“Badger,” Ferrisdae whispered, leaning towards me. “Are you sure about this?”

  I pursed my lips and gave the question the consideration it was due. All I had were my gut feelings and divine guidance to go by, and I did another check to see if it was the DTER messing with me. It had already come on stronger than we anticipated in the last dungeon, enough that it even managed to sway me for a moment, but I was much more wary of it now.

  Elder Thrash continued to stare at me, and I regarded him again once I was sure my feelings weren’t being tampered with. Despite his form, I could see how tired he was. The look in his eye was one of someone who was going through the motions, devoid of hope. It was one I had seen many times before.

  I spun my finger in the air, performing one of the handsigns I had drilled into everyone, and the two Elves nodded. Their eyes changed color as they started looking around. It only took them a few moments before they shook their heads, almost in tandem, to indicate that no one was spying on us.

  That felt strange, especially with the statue of CC looming over us, but there was a lot going on all over the continent. Despite Elder Thrash speaking of the Dungeonborn’s omniscience, there was no way she could know about everything happening at the same time. We never would have made it this far if she could.

  Whether it was the right call or not, I decided to go through with it. The worst case scenario was that CC, Ulrich, or some other minion showed up, and we’d face them sooner rather than later.

  “We were sent by a Dungeonborn called the Dungeon Master,” I began.

  “That coward,” Elder Thrash immediately growled, showing his teeth again.

  I arched an eyebrow. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to know who that was considering how long it’s been.”

  The gorilla huffed and averted his gaze. I had the distinct impression that he was trying to figure out what to say, and I gave him that time. While Allspeech did have a duration, it wouldn’t be reached for a while yet.

  To my team’s credit, no one broke the silence, not even Cojisto. They followed my lead and I appreciated that from them.

  It took a couple of minutes before Elder Thrash spoke again. “CC has done much to wipe the Dungeon Master from history,” he said, voice tired. “Most people these days don’t know of his name, nor that of the construct he stole when he fled with the other Gnomes.”

  “You mean—” I was about to bring up Himia, who had called herself an Information Elemental, but another question immediately pushed past that one. “Wait, other Gnomes?”

  Elder Thrash’s eyes went to the door as if worried that someone was going to come in. He resettled on the chair, which creaked under his weight. “I have been alive for a very, very long time, Badger,” he admitted. “I was here when the Dungeon Master and the Maker’s construct rounded up the rest of my people and began the exodus to Feltaro.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that, though I did remember that name from my first discussion with the Dungeon Master. What we called the Central Continent, our home, was Feltaro to the ancient Gnomes. Likewise, the Southern Continent was Delphara. The Dungeon Master had tried to push those names on us, but the bureaucracy involved went too slowly for them to catch on in just a few months, if they would at all.

  “We were not so lucky,” he continued, sighing heavily. “Tuskrep was so far from where the boats were launching from that we couldn’t have made it in time. Some tried, of course, but I don’t know if they made it or not.” The gorilla hung his head for a moment before shaking it. “I don’t know what happened to them, but I can guess.”

  “Nothing good,” I said slowly.

  He nodded before scowling. “It didn’t take long after that for CC to throw a tantrum. She had always been erratic, but something snapped in her a few years before the Dungeon Master decided that leaving was the best option. Honestly, I still don’t have all the details. We were, and are, rather isolated.”

  “Are there more villages?” I asked, ignoring the urge to pull out my map.

  “I haven’t heard anything from the others in over fifty years, so I’m not sure if they still exist or not,” Elder Thrash admitted solemnly. “It’s not as though we are ever truly safe here. If things don’t happen according to CC’s whims, then…”

  The gorilla trailed off, and I understood enough. “How about you tell us what happened here? That may shed some light on a few things.”

  I watched as he steeled himself. “We weren’t always in this form. Before CC’s tantrum, we were Gnomes. This had been our home for a hundred years by that time, built around the Nexus in the center of Tuskrep,” he said, gesturing in that direction. That sounded important, but this time I waited to speak. “Every village and town that remained received some measure of her wrath. We were all transformed into animals, such as what you see me as now. Elder Pluck’s family is the only one other than my own that has managed to survive this long.”

