Chapter 166: Good News, Bad News

  The steel helmet, with its scratched red cquer, came off, and I reized him immediately. Even with a scraggly beard, the familiar lines of Kolm’s face were easy to make out across the chamber. The pany armorer was alive. “Eryk? Is that you?” he yelled across the chamber, clearly skeptical and not believing what he was seeing.

  I remembered he was with Fvius, Linus, and Donte. A relieved smile spread ay face. “It is me. Are you alone?” I yelled back. The earth drake that had been agitated was now going into a frenzy as we yelled bad forth, making versation difficult. It was not permitted to leave the room, and two tasty meals encased in red armor were talking bad forth, just out of its reach.

  “Fvius, Linus, Donte, Brutus, and Favia the other end of the passage! They are fishing i room!” he yelled back. I rexed somewhat. Five men of the pany were alive, and so was the Schor. Admittedly, I could have dohout one of them being Fvius.

  “Maveith and I are fine as well. I’m gd Brutus found you!” I replied. My thoughts turo the forthing reunion and what it would mean—no longer being able to use my ability or the collector and st Raelia.

  He ughed. “We found him! He wouldn’t leave his entry room to fight the spiders. He was with the Schor and starving. We were surprised he had en the Schor!”

  I could not even pte su a, but when men got desperate, they would do anything to survive. “How are you on food?” I yelled across.

  “Not great, but we have enough to go around if we reunite. We mao clear a few rooms, but only this st one had a det source of food with the fish.” He turned and looked back down the hallway. “I have to get back, Eryk. They are fishing in the previous room, but the pair of harpies will return soon. Our safe room is just beyond the harpy room, the left hallway ing from this dire. I’m sure Fvius e up with a pn to take care of this,” he indicated toward the powerful earth drake. “Just hold on a bit. I will go get someone,” he reassured. Then he was gone, disappearing as if he were a figment of my imagination.

  I watched the rge pseudon storm around the chamber for over an hour. It looked powerful and well-muscled, with thick scales that moved like small shields along its body. Its head appeared bony, and its jaws sported dozens of six-inch fangs. It calmed down a few moments after Kolm left and focused all its attention on me.

  Just over an hour ter, Fvius and Brutus arrived with Kolm. They talked among themselves before Fvius yelled across, “Eryk, we ot defeat this drake. Kolm was watg it, looking for a weakness, but attag would be a death sentence. Have you seen anyone else?”

  I tempered my reply. “Maveith is still with me. eared on a lower floor of the dungeon.” I pointed behihere are stairs here, leading down.”

  Brutus yelled, “What happened when you entered?” His tone held some anger, likely for beio fend for himself with just the Schor.

  I expined what had happened. “Maveith got struck multiple times by a specter and lost tact with the Schor. He was in bad shape wheered, and we have had a rough time of it on the lower levels.” I said this more to mollify the clearly angry Brutus. “No sign of Castile?” I added to brush past his antipathy.

  There was a brief versation I could not hear before Fvius yelled back across the chamber, stirring the earth drake. “Brutus and the Schor exited the duo reehree days after everyone else entered.”

  Brutus added, yelling over the drake’s movements, “I was hoping to appear in a differery room with anroup. The bodies of Remus and Soren were just outside the dungeoraorn apart. The snoacked around the entrance, and there were half a dozeers as well.”

  The news of the death of our pany mates was hard to swallow. “What about Cyrus?” Only one group of three had ehe dungeon: Cyrus, Soren, and Remus.

  Brutus impatiently replied, “I didn’t have time to check all the body parts, but I did not see him. He could be wyvern shit by now, for all I know.”

  Fvius took over the versation. “We think the summoner is in the dungeon with us.”

  “What? Why would he ehe dungeon?” I was fused by the stupidity of it. Why trap himself in here? Was his lust for vengeance really that great?

  Fvius answered, “The wyverns were gone, but they killed Soren and Remus.”

  Brutus added, “After the specters chased us bato the dungeon, the Schor said he saw bloody footprints in the snow heading into the dungeon. They were narrow, like an elf’s, and definitely not legion boots.”

  There rolonged period of silence as they let me absorb the implications. We were fighting for our lives in every room and being hunted by a mage seeking revenge.

  Fvius broke the silence. “Eryk, we have to head back past the harpy room to reach our safe room. Linus has a broken leg, and Donte is rec from spider poison. Even if they were healthy, I don’t think we could defeat this creature.” The earth drake hissed at Fvius in apparent challe his gestures.

  Kolm was the st to leave and tried to ence me. “If we find Castile, she defeat this drake. Stay alive until then.”

  I gave him some parting knowledge. “All the bears have had healing potions in their reward chests, Kolm.” He nodded curtly in thanks, and I heard Fvius yell at Kolm to hurry. The earth drake focused solely on me now. It y down on all fours, its long neck exteoward me, and its glossy bck eyes waited.

  I waited ten minutes and took out the collector in the meantime. I decided to talk to the creature. “You know I have killed a wyvern before, and it was much bigger than you.” The drake cocked its head like a dog and turo the other passage to firm no one was there before fog on me again.

