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[–]Eleftourasa 23 points24 points  (3 children)

It was hell going through 8 levels, with the residents of each level more dangerous and grotesque than the preceding ones. And the exit lies beyond the 9th, the next one. What challenge am I going to face here?

I crack open the door, readying my shield and peeking in. It's a humble room, lit by candlelight. Dirt walls lined thickly with roots gave way to an exotic brick hearth. Simple wood furniture, and furs and rugs, decorated the area. A woman, dressed in simple clothes, sat up at the table, and laid down her utensils in surprise. She glanced at the door across the room, then back towards me.

"How can I help you, adventurer?" She said. This is the final boss, I deducted. This is the guardian of the Crystal of Apothontas.

"Yes, I'm lost and I would like some directions." I gripped my shield firmly, bracing for an attack.

She chuckled and stood up from the table. "I'm sorry, but this is a dead end. Please go back the way you came." Upon further inspection, she was consuming some kind of glowing fruit. Who is this 'woman'?

She started walking towards the door she glanced at earlier. I moved to intercept her. "That will not be possible. It's too perilous to return the way I came". The way she walks is almost as if she's gliding across the floor. Literately. The length of her stride doesn't match perfectly how much she's moving. She's definitely not human.

"It's much more perilous if you continue." She warned. "Please move. It's very rude to be blocking my way." This is getting nowhere. I need to confront her directly.

I draw my sword and ready my shield. "You're not human! What are you!" A root pierced through my shield into my abdomen. Pain. It was originating from her arm. She glided forward and pushed me into the room. The room was dark, illuminated by a faint green glow from the ceiling; the Crystal of Apothontas, the treasure my party has given their lives for.

"It's such a pity," she started, "there's not many adventurers who make it this far." She then broke her own arm off, leaving the stump impaled inside me. Her arm started to regrow. "As a reward, let me tell you a story." With a snap of her fingers, the roots lining the walls shot out and bound me, restraining me in a standing position. She then snatched a healing potion from my belt and forced it down my throat. I could feel my entrails, muscles, and bone entwining themselves around the stump still embedded inside me, keeping me just alive enough to make out what she had to say.

"A very, very long time ago, a power sorcerer was hunted down and killed. But before then, he buried an artifact of unimaginable power deep in a forest. The sylphs of the forest drew on this power to protect their homeland, negating attempts from humans to traverse this land. This artifact is the Crystal of Apothontas, or in its original language, the crystal of repulsion. As the crystal is used, it creates a field which no conscious being is allowed to enter, hence the name. The side effect is that all conscious beings within the field begins to merge, both physically and mentally. I am an avatar of the collective consciousness of the sylphs, and I control this forest. Does that give you your answer, human?"

She grasped the root within me, and ripped it out. But I didn't care. I saw black. I saw the green light of the crystal. I felt three thousand years of regret. I saw the bloodied root in my avatar's hand, and witnessed a disemboweled man be absorbed into my body like the countless times before.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

A bit of a sad ending, lonely, but I rather liked the story. Perhaps the next team will have better luck

[–]Eleftourasa 4 points5 points  (1 child)

There are some places where you should not venture.

I thought about eventually having the hero win out, but can't think of a way for that to realistically happen. Defeating the avatar (fat chance) will see the room collapse in on itself. There was no way to convince the avatar to let the adventurer go, because then the next wave that comes will be more prepared. The adventurer could use the artifact to create a field around themselves and walk out, but he doesn't have the know-how to do that.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

She gave him the opportunity to back out and leave. He just didn’t understand how kind her offer was.

[–]yosemighty_sam 10 points11 points  (3 children)

"Well obviously she's some kind of monster."

Torchlight cast through irons bars, a checkerboard shadow danced on stone walls and across the face of a small girl. She had sullen posture, gaunt features, and was sitting neatly in the center of the floor. At a glance she'd pass for a ten year old girl, but her eyes told the story of many more years. The roots of her hair were gray.

"How can you say that?" Oscar protested. He was always the first to reach for a trap unaware. He was drawn to them, like a divining rod for disaster. That's what made him useful.

"I don't know, something about the way she tracks us with her eyes," said Beatrice. She was a predator herself, pacing back and forth in front of the dungeon cell while her party mused over what to do. She knew another killer when she saw one. Oscar bent forward, inserting the torch through the bars for better light, nearly within reach of the girl. She was filthy, like she'd been rolling in charcoal. Her expression was grim, hungry, and patient. Oscar instinctively saw these as weaknesses to be pitied, and his heart swelled with empathy.