  “On account of being sacrificed?” I asked.

  Elder Thrash lowered his head again. “Some, yes. Another family rebelled, and she took away their thoughts. They mindlessly swim through the water in the swamp south of us. You must have seen them.”

  “Yes, the alligators,” I said, frowning. “How does she have the power to do that?”

  “We call her a goddess for a reason,” he snorted, as if it were a stupid question. “I don’t have any answers for you there. She’s the daughter of the Maker, who could do truly amazing things with magic. We held him in high regard before his passing, and many of us speculated that was what had caused her to go mad.”

  “From what we understand, she seems to think that he went to another world,” I replied.

  “That would make sense,” Elder Thrash said.

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  “Yeah?”

  He nodded. “The Maker wasn’t from this world originally, according to the stories. He appeared here one day, a ball of wrath and shattered glass in Human form. It took him many, many years to calm down and learn to live peacefully with us.” The gorilla looked ready to say more, but set his jaw. “We can get to that later. I asked that you tell me more, and I think it’s time for that.”

  A part of me sorely wanted to hear more about Keith Carr. We had theories that he had been some kind of world hopper, but I wasn’t able to bring it up with the Dungeon Master before he dropped some cryptic warnings and had to leave. I swallowed the burning questions down and nodded. Fair was fair.

  “We’re infiltrating the Sou— Delphara with the Dungeon Master’s blessing,” I said, correcting the name to one Elder Thrash would recognize. “Our goal is to take away CC’s dungeons, either by assimilating them myself or destroying them.”

  “Ah, I see,” the gorilla replied, leaning back in his chair. “You hope to deprive her of her power, little by little, and force her into a corner. And where is the Dungeon Master in all this?”

  “He had been forced to sleep in a dungeonless zone almost immediately after his ship came ashore all those centuries ago,” I answered truthfully. “It was only due to a chance encounter that he was woken up earlier this year. When he became powerful enough, he sensed CC making her way to Feltaro and started working to stymie her efforts. Ferrisdae—” I gestured towards my junior, “—and I were the ones who made contact with him.”

  “That doesn’t tell me where he is, so I’m going to assume that he isn’t with you,” Elder Thrash guessed.

  “No, but he did send me, and I can hurt Dungeonborns.”

  His eyes widened. “You can kill CC?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

  “When the circumstances are right, yes,” I admitted.

  This is the part I was most worried about, and my eyes never left Elder Thrash. I gauged his body language carefully. His eyes bulged from surprise, and if he wasn’t already leaning back then I would have been worried that he’d collapse. Between Cheroske’s warmth and Knowledge Check activating, I was fairly certain his reaction was an honest one.

  Suddenly, Elder Thrash rocked forward and placed his hands on the table with speed none of us were expecting. His palms slapped against the wood with a loud clap, and the gorilla almost seemed young.

  “What do you need from me?” he asked, speaking so rapidly that it seemed like he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “Please, I will pay any price to get out from under that wretch’s thumb. Allow me to help you before I lose the last of Tuskrep to CC in this slow, agonizing spiral of sacrifice. Badger, just tell me what you need, and I will do what I can.”

  The divine energy was welling up inside of me, and I sat up a little straighter. Elder Thrash’s words made for a heartfelt plea for his community that struck a chord with my paladin’s oath. It wasn’t something that I was forced to pursue, but to turn away from the ex-Gnome would be a disservice to Cheroske.

  Not that I was planning on ignoring his request; I knew what I was getting into when I became a paladin once more. Plus, what was going on here was truly unconscionable.

  “You are the dungeon owner, correct?” I asked, wanting to make sure.

  Elder Thrash nodded. “Yes, I am the boss,” he confirmed.

  “The first step would be to transfer ownership to me.”

