"Your back!" Merchant Venancijs was happy. "I must admit I was starting to worry."

  "It’s a dungeon, so your worries were natural." The commander agrees. "But not this time." He looks around and starts talking loudly. "Everyone here? Does everyone hear me?" Seeing nods from all gathered, he continued. "Oasis On Taram is from now on Dungeon Oasis On Taram. Dungeon Mistress has two patrons, The Lady and The Smith." All were speechless."

  "Not only that. She is recognized by two more gods. Goddess of beauty, and god of knowledge and secrets." Added Shewa. "And that means that this dungeon is sacred."

  "Four gods." Whisper Venancijs.

  "You heard it right." Continued the commander. "Four gods are watching this place. I don't know how it’s for scholars and clergy to understand, but what you see is one of the floors, and it's a safe zone. The rest of the floors should be underground."

  "But Commander, it's impossible." The head merchant said what all the people were thinking.

  "Wait until we reach the gate." Laugh priestess.

  "Regardless. Dungeon Mistress prepared for any visitor supplies for the rest of their journey, a place for pitch tents, and stables for camels. But remember that it is a safe zone. Dungeon Mistress, and we are bound by the law of hospitality. She will provide what we need for a safe journey, and we take only that much. Nothing more. I don't need to tell anyone here what can happen when someone breaks that agreement." - everyone nods that they understand. Taking small, rather worthless trinkets, like shiny pebbles or nice flowers, usually doesn’t count as breaking the law of hospitality. They vanish when adventurers leave the dungeon. Sometimes, even dungeon masters allow you to keep it. But if you break this law, the dungeon can do whatever it wants with you. Poison your food; its minions will target you, and safe zones are no longer safe for you. You can be crippled, die, or if you somehow manage to run away, you become a bandit because no one will help you.

  "One more thing. Dungeon Mistress is a teenage human girl, and she is rather shy. So if you spot her, don’t approach her. Inform me or the commander." Added Shewa.

  "Two more things. This is a dungeon, so no one will go anywhere alone. At least one more person, two will be best. And no dungeon diving. We aren't an Adventurer Guild exploration team. Our job is to protect the caravan. Understood?" The last part makes a few adventurers a little unhappy, but they agree that the risk is not worth it. The first floors are rather easy, but even there, people die, although the dangers are well known. And here is a new, completely unknown dungeon, where your chances of dying are a few times higher than normal and for one or two silvers at best, depending on how big your team will be. Not worth it.

  As they get closer to the gate, chatter slowly stops. Sometimes, you could hear some whispers, but people were too amazed.

  Thuldir stopped at the front gate and approached the tiled wall. He took off his glove and carefully touched the glazed tile.

  "Unbelievable." He whispers.

  "Doesn't it?" He heard the happy voice of a priestess. "I don’t have an affinity with stone, but I bet it’s the same story as with plants inside. They are full of love."

  "Love? Yes, priestess. Those tiles, this stone, are full of passion, they are not just cold objects. I feel it in my dwarven soul. This tile, do you see this faint smudge here?"

  "I'm not sure, but I probably see some color difference."

  "Yes, it's faint, but it's the fingerprints of some sloppy potter's apprentice. Dungeon Mistress not only created the object but also created the story behind its creation. If you close your eyes, you can imagine hundreds of workers working day and night on those tiles, workers on scaffolding building those walls and towers."

  The priestess touched the wall, closed her eyes, and instantly saw all of that. She even heard voices and the general commotion that can usually be heard in such places.

  "We need to go inside. The night is near, and we have a lot of things to prepare." She said, a little scared. This was huge. She needs to report this immediately. Hopefully, higher clergy will know about that kind of miracle.

  After sunset, the commander checked all the guards again. It was a safe zone, and Lucius reluctantly accepted that fact. The bandits were not part of the dungeon, though. After checking everything, he went to the priestess' tent.

  "Excuse me, Priestess. Grand merchant Venancijs invites you for supper." He said, standing before the closed entrance of the tent.

