As they continued up the stairs, Drysia was clearly thinking. "What future do you see for Kres?"
Elmerin blinked at the change of subject. "What?"
Drysia sighed heavily. "You liking to watch and teach Kres is one thing. Becoming their guardian is another. You see some future for Kres. And you're trying to fulfill or avoid it."
"Both." Elmerin kept in mind Drysia could be spiteful if crossed. "Avoid some potential fates, fulfill others."
"Well, I still want that Diamond monster you said was coming, and I want you to keep Falchan out of my way during that."
Elmerin nodded. "I'll figure something out." There were rumors Falchan had been trying to buy unlicensed and illegal drugs. Some of those were enough to keep someone in a stupor for days, and resistant to healing magic.
"And one more thing…" Drysia mentioned another thing she wanted.
Elmerin was startled. No way in hell. "Are you kidding me?
"No. But," Drysia considered. "No, I take it back. It's too… transactional. I shouldn't force that on you. We should hurry."
*******
Outside the labyrinth
Alexavier tapped on the flap of the tent, entering when he received a reply to come in. He was greeted by the arched eyebrow of Sir Rammeld.
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?"
"I had something to eat," Alexavier shrugged. "What's the progress?"
"I'll tell you if you immediately go lay down afterwards. You look exhausted." Rammeld waited until Alexavier reluctantly nodded agreement. "Two of the tunnel entrances are cleared, and we have workers reinforcing them. The soldier and adventurer teams have reached the entrance between the first and second levels of the labyrinth. We have engineers slinging a new rope bridge over that cleft, and the state of the stone bridge is definitely earning Cothmore a conversation with His Majesty. We've also borrowed some priests from the temple, and the ones entering the second level definitely felt Bolat's energy there, not just corrupted energy." He sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do if the dungeon seed sprouts before we can get a priest to it."
"Elmerin knows light magic." Rammeld shot Alexavier a sharp look. "Apparently he spent time at some temple or other, but didn't want to be a priest."
"Which temple?"
Alexavier shrugged. "He never said. It's entirely possible he changed his name afterwards, as well. Common-born adventurers often do that to leave their pasts behind, and as long as they're not abandoning their children or hiding from a crime, the guild doesn't mind.
"Lord Firnen never minded adventurers using light magic as needed, but the rest of the church tends to have a fit over the issue. On his part, Elmerin would tell them to 'shove their need for control' up impolite places, so most local priests don't like him."
Remmeld rubbed his forehead. It fit with the rest of the stories he'd been hearing. Elmerin was either the most amazing adventurer around, or a new demon incarnate. He certainly had no respect for those he felt hadn't earned it.
"Sir Rammeld! Sir Rammeld!" The excited knight dashed into the tent, nearly running into Alexavier. As he paused to bow, Rammeld waved it away and gestured for him to speak.
"The p-priests said… the Bolat energy has dimmed! It's barely evident anymore! They say there's not enough of it or corrupted energy left to set off a dungeon seed."
Alexavier and Rammeld both breathed a sigh of relief. The adventurer headed toward the tent entrance. "Then I'll just-"
"Bed," snapped Rammeld. "Or are you going back on your word, Lord Alexavier?"
Bringing his rank into it was a low blow. Alexavier glared at Rammeld with narrow eyes, but knew he wouldn't win in any actual political contest. "If you command. I want to be woken if the seed area or Elmerin -and Drysia- are found."
Rammeld nodded. "We can certainly do that."
*******
Back to the labyrinth, Cothmore area
As the two climbed the stairs of a tower-like structure meant to represent the height of Cothmore power even in the labyrinth, Elmerin was still swearing to himself about Drysia's request -but found himself thinking he might have taken her up on it if she hadn't pulled back.
To defeat the Demon King when he broke free again -to stop him this time -to stop the devastation that would undoubtedly come if he did break free-
…And to protect a small boy's heart…
What price can be said to be too much?
"Why are Diamonds such a high rank?" Drysia asked suddenly. "Diamond gems are fairly common."
"They were rare when the guild ranks were made, up until about 300 years ago." Well, talking to Drysia was better than stewing in his own thoughts. "That's when the mines in Timedel were found. The discoverers, being idiots, promptly flooded the market to make as much money as they could and fast. Of course that was noticed, and their source found." Elmerin snorted and shook his head. "The real problem is the Gold Association hadn't been paying their full taxes. On anything, not just the diamonds."
"The Gold Association? The Merchants' Gold Association? The one Earth Mage Aevum worked for? But why did Aevum work for them if they were so shady? Or stupid?"
Elmerin stopped and looked up at Drysia, a few steps above. "You know about Aevum?"
"A commoner who rose up to become one of the greatest names in Earth Magic! He was offered a title close to a king's because of his deeds, not his blood. I heard of him through the guild. He-" Drysia looked away "-he gave me hope I could rise high too." She glared at Elmerin. "You don't need to look so shocked!"
There was no way in hell Elmerin was telling her why he was so surprised that Drysia would admire Aevum of all people. He coughed and started climbing again.
"He was only a Ruby-equivalent at the time. Part of his fame came from cooperating with the investigation by the king of Timedel. The king made him a duke, and he became a Diamond strictly on the king's recommendation -the requirements weren't nearly so strict then."
"Still." Drysia was firm. "He wouldn't have been able to hold his titles if he hadn't worked at it. They say the people of the dukedom wait for his heirs to this day, even though he didn't have any when he died in that cave-in."
