Chapter 17

Everyone agreed that getting some food was a good idea, and we left the room to head downstairs. Entivala took the lead heading towards our destination, with Katie and Amenthia in the middle and I was taking the rear position. We quickly walked and talked, as we wove our way through the various corridors of the Pact House.

“Katie, I do want to apologize to you for earlier,” Amenthia whispered, causing the Dryad to look at her curiously. “I was suspicious of your actions and motives when you apologized to Pathios, so I suggested that we test you that way to see how you would react. Enti and I knew it had to be something that the old you would have lost her shit about, that way we would know if your true colors would show. Instead, you surprised us, and I feel a bit ashamed by my choice.”

Enti added, moving back in the walking order to walk next to Katie, “I, too, would like to apologize. I am sure if I had taken more time to think on it, I could have come up with something different to test you on but, as my blonde compatriot said, it had to be something the old you would have absolutely went crazy if she was asked to do it. I don’t want you to expect that you are just going to become our plaything or something like that.”

“It is okay, really,” Katie said with a slight laugh in her voice. “I will do whatever it takes if it keeps me from the fate that was waiting for me back home, so don’t feel too bad about it. As I said before, I refuse to wind up like my mother has and I will do what it takes to keep me away from that life. They had threatened me with slavery like hers for what I had done as well as with the blame they had placed on me. Now I know at least here I am free of that fate and that you would try to protect me. I don’t even know if she is still alive, but I know that if she is, she has a miserable existence. You know, Enti, that my mother and I never saw eye to eye on anything. She could be harsh and cruel to me for the littlest thing, or just because it amused her, but to be sold into slavery to the Verka was a fate I wouldn’t have wanted for my worst enemy. They treat their slaves as less than human, as if they were no better than the monsters that we fight in the Dungeons. They are beaten, raped, forced to breed with enslaved monsters. When their usefulness is done, they are given to the beasts as food. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had been used as a sex object, but I know that she would have been beaten daily. Given how many years it has been, she could very well have been tossed to a monster for its food. What I do know for a fact, is that she has been in a special kind of hell and, for her sake, I would hope that she has passed on.”

“We understand,” Entivala said, wrapping her arm around her friend. “Still, we wanted to make sure you understood that. We want to make this work, to help you be free and find the penance that you seek. I am sure that Pathios feels the same and, given his plans for you, it seems he plans to help you to be a possible future member of the Pact House, should you choose to remain.”

Katie smiled and said, “I am seriously considering it. Back home, my skills only really work for being a criminal, where if I use them here, it could be particularly useful in a positive light. There are aspects that I will need to learn more about, but I am sure you will help with that.”

“Of course,” I replied with a smile from behind the trio. “We could use the help, too. We had a tough time just before you woke up when we tried to get to a village on the fifth floor. We were swarmed by monsters and the whole traveling party was sent to the healers. Some of us were worse off than others, and my armor was damaged beyond repair from the assault. Perhaps with you in the party, it will give us the means to survive next time, but I need to come up with some tactics so that next time, we are better prepared for such a situation.”

We arrived at the dining hall and found a robust buffet of food waiting for us. We took what we wanted from the assortment of foods and moved to a nearby, empty table. As we sat down to eat, Cassandra and Darius entered the dining hall hand in hand. They spotted us eating at our table and waved as they passed to collect food of their own before they joined us.

“Hey, guys,” Darius said with a warm smile. “I am happy to see you all are okay, especially you, Pathios. You were taking one hell of a beating when I was pulled out of there by my stone.”

I finished my mouthful of food and replied, “Yeah, I came out relatively okay, though I can’t say the same for my armor.”

“Yeah, Cassandra mentioned that when I asked about you earlier,” Darius said as he began to eat. “She said you have already come up with some new designs that she and Brot’k will be working on over the next few days. She also mentioned you came up with a handy change to your bracer. Would you mind if I got one made like yours? And I have heard about those scallop things that, when used properly, can provide both offence and defense should you become unarmed.”