"Idiot!" cursed Beatrice as she snatched Oscar by the scruff of his shirt. As he stumbled the torch fell. The flames hissed when they touched the wet floor, and the scuffle of their feet echoed into the swallowing darkness. The girl didn't flinch, but her eyes were fixed now on the still burning torch. She gently reached out with withered fingers, nails black and untrimmed, and snuffed out the light with the bare palm of her hand. That was enough for Beatrice, she was leaving, and she was going to drag Oscar by the scruff the whole way home if she had to.

"We take her with us" came the timber voice of command. It echoed down the passageway she knew leads to the inner sanctum. Arthur stepped into the short radius of the torchlight, his wrinkled face scowling, his cloak covered in dust and spiderwebs. How did he get ahead of us, Beatrice wondered, but she was getting used to wondering about her new employer.

"We need to get out of here." She pleaded. She didn't like sounding the coward, but knew how quickly the hunter becomes the hunted when you're after big game. Arthur didn't repeat himself, he just nodded to Oscar who took the cue.

Oscar shook his lock-picking kit in the air like a baby's rattle as he returned to the cell door, eager to liberate an innocent. A few minutes of fumbling passed, then the lock turned over with a heavy clunk. The girl was off her feet faster than Beatrice could reach for her sword. But Arthur was ready. While Oscar doubled over in pain from a kick to the groin Arthur tossed aside his cloak revealing a net in his hands, the kind with ball bearings sowed along the edges for weighted throws. He cast the net with a flick, it shot out and spread across the air in front of Beatrice. He knew that's where the girl was heading, and she ran right into it as she tackled Beatrice. The two scrapped for a moment before Beatrice could get a grip on the cinching line of the net. She pulled tight and the net shrunk, binding the creature.

"What could we possibly use her for?" Beatrice demanded.

Arthur grimaced. He didn't answer, he just helped Oscar stand and gave him a fatherly reassuring pat on the shoulder, then nodded to Beatrice to collect the girl in the net. She had stopped struggling the moment she knew she was caught, and lay there limp and fetal while Beatrice bound her hands and feet. Arthur didn't speak much. And this creature hadn't spoken at all. Beatrice knew then she'd never have the explanation she wanted.

They made their way into the inner sanctum, a simple room that was totally empty save for the cobwebs, some pillars carved out of the rock, a domed ceiling, and as they ventured further in the torchlight revealed a marble alter against the far wall. Oscar wondered why anyone would build a church with a dungeon, Beatrice wondered just what kind of church this was, and Arthur, sadly, knew the answer to both.

Arthur remained at the doorway as the others entered ahead of him. Then he drew a knife and gestured to the alter. Oscar gasped. Beatrice, resolute, had been warned there would be unpleasantness. When Arthur used that word he meant far worse. She was getting used to that as well. But there was always the greater good to consider. She considered it now as she reached out, meaning to shove the girl onward, but the girl was already moving forward.

The girl stepped up to the altar and put a hand on it, the surface was caked black from many layers of unwashed blood. She dragged her nails across the surface, leaving trails of exposed white marble beneath. Then she hopped up onto the altar like a child onto their bed, and lay down with her eyes closed, hands across her stomach like a body at a funeral. Oscar watched her, horrified, riveted, taking in every bizarre detail for the telling later on. On the girl's face, Oscar swore he detected a faint smile.

Beatrice long ago accepted that it's sometimes necessary to do some harm to protect others from even greater harm. This cruel calculus didn't leave her emotionally cold, she felt every kill as deeply as the first, so she consoled herself with the idea that it's kinder to kill them quickly and unsuspecting. When Arthur's knife came down into Beatrice's back, she realized what a hollow sentiment that was. A knife hurts just as bad from any direction. His aim was true, her heart was pierced, and she sunk to the floor with very little sound.

Oscar was in too much shock to refuse when Arthur asked for a cup. He limply handed it over. Arthur filled the cup with blood from where it pooled on the ground and carried it over to the alter. He splashed it over the girl's body like libations for the dead, and then put the cup to her lips. She drank, then he did as well. The room was silent as a crypt, but Oscar would later swear to the sound of music playing somewhere deep within, like fanfare heard across miles of water. He backed away, out of the room and down the passage, hopefully towards the light.

