RD: Chapter Twelve - Old Witches Never Change

Dolli sat atop her ruined cabin, a cup of steaming-hot tea beside her. She smiled to herself and took a drink.

Splat.

The liquid passed right through her and ran down the broken shingles of her home, then pattered against the wood floor. Dolli closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and set the tea aside. The Overlord menu popped open at her command. She found several completed jobs waiting for her, and marked them complete, then assigned the dungeonfolk more work.

From her vantage point on top of the dilapidated cottage, Dolli could see the hustle and bustle about the village. They were certainly working hard to fortify the dungeon and make improvements, but Dolli knew it had nothing to do with her inept leadership.

Bitter resentment coursed through Dolli. She crossed her arms and panned over to the Lifewell. Only a few monsters remained in the respawn pool, Nubiri included. She’d been foolish enough to think she could use the wyvern’s anger to get what she wanted, without being anywhere near high enough level to control the wyvern if something went wrong. The heroes magic popup had told her it would be so, but Dolli was sure of herself, so confident in her own individual strength, that she couldn’t even fathom it to be true.

Inept.

She opened the menu and completed another three quests, then dolled out more. An alert popped up in the corner of her vision; a level-up notification. Dolli waved it away and crossed her arms. So what if she was nine. Her presence didn’t matter. The people didn’t want her. She could just sit in this cabin for the rest of her life, dishing out jobs and leveling for free.

That idea didn’t sit well with her, but in honesty, she deserved it.

Inept.

The word felt truer than ever.

Dolli looked down at her feeble hands made of Spark. She couldn’t even drink tea anymore… All she was good for was giving out quests and prioritizing respawns, so that’s what she’d do. She’d sit up there, do her job, and reap the level rewards she’d earned.

Maybe when Keegan came next, he’d destroy her dungeon core and set them all free.

“Hey,” Rufus’ voice startled her from the dark thought.

Dolli squared herself, then looked off toward the village. “Is there something you need?”

“I want to apologize.”

Dolli’s heart thudded, but she kept her calm façade. “That’s unnecessary.”

Rufus sighed. “Yes, it is necessary. Would you come down?”

She wished she’d selected Wendigo so she could fade into the trees and disappear. Instead, she faced the only man she’d thought had been her friend.

“Go ahead then,” Dolli said in a monotone voice.

Rufus rolled his black eyes. “Stop being this way! Are you seriously this callous?”

Dolli clapped but only soft puffs of Spark came from her hands. “Best apology I’ve ever heard.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about! You use this cold sarcasm to hide from what you’re feeling. I came to tell you how sorry I was that I’d said that, and how sorry I was for being the coward who couldn’t admit it to your face!”

Dolli looked toward the garden, keeping Rufus in her periphery. “Now you’ve said it and can be on your way.”

“That wasn’t the whole apology.” Cool green moss wrapped around Dolli and turned her toward Rufus. “I’m sorry that I never told you what I’d said. I’d gotten to know you, and I didn’t… I didn’t want to ruin our friendship with an ugly thing like that. It was the wrong thing, done for the right reason.”

Dolli hummed, then smirked wryly. “The apology was stronger before you tacked an excuse on the end of it.”

“You don’t take anything seriously, do you?” Rufus said with playful exasperation.

They laughed, and Dolli felt normal for a breath.

A dark realization dawned on her. “I’ve killed more children.”

Rufus scowled. “The eggs?”

“Don’t tell me they’re just monsters, Rufus! Look at us, we’re monsters!” Dolli gestured between them, and Rufus only smiled.

“That wasn’t what I was going to say, if you’d let me finish.”

Dolli crossed her arms and calmed herself.

“They said you didn’t care, and I know that’s not true. I know how bad it hurt you, and still does. I know you want to be strong, and pretend like it doesn’t get to you. You’d worked so hard for us. I watched our village grow into a city.”

He chuckled. “I thought we’d be a kingdom in no-time and I’d be sitting on prime real estate. The boys and I had picked out a nice plot of land in the hills near the lake. They wanted to start farmin’ and fishin’ to help support the inn. They loved to cook.”

Dolli’s chest was tight, and her eyes burned with unshed tears. “I took that away from you.”

“No, you didn’t.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Your actions saved thousands of people. The forty heroes who came through, the ones who made proper potions and got them to the villagers in time, they saved us. That plague would’ve spread through Little Crossroad like wildfire and spread to the other kingdoms. And you could’ve never produced that number of potions on your own in time let alone coordinate the quarantine efforts. Rerouting trade saved hundreds of thousands of lives, if not more.”

“Yet condemned ours,” Dolli said, a lump growing in her throat.

Rufus released her from the Creeping Moss and set her down. “You’ve been lookin’ at just one side, Dolli. The ugliest side.

“Maybe that wyvern destroyed some of our home, but it killed Keegan and saved our lives. It provided jobs to help the dungeonfolk level up. You have to look at the bigger picture. There will always be hard choices to make, you can’t escape that by tuning us out.”

Dolli tutted. “Yeah, you just come screamin’ up to my doorstep.”

“You know, when you actually lead, you lead well.” Rufus laid on a bit of guilt with a smile.

“What, you wouldn’t prefer Greggy boy?” Dolli taunted.

“I don’t know what Julie was on, but I never said that.” Rufus shook his head.

Dolli paused, the light-hearted moment coming to an end at another realization. “Not that, but you did wish he’d kill me?”

Rufus’ smile disappeared. “A deep, dark time ago, I did wish—for a moment—that you were dead.”

Dolli’s heart ached. She didn’t want to be the kind of person who had people wishing for her death, especially not her friend. There was nothing she could do about that thought he’d had. There would always be people out there hating her for what happened, but if she didn’t show up, if she didn’t try—she would’ve earned all those thoughts fair and square.

Dolli took a deep breath. “Come inside the cottage.”

She turned and wiggled her way into the wide-open living room from the hole in the back wall.

“What are we doing?” Rufus asked.

Dolli brought herself up to her fill, tiny, height. “Moving.”

“What?”

“Well, hiding up in this cottage hasn’t been doing any good.” She smiled at him over her shoulder, then opened the Dungeon Information menu. She selected the Seat of Power [Cottage at the Edge of the Forest] and then selected the “Move” button. A popup appeared with a warning.

[Move Seat of Power]

Moving the Seat of Power can only be done three times per reign. The Core of the dungeon nestled deep beneath the seat of power must be removed as well. The Core will need twenty-four hours to reseat in the new location and is more vulnerable in this time.

Are you prepared to move the Seat of Power?

[Yes] [No]

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Dolli selected “Yes” and another popup appeared with “Cancel” and “Place” buttons that allowed Dolli to select the location in her zone where she’d like to move the cottage. There was a spot that looked just big enough not too far from the inn, and Dolli thought it appropriate to be closer to the center of town. She’d be part of the action there. Anyone could come to her with anything, and there was nowhere to hide. Perhaps she’d have to build another cottage up in the woods, as she couldn’t always be the Overlord.

Dolli braced herself, saying, “Hold on to something,” then she selected “Place.”

The ground rumbled and the cottage groaned. Rock cracked and vines snapped as the little hut in the woods lifted from the ground. They rose above the tree-line, then drifted lazily toward town. They picked up speed, and when they were well on their way, Dolli wriggled up to a window to watch.

She’d never flown before—despite what they say about witches—and it was enchanting. The glow of dusk, twinkling of stars, blobs of Wispelle down in the village; it was harmonious.

Rufus placed a hand on her shoulder. “Another hard choice down.”