Dungeon Champions

Still laughing, I wiped tears from my eyes and grabbed a remaining chicken leg off the center of the table. “How are we dividing up rooms? I would rather not make anyone uncomfortable, but I—”

Zuri shook her head. “We discussed it earlier, while you and Skullie were out. Everyone thinks you deserve a room for yourself. Not just to assuage old fears, but because you are our leader…and we’re used to sharing space.” She frowned, and I assumed she was thinking about what was growing between us.

Frankly, I was as well.

She continued, “Our barracks at the Sisterhood were a lot smaller than that room, with a lot more people. We’ll be fine.”

The others nodded, although they had morose looks on their faces. “Would it be helpful for me to keep both the familiars with me? I figure Skullie is a shoo-in, but Sadie could stay with me if Nym wants.”

I must have said magic words.

Sadie sprung to life, launching herself off Nym’s shoulder from what seemed like a nap. She came down in the middle of the table with her front paws, scattering a serving fork and some salad that had still been in the bowl. Nym shrieked in surprise, Merielle gasped, and Britney howled with laughter. The bowl went flying one way, the serving fork the other, the salad a third…and Sadie came down on my shoulder.

She licked her paw, grooming behind her ear as if the resulting chaos was 100% her intent, before headbutting me in the cheek. Sadie purred loudly.

“You are not sleeping in his room!” Nym said, leaping to her feet. She pointed across the table at Sadie. “I expressly forbid it!”

Sadie mrowed long and low, almost like she was issuing a threat.

“Don’t take that tone with me! We will talk about this later.”

Since I was the current keeper of the familiar, and also happened to be carrying a chicken leg, I peeled off a bit of roast chicken and offered it to her. “Does Sadie need to eat? I know she’s a familiar but—”

The feline snatched the chicken out of my hand, nearly taking my fingers with it. She chewed twice and swallowed, so I grabbed another, smaller piece, so that she wouldn’t hurt herself swallowing it nearly whole.

“She doesn’t need to eat,” Nym said, pouting. “Sadie loves chicken, and you’re just buttering her up, and she’s going to fight me to sleep in your room, and it isn’t fair.”

“Would it hurt in some way? She’s just a familiar.”

Nym perked up. “Right…but, uh, she’s going to be smug about it.”

“If it isn’t going to hurt your magic, and she can’t do harm to me, I don’t see why I couldn’t just give you four a little extra room. But if it’s really going to cause a problem, I won’t.”

Sadie butted her head against my face again, and in response, I fed her more. She swallowed this one almost whole again as well, and instead of sticking around, she gingerly got down off my shoulder and walked back over to Nym. Her tail flicked side-to-side lazily.

Nym scooped up Sadie, cuddling the cat close. “No, it’s okay. You’re right, it won’t hurt anything. And maybe...” She glanced at the others. “Maybe it would be nice to have a little extra space tonight.”

I nodded, understanding the unspoken sentiment. After their ordeal in the dungeon and then today’s events, some time to process things individually might be good for them all.

“It’s settled. Sadie and Skullie can bunk with me tonight. We’ll meet down here for breakfast in the morning before heading to see Merchant Giles.”

As the others peeled away to go to their room, Zuri touched my arm gently. “Jordan, could I have a word with you in private?”

I nodded, curious. “Of course.”

We stepped down the hall, to a spot our voices wouldn’t carry.

Zuri’s gaze was intense. “I just wanted to say…thank you,” she said in a low voice. “For…everything today. I know we’re still getting to know each other, but I feel like I can trust you.” She looked toward where the others had vanished. “They do too. It might not show yet, but…”

I shook my head. “Everyone’s been through a lot. We all need our time to come to terms with change. Maybe this quest will be a good distraction.”

“Oh, it’ll be a distraction, all right.” She laughed. “I do not envy you when it comes time to reveal the need to board.”

I grimaced and scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that one, thanks.”

Zuri touched my arm lightly, leaning in to gently press her soft lips to mine. It left me smiling.

On impulse, I asked, “Do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow?”