The girl sat up with a smile. Her face was flushed, here eyes radiant, and she finally spoke.

"Thank you," she said, "this is getting easier every time."


Well, that was interesting. I almost didn’t see the betrayal coming, but then I realized I was lying to myself in hope. Perhaps the next...sacrifice will be better prepared.

[–]yosemighty_sam 1 point2 points  (1 child)

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

I started with something that wasn't a backstab, but I got lazy and betrayals are fun.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Poor Wash. we’ll miss him 😢

It was well done mate. I enjoyed the tale

[–]Benhow100 8 points9 points  (1 child)

The clanging of metal echoed repeatedly throughout the numerous chambers of the dungeon - A constant indication to any foe that may be lurking nearby, that I was alive; alive and well defended. Although my chest-plate was a sturdy source of protection, every step I took sounded as If I had just slammed multiple pieces of glasses upon the barren ground beneath me.


Despite the uncivil ruckus I was causing being slightly agitating, it didn’t seem to bother me too much, as even if some foul beast tried to sneak up on me, they would surely meet a gruesome end atop the edge of my steal blade. At this point, it was practically soaking in a stream of blood, formed by the sheer number of sickly creature that persisted in combat against me.

“Room 33 looted, room 34 looted, room 35 lo-“

A deafening crash roared through a peculiar looking door, swinging it open from the utter volume of force emitted by it. Without thinking, I unsheathed my sword and charged in, before giving a second glance behind me. I came to a sudden haunt, observing my surroundings. An average looking bed sat in the far right corner, and glancing towards the centre of the room a young looking girl sat quietly upon the oak surface of a stool. I gave a sigh of relief, concealing my cutlass.

“Heyyy!, what are you doing in a place like this?” I questioned, acting as friendly as possible.

Nothing. Not even I look.

“Come on, let’s get you outta here? How does that sound?” I continued.

A rumbling sound began to ring intensely through the room, as a forceful vibration made its way across the floor

“WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!!!” I screamed, grabbing her hand, readying myself to leave as fast as humanly possible.

A strong grip held my arm in place. Peering over my shoulder, I looked back at her. A sharp set of fangs met my eyes.


A fist slammed against my chest, launching me against a wall


Seems like you’ve met the dungeon boss. I hope that little love tap didn’t put you down. Surely you’ve more fight in you than that!

[–]Puppy_guard 4 points5 points  (8 children)

Shit, did he see me?

Leon dived behind a pillar as a four-legged humanoid's headmass turned in his direction, several eyes rolling around the room. He held his breath, and reached into his ebony cloak. Six left. He counted, producing a dagger from within.

Now where's that heart? He closed his eyes, focusing inward, relying on hearing instead of sight. Two hearts, one significantly larger than the other, right underneath the sixth eye. Take out the leader, and the rest will follow. He leaped out from the pillar and hurled the dagger at the now charging monstrosity.

He missed. Oh fucking dammit! The monster arched its back in reverse, then flung its upper-body forward, hurling a glowing green glob at Leon. Like an elite elven archer, it had calculated his movement and splatted his left shoulder, creating an eruption of steaming white smoke as it began to feel uncomfortably warm.

Leon hastily removed his black cloak as the abberation got within biting distance, unhinging its jaw into two sections, and taking a large chunk out of his other shoulder. Leon screamed. Desperately, he fumbled in his left pocket, snatching a rough object inside.

He pulled a sharp gemstone forth, and familiarized it with the thrashing fiend's deepest organs. It gurgled painfully and scuttled backward. “Lrelliyta Mestoeng!” He shouted, and in a radiant flash of crimson light, his opponent exploded into chitinous sections oozing with steaming emerald fluid.

Leon limped to his cloak, quickly grabbed the six remaining daggers, and stumbled down the hall. He had two choices now, the left door, or the right. The wrong choice would likely mean his death. A faint gibbering echoed from the hall behind him. Without time to consider his choices, he opted for the left door, wrenching it open and sprinting inside.

On the far end of the room, a simple wood fire stove crackled quietly as the scent of porridge drifted toward him. A few feet away from it, a bed rested, its blankets messily strewn across it. Warming her hands beside the stove, a teenage girl glared at him, a firm expression of disappointment on her pale face. She wore a simple white blouse, complete with a pleated gray skirt, contrasted by her black hair, each strand curling lengthily to her waist.