  "I apologize, Priestess, for intruding, but I'm going in." He said because he didn't hear anything from inside. As he suspected, she wasn't inside.

  "You two." He grabs some random adventurers. "Come with me. We must bring back our priestess."

  At the same time, Shewa was lying on the grass in the temple and listening to the croaking of frogs and the singing of crickets. She couldn't get enough of it.

  "Young mistress, you can come in. I won’t hurt you." She said with eyes still closed.

  "Good evening. Everything alright?" She asked as she approached the priestess.

  "I have no words to express how happy I am for the gift from the goddess and your hard work," Shewa said as she sat down on the grass.

  "Thank you," Naomi answered. "Sorry for running away. I always avoided people."

  "It’s alright. We were looking intimidating."

  "Yes." Naomi sighed in embarrassment.

  "I don't want to be rude, but it’s unusual for a dungeon master to be shy. Your kind comes into contact with many people every day.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Well, yes. But I don't need to do it personally. I just build a floor, and everything works by itself."

  "So why?"

  "Why did I greet you at the gate? Because it will be rude, and you will, at best, sleep outside walls and more likely run. And all of that will be useless. What if you’re low on supplies? And well, it is a little embarrassing, but all of this is my second chance, and dungeons through challenges help people grow, and interacting with people is my challenge."

  The priestess was speechless. It was something no one had ever heard before, and she was sure of it. Every dungeon master thinks he is one step away from godhood. But the mistress of the oasis was the opposite. She even found, in her dungeon, a challenge for herself.

  The rest of their conversation was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

  "Ach. That's probably the commander. I kind of slipped away without saying anything to anyone." The priestess winked at the surprised Naomi.

  "Good evening, Commander." Priestess waved to adventurers.

  "Good evening, Priestess, and to you, Dungeon Mistress. Priestess, I may not have the authority to command you, but remember that your safety is my responsibility."

  "Sorry to make you wary, Commander. But this is a safe zone."

  "I'm not worried about our Dungeon Mistress. I'm wary of bandits."

  "Valid concern, but not here in the temple. Our Dungeon Mistress makes them regret coming here, and you heard stories when someone tried to attack a temple."

  "Yes, priestess. I simply believe that preventing trouble makes my life easier. Regardless. Grand merchant Venancijs invites you on supper, and I extend that invitation to you too, Mistress of the dungeon."

  "Oh, I…" Naomi wanted to refuse instinctively, but the priestess interrupted her.

  "She will gladly join us. But maybe only us two and grand merchant? She doesn't know us yet, and some of us look quite scary."

  "Understood priestess." Commander nods. "You two, go ahead and inform the great merchant that the Dungeon Mistress is coming with us, and her wish is to have a small private meeting only with him."

  "Yes, Commander," They answered and ran.

  "You don't wear boots?" Priestess asked curiously, seeing that Naomi was barefoot and just waiting for her.

  "No. I like running on this floor barefoot. On other floors, I can’t do that."

  "Yes, you make the perfect floor for that." Smiled Shewa. "Come, supper waiting for us. Commander led the way." She said and hugged Naomi to give her courage.

  In camp, people indeed kept their distance, which was a huge relief for Naomi. She was led to one of the better-looking tents where grand merchant Venancijs was waiting for her.

  "Good evening, Dungeon Mistress. I'm a grand merchant Venancijs and organizer of this caravan, and this is my path."

  He was a little old but sort of handsome-looking. His body looks fit, his clothes are good-looking, maybe expensive, and his short beard is clean and trimmed. Naomi starts thinking that she can do it without being scared too much.

  "Good evening, Grand Merchant," Naomi answered. "I’m Dungeon Mistress of On Taram Dungeon Oasis. Appointed by The Lady and The Smith, and this is my path."

  According to what Naomi reeds in scrolls, dungeon masters show their path only to priests and in official situations. But she thinks it's the behavior of a spoiled brat.

