Chapter 9

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

I spent the next two days working on my dungeon.

The first thing I added on, at Souleen’s suggestion, was a dynamic map in my throne room. Set in the floor before my throne, it would let me monitor all the activity in the dungeon. Basically, a magical security device. It showed all the tunnels and had dots for everyone. I sat on my throne to admire it.

There was my simple dungeon. A white dot blinked where my throne lay while a gold dot was standing nearby. Lana Fulmine. There were four blue dots in the guard room, my will o’ wisps. I could see all the details of my domain. The doors. It was a useful thing.

But my dungeon was not. It needed more defenses.

I created two more will o’ wisps to guard it, Gintaras and Dvasia. They were such loving creatures. After pumping their pussies full of cum, I began designing my dungeon. I replaced the guard room with a simple maze, a winding collection of tunnels where I scattered the will o’ wisps in strategic spots. They all seemed content to spend their days just standing around as guards, happy to protect me.

Beyond the maze, I put my first trap room. I really had access to only one magical trap: lightning columns. They would zap anyone who got too close to them, five feet or so. I scattered them through a rectangular room that all intruders had to go through. It was the only way to reach my throne room.

I reinforced the door to my throne room and added a few pit traps throughout the dungeon in the maze part. Simple things that should, hopefully, drop any enemies in them. I was rather proud of it when I finished.

“It’s simple,” said Souleen, “but you really can’t make one much bigger without getting another glyph or waiting a few weeks for the Void Crystal to expand its capabilities.”

“True,” I said, stretching my arms over my head. It was the end of my second day of creation. My back was swore. Lana Fulmine was making me dinner right now. It wasn’t the most inspired fare, but it was all I had. “I think I’ll have Lana give me a rub down after dinner.”

“Mmm, enjoy, Lord Leo,” said Souleen.

“I will. She has magic fingers.”

I rolled my shoulders to work out the stiffness and opened the door to my room. Lana Fulmine was lying on the bed on her side. She was flipping through a book. I had recreated a collection of my favorite books and comic books. They came out looking like ancient tomes, leather-bound with parchment pages and handwritten script complete with fanciful, illuminated letters.

She looked up at me, lightning flicking from her hair. A smile crossed her silvery face. She closed the books. “So you need my—”

The piercing notes of the dungeon’s alarm blared through the room. The sound assaulted my ears and froze me in my tracks. A wave of cold fear washed through me. My heart thundered in my chest, flooding the chill throughout my body. My fingers flexed.

The throne room, Lord Leo, Souleen gasped in my ear. We are under attack.

Lana Fulmine rolled off the bed. Her lightning wings pulsed and crackled. Her face grew fierce, an un-Lana expression. Bolts of electricity zapped from hers, striking the floor and ceiling. Curls of smoke rose from them.

“Leo,” she said.

I wasn’t ready for this. I hadn’t even been here long, just a week, and already I was under attack? Why? What had I done besides just existing? I wasn’t attacking the local village. My monster girls weren’t raiding and causing problems like other dungeon builders’. I just wanted to be left alone.

Lord Leo, to the throne room. You must be ready to protect me, Souleen gasped. We have a contract, my Lord. I need you to save me.

“Leo,” Lana said again. She took my hand. “I’m here, Leo. You’re my number one fan. I’m not going to disappoint you. The will o’ wisps are not going to disappoint you, either. So let’s go. Let’s repel this rabble and scatter them. You have your magic.”

I did have my magic. I was gifted with power. I drew in a deep breath and nodded, letting Lana take my hand and lead me from the room. I squeezed her hand, the robes I wore rustling about me. She opened the door of the bedroom onto the living room. It had furniture now. A bookshelf with those tomes I had made. Then we were in the corridor to my throne room.

Throne room? It sounded so pretentious. But I was the dungeon builder. The dungeon master. I was the person who constructed this place. Controlled it. I had needed a seat of power. I drew in a deep breath. I had a role to play here. I was the final boss. I had to be ready to crush my enemies. If I fail, Lana would die. The will o’ wisps would perish.

Souleen would die.

They were counting on me to be strong. I walked with my back straight. I marched faster, pulling ahead of Lana now. I released her hand and threw open the door to my throne room. The large room echoed with my entrance. I mounted the dais and sat on my throne.

The map projection appeared. I stared down it. I could see all the dots. There was my white dot in the throne room, Lana’s gold dot beside me. My will o’ wisps were the blue dots, and there in the guard room was two red dots. They had broken through the main doors.

Two dots. Okay. I could handle this. I had six will o’ wisps and...

A blue dot winked out. I gasped as I felt Sviesos, my first will o’ wisp die. My hands clenched tight on my armrest. My chest rose and fell. Power rushed through the maze at her death. The dots in the room moved about. A red one closed on a blue.

Svyte died.

“Shit,” I muttered. Their beautiful faces, made of the roiling plasma, danced in my mind. They were so loving and playful. Now they were dying. Anger swelled in me.

Kibir snuffed out.

“Come on,” I growled. Lana stood beside me, her arms folded. Lightning crackled from her wings as she ground her teeth together.

A blue dot rushed the red dot from behind. But then she vanished. Zaibas slain. That was four of them. Over half my will o’ wisps were dead. Fury beat in my heart. I ground my teeth together. I didn’t make them to die. I made them to protect. To love.

So long as we win this day, Souleen whispered, they can come back. They are made from me. They are pieces your Will and Words shaped, Lord Leo. They can be reborn, but only if you protect me. If you fall...

I swallowed. Gintaras died. Now only Dvasia was left. She didn’t last long.

I slammed my fist down on the armrest of my throne. Lana snarled her fury as we watched the red dots move through the maze. They had a few wrong starts, but they found their way through to my trap room.

Would it be enough?

The lightning columns flashed on my screen. They discharged their electric attacks. The two red dots pulled back into the hallway. Maybe it was enough to deal with them. My heart squeezed tight. I wanted to restore my will o’ wisps to life. I wanted to have a dungeon where no one attacked. Where we could live peacefully.

The red dots burst back into the room. The lightning columns flashed on the map. One of their icons winked out. Then another. Frustration growled through me. The dots were heading for the door, moving along the side of the room. A column flashed. One dot reeled back.

Then the trap vanished. They moved on, bursting through the exit. They were in the hallway that led here. Fear clenched tight about my heart, fighting with the fury at my home being invaded. My monster girls being dispatched.

“It is time to arm yourself, my lord,” Lana said.

I swallowed. I glanced at the corner where my armor lay. Souleen had me make it. I had never worn it. A silver breastplate imbued with crackling lightning. I stood up as Lana went to fetch it. The red dot had to contend with the final gauntlet of traps. Trapdoors that dropped into pits. One activated. The dot hovered over it for a moment, making it impossible to tell if the enemy was caught or not.

Then the two red dots merged as if one pulled the other free. I sighed.

Lana returned with my breastplate. She held it up for me. I thrust my arms out as she cinched it tight. She worked the straps around it until it fit over my gray robe. I felt like a sorcerer-king with it on. Then she handed me the spear, the haft made of silvery metal, the tip gold and crackling with more electricity.