Elmerin paused as they reached a landing, examining a door set into the outer wall. "This should lead us to the stables and out of the Cothmore family area.
Putting her ear against the door, Drysia was silent for a few minutes. "It doesn't sound like anyone's on the other side." She glared over her shoulder. "Don't even think about using magic."
Holding up his hands with an innocent look on his face, Elmerin shook his head. "I'm still pretty low." Part of him felt like "hell with telling Drysia", but the adventurer side knew Drysia had to know.
He was also feeling exhausted. One thing after another since that morning, on top of the mana exhaustion, and the short rests they'd been taking had not made much of a dent. Once they were out of the area covered by the Dragons' map, he needed to rest.
Drysia had opened the door and was looking around outside. "All clear. Let's go."
"Right." Elmerin shook his head, realizing he'd been leaning against the wall. "Let's find a safe room outside of the Dragons' area to rest."
"Can you make it?" Drysia snapped.
"If you can, I can."
"I'm not slinging magic around," Drysia huffed. "The stables are this way."
They didn't speak again until they'd completely left the Cothmore space and were almost through the adjoining "nobility" neighborhood. As they approached a particularly narrow set of alleyways, half worked, half natural, stone, a odd smell gradually became noticeable. The ceiling had lowered to where Elmerin could reach up and touch it if he stretched, and with the narrowness of the way, seemed to concentrate the odor.
Drysia suddenly froze. "That smell -it's Lustvine!"
Pushing himself straight -he'd been leaning against the wall again- Elmerin agreed. "Yes. And it's definitely monsterized to be this strong.
"Where are they- don't you even-"
"I know, I know." Elmerin waved a hand in her direction. "Bad idea anyway when they haven't found us. I've known them to track mana use."
Drysia resisted the urge to facepalm -it would block her sight. "Did you ever tell the guild that?"
"I don't know… Maybe?" So many timelines in his head…
"How much did you sleep last night?" When Elmerin avoided looking at her, Drysia made a mental note to smack him later. Twice. "The smell is strongest from this path -they're likely down here. We'll have to take the side path even though it takes us out of our way."
"There's no nearby safe rooms that way."
She didn't look at him. "We'll find something else."
Elmerin battled his growing feelings of suspicion -he knew objectively it was based on his personal dislike rather than Drysia's actions as an adventurer. He told his muddled mind to shut up with its insistence something was up.
It didn't help he'd never seen this timeline before. In the ones he'd seen, the dungeon seed was weaker, and there had been plenty of time to stop it. In those, he'd been one of those to guard the priests in their work. It was only because of being Kres' nanny he'd been down here…
…did that one change cascade this much?
As they crossed the intersection, a hissing noise occurred from the path with the smell. Three large "flowers" suddenly appeared, waving their vines as their large petals flapped in the direction of the adventurers.
Drysia didn't even pause for a "shit". She stepped forward, cutting down the two closer to her.
The third leapt back with a screeching sound. A knife from behind Drysia hit the flower "head", but not center enough to severely damage it.
Shifting, papery noises came from farther down the main tunnel. The female flowers cry and the odor released by the damage to the monsters were attracting more of the female Lustvines to their dead and their prey. At least the ceiling was too low for a mobile male to enter.
As half a dozen more appeared, the injured flower launched itself at Drysia. As Drysia met the attack, it dodged. As the swordswoman turned to follow it, two more launched an attack from her other side.
Damn it, why did I fall for that!? Drysia didn't waste time analyzing that she was hungry and almost as tired as Elmerin. She chopped down all three.
Behind her, Elmerin gave a surprisingly animalistic pissed-off snarl. Three more Lustvines had snuck around Drysia and had their vines wrapped around his legs and torso. He'd managed to cut one with his knife, but he was clearly pushing his limit.
Oh no you don't-!
"
"You idiot!" Drysia could hear more of the Lustvines approaching as those surrounding Elmerin fell.
And another sound that made her heart freeze. The sound of marching boots. But not the sound of the varied, whatever works footwear of the adventurers. These were solid, but near-identical, boots. Cothmore's men were all above; it was too soon for the king's men.
These boots likely belonged to Red Dragons.
*******
People appearing in this chapter:
Elmerin
Drysia
Alexavier Asheburne
Philip Rammeld
Unnamed knight
People from the past mentioned:
Earth Mage Aevum: A mage that appeared about 100 years after the upstart Demon King was sealed. He helped miners find resources below the ground and stabilized the mines so they could work safely. Exposed the Merchant Gold Association for exploitation and not paying taxes. Died in a mine cave-in presumably too strong for him to handle.
Items, Magic:
Abatement of Burden: Unpredictably lightens a load's weight from 1/3 to 1/2. A merchant's failed attempt to find a way to transport goods other than by item bags. His idea did not account for bulk.
Monsters:
Lustvines: A sinister tentacle-vined monster with a large flower acting as a "head". The flower can range from deep red to light pink. There is a larger rooted "male" plant that is attended to by a number of mobile "female" plants. The size of the male and female plants depends on their age. The female plants spread ball-shaped seed pods wherever they can, but prefer to plant them in living organisms. The vines exude a thick mucus.
The mucus has an odd, unique smell that those who have smelled it will never forget.
Lustvines are not smart. The evil magician who developed them implanted them with an imperative to pursue and seize those who caused them harm, detecting them by following the scent of their injured and dead. He also gave the plants the ability to assess whether they should fight against an opponent. Monsterization destroys this ability to assess; monsterized Lustvine is very aggressive once injured.