  I stepped into the room, and its body tensed as its head snapped up. Then, like a marioh its strings cut, it colpsed to the ground. The drake had resisted but not as strongly as the wyvern had. It still bottomed out my aether, but I was now so aced to the feeling that I could brush off the disorientation it created.

  I was not going to pursue the others right now. Maybe after I moved Raelia to the safety of my ste, we could reuh them. I bahe collector on the drake’s bony head a it for now while my aether recovered. The reward chest was in the ter of the chamber. It was the rgest I had seen, the size of a narrow coffin. It also took a little more effort to shatter it. A few gold s were mixed in with silver, but the real prize was the spear on top of the s.

  The leaf tip was matte bck, like it had bee in a fire too long and was covered in soot. The shaft was bck wood, but after hefting the spear and studying it, I noticed the grain of the wood spiraled and was extremely dense. I went through a few forms, assessing the on, and it hummed through the air faster than it should have. It was a little hefty but a well-banced on. Even though I could not see any runic script anywhere on the spear, I was fairly certain it was a dungeon artifact.

  I walked to the walls to study the green slime, carrying the spear with me. The slime appeared to flow across the surface, and its faint smell reminded me of rotten eggs. I guessed this was the only thing the drake had to eat, and I could not bme its eagero eat us instead.

  I was about to return to use the collector when I paused at the slime wall. It appeared too smooth and was shaped like a door. The tip of the spear cut through the slime curtain that cealed another corridor with no flowing lights in the ceiling or the floor. I flicked the slime off the tip and watched as it slowly began to cover the entrance again. Iing.

  I returo use the collector, and thick blue lines were drawn on it. The essehat formed ex earth essence.

  My body briefly shuddered, remembering the st time I ed an apex esseh the earth affinity. Castile had expihat adding new affio your core was not dangerous, but it overwhelmed me since I had received a greater be from each esseh my vergence spell form. Before desding the stairs, I waited long enough to store the s, spear, ah essen my space. I then positiohe heavy drake’s head to face away from the passageway so that if the others returhey would think the drake was sleeping. I also cealed the chest remains behind the drake’s tail.

  Raelia was sleeping when I returned, and Maveith looked up from a pot of stew he was attending. His deep voice asked quietly, “What was at the top of the stairs?”

  “A fat earth drake. Also, there were a few members of the pany on the far side of the chamber. They didn’t want to risk fighting the earth drake. Fvius, Kolm, Linus, Brutus, Schor Favian, and Donte are alive.” I informed the goliath and watched Raelia carefully to see if she was listening. Her body did not flinch, and drool dripped down her cheek. Maveith looked over his shoulder at her, too.

  “Any news on Castile?” Maveith asked as softly as he could.

  “No. Remus and Soren are dead, though.” I was not going to tell Maveith about the elven summoner with Raelia possibly overhearing.

  Maveith nodded slowly at the news. “What do you want to do?”

  “They are retreating past a room with harpies to another safe room. There was another exit from the earth drake room. We will explore that for now.” I said as I took the bowl of offered stew. Maveith had mixed the pork and bear meat together, but it needed a longer simmer to break dowissue. The potatoes were well-cooked and bahe meal.

  I felt a little guilty about not reuniting with the men to share our food stores. I could not postpo forever, though.

  I sat down opposite the griffin rider, studying her momentarily before setting up my sleeping arras. The amulet was in my hand, and I firmed with eye tact that Maveith would remain awake while I slept. With the ring of sustenance almost acclimatized to my body, I was down to about four hours to feel fully rested.

  The entrao the dreamscape dungeo familiar. It weirdly almost felt like home now. Seeing Konstantin almost made me miss the guy until he asked to spar. I materialized a repliy new spear, and his eyebrow arched.

  “Another neon? We are going to have to train you twice as long and hard to master both the bck bde and this bck spear.” Konstantin said eagerly.

  I rolled my eyes and decided I would practice for a time with Xavier, the sword master. Of course, I did not know how Xavier would fight someoh a spear or with a spear and shield. The practice was ineffit, but I found some fort with the neon.

  Before leaving the dreamscape, I went to the elven colle of herbalism and apothecary books to look up the sundrop flowers and sugarweed. The sugarweed petals o be dried in ahey were used as a sweetener, like Raelia had said. They were also used to ease stomach cramps and help digestion when made into tea. I regretted not at least taking some of them.

  The sundrops were also iing. They only bloomed in early spring and were actually eaten by animals of both sexes to increase fertility—not particurly useful to me. I finished my four hours in the dreamscape a.

  Maveith had ed up and ying checkers with Raelia. As I started putting things away, I told Maveith, “You have eight hours to sleep before we climb the stairs.” Maveith nodded and won the game, to Raelia’s sternation in the few minutes.

  Maveith took a few mio get fortable but was soon sn softly oone shelf. Raelia looked at me expetly. I guessed it was time to have the tough versation about her going bato my dimensional space.

  ? Chted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

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