Zuri looked at me, blinking. “A date? What’s that?”

It took me a second to realize that I’d used a term from my old memories. “Sorry, I meant…would you like to spend some time together, just the two of us? Maybe take a walk around town or have a private meal?”

Zuri’s eyes lit up with understanding and a hint of excitement. “Oh! Yes, I’d love that. It sounds wonderful.” She paused, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. “Should we tell the others?”

I considered this for a moment. “How about this—we can have our private time in the evening, after we meet with Merchant Giles and handle any preparations. That way, everyone has a chance to do their own thing or rest before we leave on the quest. Besides, didn’t you discuss the whole ‘harem’ thing with them already?”

“Well.” She looked down, framing her words. “It was my idea, and I broached it with Merielle. She’s on board. I haven’t yet made any sort of formal introduction of the idea with Nym, not until we get more settled.”

I finished for her, “And we both know what’s going on with Britney.”

“More or less.”

“I almost cut her from the team today,” I said, pitching my voice even lower. “If she hadn’t stepped up at the end, if she’d cost Merielle’s life…”

She reached out, squeezing my arm. “I wouldn’t have blamed you. None of us would have. But it didn’t happen. Don’t borrow trouble. I’ll figure out how to communicate appropriately to the team. And we’ll have our…date, okay? It’ll be perfect.”

“Thank you,” I said, meaning it. “Well, we should probably get some rest. Big day tomorrow.”

We kissed one more time, then headed up to our respective rooms. As I entered mine, I found Sadie already making herself comfortable. I let Skullie join her.

“We need enough downtime to put you in this body. You said it would take a while right?”

“Yes. A big body like that will take a couple days.”

I sighed, not ready to leave him on his own for that long. “I’m sorry, Skullie. It’s going to have to be pack duty a bit longer.”

My familiar clicked his jaw at me, but said nothing. There was a vague sense of anticipation from him through our bond. He really wanted that minoant body.

I washed my face in the provided basin and used the facilities before crawling into bed. Sadie immediately came up and curled in a ball between my legs, and I could feel her purring up a storm.

Settling back against the pillows, I extinguished the magical lights…and just lie there. My mind refused to find sleep right away. The mayor’s words about unusual occurrences in the dungeons and bay nagged at me. What exactly are we getting ourselves into?

“Jordan?” Skullie’s voice came from the darkness, with the same trepidation as a middle schooler at their first slumber party. “I’ve been…thinking about what the mayor said.”

I propped myself up on one elbow. “What about it?”

“Well, it reminds me of something I overheard back in my dungeon. Some of the monsters were talking about a ’great upheaval’ coming. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now…”

I frowned, even though he couldn’t see me in the darkness. “You think it could be related?”

“I’m not sure,” Skullie admitted. “But it seems like too much of a coincidence. Whatever’s going on, I have a feeling it’s bigger than just Boulibar Bay.”

I nodded slowly, processing this information. That tracked. There was a lot going on in this world, from what I could tell. “We’ll have to keep our eyes open. Thanks for telling me.”

“Are you going to form a harem with your party?”

Perhaps it was all in my head, but I swore I could hear the accusation in his voice.

“Unsure,” I said, lying back against the bed. Sadie shifted, getting up and stretching before settling back down in a ball. “Zuri thinks it would be a good idea. She says everyone would be on board, but I don’t know if I believe it, though.”

Skullie’s jaw rattled in the dark. “Believe me, they would. The catgirl nearly lost it at the idea of her familiar sleeping in your room. And I’m assuming you were so distracted by the cat’s antics that you didn’t notice the way the celestial and the elf were looking at you.”

I chuckled softly, trying not to disturb Sadie. “I guess I did miss that. But a harem is a big commitment. That is, if it means what I think it means.”

“It probably does.” Skullie sighed. “A lot of people assume it’s about sex. Which, honestly, most of them are. But the rest are about the bonding. The trust between people. And love, too.”

Resisting the urge to grin, I said, “Next, you’re going to tell me it’s like having a family and invite me to race sports cars.”

