THIRTY-TWO: DUNGEON HEART

  [Regenerate] did not soothe the pain of bones sliding into place or inflamed flesh relaxing, skin knitting back together, or any of the numerous small injuries that he had incurred healed themselves over several minutes. It was a heavy drain on his mana, stronger than any of his skills, but not as demanding as when he combined multiple at the same time.

  Cassius was distantly aware of Vira and Valeria as they climbed over the fence and landed next to him. His own muted screams from behind his clenched teeth was the only thing that he could hear as the bone in his arm snapped back into place with an audible click.

  “That was not pleasant,” Cassius said through gritted teeth as he forced himself back to his feet.

  “Better than having a broken arm. Here, Titus still had a full waterskin,” Vira said, cutting further into Cassius’ anger. The water was cool and slaked his thirst as he drank his fill, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

  “I have my skills and we must assume I have the experience needed to reach the next tier. Where do we go now?” Cassius asked.

  “The dungeon heart. It will be easy to find, they are meant to be found. The treasure room will be the challenge.” Cassius froze as he heard the word treasure, Valeria turning her head and meeting his gaze.

  “Treasure room?” Valeria asked.

  “It is by the heart chamber and guarded by what would be the most powerful creature in the dungeon. We will all have to push through to the next tier to best it, but if this dungeon has been unconquered for so long, it is likely the treasure room is overflowing.”

  “That does not explain what the treasure room is,” Valeria said, eyes narrowed as she looked at the noblewoman. The average desires of a legionnaire could be wrapped around three desires. Sustenance. Shelter. Silver. Cassius could feel his own greed roil in his gut about the thoughts of a treasure room, but that was nothing in comparison to a hardened veteran like Valeria.

  “It could be anything from dungeon crafted items that have powerful effects, like our water barrel above us. It could be powerful potions that could heal mortal wounds, or mana enriched foods that strengthen body or mind. We will not know until we reach it,” Vira finished.

  Cassius could feel the frustration that poured off of Valeria at having the possibility before her, but lacking the knowledge of what it was. Cassius could not muster as much avarice as he was, not when he had just found a skill that would allow him to heal from injuries. Not yet anyways, in a few hours when it had settled, he was sure the hunger would come roaring back.

  “Then let us be on our way. Where is the heart chamber?” Valeria said.

  “The edge of the road would be my guess. Heart chambers are off to the side, hidden, but not something that is hard to find. When you have conquered enough dungeons you develop a sense for it.”

  Cassius grunted as he stretched out his healed arm. There were no cramps or pangs of pain in it, the injury erased as if it had never happened. Vira’s words held wisdom to them, something his own skill had looked at when he had went out to distract the undead.

  “We will have to enter the street again,” Cassius reminded them.

  “It is a good thing your skill pierces the fog then, is it not. How far are we to where the road ends?” Vira asked. She had reclaimed her command of them, disarmed their anger, and pushed them forward all with a few words. Cassius could not help but admire it, redirecting their attention away from her trespass. It was not how Antonius had led their line, but it was skilled regardless.

  “The road curves not far from the edge of the gate, but I can not see through that fog,” Cassius said.

  “That sounds perfect. When we enter the chamber, stay close to me. The heart chamber itself should be unguarded, but if you stray into the treasure room, you will die.” Vira’s orders were hardly finished before she was marching back toward the far side of the estate lawn, where the gate bordered the road.

  “I had no part in her plot to retrieve her cousin,” Valeria said as they walked side by side toward the gate. Cassius could see Vira well enough, confidently striding forward toward the gate without hesitancy. That she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her hadn’t weakened her confidence.

  “It is fine. All worked out in the end,” Cassius said, lifting his healed arm and wiggling it in front of her.

  “Foolish. I do not trust the strata. She desired me to stay with Leto, but her cousin is wrong. There is something foul about him. Be ready for whatever it is,” Valeria warned.

  “I agree, but if we can give him a skill shard, I have no doubt that he will heal just fine,” Cassius said. He didn’t love the nobleman, but he was another skilled blade and could temper his tongue unlike the departed Titus.

  “Legion sticks together,” Valeria said. Cassius looked over his shoulder at her and saw the hints of worry on the woman’s face.

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  “I would not stand against you for anyone’s sake sister,” Cassius reassured her. Valeria didn’t look convinced, but nodded her head as she rolled her shoulders as if to shake off the thoughts.

  “We still need Vira if we are to return back home. Legionnaires do not go off with a scion of a first strata house and return without her. Heir or not, she needs to be alive when we get back,” Cassius said. Valeria snorted loudly and shook her head with a dark chuckle.

  “I expect to feel the lash no matter how this plays out. We will be lucky to avoid the crucifix,” Valeria said darkly.

  “I have never taken a lash. A boot, baton, fists, stones, and other things, but never the lash,” Cassius admitted. Pain was something he had grown accustomed to, it rode in his stomach during the winters when he starved, or his feet when he marched, or the wounds he had incurred wearing his legion armor. It was always there but the lash was something different in its entirety.

  “Scream when the lash strikes. It makes it easier,” Valeria said in a tone that ended the conversation. It was not long after that they reached the gate with an impatient Vira waiting for them.

