A Soldier's Life - 396 - Fork In The Road (edits on 5-25-25 +200 words)

Chapter 396: Fork In The Road

I found I had copied a dozen books that referenced dungeon purges in Godok, and the news was not good. I had only briefly recalled what a dungeon purge was during my time flipping through the Archives. These occurrences were extremely rare and usually signaled future trouble, usually with a mass exodus of other creatures from the Endless Dark.

It was common for a dungeon to expel its residents into the Endless Dark, but allowing them passage directly to the surface meant they were breaking the established “rules” that governed them. I assumed these rules were part of the pact between the dungeons and lesser races to fight the titans, but there was no record of the original pact. It was assumed that the creatures the dungeons discarded into the Endless Dark had either become unmanageable, too old, or were defective.

A purge was quite different, as it was believed that the control a dungeon had to keep creatures contained in rooms or regions in its domain was shattered. One author suggested that the “dungeon spirit” had become disabled or unconscious, thereby losing its control.

This theory made a lot of sense, as the surge of turbulent aether we felt on the Sensible Seahorse crossing the Shadow Belt likely traveled along all the ley lines that branched off from it. Since all dungeons were established around the ley lines deep in the earth, any dungeons along the path could have been affected.

There were only references to three Purges in the records I had. One was a singular dungeon on the other continent, known as The Forbidden Grotto. This purge was just over three hundred years ago. The purge lasted years, expelling a continuous parade of water drakes, hobgoblins, cockatrices, water elementals, and ogres. The Adventurer’s Guild had to assemble some of its most powerful gold members to venture into the dungeon and destroy its core to stop it.

The other two purges I had in the histories affected a large regional swath of dungeons. The second was called the Great Purge; however, it only lasted three days on the other continent before the dungeons regained control. The creatures released did kill tens of thousands of people, including decimating two large cities.

The third purge took place in Esenhem and affected many of their dungeons. After the purge was contained and the dungeons regained control, the Esenhem elves began to destroy all the dungeons under their control systematically.

Most disturbing was the lack of concrete evidence regarding what triggered the purges. All the theories mentioned centered around the ley lines, as they connected the dungeons like veins in the earth, carrying aether to the dungeons. From my recent experience, it was a surge of aether, but what caused the surge of aether?

There were two questions that needed answering in a purge. How long the purge would last? And whether the dungeons would continue to manifest creatures. If a dungeon kept manifesting creatures, then every twenty-four hours, a new wave of creatures would be released from the entrance, causing more turmoil.

I exited the dreamscape and lay in my bed, tossing an apex fire essence in the air and catching it. The glowing flames inside the sphere made it feel like I was playing with fire as I thought. I had been saving this essence to give to Raelia when I saw her next. I wondered how she was doing and how mad she was at me for standing her up. She would probably understand, but knowing her, she would be sufficiently irate. This essence should calm her fury.

My current dilemma was whether we should divert and help. The histories of dungeon breaks I had just read were making me reconsider helping. I was worried about putting my companions in danger, especially Evie. She was getting closer to imprinting the convergence spell form, but she had no way to defend herself if I went off to fight monsters. I fell into a restless sleep, going back and forth on what I would do.

We all gathered in the morning in the inn’s common room. Blaze broke the silence, “From the rumors last night, the dungeon break extends all the way to the Dragon Spine Mountains.”

“That is seven hundred miles,” I said thoughtfully. There were probably other dungeon entrances in the Endless Dark along the path affected, and also more “lost” dungeons in the mountains. “Did you hear anything about dungeons to the east or west?” I asked. Blaze shook his head. The common man only dealt in rumors anyway.

“Are we still going to help?” Lesna asked. The halfling’s eyes were lively, but I couldn’t tell if she was anxious or excited.

“It will be a two-day ride to the fork in the road to Brausis. Hopefully, we will have more information by then and can make a decision,” I said contemplatively. Everyone accepted my answer, and we were soon on the road.

By mid-morning, we were passing a lot of civilians heading in the other direction. One farmer with six young children was resting on the side of the road, and I got lucky that he spoke modest Elvish. “How bad is it?” I asked casually as we stopped for a brief rest. His wagon had things haphazardly tossed into it.