Leon blinked several times. The entire atmosphere here was different from the rest of the dungeon. He glanced backward, making awkward eye contact with an oozing humanoid's three eyeballs as the rest of its form sponged up the remains of his previous foe. He promptly slammed the door shut, and started dragging the bed to block it.

“Hey!” The girl shouted, dashing toward him and grabbing the headboard of the bed. “Don't move my stuff without asking!”

Leon groaned. Bitch, come on. There's fucking monsters outside. He cleared his throat, mustering his politest voice. “If I may, good madame, I need this to prevent us both from being murdered by horrendous thugs.” He died a little on the inside.

She frowned, clearly not buying the act. “They don't come in here.” She retorted, her voice bristling with irritation.

Suuuuuureee they don't. “Do not worry fair maiden, once I have recuperated, I assure you I will put this bed back.” His voice trembled a bit, barely able to keep the whole gentleman act going.

A thud sounded from outside the door. The girl sighed, and relented, helping him push it in front of the entrance.

Leon sat down beside the door and produced a health potion from within his right shoulder po–It was outside. Where the monster was. As he mentally recited every curse, swear, and derogatory term in his vocabulary, he weakly smiled at the girl, who stormed back over to her stove. Damn, did moving the bed traumatize her that bad? I guess dealing with flesh-eating monsters pales in comparison to having her furniture moved fifteen feet.

She angrily stared at him from the comfort of her stove. He waved with the same smile on his face. Bitch. She turned back to her fire with a dismissive huff.

“So madame, might I know your lovely name?” He asked, still maintaining the polite disguise.

“Just talk normally.” She countered, not bothering to face him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Quit acting like a gentlemen when you clearly aren't.”

“I am al–” Leon winced as the adrenaline wore off and a wave of ebbing pain washed over from his half-melted shoulder. “O-okay fine.” He wheezed, speaking in his normal tone once again. “How the hell did you know?”

“It was pretty obvious when you cursed every five words.”

He was speechless. Shit. Where did I slip up? He searched his memory, trying to pinpoint his mistake, his eyes idly darting upward as he thought.

“Well shit, do I actually curse every five fucking words?” He cursed.

“You do!” She swiveled around, her face red with rage. “It's really annoying!”

“What, does swearing bother you?” He questioned, leaning his chin against his head. “I bet you don't even know a single fucking swear.” She stopped, thinking for a moment. Ha! That shut that bitch up. “Fuck you!” She shouted.

He flinched. “Shit! I didn't think you had it in you.” Strong words for a bitch.

“I am not a bitch!”

“What?” Something was up. First, the girl saw through his disguise, then she knew he was mentally calling her a bitch? Can she read minds? He pondered.

Immediately, she covered her mouth, and stopped talking, opting instead to face back toward the fire. No fucking way. She totally can. He limped over. B. I. T. C. H. He mentally pronounced from beside her ear. She angrily crossed her arms as she turned her head away in disgust.

Bitch-bitch-bitchbitchbitch! Leon caught her hand as it streaked toward his face. “I fucking knew it. You can read minds.” He gleefully deduced. “That's fucking awesome.”

She raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You're not angry?”

“Well, now I can justify calling you a bitch to your face.” She punched his wounded shoulder, sending him sprawling to the ground in pain.

“You're an asshole!”

“I know.” He whimpered. It's actually on my mercenary resume. And is probably why no one hires me. He pouted mentally.

The girl snickered. Shit, forgot about the mind reading. Does it work for images too? The color drained from the girl's face. A devilish smirk spread across Leon's face. Mentally, he conjured forth an image of himself, unrealistically muscular, and wearing only shorts.

The girl's face's color returned, now a dazzling shade of scarlet. Desperately, she covered her eyes and flapped her other hand in distress. “Please, stop!”

Leon burst out into pained laughter as she sobbed. So you can't turn it off then? She nodded.

“That's why I moved here. The Things... they don't think. And they kill those who do.”

Shit, that's badass. She smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You think so?” Well, I know one when I see one. I am one after all!

The girl groaned. What's your name, anyway?

She stared him in the eye, and sighed out,


[–]marvelfandomonium 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Lrelliyta Mestoeng!

I like this part. Just rearranging letters in a word and bam! magic spell.

[–]Puppy_guard 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Anagrams are one of my favorite tools because they let me be incredibly lazy.

[–]marvelfandomonium 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Then is Aevum anagramed Mauve?

