The next day, Val and Katya approached the plaza that held the entrance to the labyrinth with a slightly distracted energy. They were as well equipped and ready for combat as always, in their complementary shining silver and matte black armour, but their minds were elsewhere.
Val adjusted the large backpack on his shoulders, tightening the left strap. They'd packed reasonably light for what was to be a four or five-day return trip, but they were confident in their ability to procure necessary supplies on site and speed was of the essence.
Over their second dinner, Val and Katya had gotten to discussing the possible location of what seemed to be the legendary warrior Ebid's resting place, if the cryptic runes on the wall were anything to go by. Ruined forts, like the one roughly engraved in the Patricians' guild basement, were shockingly common below floor fifty, remnants of the second platinum age when progress into the labyrinth was relatively swift and new depths were being plumbed on an almost monthly basis.
The fort was unremarkable, design wise, compared to the other forward structures of the time. Each was funded by the coffers of the royal family, like the gates that allowed for level-jumping, and, like the gates, were manned by a rotating roster of guilds. At one time or another, the Patricians' would have likely staffed and defended every fort between level fifty and seven-hundred. For now, they had a rough sketch that Katya had made of the carving on the wall, two of its six parapets still standing, its gates ruined and walls encroached upon by vegetation. The fact that the fort had already fallen into ruin while Ebid still lived was a helpful clue, but nowhere near enough for them to narrow it down to a singular location, let alone give them a shortlist.
However, the meal was not spent wallowing in helplessness. Pooling their knowledge of the early floors, a few options revealed themselves that might put them on the right track. If they could somehow time their arrival to get a whack at the level five floor boss, the rock golem, one if its rarer drops was a crystal talisman that could be used to locate lost items. Additionally, but less concrete, there were rumours of a hermit dwelling on the fringes of the seventh floor who could see into the future, and a pool on the ninth floor that was said to be home to a capricious water nymph who would trade in secrets of the labyrinth but, if the warnings were to be believed, had about a fifty-fifty chance of pulling out the liver of any adventurer foolish enough to approach her.
So, they had options. Not great ones, but worth making an extended trip long enough to at least check in on them.
They reached the plaza to find it humming with activity. At least two guilds looked to have reasonably large expedition groups thronging the entrance while they cross-checked their gear and handed over their guildmarks to the sentries posted at the wide gate. Katya and Val exchanged a frustrated look and joined the long queue that snaked around the cobblestone plaza.
"Busy day," Val remarked.
Katya nodded in return as a few other small groups of adventurers fell in behind them, joining the ever-growing line.
Looking around, Katya recognised members of both the Forgelight and Cannoneers guilds bunched together throughout the milling crowd.
"I spoke to the foreman this morning," Val went on, "Work should continue for the entire time we're away, and they've agreed to hold any invoices until we return."
Again, Katya nodded, but gave no verbal reply.
"Hey, Kat," Val said, trying to catch her eye.
She met his gaze briefly, glancing away from the other adventurers only for a moment.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, her distraction present in her tone, "Just looking for…"
Whatever it was she was looking for, she found it in that moment. Her eyes locked to a short, bent-backed man with thick brows, a long white beard and a selection of noisy, rattling leather bridles hung over his arm, working his way along the line.
"One second," she said, and took off towards the bearded hawker.
Val watched her leave, holding their place in the queue.
"Alright then," he mumbled to himself.
He watched Katya engaging in, at first, a friendly, then slightly heated discussion with the vendor, who kept removing then returning the bridles to his arm, at times stopping to shake the one he was holding pointedly at the petite blonde before snatching it away from her.
Always a charmer, Val thought.
A spot of movement caught his eye, and he glanced away from the lesson in commerce that Katya was giving to amused-looking nearby adventurers to see a familiar face waving at him from near the front of the line. He waved back and Jaida half-jogged to join him in the queue.
"Hey daddy!" she said, brightly, and because this time Val was ready for it, it did not put his teeth on edge.
"Good morning, hunter," Val replied, choosing to also greet her by her class, which was now obvious to him from the fur and leather armour she wore, the spellchip enhanced shortbow and quiver of orange-fletched arrows slung over her shoulder and the wicked set of skinning knives tucked into her belt.
She sidled in beside him, taking Katya's empty spot to avoid blocking the thoroughfare that various industrious hawkers were using to ply their trade of potions and whetstones to the waiting warriors. She was at least as tan as when he had last seen her, but her long, glossy, black hair was now pulled into a single thick braid that she had wrapped into a bun on the back of her head, held in place with leather cord. He had noted her height, athletic gait and posture when she was dressed in socially appropriate evening wear, but now, standing next to him, he could see she was only an inch or two shorter than him and, in her full hunter's garb, she seemed as confident and capable a warrior as any other he'd met since coming to Al'Lachia, perhaps with the exception of Katya, and, despite how Val had recently seen him humbled, her brother.
