Chapter 167: Reciliation

  I was eyeirying to figure out how to tell her I o put her ba my space, when Raelia finally asked, “Do you want my legacy bde back? You know, to ensure I do not stab you in the back?” Her tone was versational, and I was unsure if she was joking or serious, but I detected no mali her words.

  “What?” It took me a sed to remember she called her runic dagger a legacy bde. “No, you keep it. What is a legacy bde?”

  She drew it and fihe script. “My family surname is Gvien. When my aors lived in Esenhem, our family art of the military css. Everyone in the family participated as either a soldier or an administrator in one of the corps. When the Esenhem sul signed a peace treaty with the Telhians, most of the Gviens migrated to the Bartiradian Empire to tinue fighting the Telhian Empire. My grandfather passionately believed the Telhian Empire o be stopped.”

  She eyed me acgly in my red legion armor. My legion armor was in a sorry state, and I looked more like a vagabohan a legionnaire. I had no response and doubted that agreeing with her would ge her opinion of me. She sheathed her dagger. “It is tradition for us to carry legacy bdes into battle so that if we fall, our bodies be identified.”

  “That does not make any sense. If there’s only one bde, what about your siblings? Do you have any? Do they have legacy bdes, too?” I asked, showing geerest.

  Raelia let a small smile escape. “Yes. I have an older and younger brother who are still living. My older brother is General Gvien. My younger brother has not yet chosen his path. The legacy bdes go to the eldest on both the matriarchal and patriarchal sides. My mave me this legacy bde, which she carried with her into battle. has one given to him by our father. My you brother will carry a newly fed bde with our father’s name when he begins his service. The parent’s name is always on the bde, so they know who to return it to.”

  I remembered the General had been searg frantically for Raelia in Macha. He had dismissed ilitary sense in his quest to find his sister, but the blitz had worked in his favor. I shifted on my sto as Maveith ripped a long fart in his sleep, taking it as a sign to go and sit o Raelia to escape the cloud.

  She did not tense as I sat o her. I was not sure if I should ask the question, as it reminded her of the past, but I did. “How did you bee a griffin rider?”

  She tehe tendon on her neck showing for a moment as she ched her teeth before rexing. I thought I had made a mistake, but she rexed. “I am small among my people. At first, I wao be a ranger and a scout for the army. As I was training to be a Ranger, I saw the griffin riders in a and became enamored with the idea of taking to the skies.”

  “What is flying like?” Maveith’s deep voice cut into our versation. I had not even realized he was awake, and maybe his ftulence was iional to get me to move closer to Raelia.

  Raelia genuinely smiled for the first time since I had known her. Her teeth were stained from the berries, but that did not detract from her youthful beauty. Her stern face rexed, and two small dimples appeared on her cheeks. “It is freedom, power, aasy all rolled into one.” Maveith sat up, clearly ied iopic.

  He asked eagerly, “How did you tame yriffin? Was it hard?”

  Raelia ughed, realizing his iions. “Maveith, I was allowed to bee a rider because of my size. You are te to mount a griffin. It would never get off the ground.”

  “Maveith, don’t listen to her. If you want to ride a griffin, I will help you find one big enough for you.” Raelia looked at me skeptically, and I could not hold back my ughter at the joke. She soon joined in, realizing I had not been serious.

  “If there were a griffin rge enough for you, I would be petrified of it,” Raelia said as the ughter died down. “Maveith, we raise the griffins from the egg. It is important to feed them and spend hours with them as they grow to maturity over the course of a year. It is another year after that before they take a rider. You build loyalty with each other, and they bee your best friend…” she trailed off, struggling to get the words out.

  “I’m sorry about yriffin. Mooncw, was it?” I thought I sounded ciliatory, but Raelia ched her fist, her forearms flexing.

  Tears pooled in her blue-green eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “It was my fault. I flew too low over the city. I put us in range of yes.” I did not say anything, and Maveith remained quiet.

  We let her cry for a bit before she spoke again. “I realized I did it again when we fought the dire boars. I did not follow orders, and it risked getting Maveith killed.” After a long pause, she added, “And you, too.” She hid a small smirk at withholding my first. I was beginning to uand that Raelia did not just have a youthful appearance—she, in fact, truly was youthful. She was brash and reckless of mind as well.

  It felt like the right time to break the upsetting news. “Raelia, we’re headed back to the first floor. There are legionnaires up there who ot see you with us.” She tensed, her hand reflexively c the handle of her runic dagger, but she rexed slowly.

  “Wheime es, you should be holding both of your ons.” Both Raelia and Maveith looked at me questioningly. I expined, “If I am killed, everything in my dimensional space will materialize. Whatever—or whoever—killed me will probably not be friendly.” Saying it out loud was s. A heavy silence fell over us.

  “Is there anything I should be aware of in such a sario? Will I be buried under purple potatoes? Or will ten other women appear with me as well?” Raelia said jokingly.

