Chapter 1: Resurrection Quest

Mentally closing the quest window which popped up into her peripheral display when the scroll given to her by the system administrator was untied, Lexi noticed that another alert window stood behind it, enumerating the experience points she had earned throughout the party’s assault on the slave market and tower. Given everything she and her team had accomplished, Lexi was actually a bit surprised that she had not advanced another level. Although, her current XP tally put her right on the cusp.

As she unrolled the scroll, she subvocally pulled up the statistics menu. Wincing internally at the absence of Gretel’s name right beneath her own, she was at least somewhat gladdened to see that both Samantha and Danica had leveled up as a direct result of their actions today.

Good, she thought to herself. We’ll need every spell and hit point we can get. If this resurrection quest is hard enough that the fucking administration needed to go this far to orchestrate a scenario to rope me into taking it on, you can bet your sweet ass it’s going to be a fucking nightmare.

Unrolling the scroll all the way, the three adventurers crowded closely together, leaning in to read the flowing calligraphy in which the text was written. The piece of vellum itself was like a work of art, looking to Lexi like a page from an early medieval illuminated manuscript like the Book of Kells. The initial letter “L” was so heavily ornamented with interwoven knotwork of foliage and entwined beasts that it actually took the paladin a moment to realize that she was even looking at a letter. The following text, although unornamented, was printed in beautifully formed half-uncial script, done in a rich blue and trimmed with gold.

Lo! Thou brave adventurers who have shewn thy valor against the enemies of Xoth. True and pure have ye proven your hearts in the recovery of her most holy relic, for which she has stripped your peerless leader, the valiant paladin, of her curse. And yet, another boon would ye ask of the starlight goddess — the resurrection of your dearest companion, the fair mage. For this, she has come to an agreement withal the paladin to fulfill, so long as another quest is undertaken on her behalf. Deep beneath this world’s surface, layeth a realm of subterranean dungeons and corridors which stretch far beyond the reach of the goddess’ starlight. In this world of darkness, thither reins a terrible queen, the mistress of the dungeon world. Many of the goddess’ chosen has this infernal queen slain, and many more yet languish under the yoke of her imprisonment. Defeat her, and your request shall be granted.

“Does this truly mean what I think?” Samantha asked quietly, her voice barely rising above a whisper.

Danica furrowed her brows in consternation, her long pointed ears bobbing up and down slowly as she rolled the message’s contents around within her eternally scattered mind. “Well,” she said, clearly exasperated. “Someone please explain this to me, because I’m not sure I totally get everything here, but, to be fair, it’s sooo hard to concentrate on the meaning of the words when the calligraphy is so pretty, and—”

“You’re right,” Lexi cut in, abruptly stemming the elf’s stream-of-consciousness rambling. “The goddess promised me that she would resurrect Gretel on our behalf. The thing is, there’s a fucking catch. In order for her to agree to perform the resurrection spell, we’ve first got to go and take out this ‘Dungeon Mistress’ that she talks about in the quest scroll.”

“Never would I thought such a thing possible,” Samantha said in hushed tones. Lexi looked over and saw the monk’s eyes practically glowing with warmth beneath her shaggy white bangs. Seeing Lexi’s gaze, she said, “The wound is yet raw, but this truly kindles the fires of hope within my soul.”

“Hooray!” Danica squealed, jumping up and down, clapping her hands like a kid who has just been told that they are going to Disney World. “Even though we’ve all only been together for a few days, I couldn’t bear to think of Gretel not being with us. You can count me in to help out with whatever we’ve got to do to get her back — even if that means we have to go down into the super-duper-creepy tunnels. I’ve heard about them, but elves really prefer trees and sun and wind and, y’know — nature — so we don’t typically go down into those parts of the world, but I’ve heard all kinds of spooky stories from my older brother, he—”

Danica’s speech was abruptly cut short as an enormous bronze hand clamped itself firmly over her mouth. The hand’s owner gave Lexi the barest hint of a smile, with just the corner of her mouth being tugged up slightly. But, her eyes sparkled at the vitality and optimism which had already been pumped back into the party by this seemingly miraculous scroll’s offer — a quest given by the goddess Xoth herself.

Lexi grinned back at Samantha, ruffling the elf’s hair playfully as she attempted in vain to pry the monk’s hand from her mouth. However, despite her apparent cheer at the news, a seed of reservation had been planted deep within Lexi’s heart as a result of her meeting with the administrator. It was good that her two friends believed that they were heading out on a quest quite literally ordained by one of this world’s deities. The truth of the matter was something else, and it was the things left unsaid by the administration’s representative which worried Lexi.