Dungeon of Doors

~ Andy, Daywark ~

The green gem bearing staff feels heavy in my hands. I hold it carefully, worried something bad might happen if I were to drop it. Will is keeping a wary eye on the others in the room. Teddy is rapping his fingers along the surface of the table, deep in thought. We've yet to figure out how to use the staff properly. Each of us has a different experience when we hold it. The same actions give different results.

"Maybe we should just sell it?" I offer.

"What? No!"

Teddy's protest grabs the attention of some of the other adventurers gathered in the basement. He clears his throat, trying to shrug off the curious gazes of those around us. I set my hand over the glowing green gem in hopes of making the item less conspicuous.

"We can't sell it. This thing is literally magical, not just a glowing rock or fancy medicine."

"I get that, but we can't figure out how to get it to work?"

"Maybe we just need practice! Let's take some time to try before we sell it off."

Teddy doesn't notice that someone is approaching him from behind. Will's posture changes, his jaw tightening as he sees a hooded figure walking toward us. We must have been discussing things too loudly. The glowing green gem on the end of the staff doesn't help, either. Teddy keeps talking as he is unaware.

"I bet that if we just spend some time with the staff we can figure out how to use it!"

The cloaked figure is now just a pace or so behind Teddy. Will stands up with a look of aggression on his face, his chair falling to the ground behind him as he squares off with the hooded figure. Teddy turns around to see there's someone right behind him.

I watch nervously as the hooded figure reaches up and pulls aside her hood. She's a woman, but she wears a wooden mask. The mask lacks any features, save for eye-holes. Her voice and what little of her face can be seen make it clear she's around our age.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhearing you were having some trouble?"

Will is still glaring down at the girl. She's short, the same height as Teddy. Teddy and I give Will a placating gesture with our hands in order to get him to take his seat. He does so, but it is clear he doesn't trust this girl one bit. I don't blame him—she is wearing a mask.

"We… We found something in the dungeon that's hard to use."

"Are you sure you want to share this with a stranger?" I ask Teddy.

"It should be fine. She's just one girl, it isn't like she's going to beat us all up and take it."

I exchange a glance with Will, who is wearing a cold frown. Teddy reaches out and I hand him the staff. He shows it to the girl with a slight grin on his face. The glowing green gem and smooth wooden staff make for a striking piece of equipment. The girl's eyes—visible through her mask's eye-holes—widen at the sight of the magical staff.

"We retrieved this from a temple in the Wildwood. A monster was using it to do strange things."

She reaches out a shaky hand, awe shining in her eyes from behind the mask. Teddy carefully offers her the staff. She takes hold of it with the gentleness of a mother holding an infant. It is clear she thinks it might break if she were to mishandle it.

"By God's grace!" The girl gasps.

We watch as she looks around with wide eyes. Her gaze lingers on each of us, moving between us before staring out at the others in the room with a dazed look in her eyes. She finally settles her focus on the staff gripped in her hands. She runs a finger along the wood before Teddy finally decides to ask her what has her looking so confused.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes. I didn't expect it to allow me to see something so wonderful!"

"You can see it too?" Will asks suddenly.

Despite how Will treated her with hostility earlier she doesn't shy away. She nods emphatically, the barely visible parts of her face moving as if she is smiling beneath the mask.

"Yes! You've seen it as well? The energy in everything?"

"I struggled to understand it, but yes."

She lifts the staff up to the light, inspecting both the green gem atop it and the handle itself. What she sees I don't know, but Will has some idea. She looks to Will and the rest of us with a questioning tilt of her head. It is clear she has something to ask.

"What is it?" I ask for her.

"You mentioned you couldn't use this… If seeing the lights isn't its purpose, then what is?"

I hold out a hand expectantly. She is reluctant to hand over the staff, but she does, giving me the item carefully. I hold it in both hands before willing the staff itself to change shape. It does, a spike of wood protruding from it haphazardly. The masked girl gasps.

"The staff lets you do things like this. Problem is that none of us can quite control it properly."

She brings a hand to her chin as she stares at the gem capped weapon. I hand it to her after trying and failing to see whatever lights or energy she and Will can see. It just doesn't show anything to me.

