“So what are you saying?” Thesa asked. Her head spun. “Beautuk made sure there were no Otomoids in ItherBeau? That would have come up somewhere in training, right? It can’t be true. We just saw one.”

  Merijest ran her fingers through Thesa's hair as she replied. “Maybe it's nothing. But the Tornado Gorge only recently became part of ItherBeau so it’s possible that was a factor the other day…still it doesn’t make sense. You were told IsterNgiv is in ItherBeau, right?”

  “I– I’m not sure,” Thesa said. “They said it wasn’t that far from the Convent, but they never said the name. IsterNgiv…nobody has heard of it anywhere we go so maybe it's not even in ItherBeau? But then how did my mom and I get to the Convent on foot?” Her thoughts were starting to race again.

  Merijest put a hand on Thesa’s cheek. “It’s alright, kitten. We will find your answers.” The soothing touch of her demoness calmed the brewing concerns if only for a moment.

  Before the conversation could continue, a voice echoed up from a [Floor] below.

  “Another door?! Come on! Why did I get stuck with this place?” It wasn’t the voice of Ailgeth, but Thesa thought she recognized it and that was probably a bad sign.

  “Let’s move,” Merijest said. “If we make contact with the [Dungeon Core] then we might have an advantage in combat.”

  Thesa nodded, although her thoughts were still swimming.

  “Listen, Thesa,” Merijest said. She grabbed Thesa’s shoulders and seemed to grow taller. Her wings growing ever so slightly and her tail flicking behind her. Thesa’s breathing stopped as her demoness continued, “There’s a lot on your mind, but a fight is coming. I need you to focus on that for the time being. You are my [Witch]. It's your responsibility to protect me and mine to protect you.”

  Thesa’s heart stirred. Things had been so hectic, she hadn't seen Merijest in this authoritative light in some time. And her demoness was right. For now, Thesa needed to set aside those thoughts and focus on staying alive. More than that, she needed to be ready to defend her demoness at all costs.

  ***

  The worst part about a Tower is that heat rises throughout the [Dungeon] and gathers in the higher [Floors]. Outside of certain ice-themed towers or those constructed in frigid regions, solving the problem is rarely prioritized by [Dungeon Cores].

  Thesa, for her part, was working up a sweat and by the 8th [Floor], she was removing her breastplate. She would have to double her efforts to fulfill her responsibilities in a fight, but if she passed out from heat exhaustion that would be its own problem.

  “I’ll just have to avoid getting hit,” she said. Her torso was now only protected by a gray tank top.

  Merijest smirked. “As much as I hate to dissuade you of this ensemble,” the demoness said, “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my ice magic.”

  Thesa looked up, breastplate in her hands and blush on her cheeks. “I–uh…”

  “Although, ice sounds like an easy way to pull a muscle,” Durn chimed in.

  Witmie gave her wife a playful shove. “Eyes front, soldier,” the half-elf said.

  “Oh no, did I make you jealous?” Durn replied with a smile.

  Witmie blushed and stuck her tongue out.

  “It–it’s fine.” Thesa’s cheeks reddened. “I actually feel a bit of a cooling sensation from somewhere already…” With great displeasure, Thesa remembered the Menthic Axe. The red mark on her arm was moving and she could feel a squirming sensation beneath her skin.

  Back in the Blinny [Dungeon], Thesa had excitedly picked up a strange axe. It turned out to be pretty useful, but the Menthic Axe also implanted the egg of a Peppermint Wyrm under her skin. Thesa wasn’t exactly a fan of feeling like her skin had been invaded. But things had been so hectic for a while that she was able to ignore it most of the time. When she did think of it, usually while getting dressed or undressed at camp, she usually scrubbed her skin clean and cleaner, praying that the incubating creature would somehow get the hint and leave.

  “Is it almost ready to hatch?” Witmie asked. “I’ve been waiting to see.”

  “I don’t– is that what this means?” Thesa asked. The marking had been there for several days.

  Everyone seemed to nod as if this was obvious.

  “The warm air might actually be accelerating the process,” Merijest said.

  Thesa’s eyes were bugging out as she stared at the design. It moved. The tattoo shifted and she could feel it moving. She almost vomited then and there.

  Then with a tearing sensation, the Peppermint Wyrm emerged from Thesa’s arm.

  ***

  ***

  Unfortunately, it was kinda cute.

  The break in Thesa’s forearm skin was about the size of her palm, but she preferred simple pain and blood to that writhing sensation.

  While Durn healed Thesa’s arm, Witmie sat at a distance, looking up at the creature before scribbling doodles in her notebook.

  “Will you name it?” Merijest asked Thesa.

  “Name it?”

  As the Peppermint Wyrm skittered up and around her shoulder, Thesa winced.

  “I never name my [Familiars] because I don’t wish to humanize them. It’s something small and maybe it doesn’t matter, but to me the unnamed wildness of each creature is something to be preserved even in partnership,” Merijest said. “But you named Yabba and…I wonder if giving the creature a name might help you come to terms with it.”

  Thesa decided that Merijest was probably correct. “In that case, I’ll need to come up with a name.” She gulped.