[–]Puppy_guard 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Haha, no, that one's randomly generated from fantasynamegenerators.com.

[–]marvelfandomonium 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Guess they use anagrams too. Thanks for the web link though! Might use it when I finally get around to playing D&D.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Much more wholesome than the rest, I like it. I appreciate her reasoning and your choice of name.

[–]Puppy_guard 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Aww, thanks bro! This was a great prompt, I had a lot of fun writing for it. Maybe I'll make a part 2 someday.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I, for one, hope you do. This is the first prompt I’ve gotten more than one story for, and I’m kinda excited about it

[–]AslandusTheLaster 4 points5 points  (5 children)

I sprinted as hard as I could for the next door. It didn't matter where it went, it couldn't be worse than being trapped in this room with a basilisk and two chimeras. I had already passed half a dozen statues of other adventurers who had been killed in this part of the dungeon, and I passed two more before I found an exit. A wooden door, small enough that none of the monsters pursuing me would be able to get through.

I slammed the door behind me, pressing my back against it and panting heavily as I tried to catch my breath. While I had expected to hear thumping and scratching from the other side, no sound came from the opposite side of the door and I felt no impact of them attempting to force their way through.

After a few seconds, I finally turned my head and saw... what appeared to be the main room of a small domicile, complete with a stove, sink, refrigerator, dining table, dresser, and bed. There was also another small wooden door, which creaked open as I took a step inside. Behind it was a young woman wearing what appeared to be a nightgown and slippers.

"O Lo! Doth this knight arrive to save the fair maiden? Come now, let us away from this terrible place and we shall wed on the morrow!" the young woman said, reaching a hand out toward me.

"What? Seriously?" I said. While a princess waiting at the end of an adventure would be cliche, it seemed outright insane under the circumstances.

"Nope," she said, snapping her hand closed with a single finger extended. A single beam of light fired from her finger, directly into my chest.

I didn't even feel anything from the wound for a second or two, but once my senses caught up with what had happened it felt like I'd been shot clean through with a ballista. I collapsed to the floor, the strength fading from my body, the last thing I saw being the young woman blowing on the end of her finger.

I awoke on a bed in a room hewn from stone. As I got my bearings, it quickly became clear that I was in the same room I had passed out in. The young woman was sitting at the dining table, her back to me. As I sat up, the bed creaked.

"Stop," the woman said. My muscles immediately locked in place, and I couldn't move. She stood up, wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin sitting on the table, and turned to me.

"So... Welcome to my dungeon," she said, holding her arms out as if I hadn't already waded through almost thirty floors full of monsters to get here. "And start saying your goodbyes to it, because we're going to be leaving soon. Also, you may move again."

As she gave the command, I immediately had control of my body once more. I asked, "What... What was that?"

"Oh, right, you just woke up. Yeah, well, you wanted to be my white knight, so now I gave you the honor of being my... Wight knight," she said, pointing at me with both hands and flashing a cheesy smile.

I simply stared at her in silence for several seconds.

"Bah, the fact that you came back from the dead doesn't mean you need to have the humor of a corpse," she said. "Well, you ought to start packing, we're hitting the road."

"Sorry, back up, you said this was your dungeon?" I said, while my body pulled a handful of bags from under the bed and began stuffing the bedding into the bag.

"Yep, magic's crazy, ain't it? You don't actually have to pack, by the way, I can use a spacial spell to carry this whole room with me. Sorry, not quite used to the whole 'compulsive loyalty' magic," she said. My body immediately returned to my control, and I haphazardly dropped the bedding back onto the bed.

"Right... So, why?" I asked, rubbing my wrists and walking closer to the woman.

"Needed mana," she said, stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth. As I got closer, I realized that she was actually eating the rations I'd had on my person when I entered the room. Meh, they were getting stale anyway.

"Could you please elaborate more than not at all?" I asked.

"Oh, right," she said, as if it legitimately was the first time she'd considered it. "My sisters are dead, and resurrection's ain't free."

"That's it? I mean, thirty floor seems a little extreme for that kind of task, and you did just revive me for seemingly no reason, so..." I said.

"Actually, thirty clearly isn't enough given that you found me. Also, it's a matter of degree... Hold up, we can do this faster if I show you, co-" she said, cutting herself off before realizing she was about to say something that could be considered a command. Instead, she jerked her head toward the back door, taking the last loaf of bread off the table to munch on as we walked. Just beyond the door, there was a shelf where almost a dozen jars were lined up with different names written onto them.