I nodded, “Yeah, sure. Brot’k knows the design and I am sure Cassandra can add a special flair to them just for you,” I added, giving her a little wink. “Just ask Brot’k to make sure they are the updated design, and you will be all set. I think he will be incorporating it into all future bracers he makes.”

“Thanks,” Darius replied, before turning his focus to Katie. “So, who might you be ma’am? I don’t think we have met before.”

“That is Kat’ilth’ana,” Cassandra answered. “I told you about her already. She was injured during the fight with the Arachni Queen and has been with the healers since.”

Katie nodded and replied, “The queen released a poison into my blood that the healers had never seen before. I only got well enough to move earlier today and woke up about an hour or so ago.”

“So have you heard anything about what happened to us on the fifth floor?” I asked, as I pushed my empty plate forward.

Darius shook his head, “Nothing that can be of any help. I have talked to lots of other members and they are as surprised about it as we are. Normally those things do appear, but never in the numbers that came to attack us. It also seemed that they were far stronger than they should have been.”

“Great,” I exclaimed with an exasperated sigh. “Looks like yet another example of things being manipulated, though I would say luck was on our side.”

Darius cocked his head and asked, “Why would you say that, Pathios? We got our asses handed to us and never even made it to the village.”

“Because it could have been worse,” I replied, leaning closer. “The other times there have been instances of outside interference within the Dungeon, it included small red gems. These gems have the ability to disable our exit stones, as well as enhancing the creatures. The dragon we killed had an imperfect stone, which is why some escaped while others died. Jonta had a stone affixed to his weapon, which was how he was able to kill adventurers within the Dungeon. The queen had a stone of her own and only after I shattered it did Kat’ilth’ana’s exit stone activate and pull her from the Dungeon. If even one of those creatures had had a stone, we would have all been killed.”

Darius dropped his fork onto his plate, “Holy shit! You’re right; it could have been much worse. Does Tyr or the Council have any idea who is responsible for this?”

“Not yet,” I answered with a shake of my head. “This had been going on for some time before I had arrived, and they hide their tracks well. I was even attacked by some of their members, but they couldn’t find a trace of it. The worst part is, we have no idea what they are doing and on which floors. We can only assume that all the floors that spawn creatures will eventually have some kind of manipulation done to them. The problem is that by the time there are signs of it, they have already established a foothold. They couldn’t just wipe the Arachni tunnels out because they couldn’t be sure that some of those taken were alive or not. It was only after we dealt with the queen that the tunnels were removed. I guess they have limitations on the things they can do in the Dungeon, probably to ensure that they aren’t constantly changing things in there.”

Darius nodded, “Yeah, the Pact House gods have some power, but they have none inside the Dungeon. The Council can only make changes in the Dungeon if they have voted to do so, and then it is usually minor changes. When Tyr sent that idiot and his father into the Dungeon, that was fine, as it is an established means of punishment.”

“Well the question is, do we attempt to go again?” I said, crossing my arms. “I don’t want to put us in the same situation again. It won’t be for a few days, of course, as I need to get my new armor made and I need to practice some new tactics.”

“If you want me to come with you, just send me a raven the day before,” Darius said, glancing at Cassandra. “I may be with my normal group, but I do want to make sure you get to the village safely. I will talk to the others and maybe we can all go, just in case. It will give you a chance to meet some of the people who will be participating in the Champion’s Challenge. Have you decided anything in regard to that yet?”

I shook my head, “Not yet, but rest assured you will be one of the first to know when I do. I have a lot on my mind at the moment, and I need to work through it a bit.”

“No worries, my friend,” Darius said as he got up from the table. “I understand fully, and if you choose not to, it is okay by me. That said, I really do hope you say yes.”

