I glanced over at the treasure chest. It remained where it had been when I’d last visited. Making a mental note to collect it when I was done, I washed my hands off in the nearby stream. Crouched next to the water, I observed the dark spot at the far end, where the water seemed to open up into a deeper layer.

“Any clue what’s that way?” I pointed, consulting my Tablet even as I asked for Skullie’s insight. The map Corey gave me was blank there.

Based on the layout and architecture, that spot could lead to a space within one or two levels of the Dungeon Core itself.

Skullie shook his head. “No. I never ventured that deep. There was no reason to.”

I thought about it for just a moment. It would be irresponsible of me to not check this out before collecting the treasure chest and heading back to my possible party.

Retrieving the rope from my pack, I removed Skullie from my armor. “Fancy a little fishing?”

The lich made an uncomfortable noise. “Um. Do I get a say in the matter?”

“Not really.” The lich had withheld how quickly he was healing, which earned him an object lesson on lying. “Besides, you’re basically indestructible.”

“Ah. About that whole indestructibility thing…”

Ignoring his nervousness, I wound the rope around several notches of the undead creature’s magically preserved vertebra. Once I knew he was secure, I tossed him into the fast-moving water, right at the deep end.

Skullie vanished and the rope slid rapidly between my fingers. I let it play out, waiting for any jerking or change in tension.

Zzzziiip! The rope went taut, grinding across the grotto’s rocky floor as a massive force on the other end yanked on it.

Gritting my teeth, I dug my feet in, pulling with all my might. Despite my supernatural strength, whatever had Skullie wouldn’t let go. It didn’t quite manage to pull me directly into the waters, but it was close.

Damn close.

With just a few seconds to spare, I considered my options. Skullie was a lich. He was, objectively, a monster, and evil. However, he had also gone out of his way to help me, even if it was only to preserve his own life.

Do I want to be the sort of hero who lets my allies—no matter how dubious—vanish down a cliff?

The answer was a resounding no.

“Ah, hell.” I stripped off my unnecessary gear, called my Accurate Dagger of Cruelty to my free hand, took a deep breath, and dove into the water.

Cold gripped me a moment before darkness took away my vision. The tugging force had resumed the moment I’d jumped, and I practically flew through the water, rebounding off smooth rocks with brutal, bone-jarring force. If not for my magical gear, I had no doubt that this trip would have been a one-way exploration.

Moments blurred together, then I was falling through the cold darkness.

A vast, roaring sound filled my ears, and I discovered that I was inside a cave of truly awesome proportions. It was illuminated by veins of pulsating, glowing material that wove throughout the roof and walls, creating a blue-tinted aura around everything. Beneath me, maybe ten feet under the channel, was a metal water wheel. Like a caught fishing lure, Skullie was wrapped around one of the wheel's blades.

Flashing by on a trajectory below my undead companion, I tugged on the rope, using the little bit of adjusted momentum to close enough distance to reach one of the spokes on the wheel. Extending a hand, I caught hold of the machinery just before I would have fallen into the rushing, black river.

Without my strength to stop it, the water wheel began moving again.

“Uh. Jordan.” Skullie’s head twitched. He was so tangled in the line that even with limbs, he likely wouldn’t have been able to free itself.

Ignoring the call from my companion, I took in our circumstances. The wheel was part of a piece of steel and copper machinery that stretched away from the river’s edge. Beyond that was what looked like some sort of settlement, or city built directly into the cavern.

Before I had a chance to get a better view, frigid water rushed up and slapped me in the face. Once again, I found myself engulfed in utter blackness. Thankfully, this time was only for a brief moment. Once the water wheel turned enough to give me air again, I began to climb.

I made it to Skullie after a few short seconds, then went to work freeing my companion.

“You came after me,” Skullie said in a voice tinged with awe.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“A head is all I am,” Skullie said flatly. “Well…mostly.” He wiggled his spine a little, just to prove the point.

