The dungeon had a strange lighting system. Some floors were lighted up with no light source, some were lighted by torches and some where pitch bck. Others got their illumination from dungeon monsters which would not be luminescent on a different floor.
The outside world was bright, a simple different kind of bright from the strangeness of the dungeon. Isran’s heart seized as she realized it was the first time she was seeing the sun since the first time she had died. Being a dungeon monster, she hadn’t had the opportunity to see the sun in her second life. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed it.
“Are you okay?”
Isran blinked a few times and looked down at Elysi’s worried-apprehensive expression.
“Oh uh… yeah.”
She had momentarily forgotten where she was with the feeling of the sun against her skin, the bright light making her feel sentimental and pained. God she had missed feeling human so much. A stark difference to how she had felt about mankind during the dying days of her first life. Gods she had been so bitter.
The sound of footsteps made Isran blink and turn. There were two figures approaching them. One was a woman, even from the distance Isran could tell she was much taller than her and Isran felt pretty tall. Her chest was binded and her rge axe strapped behind her. She had a rge tail, which was wagging a bit stiffly and wolf ears. Her legs resembled wolf hind legs and she slightly hunched forward.
The woman beside her was a human woman with a rge staff she leaned slightly against as they moved.
They didn’t speak to them, just walked past and through the dungeon entrance behind them.
Isran blinked a bit, surprised at the ck of friendliness from strangest. In her first life she would always have someone speak to her as she moved about her day. Then Isran sighed, realizing that in this life she was a nobody. In her first life she was a leader, of course everyone greeted her. She hoped she didn’t embarrass herself in this new world by expecting things she was no longer owed.
“We should get going…”
Isran nodded and turned away from the dungeon entrance—she had been staring after them.
The dungeon entrance was an archway with a purple portal enclosed in it with nothing behind it. A bit trippy. The purple was an unmoving wall with no variation in color or shade. It had felt rather anticlimactic walking through it, like there was nothing in the way. Isran had been so overwhelmed by the sun she didn’t think about it much.
They saw a few other people as they walked as well as other dungeon entrances. Isran had to bite her tongue when she spotted a dwarf, the short bearded man looked cute. Most people who passed by were humans with varying weapons and armor. Very few beastkin like Elysi and the woman she had seen earlier and one rge man with gray skin, inky bnk patterns marking half his face with tusks. Isran was going to assume he was an orc.
They stopped briefly to eat a few of the fruits from the dungeon and after maybe an hour of walking—judging by the position of the sun—they reached a rge wall with a gate in their way, people milling around and what Isran assumed were guards speaking to some people and searching through a few bags.
There was a small line and Elysi led them to it. Isran was slowly beginning to feel the weight of the bags behind her and her muscles straining, she wasn’t sure a bite of the fruits was going to fix that but she hopped it did.
“Wh’re are ya lot going?”
Isran blinked at the guard, his accent threw her off a bit.
“Kestin.” Elysi answered.
The guard grunted and gnced at Isran before waving them off.
Elysi sighed when they broke away from the line and passed a few more guards and people, then through the gate. A few wagons and carriages were parked behind the gate with even more people milling around.
Elysi lead them to one rge wagon with a few people in it and began speaking with what Isran guessed was the driver. As they spoke Isran looked around, the space wasn’t very interesting. Several trees lined each side of a well beaten path, a small cottage with a rge blue banner hanging outside it. Isran guessed it was the guard post. The trees reminded her of Mango trees, though no fruits were growing from them.
“Uh… Isran?”
Isran blinked down at Elysi. The woman gnced at the wagon driver and led them a few steps away.
“Uh.. I’m sorry to have to ask but I don’t have any money for the wagon…”
Isran blinked in confusion for a moment before realizing she had money from the dungeon. She nodded and dropped the bags. As she searched through them she realized it was an opportunity. She had no idea how to get around and Elysi would most probably ditch her when they got to a town or city, she could hire the woman to be her guide for a bit—at least until she understood enough of the pce to be on her own.
Elysi sighed a bit as she accepted the money pouch, she pulled a few coins out and handed the bag back to Isran.
Huh. At least she was kind enough to do that. Maybe convincing her to help wouldn’t be hard.
After paying they got into the wagon and a few people more joined them before the driver got in his seat and the wagon began to move. The wheels creaked slightly under the weight as the two horses pulled the wooden structure forward.
Isran had the bags in between her legs—the wood beneath her was a bit uncomfortable, the wood digging slightly into her ass, her arm pressed against Elysi as the wagon moved slowly—they were sitting close together, not much space in the vehicle not to, the setting sun creating a beautiful orange backdrop. Her shoulders sagged and she sighed, her muscles a more bit sore and her chest heavy.
“Uh… Isran?”
Isran turned her head slightly. “Hmm?”
Elysi wasn’t looking at her. She was fidgeting slightly, her bow leaned over her p and folded, Isran didn’t know it could fold.
“I well.. I… I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you… in uh… exchange of some money.”
Isran blinked once. It seemed she wasn’t going to have to bring it up herself.
Isran was going to readily agree then remembered how flustered Elysi had gotten when she teased her in the dungeon. It had been a few hours since then, Isran had to keep the beastkin woman on her toes—she wondered if her kind were called beastkin in the world.
“What kind of things?” She made sure to smirk, her eyebrows lifted high.
Elysi’s head snapped to her and blood slowly filled her cheeks. She was beautiful, and directly facing her— with the sun casting a wonderful orange glow over everything her beauty momentarily made Isran’s heart skip a beat. Soft pink lips and long shes framing slightly hooded eyes. When she wasn’t acting flustered she could pass for a stoic femme fatale.
“Well.. I—“
Isran chuckled a bit. “Calm down… I would appreciate some help getting to a main city of some kind. I don’t know my way around.”
Elysi’s shoulders rexed and she picked her tail, slowly brushing her fingers over it. “Oh uh.. I could do that.”
Isran smiled softer. “I appreciate that.”
Elysi nodded. And subtly moved closer, her shoulders were still stiff and her fingers continued to py with her tail. Isran felt her heart flutter, it had been so long since she had felt the warmth of another person. It made her slightly giddy.
They didn’t speak much for the rest of the trip and by the time the wagon stopped Isran jolted awake. She had no idea when she had fallen asleep. The short nap made the muscle aches she was experiencing a bit worse and she winced as she stretched a bit.
The quiet of the road had disappeared and people were dismounting the wagon as she blinked her sleep away. They were in front of a simir set of gates, a small line formed in front of it as people passed by, a few wagons and a horse with bull horns mounted by an orc. A bit overwhelmed by the sounds, Isran swallowed and focused on standing and grabbing her bag. Elysi was standing—patiently waiting for her to get off the vehicle. They were the st people on it.
Isran sighed quietly—doing her best to block out the sounds of people around her and hefted their luggage unto her back.