  “Give me a minute. Sometimes I fet what’s in there myself,” I said, pretending to focus straight ahead. “Let me see—one mostly dead ogre, a horse, and just two other elf maidens, not ten. But you probably do not know them, as I made their acquaintance before I met you.”

  Maveith’s eyes bugged a little, and Raelia’s jaw fell open, uo speak. Did they really think I was telling the truth? Maveith seemed the most perplexed. “Do you have Ginger in there?” Raelia’s eyes shot to Maveith and then to me, thinking Ginger erson. Maveith thankfully expined, “Ginger is Eryk’s horse, not an elf maiden.”

  Although it was funny, I stopped the specution, sounding exasperated. “No, I was joking. I do not have an ogre, a horse, or a harem elves. I have camping equipment, all the food we’ve harvested, some ons, and a few things I picked up here and there.” I sighed as they now both looked skeptical. “Let’s head up the stairs. Raelia, stay behind us until I firm no one from the pany is in the earth drake chamber.”

  We climbed the stairs, and Maveith walked straight in when he saw the dead drake. “You already killed it?” he said excitedly. He walked around it, iing it aing the scaled hide. I motioned Raelia forward, as there were no legionnaires here.

  Raelia was also impressed. “That is the rgest earth drake I have ever seen.” She did not want to get too close and instead kicked the stone shards from the destroyed reward chest. She robably w what had been in it, given the amount of stone.

  Maveith stood, grumbling to himself. I think he was about to educate me on what I should have dohe scales are useful for making shields. Cws ah be made into useful tools, as they are much harder than normal bohe flesh is too dense and would need a long cooking time to break dowissue. I say we harvest the teeth and cws to sell.”

  “It’s been just over half a day since I killed it, so I will give you an hour,” I informed Maveith.

  “Where is the other exit?” Raelia asked, looking up from the stone shards. “You said there were two exits?” I poi the green slime wall. She walked to it, perplexed. Maveith had his runiife out, so I joined Raelia. She reached out and touched the slime with her fihen s.

  “Is that safe?” I asked, standio her.

  She looked at me. “It is green slime mold. Goblins use it as a food source because it grows quickly. If it were dangerous, my finger would have burned. It is the only thing ihe drake could have eaten.” I did not tell her that was also my clusion. I would let her think she was smarter than me.

  She had not found the hidden door yet, as it was teht. I drew my bck bde and walked to the smoother part of the wall. I cut the slime like a curtain to reveal the dark passage beyond. I made to hand her a retrieved glowstone.

  She dismissed it with a wave. “I do not hat. I see just fine in dim light.” She made to step into the corridor, and I grabbed her shoulder.

  “Wait till Maveith finishes pying with the drake.” Raelia nodded but watched, fasated, as the green slime once again hid the entrance.

  “That is different. The slime mold grows so quickly and not just on a surface.” She took her own runic dagger to cut away the slime again and watched it reform over the passage entry.

  I walked to Maveith, who had cut away the drake’s lips to get easy access to the gums as he sought to pry the fangs out. Even with the runiife, he was struggling. “I think I get the fangs in the allotted hour, Eryk. If you want the cws, you’ll o help.”

  “It’s all you, Maveith.” I thought about scouting the harpy room, but I might get spotted if the others were in there or watg it.

  Maveith got twelve ten-inch-long fangs from the drake’s mouth. He was grinning as he stuffed them into his bag. He was a mess of blood from his work but was happy about his harvest. “If I find a master crafter, these will make exceptional cooking tools.” I just nodded in affirmation.

  Raelia was already cutting away the slime, eager to explore the dark passage. I handed Maveith one of my flowstones, aered. The slime slowly formed its curtain behind us, making this path feel more ominous than others. It was the first part of any dungeon I had ehat cked a light source. However, there was that magical dark room he shapeshifter room.

  We walked about fifty feet before Raelia spoke. “This could be a new dungeon room that the dungeon has not finished yet. Dungeons feed off the ley lines and grow like the roots of a pnt over hundreds of years.”

  Maveith questioned her assumption. “Wouldn’t that mean it grows downward?”

  “Not always.” She clicked her tongue. “I am not knowledgeable about dungeons, but they grow in all dires around the ley lihey feed off of.” She stopped walking, and we all stopped with her. “I hear running water,” Raelia said.

  We proceeded to walk, and the walls seemed different somehow. I could not pce it as we walked farther. The corridor opeo a rocky baly overlooking a massive chasm. Water cascaded on the far side, but lowstones were not strong enough to show us the other side. Maveith was the first to realize it. “We are not in the dungeon any longer.” There was no doubt or surprise from me or Raelia, as we felt it, too. It was like we were no longer being watched and soaking in the dense dungeoher.

  “Where are we?” I asked, feeli waves rising from the deep chasm, and I was starting to sweat.

  Maveith said with awe in his voice, “The Endless Dark.”

  ? Chted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

  No Permission is given to transte, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this inal work of fi. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad., or Scribblehub., it has been stolen without my permission and viotes DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by cht w. Removal or altering of this notification is an aowledgment you are aware you are in viotion of DMCA.