Chapter 58: Fifty six

“Damn Foxy, you’re on fire.” Pia chortled as we burnt our way through another wave of mummified rats. 

“Literally,” Kip added, glancing down at my boots, which I’d coated in flames to ward off the vermin. 

I let out an annoyed sigh in response to the pair's lame joke, as I stood in the hallway holding my wisp, whom I’d decided to name Pyr. While some might think using the Ancient Greek word for fire as a name for a fire wisp was cliche or silly, I felt the name fit the little wisp. 

The Byzantine empire’s incendiary weapon, known as Greek Fire, was said to be one of the most destructive forces of that age. Historical writings spoke of the Greek Fire as a sticky substance that stuck to, and burned everything it came into contact with, just as Pyr did. It also could not be doused with water, and Darius had told me that trying to douse the fire that consumed the tents with water only caused it to grow larger. 

There were too many similarities between my wisp, and the famed Greek Fire for me to ignore. I didn’t think that I’d somehow recreated the real Greek Fire, considering I’d used elements not found on earth, but perhaps I’d stumbled across something similar. 

As we continued through the dungeon, I couldn’t help feeling impatient and a little annoyed as time drew on. I wanted, no, needed to return to my lab so I could begin working on the ideas floating around in my mind. During our time in the dungeon, I’d harvested three different fungi, and gathered more of the scarab carapaces.

 Our encounter with a scarab swarm, which had been controlled by a scantly clad priestess in the boss room of the second level, was something I’d expected to be a little more dangerous. Especially considering Pia claimed the scarabs would burrow under a person's skin and eat them from the inside out. A blast of fire had easily dealt with the beetles, and Victoria crushed the priestess, sandwiching the woman between her shields. 

We’d been making our way through the third level for what felt like hours, and still we’d found no sign of a boss room or way down to the next level. Continuing down the hall, we reached an intersection, and I waited impatiently as Kip checked his notes. 

“If I’ve got our location correct, then we’ve gone straight and to the right off this intersection, but haven’t gone left yet.” The Dwarf informed us, marking something in the book. 

“Left it is then.” Victoria said, and Kip nodded, putting away his notebook. 

The dwarf moved slowly down the hallway, crouching down to check for traps and on occasion, using a line of glowing pink liquid to mark sections of the floor he wanted us to avoid treading on. I’d suggested using the luminescent liquid after seeing the dwarf marking the ground with chalk, which wasn’t always fully visible in the dark and dusty maze. 

Walking behind Victoria, I tossed Pyr from hand to hand while mulling over different ideas for not only the fire orbs, but other products. Such as making luminescent cosmetics for Jezebel, and other women who enjoyed that sort of thing. There was also the possibility of making glass jewelry, and so much more. 

So many ideas, I wish I could split myself in two or even three so I could work on multiple things at once. The sound of fighting pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see Victoria bashing a golden feline headed statue into rubble. 

I wonder how the statues work? Is it an enchantment or some other form of magic? I mused as I stepped over the shattered remains of the statue and continued down the hall.   

As we reached another intersection, I sent a ball of fire down each and we scanned the paths for danger before Victoria declared we would take the left path. We walked for several minutes, before coming to a dead end, and after backtracking we found that the right path also led to a dead end. Once Kip finished disabling the trip wire stretched across the last path, we proceeded into the hallway. As Rainy entered behind me bringing up the rear, a stone wall slammed down into place behind us. 

Large spikes protruded from the wall, and I stared at it with an ominous feeling curling through my stomach. I half expected the spiked wall to move forwards, rushing towards us and impaling our bodies against the wall ahead of us. 

We’d left this hallway for last, as we’d been able to clearly see the wall blocking the path from the intersection. Though, after a thorough examination showed there was no secret way to get past the other two blocked paths, we decided to check this final path before backtracking further through the maze. 

“I thought you disabled the trap.” Rainy snapped, giving Kip an unhappy look as she moved further away from the wall. 

“I disabled the trip wire, that was the only trap I could find.” The dwarf said, holding his hands up defensively. 

“Hey, come look at this.” Pia called, bringing our attention to where she stood in front of the wall further down the path. 