  “Are they close?” Vira asked and Cassius looked to see that all seven of the monsters had drifted down the lane. The closest was a hundred paces away, back to them as it walked slowly along the far gate.

  “Hundred paces away is the closest one, but its back is to us. The road curves no more than fifty paces to our right. If we aren’t too loud, we should be able to move without problem, as long as the dungeon heart is where you said it is. And they can not follow us,” Cassius told them.

  “It is and they will not pursue. Get ready,” Vira said. Cassius and Valeria pushed their shields through along with Valeria’s spear before getting ready. Cassius got ready to boost both women, being the tallest of them he had an easier time scaling the fence.

  “Now,” Vira said as she ran and jumped, Cassius catching her foot and throwing her up. He dropped back into a crouch with his cupped hands as Vaerlia came right behind the noblewoman. Vira landed with the soft rattle of armor, but Valeria landed with a much louder clank as the segmented pieces of the lorica shifted as she landed.

  Cassius turned to see all seven of the creatures had turned to look at them, starting forward as their blades ignited.

  “Cursed gates, they have seen us. Run!” Cassius yelled, abandoning stealth as he climbed over the gate as fast as he could. The two women had already gathered their gear and took off in a hard sprint, halfway to the curve in the road before Cassius had hit the stone.

  The closest of the undead warriors had halved the distance before he landed. It was pure instinct that made him grab his shield before he ran, the undead warrior starting to jog toward him in a long loping stride.

  “Damn the gods for this place,” Cassius cursed as he turned and ran after the girls. They had just begun to start to enter the mist at the corner of the road, turning and disappearing from his sight. Footsteps were loud behind him, the slap of feet growing in frequency as they got closer.

  It was not the first time that Cassius had been in a foot race against someone, not even the first time that person had wanted to inflict ill intent upon him. There had never been a time he was more certain that he would die if he was caught.

  Stone blessings had made him stronger, faster, and more durable than ever before. [Regenerate] had healed every wound he’d taken. It was the fastest Cassius had ever ran, his long legs stretched out to the point of pain as he pumped his free arm back and forth, his shield turned to the side to reduce wind catching the wide frame.

  Heat blossomed behind him, so close he could feel his hair beginning to curl as fog hissed as it evaporated. Cassius didn’t look behind him, just ran faster as he could feel death ride his shoulder.

  The road curved, thick fog reaching up to embrace him, blind him, and the heat that pursued disappeared. For a long moment there was nothing but the blanket of white mist, so thick that he couldn’t see his own feet. A steady beat of his feet striking on stone as he continued to run.

  Sight came back between one step and the next, the mist vanishing as he appeared in a long room of obsidian. Glassy surfaces glowed with the flames of lit braziers that burned with bright red smokeless flame. Valeria and Vira were both there, hands on their knees as they panted. Cassius could feel the burn in his own lungs and legs, but the sight of the stone in the middle of the room occupied all his attention.

  Dungeon heart made sense to him as the crystal thrummed rhythmically, pulses of power that radiated from its place in the center of the room on a plinth, rippled through the floors in a wave, and dispersed behind him. Cassius followed the wave of power and turned to see the arc of mist that swirled behind him, the pathway back to the road.

  “I shall go first,” Vira said, pulling herself upright and marching to slap her hand against the dungeon heart before anyone could protest. Her bare palm touched the black crystal and her head lolled as she went limp, held upright by unseen means.

  “Cassius, the door,” Valeria said between panting breaths. Cassius turned to see where she indicated and winced at having missed the massive doorway made of smooth metal. It was a plain gray steel slab with eight rows of rotating tiles on it.

  The two legionnaires walked over to it and Cassius quickly pieced together what it was. Each of the tiles had a numeral that matched that of the numbers on the watches. Vira’s lessons from before brushed past his mind, but he couldn’t remember how they went and had no desire to enter the room.

  “The watches are not numbered. We would have to find out which of the watches matches which line. That could be time consuming,” Valeria said, gnawing on her lip.

  “What idea troubles you?” Cassius asked, he had his own suspicion that she was about to volunteer to stay back and work on the door while they killed the creatures.

  “I could stay and work this. I wouldn’t be able to enter the treasure room without the last two watches and can not aid you in your battle against those creatures in the road, I would just be a hindrance,” Valeria floated out.

  “Is that what you wish for?” Cassius asked. There was a certain logic to her request, but losing another member of their party for the upcoming fight seemed counterproductive, even if Valeria would be outclassed by their foe.

  “Go and kill those creatures with Vira, retrieve the last two watches and Leto and come back. By then I will have gotten to work on the door and we can finish it with ease, reap the rewards, and leave.”

  “It is hard to argue with that logic,” Vira said, somehow walking toward them soundlessly. Cassius turned to look the noblewoman over and couldn’t see what it was that had changed, but something had happened. There was something more about the noblewoman now, a depth around her that [Hunter’s Sight] insisted was danger.

  “It is your turn now. Are you ready to be the first second tier legionnaire in generations?” Vira asked. Cassius swallowed hard at that, but gave no response as he walked toward the crystal lump in the center of the room, ready to reforge history.