Cinnamon Bun - Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty-Nine

Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty-Nine

It had been a while since I’d last entered a dungeon. I stared at the entrance for a while. It was, predictably, kind of dark in there. Cavernous, even. 

The edges of the dungeon were made of stone that matched the earth of the crater, only a few steps in, that was traded into more carved blocks that were a strangely dark colour.

“Nervous?” Amaryllis asked in a low voice. She was standing surprisingly close, the knight’s helmet she had grabbed still in her hands.

“A little,” I admitted. Then I put on a confident smile. “Come on, it won’t be that bad! We’re gonna blitz that dungeon, no problem! Maybe I’ll even finally get a knight class of some sort, huh?”

“Hmph,” she huffed. It didn’t seem as though she gave me good odds. “Maybe. But don’t get your hopes up. This isn’t a terribly old dungeon, I don’t think, so it probably won’t be that deep, but it may well be harder than what we’re used to.”

“Yeah, I know. We’ll be careful.”

I turned, then stood a smidge straighter. My friends were splitting up into two groups already. The team that was going to dive into the dungeon and those that were going to stand watch out here for us.

“Okay everyone!” I called out. “Time for some quick goodbye hugs! If we take too long to come out, we might end up camping here overnight, so, uh...”

“Don’t worry about it, Broc,” Calamity said. “We’ll set up a nice little camp. I can teach the scamps a thing or two about living outdoors.”

“Scamps?” Sally repeated. “It’s Scallywags!” 

I grinned, then shifted my attention to the ones who were gonna dive with me. “Should we get going?” I asked.

“Before that,” Caprica said. “We should determine the order in which we’ll tackle this dungeon. Marching orders, I mean. I volunteer to take the lead.”

“That would be--” Bastion began.

“I have the only true defender class here,” Caprica said. I think she noticed my look of confusion because she immediately clarified. “My class, Indomitable Bastion, is designed to allow me to shrug off a certain amount of damage.”

“It hardly makes you immortal,” Bastion said. “You can still be injured. Quite easily, as well.”

“Just because I allow you to manhandle me during our spars doesn’t mean that I’m weak,” Caprica replied.

“Allow?” Bastion repeated.

“Okay!” I said, stepping in before things could get awkward... more awkward. “Caprica, how about you take the lead a little, with Bastion next to you, huh? Desiree and Amaryllis can take the rear. You’re both strong mages, and I’ll be in the middle. I don’t know how good Cleaning magic will be on knights, but I can try my best, and Weedbane gives me some good range!”

Bastion’s lips were thin, but he did nod. “Fine. Princess Caprica, I’ll be doing my best to keep you safe, but I’m certain that you are capable enough to keep yourself safe as well.”

“Of course,” Caprica replied. She shifted, looked us all over, then with a nod, turned and started to head into the tunnel, only to be stopped as Bastion reached over and touched her arm. “Y-yes?”

“Do you not have a spell to protect your head?” he asked.

“I have some personal shielding spells,” Caprica said. “Though... nothing active.”

“You should be wearing a helmet. Your head is the part of your body you should endeavor to protect the most. You can live without a wing but not without your neck,” Bastion said with a shake of his head.

“I hardly had time to pack an entire suit of armour when I... left home,” Caprica replied.

“You had plenty of time to source equipment,” Bastion said.

Caprica pouted. She did have some gear. But it was mostly just a nice sylph sword and a small round shield strapped to her opposite arm. “Maybe you can try on some of the stuff from the knights in the dungeon? They have armour.”

Amaryllis looked down at where she’d dropped the knight’s helmet, then she picked it up and handed it over. 

Caprica grumbled and tried the helmet on, but it was sized all wrong and was about six sizes too large for her. “I’ll go without for now,” she said. “Come on!” 

She stomped into the dungeon, and the rest of us hurried to follow. 

On entering the dungeon, I was hit with the usual prompt, though it was a smidge different, seeing as how I wasn’t the one to enter first. 

You Are Entering the Black Reliquary Dungeon

Levels 13-16

Your entire party has entered the Dungeon

The interior of the dungeon was damp and dark and a little muddy. I saw Bastion cast a small, soft red light ball by his side, and I followed suit, casting my own. Behind me, Amaryllis did the same and Desiree summoned a little fireball that hovered on the tip of one of her tails.

Soon, though, we discovered that we didn’t need the light so much. 

The passage went down a ways, then lower and lower, but eventually it levelled off and opened up. We were before a castle.

Well, maybe it was more of a keep? 

A small fortress of some sort, at least. With tall walls made of interlocking stones and with a large set of double doors made of thick wood at the front. Thin slit-like windows were situated on either side of the door. I couldn’t remember what they were called, but I knew that they were for archers to shoot out of without being hit in return. 

The keep had a second floor above that hung out over the entrance, and there were gaps along the bottom that someone could drop rocks out of onto the heads of anyone besieging the walls.

The room we were in was quite large, with thick natural columns keeping the ceiling above in place. There were some wooden barricades spread out and abandoned here and there, with a hip-deep line of trenches between us and the fort. 

“Looks like no one is home,” Desiree replied as she scanned the room.

“Looks that way,” I said. The space was lit by a few large, cast-iron braziers placed in more or less even intervals along the length of the wall, as well as some tall torches planted into the ground.

The braziers were filled with what looked a lot like furniture. Tables and chairs, bashed apart and tossed in to burn.

“No monsters?” I asked.

“No, there are a few,” Bastion said. He shifted, sword coming out of its sheath with a whisper. 

I unhooked Weedbane’s head and swung it so that the end locked into place as a sort of spear with a neat little click. “Where?” I asked.

Bastion didn’t have to answer. The dungeon did that in his stead. Five figures rose up across the room. They were wearing thick gambesons with pock-marked and rusted breastplates and a few bits and bobs of additional armour. All of them had lobster-tail helmets on, with chainmail covering everything not covered by the helmets so that I couldn’t see any skin.

They tugged up weapons. A few had wicked looking flachions, the rest shorter spears with axe-heads on the end. 

“Maybe they’re friendly?” I tried. I didn’t sound or feel very confident. 

The dungeon... people moved around the cover that had hidden them with clunky, jerky movements, as though they were a little drunk, or maybe it was more that they were very tired? 

The nearest of them suddenly took off running, spear held in both hands with the tip aiming at the middle of our group.

“Split up,” Caprica said as she took a long step forwards. She bashed the end of the spear aside with her shield, then brought her sword down in a quick chop that smashed into the soldier’s shoulder and sent a few bits of chainmail rattling away. 

Bastion circled around the other way, so I moved to the right with Desiree and Amaryllis staying behind me. Three of the soldiers were coming our way, another was stumbling towards the one fighting Caprica until Bastion intercepted and started to smack them around.

There was no time for instructions. Desiree flicked out a fireball, and then Amaryllis followed through with a bolt of lightning. 

I met the first one with the tip of Weedbane, the scythe-spear jabbing the soldier hard in the chestplate and sending it reeling back. I blasted it with a wave of Cleaning magic, just to see what would happen, but other than shining up its armour, it wasn’t much.

Keeping the soldiers at bay was enough, though. Caprica brought the one she was fighting down, then Bastion did the same, and then with both Desiree and Amaryllis blasting spells, the three ahead of us soon crumpled.

“Uh... that wasn’t very welcoming,” I said. “But hey! New helmets for you to try on, Caprica!” 

***