“I have a bed but I do not sleep.

 I have a mouth but I don't eat. 

 You hear me whisper, but I never talk. 

 You can see me run, yet I never walk.  

What am I?” The Faun recited, and moving closer I saw the words carved into the wall. 

I have a bed, but I do not sleep. I have a mouth, but I don't eat. You hear me whisper, but I never talk.  You can see me run, yet I never walk. Tilting my head, I stared at the riddle as I rolled Pyr back and forth between my palms. 

I have a bed, but I do not sleep. 

“Great, a damned riddle.” Victoria grumbled, crossing her arms over her prominent chest. 

“What do you think happens if we get the answer wrong?” Rainy asked, glancing back at the spiked wall. 

“My guess is that thing will begin moving forwards, giving us only a short amount of time to answer the riddle.” Kip said, and as the last word passed his lips a grinding noise sounded in the hall as the wall moved towards us. 

“Kip!” Rainy and Pia yelled, clearly blaming the Dwarf for the spiked wall’s sudden activation. 

“I didn’t do anything.” He shouted back at the girls. 

Spinning around, Victoria sent her shields flying towards the wall, where they slammed up against it with a loud clang as she tried to force it back. 

A bed, but does not sleep? Runs, and never walks? A River! 

“River,” I yelled, staring at the wall expectantly. 

In response to my shout, the spiked wall stopped moving, and the one in front of us crumbled into dust. 

“Woo-hoo, Foxy for the win.” Pia whooped, skipping past the pile of dust that had been a wall. 

Giving me a thumbs up, Kip ran past me to catch up to the Faun before she set off another trap. As I watched them start to argue further down the hall, a hand settled on my head. 

“Good job Foxy.” Victoria said, patting my head twice before moving to join the arguing Dwarf and Faun, whose own heads she smacked so hard they were almost knocked off their feet.  

“Thanks Kadia,” Rainy said, stepping up to my side as we made our way down the hall to catch up to the others. 

“I would’ve been pissed if those spikes caused holes in my clothing, I just made this outfit.” The Dryad murmured, smoothing her hands over the tight fitting pink dress she wore in place of armor. 

According to the Dryad, the material of her dress was made from a plant whose fibers had the durability of leather while being as thin as cotton. If not for the scarcity of the plant, then I was certain everyone would be making clothing out of material made from the fibers. Currently, Rainy was the only seamstress on the continent who made clothing using fibers from the Elver bush. Though, it apparently took weeks for even a single garment to be completed with the time it took to prepare the fibers into cloth. 

The sound of rushing water cut off any response I may have given, as did the cries of our team ahead of us. Wide eyed, I stared in shock at the literal wall of water that rushed through the hall, carrying Pia, Kip and Victoria with it. I didn’t have time to think, or react, as the fast flowing water reached me and I too was swept off my feet. 

My body tumbled and rolled about, while I struggled against the current for a few brief moments before sharp spikes pierced me as my body was slammed against the spiked wall. A heavy body crashed into mine, and I let out a choked gurgling scream as the spikes impaling me were pushed deeper. The pain grew as the water continued to pummel us, and I struggled to breathe as I felt myself weakening. As darkness crept across my vision, a feeling of relief swept over me at the knowledge the pain would soon end.

***

When I woke, it was in an unfamiliar tent. Sitting up, I looked around, searching for my team or anything that would tell me where I’d revived. The soft sound of shuffling papers, and a light shining from behind a canvas wall let me know I wasn’t alone in the tent. Standing, I walked around the canvas divider to see Darius sitting at a desk reading over a stack of papers. 

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That's right, Darius, Markion and I, are all bound to the same revival token. Darius must have placed the token in his tent to set the revival point.

“How far did you make it?” The guild leader asked, laying down the pen he was using to make notes.

“The riddle with the spiked wall on the third level.” I told Darius as I moved to sit in the chair opposite his desk, and began doing a quick inventory of my things to make sure I'd not lost anything. 

 I lost my wagasa again. I thought with a sigh, remembering I’d had the weapon strapped to my back. 

“I’m surprised you weren’t able to solve the riddle, it’s simple enough.” 

