Lily came tumbling free, slumping on the ground, coughing and spluttering.
"Th-thanks. It- that thing got me! I didn't know what was happening until it was too late, I should have kept further b-back, I didn't think-." She shook her head and continued to desperately draw in air.
The others appeared behind as Lily slowly clambered to her feet, swaying slightly. Vivi stepped forward to help stabilise her but was stopped by Fey's hand. She blinked at the centaur in surprise.
"Hold on. Let me check her."
Fey grabbed the otterkin who yelped in surprise as she was lifted into the air. Fey held her tight, squeezing the small girl into her cleavage, their breasts squashing together as she forcefully examined every single inch of her body at the same time. After a moment she sighed with relief.
"It's her, it's Lily." she said as green light spilt from her hands and healed any scratches or bruises on the otterkin.
"What the hell is going on in this dungeon…" muttered Flora. "Fake adventurers?"
"It's a kind of monster that can imitate living beings and apparently has a penchant for hunting adventurers. But if Fey can sense whether they are real or not it would appear to be a non-issue and they are just like any other monster. The answer is simple, she checks each of us then we move on. This time we don't rush up to the injured human and try to save them. Right, Fey?"
Fey looked down meekly, "Y-yes…"
"Yes is right, your protective instincts are getting out of control as of late. Take a more cautious tact, I'm asking as your captain."
The centaur busied herself checking the others and avoiding Ellaria's eyes. Fortunately, it seemed there were none of the imitating creatures amongst them and they soon left the room.
It wasn't long before they started hearing more voices, this time directly ahead of them. They approached far far slower and found a campfire out in the open of some kind of hall. Besides the fire a number of cloaked people were seated.
"Has to be the same creatures," whispered Ellaria.
"B-but what if it isn't? Are we just going to attack and kill fellow adventurers?"
"It hardly seems likely."
"But we don't know for sure Ella, we could be making a mistake!"
"Fuck em, it's a risk worth taking."
"Uhm, couldn't we just ask first?"
"No that's so stupid! Why would we give away our advantage of surprise?"
The debate descended into a whisper-hissed argument and it wasn't until Lily started coughing and spluttering that they realised something was wrong. The smoke from the fire had filled the hall ahead entirely and was quickly washing down the corridor, unnaturally fast, as though it was being driven by a wind.
"Hmm." Ellaria turned to back away from the hall, checking their retreat was clear, but found that the corridor was simply gone, a flat wall of stone where they had just come from.
A loud thump made her turn back in alarm to find Fey slumped on the floor. She was quickly followed by Vivi and then Lily, each of them swaying then collapsing as they fell unconscious.
"This- a sedative?" slurred Ellaria, her words sleepy as she tried taking a step forward.
She fell to the ground.
----
Fey jerked awake, panicked, hyperventilating, head darting side to side searching for threats.
It took her a moment to realise she was alone.
Alone in a… room? She looked around in complete confusion at what appeared to be for all the world a warm and welcoming bedroom.
"Am- Am I even in the dungeon anymore? What is this?"
Fuzzy minded she struggled to sit up, rolling onto her barrel and lifting her upper body. She had awoken on the ground, more specifically on a plush and fluffy white rug. Beside her was a large fireplace which was currently empty of fire. The room was instead lit by some form of magical light giving it a comfortable air.
Slowly turning her head she looked around, finding a variety of cupboards and armchairs and various other pieces of furniture and ornaments and in the middle of it all an extremely large four-poster bed with snow-white sheets and puffy feather pillows.
Fey considered what must have happened. She must have been knocked unconscious and then Flora had floated her out of the dungeon. She had never woken up, clearly suffering some form of dangerous head trauma which she knew was a real possibility as a healer, and the band not knowing what else to do had transported her back to Bine where she had been recuperating until now.
But… why had she woken up on the floor?
Dissatisfied with that explanation she managed to get her legs under her and shakily got to her feet, hooves flattening the fluffy rug. She wobbled then her knees buckled and she nearly fell, stumbling to the side and barely managing to catch herself, her hand slapping down on the nearby cupboard.
A sudden breathy gasp out of nowhere caused her to flinch in surprise and dart her head left then right searching for the source.
The bedroom remained empty, devoid of people. It was just her and no one else... But then where had that sound come from? It almost sounded like a woman's startled gasp.
Strange. Very strange. She was sure something was wrong here but she couldn't quite say what. It didn't help that she still felt half asleep.