I Hate Dungeon School

We moved quickly through the city in the early morning light, bellies full and ready to get delving. Despite knowing what was at stake with all of this, our moods were as light as they could be. It was better for our state of mind to consider this just another delve into the dungeons, albeit in an unknown and unmapped one. Though to be fair, that wasn't a first for any of us save Farina and the knights.

We made our way out of the city, making sure to avoid trees and the town guards just in case. Cori led us through the back alleys and into seemingly abandoned shacks that had concealed tunnels that took us past the city walls.

Cori swore us all to secrecy about them, saying they were critical for her and her friends, who needed to move unseen. She also said it was imperative that we didn't ask any questions about the tunnels or the shacks or anything we had seen. They were need to know, and we didn't need to know.

Shockingly, even Farina agreed. I also noticed that she didn't seem overwhelmingly surprised by their existence. I was beginning to have more and more questions about the seemingly sheepish, teleporting secretary.

In any case, I kept a loose mental map of where we went. What dungeoneer or adventurer hasn't needed to skip town in a hurry? I mean, technically I haven't, but the idea is still sound.

We had a bit of a walk ahead of us, as it was too conspicuous to use a carriage or ptarms, but all of us were rather fit folks. Except Farina, but she was doing better than the night we last had to run through the forest.

We made good time, moving through the forest in near silence, communicating as little as we could in case there was some kind of sentry or magical detection, but we encountered neither.

Eventually, we needed to rest. The pace we were keeping was a struggle, even with as strong as we were. We found ourselves a nice clearing with plenty of cover. Cori and Smitty made a quick patrol checking for any threats while Eira, Mariana, and Myth prepared water skins and some rations for us. Farina and the knights stayed out of our way.

I noticed, however, that Noah kept looking at Myth strangely. He always seemed to keep eyes on all of us, a sort of casual paranoia I assumed came with his job as an investigator.

But the looks he gave Myth were strange. Almost sad. As soon as Myth looked his way, the expression disappeared immediately.

"You keep looking at me, knight. I don't appreciate your kind, much less your eyes on me." She nearly spat at him.

He managed to look ashamed. Not embarrassed, actually ashamed.

"Apologies, my lady. It's just that you remind me of someone. A friend I lost a long time ago." He said with a slight bow.

"You'd be amazed at how little I care about the sorrows of a knight. Your kind, Everspring, in particular, took someone very important to me. So excuse me for not giving a damn." I had never heard Myth talk like that before. I knew this was going to be rough on her, but that was a lot.

"Again, my apologies. I know nothing I can say can make up for the sins of my predecessors, but for what it's worth, you have my condolences." He said before standing and walking away from us. No doubt to get some air.

Things felt tense for a long moment, and no one said a word.

Adhara finally broke the silence.

"Listen, wood elf, I get your anger against the Everspring. Neither I nor Noah likes what the Knights are. That's why we're doing what we're doing. The Knights have unforgivable sins they need to answer for, and sometimes that takes one of their own doing it." The cat folk said, her tail lashing in clear irritation.

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"Is that supposed to make me feel better or something?" Myth shot back.

"Like hells it is. It's an explanation. I didn't get any choice in being part of the Knights. My family gifted me with the order. Noah signed up as a kid, fully believing the stories that they stuffed our heads with back in Middenveldt. Then he lost the Knight he was the squire for to the order's betrayals. She was a good woman, and the order's betrayal broke him. And I joined him when torches were raised against the citadel during the riots. Not all knights defended the old ways. Few do these days." Her eyes and ears dropped at what must have been hard memories.

Myth sat in a simmering silence for a long moment before sighing. "I guess a lot more has changed than I thought, but the scars are too deep, and I'm not so easily able to drop it. You both are part of an order that has done nothing but hurt me, even if it wants to change."

Noah walked back into the clearing just as she said those words.

"And that I completely understand. Far more than you could know. My master taught me, 'do not begrudge the bitterness in a person's heart. The scars of the soul heal slower than flesh.' I miss Knight Draevena sometimes. She was wiser and kinder than any other knight I had ever met."

"Draevena? You knew Knight Draevena?" Myth's voice sounded choked.

"I did. I was her squire. I was so enraged at what they had done to her, I set the Knight Justiciars' office on fire myself. I wish I could have burned it twice and pissed on its ashes. We marched through the streets, lower-ranked knights and citizens alike. It was days and days of rage, and I felt like I would never stop. And I haven't, but now I have to use something other than fire to get the rot out." He sat down and looked Myth in her eyes.

Myth said nothing for a long time. I looked around at the rest of us. We all seemed to share the same thought. We wanted to give them some privacy for this conversation, but we also had no idea what was going to happen and wanted to be on hand in case something chaotic happened.

Myth started to cry softly before speaking with a croaking voice. "Thank you."

"Why thank me? I just did what honor demanded. The wicked are supposed to be punished. The most important lesson I learned from Knight Draevena." Noah said, confused.

"Noah, you are either blind or an idiot." Adhara sighed and smacked him upside the head.

"I mean, I'm probably both, truth be told." He rubbed the back of his head.

Myth took a deep steadying breath, wiped her tears, and said confidently.

"I'm Mithramanda Draevena. Sister of Knight Salamandra Draevena."

I half expected some kind of expression of shock, a gasp or something, but Noah didn't react for a long moment. Adhara was emotionless. Even her tail didn't give anything away.

Noah then smiled softly with a gentle nod. "I thought so. I'm glad to finally be able to confirm with my own eyes that you're alive. We barely ever met, as your sister kept me damned busy, but I had a feeling it was you. It's been quite a while."

"Unfortunately, we have no more time for catching up." Farina interrupted. Myth shot her a dirty look at first, but her expression changed to one of resignation.

"Fine. I guess you're right. Don't want to lose the daylight."

We had to hurry before it got any later in the day, so we could get to the bottom of everything going on.

I stood, helping Eira up and dusting myself off.

"Ok, folks! We can save reminiscing and reunions and all that emotional crap for when this job is done, yeah?"

"Oooh, look who's trying to be the big bad leader!" Cori snickered as she double-checked her gear.

"Be nice, friend Cori. Alta, good leader, yes, yes." Smitty said with an admonishing huff.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get going, please." I groaned before heading off into the forest.

We continued moving on through the dense trees in silence. The woods were growing denser, the sunlight lost to the canopy above, and it made all sound muffled around us save for the crunch of foliage beneath us.

I noticed the lack of animal sounds, which set me on edge. It was like nature itself was afraid of something, but try as I might, I couldn't find anything that could be the source of my unease.

I looked to Myth, who knew far more about the natural world than I. She caught my look and seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, as she shook her head and shrugged.

Eira held my hand for a brief moment and squeezed it reassuringly. I felt somewhat calmer, but still concerned.

Soon, though, we found the edge of the treeline and saw the manor at its grounds before us. The blue sky had given way to an overcast grey, and the air had cooled significantly.

We crouched low and surveyed the sight before us. The dilapidated manor had seemed creepy in the nighttime, but this somehow was worse. Like an architectural corpse eaten by the vultures of time and neglect.

I pointed towards the greenhouse.

"That's the target. The weird dungeon mana was coming from there." I whispered.

Everyone nodded.

"This better be worth it, oh fearless leader." Mariana's stark as strong as ever, even when whispered.

"Shut up. You all ready?" I asked. Everyone nodded. I took a deep breath, and we quickly made our way to the greenhouse doors, ready to deal with any threat that we might face.