POV David
I shifted in my saddle once more as I lead the slow moving column further onwards. My plan certainly hadn't entailed this slow moving procession. Myself and my guard would have left the palace and raced to Feln in but three days, plenty of time to rest before my brother arrived with the battalion. But no.
I'd apologized to the Draconic Queen and found the most competent noble the Queen was willing to trust to take over my position. With that the Prince had requested to tag along, I saw no issue and assented… and that was where the problems began. And why my small party of seven, including myself, turned into a long column of eighty.
The Prince needed guards, so members of the royal guard were dispatched, then the Crown Princess decided to come ass well, more royal guards. She also insisted that herself and her brother have servants. Even more people… then Viscountess Jackowitz asked to join. Then there was that wizard I'd hired, Liscia Noura and her posse.
"Juliana, how's the procession coming along?" I asked trying not to look back at the ragtag groups that barely held the peace after my… violent explosion the other night.
"The wizard and her majesty don't seem to be getting along. Nor do the Prince and the Viscountess." She replied after a moment.
"They'd better." I grumbled as I continued to look at the road ahead. The path we traveled was forested and the leaves made a beautiful tunnel for us to travel through.
"Sir?"
"Call me David."
"Sir?!?"
"We've knocked back enough drinks haven't we? David." I insisted at Juliana's continued confusion.
"David…" she said it slowly and paused, almost like i was going to curse her out.
"What's on your mind Juliana?" I asked.
"Why are we taking this road? It's little more than a hunter's trail through the woods." She said.
I slowed my horse to a stop and held up my hand and looked around. "You forget I'm a registered adventurer?"
"You didn't…"
I nodded and nodded at a tree nearby and the odd shape carved into it. "We're just checking in on the newly made dungeon, making sure no bandits made a home out of it."
"We have members of the royal family with us! This is reckless even by your standards!"
"In my defense, I accepted the request before they joined us."
"That doesn't make it any better!" Juliana scolded as I dropped off my horse.
"Has something happened?" The viscountess approached with her highness not far behind.
"No, just got to make a small pit stop." I replied as I pulled some supplies off my saddle. I pulled my helmet over my head.
"Pit Stop?" Veria asked.
"The Baron accepted a request from the adventurer's guild." Juliana ground out.
"What kind of request, Knightess?" Her highness asked.
"Dungeon exploration, bronze rank." I replied as I double checked my equipment.
"You are a bronze rank adventurer?" Her highness and the Viscountess looked at me like I was crazy.
"I'm more amazed they let him become an adventurer at all," Jackowitz murmured.
"I'm an iron rank…" I replied. Nevermind that was the highest you could get just based on the capability tests at the guild.
"Iron! You can hold your own in a fight? I thought that armor and blades were for show." Jackowitz said.
I sighed and set off into the woods, "Juliana, watch the column, I shouldn't be more than two hours."
I checked my greaves one last time and drew one of my swords as I followed the marks in the trees. I made my way to the entrance of the dungeon easily enough, it was a large pile of rocks at the foot of a hill. I checked my surroundings and listened for a minute and heard some muttered curses off to my side. I looked around for a good place to hide. Most likely it was one of the women who came to 'protect' me. But it could be a bandit.
I found a good tree and climbed up a fair way and found a good spot on one of the branches. Then I waited. The rustling drew nearer, as did the cursing before the brush parted to reveal her highness and the Viscountess in their shiny armor. They were right below me, the entrance to the dungeon was just around the corner of the rocks ahead of them.
"Where did he run off to?" Veria asked.
"How would I know?" Rena replied sarcastically
"I thought you'd been on campaign before."
"A campaign is nothing like this, this is the work of scouts, not nobles."
I listened to them bicker as they passed under me. I checked that the area was clear and dropped behind them.
They spun around, hands darting to their weapons as I sighed. "Work on your situational awareness." I grumbled as I walked between them.
I started checking their gear, much to their chagrin. I tightened a few of Veria's straps and adjusted Rena's greaves. They both wore full plate, though the armor had been custom made to fit their forms. Though at the moment neither of them were wearing their helmets.
"Lord Fulton, stop fussing over us." Rena stopped me from inspecting her blade and started tugging at the straps of my armor.
"Why does your armor protect so little?" She asked quietly.
"I prioritized having a lot of armor made cheaply when I saw the state of my regiment, so I took a spare set." I replied.
"What?" Rena gawked. "I'll have a set custom made for you once we find a reputable blacksmith."
"Don't bother. I've made a few alterations to this set already." I replied, tapping the breastplate with my fist.