“Ah.” Jaws clacked in the dark. “The first part, yes. The second, what?”

“Don’t worry about it. Why are you, a lich of all things, worried about me forming a harem?”

“Power, Jordan. From my perspective, the stronger you are, the stronger I am. And the more likely the team is to survive, the better my chances to evolve. In my view, a close-knit harem is far stronger than a mere group of wayward friends.”

I mulled over Skullie’s words as I drifted off to sleep. His dispassion reminded me of stories of ancient Sparta on Earth, where warriors who formed close relationships with one another fought harder. It also brought me back to the Sisterhood, and the idea that they might have been artificially creating all-female harems for more than just sacrificing to dungeons.

One way or the other, I decided the lich had a point, but I wanted to be careful. These women had already been through so much. The last thing I wanted was to enter into relationships with people who weren’t ready.

***

My dreams were filled with swirling images—stormy seas, mysterious figures in the shadows, and my companions looking to me for guidance. I tried to hold on to them as I woke up, so I could sort through the thoughts and try to analyze them, but they were gone before I could even register the morning sun on my face.

I was awake early, feeling surprisingly refreshed despite our impending quest. Sadie was still curled up between my legs, purring in her sleep. Skullie appeared to be in some kind of meditative state on the nightstand. I hadn’t remembered putting him there, so hopefully he hadn’t hurt himself.

I got dressed quietly and headed downstairs to the common room. To my surprise, Zuri was already there, ordering what looked like a hearty breakfast. Her hair was freshly tucked into a silk wrap, hiding the magical snakes from unsuspecting folks.

“Good morning,” I said, approaching her table. “You’re up early.”

Zuri turned and gave me a warm smile. “Good morning. I wanted to make sure we all had a good meal before we met with the merchant.”

The others came to join us on their own, even Britney. She looked grumpy and put out, but less so than Nym. “Where is she?” the catgirl said, looking around the common room.

“Sadie? Still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her.”

“You let her sleep on the bed?” Nym’s voice cracked, and her eyes were wide and wild.

“Should I not have? I didn’t know she wasn’t allowed up on furniture…”

She didn’t answer me. Instead, the catgirl turned and ran up the steps, yowling in a way I assumed would mean something to the feline sleeping in my room.

“I hope I don't need to worry about that,” I said, and Zuri chuckled.

“Jealousy has many forms…I wouldn’t be concerned.”

That gave me pause.

“You think she’s jealous? Of who, Sadie?”

The half-gorgon just smiled at me, bringing to mind my conversation with Skullie the night before.

A few minutes later, Nym came downstairs with Sadie hanging from her arms. It was very clear that something had transpired between them, but Nym did not want to elaborate, and after Zuri’s comment, I decided to just let it go.

We ate a hearty but plain meal of some sort of porridge and firm, sticky fruit. There was also a drink that smelled like chocolate, but now that we’d had coffee in the Fae Lodgings, I was spoiled for a proper morning drink. I tried the local brew, only to frown down at my cup. It wasn’t quite right - tasting more like watered down hot chocolate than anything else.

After everyone ate, we headed out to the Lower District.

The walk down was nice. The slope of the path wasn’t a straight-shot down to the water; each road or path curved slightly or opened up into a bit of a square before continuing down. Some areas were just sloped, others had stairs, and—as we got closer to the docs—some of the areas were a mixture of both.

I expected the value of property to go down as we got into the Lower District, but if anything it seemed to go up. There were a lot more businesses in this area, with longer buildings that seemed to serve specific purposes. But everything was clean and well maintained, and even the simplest building had a certain cleanliness to it that my memories from Earth and my borrowed memories told me weren’t quite right.

As we neared the docks, the salty sea air grew stronger. The streets became more crowded with sailors, merchants, and dockworkers going about their morning business. Colorful signs and awnings advertised various shops and services catering to seafarers and traders.

We even passed a place with a big tent that had an aroma of coffee coming from it. Smelling the enticing aroma, I paused, only to have Zuri gently squeeze my elbow.