"Let me try using it to-"

The masked girl narrows her eyes in concentration before the staff's handle suddenly changes to a spiraling shape. The spike I made appear upon its surface is gone, smoothed back into the wood. She grips the stylish looking staff with smiling eyes.

"This is incredible! I simply must have it!"

"Afraid we're not looking to sell it. It's too precious to give away."

Teddy's words are firm. The girl doesn't do anything rash, nor does she give up and leave. She grips the staff so tightly her knuckles turn white. She looks up at Teddy and then back down at the staff.

"W-Well, perhaps I could assist you?"

"Assist us?" I question.

"Yes! Since I can use the staff, and you can't, I could be a boon on your adventures!"

This is really suspicious. She wants the staff so bad that she's willing to offer to join our party. The problem is that she could turn on us at any moment in order to cut and run with the staff. If we allow her to join us we will gain a lot of power, but with a lot of risk.

"Deal!" Teddy agrees.

"What? Teddy-"

I'm flabbergasted by how willing he is to hand it over to her in exchange for her accompanying us. How can he be so confident she is even worth working with? We've hardly seen her do anything! Will shares my sentiment, as he gently places a hand on Teddy's shoulder.

"Teddy. We should test her first."

"You mean like her loyalty?"

"That and her ability. She hasn't shown us all she can do," I chime in.

It doesn't take too much convincing to get Teddy to agree with us. It helps that the masked girl is willing to demonstrate more of her abilities, and show us just how far she can go with the staff. The others in the cellar made makeshift guild hall follow us with their eyes as we depart.

The town is quiet. We're on the opposite side of town from the market, so there's little risk of running into the enclave's little watchdog they left behind. We move quickly regardless. Soon we're out of town and in the forests near the walls.

"Okay, let's start with what you can do without that staff."

Teddy takes a surprisingly good lead now that we've come to the decision to test her. She nods before handing the staff off to Will, who holds it close to his broad chest. The masked girl then produces a few items from her pouch she has at her waist.

"I can do a few things, mostly related to healing and mending clothing. I can stich holes in fabric and I know a lot about the human body. Oh! I can sing really well too!"

"Um… I'm not sure how useful singing is, but the other skills are handy," Teddy replies.

"Do you know how to fight at all?" I add.

She hesitates before shaking her head. The way she carries herself isn't like us, as though she hasn't seen the tribulations of battle. The blood, the death, and the loss of those you consider allies or friends. We move on without commenting on her lack of experience. Teddy gestures to Will, and the big guy hands off the staff to her.

"Okay… Since you don't know how to fight normally, maybe you can use the staff."

"Sure! I'd love to."

"Can you start by showing us what you can do with the staff now that we're outside?"

"Don't hold back!" I encourage her.

"Okay, here I go!"

The grips the staff with both hands before pointing it forward. Her stance is awkward and lacks any sort of training or experience, but all of that doesn't matter. My eyes widen in shock as the grass in front of her turns a silver color and shoots up like a set of teeth. The grass changes like this in a large cone in front of her. When the invisible energy she's moving hits the trees they grow higher, their branches turning sharp and new ones sprouting out so fast it makes the air whistle. The trees almost resemble highbark once they finish expanding. The masked girl is panting, holding the staff shakily.

"H-How was that?" She asks.

I swallow some of my own saliva as I look up at the nearest of the spiky trees. The girl doesn't wait for our reply before waving the staff softly, making the grass return to normal—though it is far greener and thicker now. Her magic continues to work its way up the trees, making their branches shrink and the trunk shorten slowly. I watch a branch fall from a tree with a crash. This girl is scarily powerful.

"You're on the team! Welcome to the party!"

"Really? Hooray!"

Will shakes his head as if getting rid of his surprise. He then leans past Teddy and mentions something we've completely forgotten in all of this excitement. Names.

"I'm Will."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Mary."

She shakes his hand, the size difference between them apparently not bothering either of them. Teddy puffs up his chest as he introduces himself.

"I'm Teddy, our leader!"

There's another handshake. I finally introduce myself, looking down at her with a mixture of fear and respect. I really hope she doesn't turn on us. That'd make for one hell of a fight.

"Andy. Nice to meet you, Mary."

"Likewise!"