So, perhaps it would be a good time to mention what made my armor so different? I wore the same uniform as my soldiers, a blue jacket over a white shirt and kilt, the only uniform difference being the rank. Over that I wore a cuirass, on my forearms were cam braces and covering my shins were greaves. Aside from that I had my helmet with its forward vision slits and black plume. Now I should mention my brother and I decided to base our armor off the Greeks of ancient times, with the shield they made a fairly good phalanx.
"Let's get this over with, you two are wasting time at this point." I said and started heading to the dungeon. Before I entered I grabbed a couple rocks.
"I'll take the vanguard." Veria moved around me and took the lead to my annoyance. I don't need protection damn it.
I shut my trap and started inspecting everything as we walked. The dungeon was different than I remembered. It had been described as a single staircase that descended into a small chamber with a small plinth. We found ourselves staring at a small horde of goblins and three halls leading to other rooms. No plinth either.
"Tasty hummies!" The big goblin cried with a shriek as it raised its rusted blade and charged us with its compatriots in tow. "Stay back David." Veria shouted as she drew her sword and engaged the goblin.
I disregarded her shout and drew my swords and raced past her. The lead goblin raised its blades to swing down upon my shoulder? It didn't matter, I slid on the floor, my blades making a deadly arc as I cut his head from his shoulder. My slide stopped as I embedded a goblin on my second sword. I kicked the corpses off into another goblin and spun around, killing another goblin. Taking a step back and raising my forearm I caught the next blade on my vambrace.
The goblin smiled at me wickedly, licking its teeth. "You'll smell great roasting over a fire hummie!"
I kicked the little fucker straight into his last remaining friend then lunged foward and dispatched them both before they could rise to fight again. I swung my blades to get the worst of the blood off them then returned them to their scabbards.
"You're… very skilled with the blade." Rena whispered.
"Which path do you want?" I gestured at the three halls. I really didn't want these two trying to babysit me. After a brief discussion Rena took the left hallway, Veria the right, and I took the middle.
I started creeping down the hall, looking for anything that might be out of place, a few tiles in the floor seemed oddly placed, and there were a couple odd holes in the left wall, probably best to steer clear of those… I threw one of my rocks and spears erupted from the holes, embedding themselves in the opposite wall. Yeah… those plates were sensitive as hell.
I weaved through the spears and continued my slow prowl to the end of the hall, there was a single door on the left. Something told me it was a trap… but with nowhere else to go… I stood off to the side and quickly opened the door, throwing it open. A stream of arrows shot out, clattering against the wall.
Shit. I hoped Veria and Rena were alright. I waited for a moment but no more arrows came. Listening for a bit longer revealed no sounds of life from the room. I grabbed the item I kept firmly at my waist and drew it slowly. A soft metallic click echoed through the hall as I prepared it. I knelt down and glanced into the room, then entered pistol at the ready. A large goblin brute, about as large as me leapt from the back of the room with a roar.
I pulled the trigger, a faint spark and a loud crack caused its head to snap back. It collapsed at my feet lifelessly. I severed its head from its neck anyway. I reloaded the pistol and put it back in its holster before inspecting the room. There wasn't much, just a small grimy throne the goblin must have used and the bones of many animals, probably offerings to this goblin from the weaker ones. On the goblin I did find a very crude map of some kind, but half soaked with blood as it was. Reading it was rather… difficult. I puzzled over it for a moment then looked at the throne again. Something about a chamber below…
I fiddled with it a bit and discovered a button on the left armrest. Pressing it revealed a set of stairs that had been on the floor, covered by sliding slabs. A sinister aura wafted up from below, as well as the charged feeling in the air I got whenever magic was being used. I cursed to myself, I had no way of fighting a magic wielder. My only hope would be to kill them before they noticed me.
I drew my pistol once again and looked at it with a rising feeling of dissatisfaction. The flintlock was sturdy and reliable. But I only had one shot and if anything goes awry I might as well jump off a cliff. I missed my old handgun so much… it might even still be in the glovebox for all I knew. But what good would that do me? It was a world away.
I slowly crept down the stairs, listening for anything that might tip me off. A soft purple mist floated up from down below, smelling like crushed roses. It felt like I was walking into the wolf's den.
I strained my ears and heard soft sensual moans, the sounds of flesh slapping together. The hell did it sound like that? I edged closer to the corner at the bottom of the stairs and peeked around the corner. This room had three entrances as well, in the center Rena and Veria were busy striping and making out. But what drew my attention was the absolute stunning beauty of a woman watching them with a small grin.
She licked her fingers and pushed her hair up behind her horns, the bat-like wings behind her quivered a bit as she watched the two of them. Suddenly her eyes snapped to mine, the next moment her face was inches away from mine, her scarlet eyes staring into mine.
"I wonder what's in here…" she purred as everything went black.