"Let's see... How about Cassidy? She didn't give me anything for my last birthday, so I'm sure she won't mind being a demonstration," she said, grabbing the jar labeled "Cassie" off the wall, and pouring a small amount of ash out of the jar into her hand, then sprinkling the powder back into the jar.

"Oh..." I said. While witch burning was outlawed nowadays, when they were done they were known for being... thorough.

"The things we do for family, eh? Anyway, there is one thing we've gotta do before we leave," she said, placing Cassidy's jar back on the shelf before walking through another door deeper in the hallway. I followed her, finding the room beyond to be full of magic runes and strange instruments.

"Let's see... Yep, here it is," she said, picking up a gemstone that pulsed with light at a steady pace. "Wouldn't want to leave the dungeon heart in here and have the whole place collapse on our heads when we packed up, would we?"

"So, are we just leaving the dungeon here then?" I asked.

"Well yeah, I don't see any reason we'd want to bring it. Plus, this place is probably a landmark by now, so it would draw eyes if it just vanished," she said.

"Makes sense," I said. "By the way, I didn't catch your name?"

"Candice. If you want to shorten it you'll call me Dice though, only my sisters get to call me Candy," she said.

"Sure. Randall, by the way," I said.

"Bleh, I'm just gonna keep calling you Wight Knight," Candice said. I didn't respond to that, instead walking for the door. She grabbed my shoulder before I left. "Not going to suit up before heading out? I'm not going to waste mana resurrecting you again if you're that careless."

"What?" I said, looking down. It was then that I realized I'd been parading around nearly naked for several minutes. I quickly scrambled around, grabbing the spare set of clothes out of my bag and the pieces of armor that had presumably been removed from my corpse. As I got kitted up, Candice loaded a backpack with stuff from her refrigerator.

We stepped outside the room and Candice snapped her fingers. The door shrunk to the size of a teacup and seemingly hopped into her backpack. Candice tossed the dungeon heart onto the floor where the door had been, and we departed in earnest. As we began walking back toward the staircase out of the dungeon, I heard the sound of footsteps and remembered why I'd fled down here in the first place.

"Shit! Forgot about the chimeras!" I said, pulling out my sword and glancing around. Half a dozen oversized monsters emerged from the darkness, blocking our path. Candice looked unimpressed, and simply zapped them with her finger, leaving half a dozen large monster corpses.

"See if you can carve anything worth keeping off the corpses, chimera hearts go really well with basilisk tongue," she said. I felt my body trying to seize control from me, but I absolutely did not want to be stuck down here without my magic escort. Instead of trying to resist, I tried rolling with it. I slashed the creatures' bellies open and started using the empty canteens and potion bottles I had left from my trip down here to store any organs that were undamaged enough that a butcher may have considered selling them.

As soon as I thought I'd gotten enough, I dashed after Candice, catching up as she reached the stairs.

"It was a long trip down here, are you sure you don't have some way to make it so we don't have to walk all the way back up?" I asked.

"Some way to- Oh right! Now I remember why I bothered reviving you!" she said, before leaping backwards off the stairs. I immediately moved to catch her, even before she shouted, "Catch me!"

My arms shot out, and I ended up with the woman in a bridal carry, made somewhat awkward by the backpack she was wearing.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"'We' won't have to walk out of here. Only you," she said. She leaned in toward my face and whispered, "Carry me."

"Dammit," I said, before my body started walking up the stairs without my consent. I shook off the compulsion enough to regain control of my legs, but Candice immediately pretended to be asleep. I could tell she was faking, she kept raising up a hand to zap anything that got too close, but without her giving a counter-order I was still left carrying her.

As we approached the twentieth floor, we reached the chamber of the Hellhound. Three stories tall and made of muscle, fur, and hatred, it was not a creature I was eager to have another encounter with. The fact that it could crawl back from hell every time it got killed meant that it was only mildly inconvenienced by me beating it before, while I'd spent a lot of magic items and potions on the fight.

At least Candice had stopped pretending to be unconscious a few floors ago.

"Hey Wight knight, you can put me down now," she said. I did so, rubbing out the soreness out of my arms that had built up from hauling a grown woman for several hours straight.

"Finally decided to use your own legs?" I asked.