  "Please come in, Mistress. Supper will be served in a few moments." Venancijs, only for a brief second, was surprised by her behavior. However, he has dealt with unexpected situations all his life, so it was no problem for him. "However, I must apologize that our supper will be just simple stew."

  "Don’t worry. I am looking forward to tasting local food, even if it’s simple stew."

  On the ground in the tent lay a nice-looking carpet, and on the edges were placed pillows for sitting on them. Besides that, there was no furniture. It makes sense for Naomi. The road through the desert was hard, and when you must choose between some furniture and extra water or food, only some fools will choose a desk. Yes, you can add extra camels to your caravan, but they need to eat too.

  After they sit, one of the apprentice young human men brings a small cauldron with steaming stew, and a second apprentice elven woman brings a basket with flatbread and wooden plates with dents in the middle. Naomi was curious how they eat stew without bowls, and what she saw amazed her. The flat bread wasn’t looking like a pancake but like a bowl. It was carefully placed in the dent of the plate and then filled with stew. The bread was in the bowl. Naomi's eyes went wide with childlike amazement. Like others, she placed the plate on her legs and took bread in her hands. The smell was a little heavy but sort of pleasant. She scooped on a wooden spoon some of the stew and smiled. It was exotic and a new taste for her, but she liked it. And they somehow manage to make this stew tasty without expensive spices, too. The bread also gains a new flavor when soaking in some stew. She eats her serving with gusto.

  "Oh. I saw that our mistress liked our simple stew." The grand merchant smiled.

  "Yes. It was very tasty, thank you." Naomi smiled, too.

  "Really?"

  "Yes. I have indeed had many opportunities in the past to eat great food. But this stew was one of them. And the way it is served is so ingenious."

  "In long travel, especially through the desert, you need to carefully pick what you bring with you. The set of wooden bowls don’t weight much, but they take space, and after each meal, you need to clean them." Explained commander.

  "And we are in the desert, and every drop of water can decide about life and death." Naomi nod.

  "Excuse me. Grand Merchant, I bring what you requested." Someone interrupted them.

  "Ach Jolana came in." Venancijs said, and young elven women from before entered the tent. She brought some bundle with her. "Splendid, exactly about that one I was talking about. Thank you for your help. For today, that's all. You can go to rest."

  "You're welcome, and good night." She bowed and left the tent.

  "I must say that I wasn't expecting to meet the dungeon master on our journey, and I'm rather unprepared. But I wish that you would take this simple dress as a token of our gratitude. Your oasis is so wonderful and will help us immensely with the rest of our journey." He unwraps the bundle and shows a blue dress. It was very modest, a little old-fashioned compared to earth dresses. It had long sleeves and no neckline. The length of the dress was also almost ankle-length.

  "It’s beautiful." Naomi gasps. "You don’t need to, it’s just my job." She tries to refuse the gift.

  "Maybe so. But we all see that you put your heart and soul into the creation of this oasis. Any other dungeon master will just do the bare minimum and be happy with it."

  "Thank you." Naomi takes the dress, embarrassed. "Priestess, can I borrow your tent? I want to try it on."

  "Of course." Shewa stood immediately. Excuse us for a few moments."

  "Of course. We will be waiting." The grand merchant smiled happily.

  After they left, Venancijs asked the commander.

  "My friend, am I dreaming?"

  "If so, then we both dream the same dream, so unlikely."

  "How can someone so innocent become a dungeon master?"

  "She is not innocent or naive. More likely pure-hearted or something like that. You saw walls and towers. She doesn't need them so big. I'm not a strategist or general, so I can’t be certain how good they will be in the real siege, but she is already prepared for that. Yes, she doesn't have an army, for now. And, like you said, she sacrificed her entire floor to help travelers. Tell me Venancijs how much your good word will be worth when we arrive at our destination."

  "Immensely commander, immensely," The grand merchant whispered. Dear gods. Depending on how well she plays it, there is a chance that southern kingdoms send some of their soldiers here."

  "And the adventurer guild definitely will have an outpost here."