“That is what crisp smells like,” she told me, indicating the sign above a shop. “It’s a crisp den. We’ll want to avoid that.”

I didn’t need to be told twice.

We continued our journey, passing locals who seemed largely unaffected by the battle from the day prior. There was, however, no sign of the adventuring groups we’d spotted before.

Did they die? I wondered, searching my inherited memories. It didn’t take long for me to realize that adventurers, with or without Tablets, were largely viewed as traveling military. Of course they died regularly. It was their job, and what gave them access to relatively lavish lifestyles.

“There it is,” Merielle said, pointing to a large purple octopus painted on a sign. “Giles’s Curios and Sundries.”

The shop was a two-story building with large display windows showcasing an eclectic array of items—from nautical instruments to exotic trinkets. As we approached, I noticed Nym’s ears flattening against her head and her tail twitching nervously.

“It’s okay,” I said softly to her. “We’re just here to talk for now. No boats.”

I left off the ‘yet.’

She nodded, but still looked uneasy as we entered the shop. A small bell chimed as we walked in.

The interior was even more cluttered than the windows suggested. Shelves and display cases were packed with curiosities from what seemed like every corner of the world and then some. The air smelled of incense and old parchment.

“Welcome to Giles’s Curios!” a booming voice called out. From behind a counter emerged a portly man with a bushy, almost neon-red beard and bright yellow eyes. He wore a colorful vest over a white shirt, and a jaunty cap sat atop his head. Two little nubs of goat horns peaked out from under the front. “I’m Giles Traven, proprietor and merchant. What can I do for you?”

I stepped forward. “I’m Jordan Cash, and this is my team. Mayor Regan sent us to speak with you about escorting your next shipment to Lans.”

Giles’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Ah, so you’re the adventurers the mayor mentioned! Well, well, come in, come in. Let’s talk business.” He ushered us to a small sitting area near the back of the shop, clearing some trinkets off the chairs so we could all sit.

“Now then,” Giles said, settling into his chair. “I suppose the mayor filled you in on the basics? We’ve been having some…issues with our shipments lately.”

I nodded. “He mentioned there have been problems both on land and at sea. Can you give us more details about what exactly has been happening?”

Giles stroked his beard thoughtfully. “It started about two months ago. At first, it was just small things—a crate gone missing here, some unexplained damage there. But it’s gotten worse. We’ve had entire shipments vanish without a trace. And the sea routes…” He shuddered. “Three ships have gone missing in the last month alone.”

“Have you noticed any patterns?” Merielle asked. “Specific areas where these incidents occur more frequently?”

“That’s the strange part,” Giles replied. “It seems to be random. But…” He leaned in, lowering his voice. “There is one thing that’s been consistent. Every ship or caravan that’s had trouble reported seeing strange lights just before the incidents occurred.”

That was new. I didn’t remember anything about strange lights from the attack yesterday. Leaning forward, I asked, “Can you describe them?”

Giles nodded, his expression grave. “Those who’ve seen them say they’re like wisps of blue-green light, dancing on the water or floating through the air. Some say they heard whispers or singing accompanying the lights.”

I exchanged glances with my companions. This was sounding less like simple banditry and more like something magical or supernatural.

“Have you reported this to the authorities?” Zuri asked.

Giles sighed. “Of course. But they haven’t been able to find anything concrete. And to be honest, I think they’re a bit skeptical. Sailors are known for their tall tales, after all. Then there’s the whole affair with the Goblin King and the brewing war with the trolls. There’s simply no bandwidth to help, especially not now.”

“War with the trolls?” I asked, looking over at my companions to see if they had any idea of that. None did.

Waving the question away, Giles said, “Ignore that. Background noise, and a hundred miles away. Queen Esmer is neutral, even if she is tied up because of it.”

“Okay. Back to the topic at hand. You believe what your sailors are reporting, don’t you?”

“I do,” Giles confirmed. “I’ve known some of these men for years. They’re not the type to make up stories like this.”

Leveraging every bit of insight I had about the world, I pondered a moment. “All right. So what exactly do you need from us?”