She ignored me at first, opening to gate to the hellhound's chamber and running inside. The beast charged at her, but began affectionately nuzzling her instead of trying to eat her.

"Nah, but I've finally got my real mount. Now hop on, we've got some dungeoneering to do," she said.

[–]mafiaknight[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Kore wa Zonbi Desu ka? (Was a good show similar to this story)

Good story mate. I hope you’ll continue it.

[–]AslandusTheLaster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I hadn't really planned to continue it, but if I do this'll probably be the best place to find it: https://www.reddit.com/r/AslandusTheLaster/

I rarely stay up to date on my subreddit, but this one will probably have a title involving "Wight Knight" when I get around to it.

[–]Puppy_guard 1 point2 points  (1 child)




Ha! That was a nice twist. Killing (or injuring anyway) the protagonist is always entertaining.

Overall a good story, psyched for part 2 already.

[–]AslandusTheLaster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I also enjoy the trope-loving psychopath part of Candice enough to consider making a part 2

[–]AslandusTheLaster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The massive hellhound tore through the forest for dozens of miles before stopping just out of sight of a town. How it was so adept at navigating the tight quarters of the dungeon and now the trees was a mystery given its enormous size, but we should've been far enough to avoid being associated with the old dungeon any more.

"Not as far as I want us to be, we'll have to take off in the morning to arrive at a decent mana hotspot," Candice said. "We'll just stop in this town for the night before we leave."

"What? I thought you wanted to get there 'as soon as physically possible'?" I said.

"I just said that so you'd quit whining about all those little green things," Candice said.

"You mean the goblins you were feeding to your dog?" I said. "They're sapient creatures and we were right next to a hunting ground!"

"Spot needs more greens in his diet and deer don't jump right into his mouths," Candice said. "Besides, I need to get some reagents before we arrive anyway, so come on!"

"Right..." I said, my body attempting to drag me after her until I did so deliberately.

The guards at the gate appeared to be asking questions of people before they entered town. I hadn't been keeping careful track of where we were going since I was distracted by clinging to Spot for dear life, so I hadn't noticed how close we were to the border of the kingdom.

"Ugh, this is going to be annoying," Candice said, pointing her finger at the guards.

"What? NO! Do you just kill anyone who mildly inconveniences you?" I asked.

"Why not? We probably wont have to come back to this town for years, they won't remember," she said.

"The fact that we can get away with it doesn't make it okay!" I said.

"Fine, spoilsport! But we're gonna have to do something about that face if we actually want to go through unnoticed," she said.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because you're a wight and you look like a shambling corpse? I'm not calling you Wight knight just for the pun, hon," she said.

"But you said you brought me back from the dead!" I said.

"Yeah. Undead isn't technically dead," she said. "Also, undead are way cheaper than full resurrections."

"You know what, just promise to bring me back properly later so we can deal with this before someone sees," I said. She tentatively nodded, pulling out several powders from her bag and rubbing them onto my skin while fussing with me face.

After a minute or two we walked up to the gate.

"Halt! State your business and present your family trade seals before entering," the guard said.

"O my love! This town is dreadful! Why must we stop here on they way to our honeymoon?" Candice asked, making a show of swooning into my arms.

"Uh, it's just for the night... honey," I said. I fumbled into my satchel with one hand, pulling out my seal. It was from the Cooper family, since my father did most of his business with them. "The name's Randall. My, uh, wife is from the outlands, so she'll need to get in with my seal."

"Ah, sure thing. Careful, pal, outlander girls are wily ones," the guard said, winking at me before turning to check with the registry.

After about ten seconds, Candice started wriggling in my arms. "Hm, this is taking too long..." she whispered, holding up a hand and pointing a finger at the guard's back. "Nevermind this, let's speed this up a bit."

"No!" I said quietly, batting her hand aside. She simply brought her hand up again, and I kept batting it aside. After a few seconds of this, I finally grabbed her hand and gave her a silent glare in an attempt to get her to stop.

"Whoa there, you two! You're good to go, but at least wait until you reach the inn before you start undressing each other," he said.

"Right..." I said. I felt like I should have been blushing, but since my blood was presumably not flowing, it probably wasn't showing. I carried Candice through the gate. "Okay, you can get down now."

"Nah," she said.

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"I've been living in a four hundred square foot room, only leaving to do a little hunting for over a year. So let's just say my legs aren't in the best shape these days," she said. "Just carry me until we reach the market, it can't be that far."