  He recoiled at that, slowly sitting back down in his chair. His hand massaged his lower back, as if he had pulled a muscle in his haste. “I’m afraid it’s not quite as simple as that.”

  I held back my frown. “I know that you’ve been enjoying the fruits of a dungeon’s immortality, Elder Thrash, but it must be done. Now, I have the knowledge to facilitate such a transfer and—”

  “I don’t need immortality,” he snorted, shaking his head. “If I could just give you the reins to the dungeon, then I would and wash my hands clean of it. In a heartbeat. Unfortunately, they’re tied to me by something stronger than simple magic.” Now, I let the frown appear on my face and he held up his hands. “I’m not doubting your knowledge or power, Badger, but there’s more at play here than just a dungeon. We’re at the heart of the Nexus, and through it I am the boss of this area.”

  Crossing my arms, I glanced towards the door. “You mentioned the Nexus, but I’m not sure what it is.”

  “Neither do we, but I know that it’s something to do with the Maker,” Elder Thrash said. “This is an old memory from back when CC was still taking over Delphara, but she came here to the Nexus, talking about how it was one of the Maker’s homes.”

  “In the pit,” I stated.

  “Yes, in the pit in the center of town,” he replied with a nod. “That is why Tuskrep was founded, in order to be closer to one of the Maker’s residences in the hopes of being granted some of his magic. It wasn’t long before he disappeared, however.”

  “Fascinating. And the Nexus?” I urged.

  “Like I said, the memory is old, but I’m fairly certain that there’s something there that holds on to all of the dungeons in the area,” Elder Thrash continued, though he was slowing now that the adrenaline from my declaration was wearing off. “CC mentioned something about a… collection of strings that she had gathered.”

  That immediately sounded familiar. “Do you remember what she called them?”

  “I think she said they were connection… something,” he answered, trailing off. “When I asked her to elaborate, she brushed me off. Most of what I had learned was from her muttering to herself. She sounded half-mad, not that she ever got better.”

  CC hadn’t really been able to keep her mouth shut even when we were talking in the interrogation all those months ago. Back then, I didn’t think much of it other than she was annoying and seemingly hyperactive, but it seemed as though she might just be incapable of silence. It was coming slowly, but I thought I was starting to see a better picture of who the Dungeonborn really was.

  “Connection points,” I stated.

  “Yes, I think that was it,” the gorilla replied. “Connection points sound correct.”

  “And what makes you think that your dungeon is tied up in this Nexus?” I asked, shifting in the chair so I could jump down whenever I wanted. “We destroyed the one attached to Queen Moss Keto, and there didn’t seem to be any problem there.”

  Elder Thrash showed his teeth, but it didn’t look like a smile. “Because I’ve tried transferring it myself,” he admitted quietly. “I have tried severing it, I have tried trading it, I have tried giving it away. Nothing works, and every time I attempt something new I feel the huge bundle of those connection points going through me, leading to the Nexus in the center of Tuskrep. I told you, Badger, that I have been alive for a very long time.”

  He groaned, an almost snarling noise. “Longer than I have ever wanted to be alive, and forced into it to boot. I had no say in becoming the boss of this dungeon, or to watch my family and friends and their families decline enough to become what we are now. Is it any wonder that I did what I could to learn from the Maker and attempt to get myself out of this hell I’m in?”

  “No, I’d say being proactive is the best option,” I said slowly, a thought coming to my head. “Clearly, you have some knowledge of dungeon magic. Do you think you’ll survive the process?”

  “I hope that I do not, Badger,” Elder Thrash replied honestly before standing up. “Now, come. I will show you to the Nexus. If you can handle what is inside, then I look forward to you seizing all that it can give you.”

  I arched an eyebrow as the gorilla started heading outside and stood up to follow. Everyone else did the same. “Handle what’s inside?” I repeated.

  “It is one of the cores of the Maker’s power, Feltaran,” he rumbled lowly. “I hope you did not think it would be unprotected.”