“Harpies got my wife and my youngest on the morning it started,” he said sorrowfully. “Our farm was only a few miles from the Caverns. I was told the bugbears took my neighbors, but I didn’t see it. We packed as fast as we could and fled.” As we left, I gave the man a large pouch of jerky and a handful of coppers for their information. It wasn’t much, but I didn’t want to draw too much attention to us with charity.

Blaze and Benito rode on either side of me as I talked. “The dungeon Kyrenic went to is called the Mirror Caverns. It has seven rooms in sequence. The first room is stunted goblins called gremlins. Mostly harmless, but the room is covered in simple traps. The second room has large sheets of quartz stone that act like mirrors. The room is full of colorful wisps that can that can confuse you. If they touch your skin, they can cause severe burns that are difficult to heal with magic.”

“We dealt with them before,” Blaze interrupted. “Only Castile’s magic, and Konstantin’s and Delmar’s blades could snuff them out.”

I nodded, and there was a brief period of silence for our fallen friends before I continued. “We should all be fine if we encounter wisps since we have runic weapons. The third room is a small forest with acid-venom spiders. The fourth room is the largest chamber and contains a small village of bugbears. Usually, twenty of these creatures are present, but sometimes it is twenty-three. This room is the most dangerous because they coordinate in battle. With the dungeon only allowing six entrants, it is a harrowing fight if you cannot quickly whittle their numbers.”

“Those are what Knight Kyrenic went to fight?” Evie asked. She had been listening intently, and I slowed Ginger to let her get closer, seeing her interest.

“Yes, but the last chamber also has three larger bugbears as well who fight with steel swords and have some skill. I am assuming in the dungeon purge, those three would take command of the other twenty, making them a formidable force. Of the remaining two rooms leading to the final chamber, one has three harpies and the other a lesser earth elemental. Those are all the creatures we might encounter if we head toward Brausis.”

Evie was full of questions, and I patiently answered them as I went over the weaknesses and strengths of all the creatures. Blaze and Benito had never fought bugbears before, but were familiar with the other creatures. The wisps were only dangerous if they found you asleep and entered your body, as they could severely damage your organs.

We stopped in a small town that already had twenty Gorgiphian soldiers bolstering the town guard. Carts outside some homes were being meticulously packed. The dungeon was seventy miles away, so I assumed this was an overabundance of caution. Lesna tried to talk with the old guard captain setting up a small barricade, but he ignored Lesna’s attempts.

The disapproving innkeeper at least knew some Telhian. “You shouldn’t be traveling with a child north. Get her to a city, and behind stone walls until this has passed.”

“That is our intention,” I said, in capitulation, not wanting to argue with her, “How bad is the dungeon break?”

She looked at Evie and then back at me, probably not believing me. She begrudgingly informed me, “It is bad. Word is six of the seven dungeons in the kingdom are affected and are constantly spitting out more horrible creatures.”

“Just the dungeons in the Kingdom?” I pressed.

The woman had relaxed some, and was eager to spread the rumors she had gathered from travelers. “Heard Nausis has its own dungeon problems. Don’t know about Keisinia; those folks keep to themselves. They have their mage lords to protect them anyway.” The rest of the information she offered was disjointed rumors. I thanked her with another silver, to go with the five I had paid for our rooms.

We left well after sunrise, and I received more derogatory comments in the local language that I assumed were aimed at us for riding into danger with a child. Once we were on the road, I asked Evie how her progress was with the spell form.

She seemed a little tired but answered eagerly. “I think it is going well. Sometimes when I close my eyes now, I can see the lines and shapes. When I open my eyes, I get a little dizzy.”

I nodded. “You are close. Soon, when you are studying the spell forms, you will get heartburn. That is your aether core sorting out how to imprint the spell forms correctly. Not long after, it will feel like a dam of pressure releasing inside you, and then it will be done.”

“Why can’t I do it the way Lesna explained to me?” Evie asked but winced.

“Don’t worry, I am no longer upset with you for imprinting the dimensional pocket spell. What Lesna told you to do was create a need-based imprinting. It is what you did with your necromancy. Your resolve funnels your willpower to create the desired magical effect. It is almost always weaker than if you study a complete spell form,” I explained, probably for the fourth time.

“But it could be better than studying the spell forms?” Evie asked.

“I have not read anything that would support that, but I suppose it is possible,” I replied cautiously. “Remember, you promised to only work on imprinting spells I approve for you.” 