"You know it's Jaida, right?" she asked, facetious.
"Of course," Val replied, "Forgelight heading deep today? You've got a big group."
Jaida nodded her head.
"Ever so slight overkill I thought," Jaida said, "But we're making a run to the gate on ten, then skipping down to forty to take on the Koi Lord. Advance party's already made camp at the underground lake entrance."
"Cool," Val replied.
"Is it?" Jaida shot back, with a touch of cheek.
"Sure it is," he assured her, "Fighting a giant goldfish that breathes ice in a glowing cave pool is cool. I can't see anyone arguing with that."
"Eh, we'll see," Jaida said, then glanced over at Katya, now counting out coins into the hand of the bearded bridle vendor, "Are you heading down with… Well, I guess this is your entire guild at the moment, right?"
"Sure is."
"Where are you headed?"
"Probably no lower than eight," Val replied, "Just chasing down some resources so we can get the repairs finished on the guildhall."
Jaida gave Val a sideways look, and he wondered if he'd been a little too cagey.
"Might take a run at the golem on five," he continued, hoping to pre-emptively appease the curious expression on her face, "See if our timing's right."
"Well," she said, seemingly content with his answer, "If you get there before us we'd appreciate you clearing it out. It wouldn't be a tough fight with a group our size, but I don't think the wards want to see us burning any supplies unnecessarily."
"Fair," Val chuckled, "Well, we'll do our best."
The two lapsed into a brief but companionable silence.
"Oh, hey," Jaida said, "Did you ever work out your, um, your Fastus Patri skill? You said you weren't quite sure how it worked yet."
"Yeah," Val replied, "Yeah, I think I get it now. Had a few chances to test it out."
Jaida waited, then raised an enquiring eyebrow when Val didn't offer any additional detail.
"And?"
"Oh, it's a…" Val trailed off, both trying to remember exactly how Katya had described it and not exactly sure how much he wanted to share, "It's a healing spell, it's been pretty useful, though it doesn't look like I can use it on myself."
"Oh," Jaida said, in a strange tone.
"What?"
"I could have sworn you said it was some sort of buff at dinner."
"Did I?"
"You must have."
Val nodded, inwardly cringing. If he was going to follow Katya's implied advice about remaining cagey on the details of his skill, he was going to have to at least try to remain consistent.
"Yeah," Val offered, as poker-faced as he could manage, "A healing buff, gives you a little strength boost and restores a bit of your health. Like I said, pretty useful."
Jaida looked him in the eye and he was sure that she was going to press him further, but instead she smiled and nodded.
"Sounds like it!" she said, seemingly ending the discussion.
Val suppressed a sigh of relief.
"Anyway!" Jaida chirped, "Looks like my guys are ready to head in, maybe I'll see you down there?"
"Yeah, maybe."
"Bye!"
Jaida moved away, cutting directly toward the front of her group, who were starting to file through the gate and down into the labyrinth. Val watched her disappear into the crowd and then turned his gaze to find Katya, moving back toward him with a leather bridle in each hand.
"Here," she said as she jumped back into the line, falling into step beside him as the queue moved forward to fill the gap left by the Forgelight members and offering him a bridle of black leather with silver buckles.
Val took it from her, noting the brown leather one with silver wiring detail that she kept for herself.
"Did you get a good price?" he asked.
"Of course," Katya nearly scoffed, "They always try to get you with the add-ons after you've already paid the rental, but I managed to get him low enough that we should still come out ahead downstairs."
"Atta girl" Val said, reflexively raising his hand to pat her on the head, before catching himself and instead patting her on the shoulder.
Amused, she threw him a sideways smile, which he returned, and they moved toward the entrance.
—
The sun shone brightly in the clear, enchanted sky over Abyssia, at the foot of the stairs that spiralled down from the plaza above. The thrum of human activity in the town could be heard for miles around, and the last tendrils of the sounds fell away from Katya and Val as they moved away quickly towards the level two staircase.
The bridles Katya had procured were now secured around the muzzles of two enormous, magically enhanced deer with cropped, silver-capped antlers and bright, blonde coats. The animals, probably twice as large as any Val had ever seen in his world, travelled the rough trail effortlessly, bearing their riders in full armour as if they weighed no more than a pigeon perched on their back.
Katya held her bridle in one hand, moving with the rhythm of the deer, as elegant as a renaissance painting. In contrast, Val held on for dear life, desperately trying to stay relaxed and not panic the animal as they sped through the trees.