Chapter 18

Therodin gripped his sword as he stood outside the dungeon in granite armor. Gifted to him by the might of Lord Abzu, the paladin had more than enough strength to wield such heavy protection. His heart pounded, the exhilaration of battle flooding through him.

He had led his Company to another evil builder’s lair. A foul and disgusting brute named Intsimbi who had been raiding the elven communities in the Ashonivilia Forest. A Metal dungeon builder, his goblins had been causing mayhem.

“Lord and Lady of Thunder, give us warning of danger,” prayed Corthin, the elven priest. “Sound the alarm if we tread into danger.”

The blessing fell on them. Niss grinned. The human rogue moved forward in her black leathers, scouting the way into the cave. Therodin glanced at his second, Ril. The elven mage smiled. It wasn’t just her Light magic that could illuminate the world. The dwarf Zarn grinned eagerly while the halfling Aython bounced on the balls of his feet, ready to use the massive ax that was bigger than him to smite the foul creature who lurked in here.

Empty merely looked on in his black robe, his hood almost shadowing his entire face. Therodin would never grow used to the unnerving Death mage.

Therodin entered the cave. Like many dungeon builders, Intsimbi cloaked his entrance in natural trappings to conceal it, Therodin was certain this was it. Ril muttered the words to summon light to shine bright. No goblins were lurking in here.

“Here we are,” Niss said. “There’s a door hidden back here. Metal and heavy. Oh, yes, we have his element right.”

Therodin and the others moved up to the door as Niss picked it. She then slid her fingers along the edge. She grinned and pulled out more of her thieving tools to disable a trap on it. Now she stepped back. Therodin wrenched open the door, confident his armor would keep him safe from the goblin’s iron blades.

Nothing attacked him.

The tunnel swept ahead, the walls smooth stone instead of brick, and bent instead of turn. Niss scouted ahead again, moving and looking for traps. She disabled one as Therodin and Aython followed. Zarn would be at the rear to protect Ril and Empty should they be flanked. They moved with caution despite the exhilaration pounding through Therodin demanding he move faster.

He had survived too many dungeons to listen to that impulse.

The tunnels moved sinuously. They turned and flowed, snaking right and left. They branched off in strange ways, sometimes spiraling around while climbing or sloping. It was different. He’d never seen a dungeon like this.

“Disorienting,” said Ril.

“We’re still going fine,” said Niss. She tapped her head. “Can’t confuse me.”

Niss disarmed the occasional trap that would fire spikes of metal at them from the floor, ceiling, or walls—a common Metal trap—or pit traps, a universal one all dungeon builders employed. They saw no sign that the builder possessed any other element.

No surprises awaited them.

“Not a single defender,” said Aython. “He’s hoarding them?”

“A big brawl?” Zarn asked and chuckled, his eagerness echoing around the room.

They reached a trap room, a deadly room full of metal panels on the ground. Each one was big enough for a person to stand on. Niss probed at them with care. The second one into the room burst with spikes shooting up.

“A maze,” she said and pulled out a pouch from her backpack. She opened it and set a blue-painted stone. “Ril, can you illuminate the entire room.”

“Zalag Sar!” Ril chanted. A ball of light, like the one moving with her, appeared in the middle of the room. “Zalag Sar! Zalag Sar! Zalag Sar! Zalag Sar!” She added four more in the corners to spread an even light. It would draw on her mana reserve, a fragment of a Void Crystal, but worth it.

Niss moved through the room, testing the way. She marked the safe path with her stones. She found a couple of dead ends, a true labyrinth within a labyrinth. But she reached the far end and crouched by the heavy, metal door.

She began to pick it as Therodin went next. They moved in a single-file line, a few squares between each. By the time Therodin reached the other side, Niss had the door picked. She opened it and stepped into the hallway, her daggers held low. He moved past her to be ready for an attack.

Ril put out all her lights as they kept moving. They found another trap room.

“Well, this one is worse,” Niss said as she triggered the square before the door. “I think you have to jump from safe square to safe square.”

“Is there a way to disable it?” asked Therodin.

“Yeah,” Niss said. “Look.” She pointed toward a box in the far, right corner. “A lever.”

“Zi Nim!” Ril said. The elf levitated into the air and floated out across the floor. She drifted in her white robes, her blonde braid of hair fluttering behind her. She reached the lever and pulled it.

They passed through another trap room and into another winding labyrinth full of traps but no monster girls. They had spent an hour penetrating this deep and still had seen no sign of the builder or his minions. The goblins were either out raiding, which would be bad if they rushed them from behind, or the builder would meet them with all his forces together.

That would be bad in a different way.

They came to another metal door. Niss picked the lock but when Therodin tried to open it, it didn’t move. Niss cocked her head and rolled her eyes. “It’s barred from the other side. We’re going to have to force the door.”