  Yabba waddled up to Thesa, seemingly interested in the new creature. When the Peppermint Wyrm noticed, it flexed its wings for the first time and made a fluttering leap onto Yabba’s roof where it batted at the Nest Walker’s wind vane.

  “What about ‘Merijest junior’?” Durn cut in.

  While Thesa keeled over blushing, Witmie suggested, “I love naming things. Um….Icicle! or maybe Deep Freeze or–I don’t know–Frostbite or Lil Fella or–or–” Witmie’s face was turning red with excitement.

  The Foxtapus, upon noticing the Peppermint Wyrm’s game, also leapt atop Yabba’s roof and joined in playing with the creaking wind vane. For some reason, the Bronze Motif kept its distance.

  “Frostbite…” Thesa repeated. It certainly sounded cool.

  “Frostbite?”

  “I like it,” Thesa nodded. “I’m still wary of this thing and every time I think about how it was…embedded in my skin…I start to lose it.” Thesa shuddered. “I just have to keep distracting myself from those memories.”

  “Is that why you keep glancing over at Merijest’s tits?” Witmie remarked with a mischievous smirk.

  Thesa buried her face in her hands. It seemed that despite the status of her relationship with Merijest being more stable, she was still bashful to the core.

  The Peppermint Wyrm, newly born and already sleepy, leapt back onto Thesa’s arm and curled around her bicep like a spiraled armlet. Thesa breathed slowly. It wasn’t going back into her skin. This was ok. It would be ok.

  “You’re doing it again,” Witmie said.

  Thesa strained her neck as she averted her eyes which had somehow drifted to Merijest’s chest.

  ***

  In the middle of the 10th [Floor] stood, you guessed it, another door. Squares of brass pipe were affixed to the door in a four-by-four grid. Above the top-right square was a bit of immovable piping with a valve. Beneath the bottom right square was a large brass tank.

  “Looks like we’ll need to move the pieces so something can flow from one end to the other?” Durn said.

  Witmie had already started messing with the pipes as if gravity had drawn her to the puzzle. “I think I can get this,” she said, scratching her head around the base of her rabbit ears as she continued. “Might take a minute, though.”

  Thesa looked around the small chamber. “Is this [Dungeon Core] even going to make a good ally if all they do is design weird doors?”

  “We’ve come this far,” Merijest shrugged.

  Behind them, a clammer of lone footsteps bubbled up the stairwell.

  “How’s it going there, Witmie,” Durn asked.

  “Uh, just another minute,” Witmie replied, continuing to maneuver the pieces.

  “Probably best to prepare for the worst,” Thesa shrugged. She summoned her halberd and stood near the stairwell entrance waiting. She needed to focus on protecting Merijest. “At the very least it sounds like we outnumber them.”

  The Peppermint Wyrm, Frostbite, crawled up to Thesa’s shoulder. Thesa could tell it was scared. Yabba always danced to its own beat, so Thesa didn’t generally need to worry about it or protect it, but Frostbite was newly born and frightened. Thesa adjusted her focus again. She would need to protect Frostbite too.

  Merijest took her position behind Thesa while Durn, the Foxtapus, and the Bronze Motif protected Witmie.

  As the source of the footsteps entered, Thesa was surprised to see someone wearing Knight’s armor with a large instrument slung around their back. If not for the instrument, Thesa might have been completely lost, but she remembered a devotee who always lugged around a hurdy-gurdy.

  “Frinx?” Thesa asked and the Knight nearly jumped out of their skin.

  “Woah! I didn’t see you there!” Frinx said, backing away from Thesa and Merijest.

  “Since when have you been a Knight?” Thesa asked.

  “Oh didn’t you hear? Drimel retired and Hilling got an Eminent Class. It was a whole thing,” Frinx replied. Their tone was strangely friendly and Thesa couldn’t help staring in confusion as she tried to parse what she was seeing.

  “And you are?” Merijest asked.

  Frinx nodded. “Sorry, yes! I am Sir Frinx. I’m the latest member of the Convent so forgive me if I mix up some of the formalities. It’s nice to meet you.” They seemed genuinely embarrassed.

  The Knight removed their helmet to reveal a bald head, dark skin, and a friendly human face. “Now, Thesa…come back to the Convent…” Frinx said almost like they were asking a question.

  Thesa looked at the lone Frinx and then at her own comrades. Everyone’s combat preparedness was waning. Frinx simply did not read as a threat. Thesa simply replied, “no.”

  Frinx nodded with furrowed eyebrows. They rummaged in their satchel for something and pulled out a small piece of parchment. In a mumble they read to themself, “‘if the traitoress refuses to comply’…yada yada yada…’use force to demonstrate Beautuk’s might over Merijest.’ Right. Did they ever pick the wrong Knight for this one…”

  “You are a curious one,” Merijest observed.

  Frinx took the hurdy-gurdy from their back and fiddled with it for a moment. The instrument was engraved with ornate designs evoking the architecture of the Convent. “Alright, let’s give this a shot,” they said and as the music began, a dozen yellow, dancing Fire Constructs appeared in formation around the lone Knight. “Waltzing visions, let’s dance!” they cried as the elementals went on the attack.

  "Dance water, dance!" If you had one of those fun, anime phrases before battle, what would it be?

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