“I solved the riddle,” I grumbled as I checked to see if Pyr was still with me. “It was the torrent of water that came after it, that was the issue. I got impaled on the spikes, and then pushed onto them even further when someone crashed into me.” 

“Ouch.” Darius gave a sympathetic wince before raising a brow at the sight of the orange blob clinging to my tail. 

“Pick up a new pet did you?” 

“No, this is my wisp.” I told him, scooping up Pyr and holding it out so the Ōkami could see the wisp more clearly. 

“I’m tempted to think fire wisp, but the shape is closer to a water wisp.” He mused. 

“I’m not sure what he is myself,” I admitted, explaining how Pyr came to be and what I’d discovered so far about his nature. 

“An alchemical fire wisp,” Darius said with a chuckle. “Only you Kadia, only you.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It means I’m interested to see what other wisps you end up with.” The guild leader said with a smile as he stood, gesturing for me to follow him. 

“Let's go see if your teammates have also revived. They’ll be worried if they don’t find you at the revival altar.” 

“They haven’t revived yet, I can feel through the team ring that they’re all dead.” I said with a sigh, rubbing the ring I wore on my left hand. 

“Ah, well, if they weren’t impaled, then they probably drowned trying to find the exit.” 

“And how do we find the exit?” 

“By getting around the corner before the water pours in or being strong enough to swim against the current.” The guild leader said, mussing a hand over my hair. 

“What is with people and touching my head?” I exclaimed in annoyance, shoving his hand away. 

“It’s the ears,” Darius said with a chuckle. “They make you look deceptively adorable.” 

Following the guild leader out of the tent, he led me out of the guilds encampment and through the settlement which was lit up by torches as night had long since fallen. According to Darius, a few priests hired by the Whispers guild had built a revival altar in the settlement to save people from needing to travel back from Hathus.

“Why here and not closer to the dungeon?” 

“Safety,” Darius said, and I frowned in confusion.

“If they allowed people to set their revival point to an altar within their encampment at the dungeon, what’s stopping a group of raiders binding to it in the guise of being dungeon divers and then killing themselves so they revive inside the encampment during an attack?” 

“Wouldn’t the same be true for a city if someone wanted to attack?” I asked, and he nodded. 

“That is why the public altars are inside the temples, which can be locked down. The other way to prevent it would be to destroy the altar or control who binds there.” 

“What if a guild with a hall in the city secretly allowed fighters to bind to their guild altar, then used it to sneak forces inside the city.” 

“There aren’t any restrictions on guild owned altars,” Darius commented, not fully answering my question. 

“We’re going to need to fix that if we plan on building our own city. If priests can create altars anywhere, then,” I sighed, voice trailing off. 

“Creating an altar requires permission from the land owner, and we will be strict on who creates altars on our land.” The guild leader explained. 

Still, they could build one near the city or another strategic location. I mused, as we reached a section of the settlement where banners showing the Whispers guild crest were displayed.

The Whispers guild crest was a white skull with its jaws slightly open, biting down on a gold coin. I could only assume the crest was meant to convey that the guild only opened their mouths for coin, which from what I knew of the guild was true. As we entered the roped off area, I could feel eyes on us as we moved closer to a pavilion with an altar made of sandstone in the center. 

“Guild master Darius,” a robe figure called out, coming over and bowing low in front of us. “I was about to send a messenger to request an audience.” 

“Is that so?” Darius asked, inclining his head. “I came to collect some of my guild who will be reviving.” 

“If you will permit, I will assign someone to wait for your guild members.” 

“No need,” Darius said, gesturing to me. “She can wait here for them while we speak.” 

“Guild master Darius, the matter we must discuss pertains to the red-haired Kitsune by the name of Kadia.” 

“And what matter is that?” I asked, interest peaked. 

Did the Whispers guild have something to report regarding my books or the Dreadmere guild?

“A bounty request was recently given to our guild to pass to our allies, the Silver Arrows.” The black-robed man said, bowing his head. 

“A bounty? On who?” 

“You, obviously.” Darius groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m surprised it’s taken this long.” 

That's a bit harsh isn’t it? 

I haven’t really done anything that might merit a bounty being placed on me, have I?

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