After passing through the greater part of the town twice attempting to find the market, we finally found it. Candice immediately leapt out of my arms, dashing to the nearest stall.

"Hm, nope, nope... Hm, this one?" she said, picking through the various stones and gems on display.

"Looking for yourself or for a gift?" the woman at the stand asked.

"Hmm... Ah, here we go!" Candice said, grabbing a rough translucent white stone.

"An excellent choice, dear. Pure diamond, and at a bargain price! A bit rough as it stands, but with some polish-" the woman said.

"Diamond? This is pretty clearly white quartz," Candice said, pulling a knife out of her pack and scratching the stone. "I'll take it anyway though, alongside these glass beads and this pyrite necklace."

"What? Are you calling me a fraud, ma'am? I won't stand for this," the woman said. I quickly waved my hands to attempt to get her to stop talking before Candice just decided to kill her.

"Oh, calm down, this stuff is what I need anyway. Here's your coin," Candice said, pouring a pile of gold coins onto the table. "That should be exact change."

The woman tested the coins with her teeth, and found them to be real. "Um... Okay, pleasure doing business with you?" she said, the surprise noticeable in her voice.

"Excellent! Come, my dear, let's check the rest of the stands before we leave," Candice said, stuffing the fake jewelry into her bag before dragging me off to the next stand.

We finally got into a room at the inn, dropping our bags now loaded with stuff onto the floor.

"Say, where did you get all that gold?" I asked.

"Transmuted some rocks. We'd better get out of town before the week is up, by the by, because that's when the magic will wear off," Candice said.

I just shrugged. It was extremely illegal, but at that point I was just glad we hadn't murdered half the town on our shopping spree.

As we left town, the guards moved to stop us at the gate.

"Ah, you're Randall, yes?" the guard said.

"Yes, is that important?" I asked.

"There was a letter from your family, apparently it was on the way to your last known location but since you happened to be in town..." he said.

"I see. Can- Uh, dear, could you go on ahead? This might take a minute," I said.

"Sure, it'll take a minute to call Spot from you-know-where anyway," Candice said, walking through the gate and away from the town.

"Let me see it," I said, breaking the seal and taking a look at the letter. It was from my mother, urging me to reconsider going into the dungeon and to come home and settle down. Not that it would do any good, since that message would've arrived almost a week after I had entered the dungeon. Snail mail was like that sometimes.

"Any chance I could get a pen and paper?" I asked. The guard gestured into the office by the side of the gate, and I quickly found the supplies and penned a letter assuring my mother that I was fine but wouldn't be returning home for a while due to being roped into some kind of scheme with a woman I'd met. I tried to avoid being too specific to avoid worrying her, since there wasn't much to be done and it wouldn't be that important so long as Candice followed through on her word, however unlikely that may have been.

Candice was prepared to leave as soon as I arrived, and didn't even wait for me to climb on, simply having one of Spot's heads grab me and put me on his back before bolting through the forest.

We arrived at the location Candice thought would be perfect for building a new dungeon. It just happened that there was a village of goblins living on the site.

"Oh good, looks like Spot will get a nice snack before we set up," Candice said, putting her fingers to her mouth in preparation to whistle.

"Wait, don't do that!" I said, reaching out to stop her. She put her fingers down and started snickering.

"Calm down, Wight knight, I'm joking! They'll probably move into the dungeon as soon as I set it up, so they'll be a good starter population," she said, climbing off the dog's back.

Candice pulled out the lump of quartz she'd bought in town, a glow emanating as she poured magic into it.

"Any requests?" she asked. "Best time to make any adjustments."

"How about a river running through? It'll make moving around a lot easier, especially if we're going a hundred floors down..." I suggested.

"A hundred floors? Hot damn, sounds like you've got plans, Wight knight. I was only planning to go for forty, but that sounds even better," she said, rubbing her hands over the crystal before winding up. "Let's do this thing!"

Candice put her whole body into pitching the crystal directly into the ground, which punched directly into the soil.

"Oh right... This usually only takes a few seconds, but it could be hours given how big this thing is going to be..." she said.

"Well, that might give me just enough time to make us a boat," I said.

"Excellent," Candice said. She whistled sharply, which seemed to be Spot's signal to return home. The great beast dove through a rift into the infernal plane in short order.

With that, I pulled out my hatchet and approached one of the nearby trees. Without knowing how exactly how long we had, I set to work.