Chapter 38.
Now I didn’t want to build a stupid dungeon. And the fact that Candy wasn’t naggling me seemed… worrisome.
“Let's just go back,” I tried to smile as we packed up the empty basket. “I’ve derailed today enough.”
“Nonsense,” Galine shook her head. “Let's go. We still have time, and I want to help. I have to admit I am rather curious about the whole thing, but curiosity aside, I think it would be good for you to practice your skills.”
“I don’t know,” I sighed. “It was Candy’s idea. I’m perfectly content never leaving the city.” I felt like a weak excuse coming out. Galine easily saw through it.
“I’ll let you ride me,” Galine offered, putting a seductive lilt in her voice.
“What?!” I spluttered, cheeks heating.
She chuckled. “On my back,” she clarified. “Come on, I know you want to.”
Fuck.
How was I going to turn that down? She was an honest-to-god centaur, a literal mythical creature, how could I possibly refuse?
“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. “But I’ve never ridden a uh… You’ll have to walk me through riding you,” I deadpanned, which made Galine start laughing.
We finished packing up; it wasn’t hard. We had pretty much eaten everything except for some leftover cheese and wine. Galine picked up the basket and stood, stretching her limbs one by one by one by one.
What were the logistics of six wings? How did that work? Dragons were the same, weren’t they?
If Galine was to be believed, fey shananagans. But not that it really mattered. This world was magic magic. That was the explanation. Apparently, humans first and then everyone else as offshoots somehow. Even with magic, I was eager for answers. Hopefully, the academy would provide some.
“Are you just going to stare, or shall we get going?” Galine asked, teasing.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, hurrying over. I was immediately stumped. I had never been particularly athletic, even with two hands, this would have been a challenge. “I’m not sure I can—“
Galine simply lay down on the grass, lowering herself down.
“Oh…” I chuckled, embarrassed. Right… that made sense. It wasn’t as if she was saddled. I awkwardly swung a leg over and testily lowered myself to sit.
“Closer,” she instructed, craning her neck to look back at me. I shimmied forward slightly. “More,” she shook her head. “Our backs are aligned… a bit different than you might expect. You need to be right behind so you can wrap your arms around me. That way you also won’t be jostled as much.”
“Oh,” I muttered again, sliding even closer until I pressed against her back. I wrapped an arm around her waist and clung to her shirt.
“Good,” she nodded with a hint of nervousness. “I’m going to stand up slowly, focus on balancing.”
I nodded into her shoulder and held on harder. True to her word, she stood up slowly. I still panicked briefly, squeezing around her barrel with my legs, which just made it harder to balance. But after a moment, I relaxed, using my legs to balance as she took a few slow steps.
“How's that?” she asked, glancing back again.
“Uh, good,” I nodded, distracted by the rocking movement as I tried to adjust. It wasn’t like anything I had ever done before. Riding an actual horse wouldn’t be like this either, but this was still different. I literally had nothing to compare it to. I was definitely swaying around more than I wanted. I tried to relax into her gait. With absolutely no riding experience, I was pretty sure I did a shit job.
I was worried I’d be too heavy, but she seemed to carry me without problem. Plus, missing an arm, I was definitely lighter. Not to mention how high Galine’s stats were compared to mine. Alright, fine, maybe doing the dungeon thing was a good idea after all. Even if Candy sucked big time.
Riding Galine was… kinda fun. We continued down the path for a little longer before she finally paused. “I think it was this way,” she hummed, pointing into the brush.
“I trust you,” I nodded.
I couldn’t see her expression, but she rested her free hand over my arm. I smiled stupidly into her back, glad she couldn’t see my face.
Stomping through the brush was much less painful an experience when I could effectively cower behind Galine while she carried me through all the branches and leaves. Granted, the semi-hazardous ground slowed us down quite a lot. I didn’t blame Galine; hooves couldn’t be good for navigating the chaotic forest floor.
Still, no one got injured. So I’d happily take our time in return for a lack of injuries. After a little bit of tromping, we reached a short cliff face. I definitely couldn’t climb it, and Galine absolutely couldn’t. But we didn’t need it. Instead, we followed the naturally occurring wall.
“This is the way,” Galine told me. “I remember that funny-looking rock,” she explained, pointing to a chunk of stone that had broken away from the small cliff.
“And we’re looking for a cave?” I ask to clarify. “How do we know there’s not… something in it? There are always monsters in caves,” I mumbled.
Galine stopped walking. “You wanted to go in? I thought you just wanted to hide something.”
“Yeah,” I laughed, though now that I was thinking about going into a cave, it suddenly didn’t seem so appealing. “We need to hide it in the cave where it won’t be found.” I grimaced.
“All you said was set up a dungeon, and admittedly, you weren’t exactly clear on what that entails,” Galine huffed.
I was caught off guard by the bite in her tone. “Sorry, I… I don’t really know. I’ve never used the skill before.”
Galine sighed and started walking again. “I just… I’m no good with small spaces.”
Right. Oh fuck, I had forgotten about that. I internally kicked myself.
“We don’t have to go in,” I reassured. “I just need a good crevice or something… I assume. I’m not sure,” I grimaced.
“It’s alright, let’s just go… We’ll take a look,” Galine sighed, clearly still uneasy.
“Don’t worry. I really don’t want to go into a random cave,” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I once watched those spelunking videos on YouTube and didn’t sleep for a week.”
“What’s YouTube?” Galine asked.
I blew out a breath and got to work trying to explain how the internet worked. More Earth weirdness seemed to perk Galine up a bit. It was still a decent walk along the wall, and we almost ended up kissing the entrance overgrown by vegetation. Nothing big had gone through there in a very long time.
Still, it looked real ominous…
Technically, even if all the vegetation were removed, I would fit. But only if I wedged in sideways and… fuck no. I wasn’t clusterphobic; it was pure rationality. Absolutely fuck not.
I slipped off of Galine’s back and tugged at the plants, trying to open up some space. The whole thing was plenty hidden. I just needed to tuck a dungeon core somewhere. I grabbed a stick and began trying to clear a spot. It was slow, ineffective work. Mostly the branch just got tangled in vines. I needed something sharp, and ideally another hand.
Actually, I needed to procure the dungeon core. Shit, this was more complicated than I had anticipated. I had just assumed it would be some neat empty room when she had mentioned a cave. But literally never in my life had I seen a cave like that. I had just been thinking of games and stuff.
“Watch out!” Candy screeched in my head. Before I could react, I was dragged backwards by my robe and out of the way of the giant insectoid thing that lunged from the crevice.
There was a splattering of goo as I found myself pressed to Galine’s side, the thing squashed under a hoof.
“Eww,” I muttered, clinging to Galine pathetically. “What was that?”
“Not sure,” Galine hummed. “I didn’t really take the time to look,” she snorted.
“Below, in the grass!” Candy called out again.
I yelped as another massive centipede skittered from the cave. Then another, and another. All thick as my arm, giant pincers angrily reaching towards us. Dark carapaces glistened in the sun as more and more emerged, charging towards us with horrifying speed.
“Oh fuck,” I muttered before Galine dragged me off my feet.