“I will!” She beamed a bright smile.

Late in the evening, we reached the town located at the fork in the road. Two days had passed so quickly that I still had not decided which direction we would take. There were army tents set up outside the barracks, and more soldiers than citizens filled the streets. We walked our mounts into the city and found one of the inns in town with space. The common room had officers from the army at the tables sipping ale and playing death’s dice.

I had Blaze get our rooms, and I sat at a table with four veterans. Their eyes studied me patiently as I placed a silver on the table and asked in Elvish, “Can I buy you all your ale for the evening?” By their reactions, two of the officers registered the Elvish words.

“Please, and you are welcome to join our game. Hester needs someone else’s coin to take.” The dark-skinned man with the largest stack of small coppers chuckled at the other’s remark. Benito had found his own table to gamble at, so I was on my own, trying to recall the rules of the game.

“Is the break contained?” I asked as I took my turn. They looked reluctant to answer, so I pulled out my adventurer’s medallion. “Or did I arrive too late?” They relaxed upon seeing it, and perhaps would be more honest with me about the threat, as I indicated I was here to help.

“The dungeon is still releasing monsters every day.” He gestured at my medallion. “Two adventuring teams entered the dungeon, but never came out. The harpies disperse when they exit, causing the most trouble. The bugbears took one of the small villages a stone’s throw from the dungeon and are being reinforced every day by the dungeon.” I nodded and wondered why the Kingdom didn’t just overwhelm the bugbears.

I let a few turns pass before asking after the knight. “Did Knight Kyrenic pass through here?”

“Prince Kyrenic? The adventurer? I heard he was helping.” Of course, Kyrenic was a prince, I groused. The man took the dice and started rolling. I had busted and had to toss in another copper, and had no chance to win this round.

“Prince?” I asked a little numbly. “Is he related to Queen Adelin?” I said, putting the pieces together.

“Her eldest son, I believe,” the other man said in terrible Elvish. It might be nepotism at its finest to name him her Champion, but Kyrenic was a skilled sword master. I excused myself after losing six more coppers and getting a little more information about the harpy threat. Since the creatures could fly, they were spreading quickly.

As I passed Benito to get my room key from Blaze, he whispered, “You always stop at sixteen, Eryk!” He had accumulated a small stack of coppers. I just patted him on the shoulder and left him to his game. I checked on Lesna and Evie, whose room was adjacent to mine. Evie was diligently studying the spell forms I had copied for her.

I spent my evening in the dreamscape reviewing the bestiaries for the dungeon creatures we would encounter. Fighting the creatures in the dungeon was easier because it was more predictable, and you could control the encounter. Outside the dungeon, the creatures had no rules.

If the dungeon break extended all the way to the Kingdom of Nausis, it would spoil our plans to hunt essences in another dungeon. If we wanted essences, it was probably best to help with the bugbears and harpies. In the morning, when I shared my decision with the group, no one was surprised. Lesna was reluctant to be left behind to watch Evie in the town. Evie was angry and upset that I was leaving her. I ended up compromising and leaving Benito with them, so only Blaze and I would join the hunt.

I made a tough decision and produced my amulet of insight. The large sapphire pendant caught Lesna’s and Evie’s eyes like a hypnotic focus. “It is beautiful,” Evie said, studying the gently swinging gem.

“I am entrusting this to you, Evie. It is an amulet of insight and will help you focus.” I put it in her hands. “Lesna will show you how to use it. It will help you learn your convergence spell form quickly. When I return, I want it back.” I looked pointedly at Lesna, “I am trusting you to keep her safe with Benito.” She nodded, and I was sure she would use the artifact as well, but I now trusted her not to run off.

I left with Blaze, trotting down the road to Brausis. Unlike our previous rides, the road was barren of all traffic. It felt eerie as the farms and fields appeared abandoned as we rode. Blaze pointed out that one of the farm buildings in the distance was covered in webs. I made the mistake of not walking and sending out earth pulses to scout. There were no obstructions along the sides of the road, and I missed the mound of earth we rode past, which looked innocuous.

When it rose up to almost ten feet in height, both Blaze and I were already drawing blades. Unfortunately, Blaze and his mount were too close to avoid the first attack. The elemental’s arm was a massive club descending on Blaze. If a pile of earth could look surprised, I was sure it was as its arm disappeared and my aether bottomed out.

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