Giles stood abruptly, moving about the interior of the shop as if he suddenly had an excess of energy to burn. “I have a shipment that needs to go to Lans. It’s valuable cargo—rare artifacts and magical items. I need you to escort it and ensure it arrives safely. But more than that, I need you to investigate. Find out what’s causing these issues. Captain Drake will meet with you here at around midday tomorrow? The ship will leave before nightfall. Drake is hoping heading out at dusk changes things up enough to avoid some of the issues.”

I nodded, taking in the information. “We can do that. What can you tell us about the route and what we might expect along the way?”

Giles pulled out a map from a nearby drawer and spread it on the table. “The journey to Lans typically takes about two days by sea. We’ll be taking the northern route, hugging the coastline.” He traced a line along the map with his finger. “There are a few small islands along the way where ships sometimes stop to resupply or wait out bad weather.”

“By sea?” Nym said suddenly, but Zuri shushed her.

I turned my attention back to Giles as he pointed to a particular stretch of water just outside of town. “This area here is where we’ve had the most incidents. It’s a bit of a treacherous passage even in the best of times—lots of hidden reefs and strong currents. But lately, it’s been downright dangerous.”

I studied the map carefully, committing the route to memory. That part was practically effortless now that my mental attributes were so high. “And the cargo? You mentioned it was valuable. Should we be worried about pirates or other threats?”

Giles stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Thieves are always a concern in these waters, but they haven’t been our main problem lately. Still, it’s wise to be prepared. As for the cargo itself…” He lowered his voice. “Let’s just say it’s best if you don’t know too many details. The less you know, the safer you’ll be. All lawful in most kingdoms. But better to leave it lying.”

That was concerning, but I decided not to push it for now. “Fair enough. Is there anything else we should know before we meet with Captain Drake tomorrow?”

“Just one more thing. Captain Drake can be a bit…gruff. Don’t take it personally. He’s one of the best sailors I know, but he’s…not exactly a people person.”

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll keep that in mind.”

As we exited the shop, I could see the tension in Nym’s posture. Her tail was practically bristling.

“By sea?” she hissed as soon as we were out of earshot. “You didn’t mention we’d be going by sea!”

I sighed, realizing I should have been more upfront about this possibility. “I’m sorry, Nym. I should have mentioned this likelihood earlier. But yes, we’ll be traveling by ship to Lans.”

Nym’s ears flattened against her head. “I can’t… I can’t go on a ship. I just can’t.”

Sadie yowled in agreement.

Zuri placed a comforting hand on Nym’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. We’ll all be there with you.”

I nodded in agreement. “Zuri’s right. We’re a team. Leaving you behind isn’t an option, but you’ll be fine with us. I promise.”

“Will you hold me?”

I was a bit taken aback by Nym’s question. “Hold you? On the ship, you mean?”

Nym nodded, her large eyes pleading. “If… If I get scared. Will you hold me? I don’t want to be scared, but I can’t swim.”

A wave of protectiveness washed over me, like the opposite of the killing chill that gave me so much focus in combat. “Of course I will, Nym. Anytime you need it. We’re all here for you.”

Zuri squeezed Nym’s shoulder reassuringly. “And I’ll make sure to prepare some soothing teas and snacks for the journey. It might help with seasickness too.”

Britney, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for some time, tilted her head towards Nym. “I… I might know some things that could help calm your nerves. If you’d like. They’re dumb breathing exercises my father taught me, but they do really help.”

“I’d appreciate that, thanks.” Nym then stopped and looked around at all of us, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Thank you. All of you. I… I’ll try to be brave.”

Merielle grinned and ruffled Nym’s hair playfully. “That’s the spirit! And hey, maybe you’ll even enjoy it once we’re out there.”

I nodded, glad to see everyone rallying around Nym. “Now, we’ve got some preparations to make. Let’s get what we need for the trip, we’ll do some combat training, and then everyone has the afternoon off to do whatever they like.”

Zuri grinned and I snorted with laughter.