Unwinding the rope proved to be far more complex and difficult than I wanted. Unwilling to remain trapped in place for much longer, I applied my dagger. As soon as the skull and spine were free, I tucked Skullie back into my armor. Then I collected as much of the rope as I could, tied it together to create a longer length, and secured it around my waist.

By the time I’d done all that, the waterwheel had me horizontal, with seconds before I submerged again.

Muttering a curse, I adjusted my weight and swung my feet down in order to orient myself along a new, vertical axis. Once again, I climbed, this time going directly above the wheel. Balancing precariously on the slippery, wet blade, I crossed the distance toward the shore and leaped.

With a rolling tumble, I came to my feet on the stone floor. That’s when it occurred to me that Skullie’s calling my name upon my initial arrival had not been a greeting.

I’d landed right in front of a pair of stone feet.

Looking up, I saw a towering creature looming over me, nearly ten feet tall. Its skin had the look of stone, but the creature moved as if it were flesh and blood. Beneath that granite skin, faintly glowing lines glowed in shades of emerald and ruby. The statue looked roughly humanoid, with a flat face and a wide slit for a mouth. Its elongated torso had four main arms, one pair above the other, and then another set on its front and back.

I gritted my teeth and braced for an attack.

The statue looked down and watched me with a blank, unreadable expression. Symbols glowed along its face, flashing far too quickly for me to follow. It lifted an arm, pointing down a wide, paved road leading up a slope to a fiery cave entrance.

“You want me to go there?”

It nodded, then made a shooing motion with all its arms.

Behind it, two more of the giants came lumbering into view, each of them watching me with that same empty expression.

Recognizing just how dangerous the situation had become, I accepted the creature’s directives.

I walked ahead, making my way down immense boulevards flanked by buildings sized to a scale matching the giants. “Are those golems?” I asked Skullie.

“Probably. I’m not sure what type, though.”

A distant, rumbling voice echoed from the cave still ahead of us. “Core Golems, holder of a Legendary Tablet. They are Core Golems.” The grating voice was not particularly loud, yet even from a distance, I felt a great wave of pressure, as if its words carried a palpable weight.

As we neared the slope leading to the cave, I felt heat wafting out, along with a smell of ozone and sulfur. I became coated in sweat in an instant, and my breath came in labored pants as the combination of toxic fumes and exertion sapped my strength.

Still, I carried on.

At the top of the ramp, I came to a room filled with flowing magma. Stone plinths, covered in angry red runes, throbbed amidst the magma. Platforms, similar to the one I’d rescued Nym on, stood out from the molten stone. The unfortunate difference was that these were only a couple of inches above the surface.

Across the room, a broad platform rose above the main floor. Several strange, coal-black humanoid creatures stood upon the platform, eyeing me with interest. Their eyes throbbed with burning hate. I thought they looked a bit like lizard men, albeit with black skin.

Oddly enough, their malformed bodies were merely torsos, with no arms whatsoever. Even being armless, they were not without their own natural weapons; vicious claws on their thickly muscular legs and a tail tipped with something that caught the light and gleamed.

As the light shimmered through them, I realized each tail ended in a literal diamond.

Again, the rough voice came, this time from the darkness in the ceiling above. “You who come to our realm must prove your worth.”

I looked up and glared at the voice.

Two of the mysterious magma creatures crouched and leaped through the air, clearing the intervening space with ease. The platform shifted wildly when they landed, revealing that it floated on top of the molten river. Both monsters shifted their stance, using their tails for balance. They held their position for a moment, watching me with open malice.

Then their torsos bubbled, black skin bursting as two pairs of yellow-white lava arms extended outward. Like their tails, their claws gleamed like diamonds.

“Ah, shit,” I muttered.

Again, the voice boomed. “Defeat two of my guardians and you shall be given a reward. You will not be allowed to leave unless you succeed.”

The air near me pulsed as my Tablet appeared, hovering there with a displayed prompt.

Quest Gained!

Defeat Two Demonic Magma Guardians.

Assigned to: Jordan

Estimated Risk: Ultra-High

Potential Rewards: Ultra-High

Time to Completion: Immediate