I thanked him and we got up from the table to put back our plates before heading upstairs. We said goodbye to Cassandra and Darius, and I directed us to the training room. It was time to see what Kat’ilth’ana was currently capable of and to come up with some new plans for how to handle the fifth floor.

We entered the training area and found it to be a little light on members today. Rather than taking one of the side mats, I guided us to one of the much larger areas in the center of the room. While we had been walking here, I had become lost in thought and had come up with an idea but was unsure if it was enough of a reason to call Tyr. Instead, I called a raven, and asked him to visit at his early convenience, as I had an idea for training that could help every Pact House and help prepare for the Champions Challenge. I sent the raven away and turned to focus on my sparring partners.

“Okay, first I want to go through a warmup routine with Katie,” I said to the group. “You guys trained recently, so you are a lot less stiff than we are, so to speak.”

Over the next half hour, I began going through a simple warm up routine that would help Katie limber up before training and ensure that she didn’t have any cramps. It was especially important in her case, given how long she had been hospitalized. Normally the routine would only take ten minutes or so, but I paused often to help Kat’ilth’ana learn the proper stance and form so she could get the most out of it. She was a quick study and happily listened to my instruction. When we were adequately warmed up, I gestured for her to get the closest facsimile to her standard weapons that the training room had.

I let her take her time doing practice movements, to get used to the balance of the weapons and allow her to get into a comfortable rhythm with them. I found my standard sword and shield combination and took my spot on the mat across from her. Amenthia and Entivala stood a foot or two off the mat to my left, giving us the whole area to maneuver in. I closed my eyes and centered myself, opening them to see Katie rushing towards me. Her short swords were at her sides, pointing towards the ground, as she closed the distance between us. She swung upwards with her right sword connecting with my shield, while attacking with her left sword towards my thigh. I twisted my wrist downward into a parry and connected with her weapon before it could land a strike on me.

I lashed out with a front kick to her abdomen and pushed her back, knocking the wind out of her. As our eyes locked again, I saw the fierce woman I had fought in here a month ago. Instead of fury and smugness, there was determination and a calculating look to her eyes. She moved again towards me, this time spinning left, slashing both blades in horizontal arcs. I met the first blow with my shield and spun in place while moving my blade behind me to block her second attack. I continued my spin and lashed out with my shield in an attempt to bash her, but she dove under my attack and kicked her leg out, knocking me off my feet.

As I landed, a bit of my breath knocked out, I glanced over to see her stabbing both her blades down towards my torso. I rolled away in time for her attack to miss and pushed myself up quickly into a crouching position. I could see Kat’ilth’ana was breathing a bit heavily, but to be fair, so was I. I did notice that she looked like she was almost having fun. I launched myself at her, slashing downward towards her clavicle, but she stopped me an inch short by crossing her swords and blocking my blow. I had been able to stand up during my swing, but she had been forced to maintain her kneeling stance.

I drove forward with the side of my shield at her left forearm, only a second or two after my initial attack, just below the wrist. I stuck true and she couldn’t stop her hand from releasing the short sword. As the sword fell, I kicked it away before she had a chance to grab it again. However, she was just as clever and used her, now free, hand to grab my shield and pull, knocking me off balance. She dropped her sword and latched her other hand on the shield to give her further leverage, pulling me off my feet. I went tumbling over her, landing on my back. She didn’t let go of the shield and rolled with me, allowing her to land on my abdomen.

The rough blow from landing on my back stunned me, and I loosened my grip on my shield. Katie wasted no time yanking the shield from my grasp and tossing it to the side, away from us. I swung at her with my sword, hoping to hit her before she could stop me, but she moved faster than I had expected. She latched onto my arm and pulled me into a roll over her, slamming me on my back again. This time, however, she remained on the floor and maintained her grip on my arm. She wrapped her legs around my now outstretched arm and placed me in an extremely uncomfortable lock. With a pull and squeeze from her legs, pain shot through my arm and caused me to open my hand out of pure reflex.