Chapter 157: Frost Samander

  I let Maveith sleep as I prepared breakfast for both of us, finely dig some bear meat to make patties. As I worked, I popped one of the clear essences into my mouth. This would raise and fortify my aether tolerance, whidicated my natural resistao eling substantial amounts of aether. If a mage pulled too much aether too quickly, they risked burning out their aether els. The old healer in Sobral was burnt out. I thought I might be at risk of the same if I started using the aether restorative potions.

  As the sphere dissolved, the world around me and my perception of it momentarily muted. It felt like the opposite effect of the perception essence. My best guess was that the dungeon was so saturated with aether that it affected me.

  The smell of cooki roused Maveith, who took over the cooking duties after handihe amulet. “How did it go, Maveith?”

  “It was cathartic. I will never get tired of seeing my sister again,” he rumbled with stroion. He smiled widely. “We fought the ord aogether and were victorious.”

  “I am gd. How about you use the amulet every third rest? Just remind me?” I offered.

  “I would appreciate it. You are a true friend to let me use something so precious,” he intoned deeply while noddihusiastically.

  “Do you want another quiess essence?” I asked, already holding the small green spheres in my hand. Maveith nodded eagerly, and I pced all the remaining dark green essences into his hands, which widened his eyes in surprise. “Just take one a day. Let me know when you run out, and you choose something else.”

  Maveith swallowed one immediately and pced the remaining spheres in his pocket. He focused on cooking, as he was the much better aveith handed me the finished meal: bear patties and apple slices drizzled with hot apple-berry jam.

  While we ate, he asked, “Did you take one of the magic affinities?”

  “No, I took aher tolerance essence. I had trouble the st time I used a magic affinity essend have beeant tain.” I winced reflexively, recalling the pain from the earth essence I ed, how abused my body was afterward, and the foul stench I emitted.

  “I am here to watch over you, Eryk.” His deep voice became serious. “You have mas. I will keep any you are willing to share.” There was something about the big gray man that just made you want to trust him.

  “I will sider it. I also explored up the stairs. It is a big climb and ends in a frozen ke chamber with a giant lizard that burrow through the ice. It hunts rge eels ier.” I tio expin what I had found at the top of the stairs. My description of the creature did n any bells for Maveith.

  “I am going to get some sleep with the amulet. I will see if I figure out what the creature is.” Maveith looked anxious.“ you leave the vines? I start on the rope. Maybe leave the reader table out as well?”

  I smirked as he was clearly getting addicted to trag his progress. The essences would not affect him much, but regaining his lost muscle and body mass would quickly raise his physical stats. I left the tablet reader table and the pile of vines for him.

  Entering the dreamscape, everything looked normal until I ehe ankheg room. The stroallic smell of blood assaulted my senses. Dozens of abused orc corpses littered the room alongside two foul-smelling dead ankhegs. I muttered, “At least up after yourself, Maveith.”

  I eliminated all smells first, removing the orc bodies aing the room. I would have to tell him that the amulet remained as he left it. With the room and live ankhegs hibernating underground, I headed toward the scorpion room. Ier room with the tipede fish, I was shocked to find Zarana swimming.

  Seeing me, she left the water, climbing onto the floating stone in front of me—and she was naked. I averted my eyes.“Sorry, I didn’t know you were in here.” Then I remembered I was in the dreamscape and took in her body. I had impure thoughts and wondered just what Maveith was doing with his sister in the dreamscape.

  “Is Maveith back?” Zarana asked as I remained speechless. I used my power in the dreamscape to her clothes and put them on her body. She looked at the garments, disappointed either in their style or just in being clothed.

  “No, Zarana. Why are you in this room?” Which sounded like a stupid question.

  Her deep, feminine voice ughed, “ing the blood of the orcs off, of course!”

  “How? Did Maveith let you—let you wahe dungeon?” I was trying to figure out what freedoms this struct Maveith created had.

  “Maveith said I could do whatever I wanted. I wao swim,” she said with a mischievous grin. “Do you want to join me? You are Eryk, Maveith’s little friend?” Little friend? I guess pared to the seven-foot bald, gray-skinned goliath woman in front of me, I would appear that way.

  “Yes, that is me. But I have too much work to do. Perhaps aime.” I hopped across the stones, and Zarana followed me to the scorpion room uninvited. When I removed the wall, I was not surprised to see Zarana’s struct was missing. Oscar came rushing at me, eager for attention. The Aussie was ready to py. The men were pying cards. “No bat training today,” I preempted any questions from the disappointed men.

  Konstantin’s struct barked, “He is getting soft.” I muted the eable, including Maveith, who Zarana did not seem tnize as her brother.

  I questioned Zarana, “Did you tell or show Maveith this secret room?”

  “No, he never asked about it,” Zarana replied truthfully.

  “Good. Never show it to him or tell him about it. You tio do what you want in the dungeon,” I said, sitting in my plush chair with the elveiaries. Zarana stood behind my chair, looking over my shoulder.

  “What are you doing back there?”

  “I was hoping you would read to me,” she said happily, leaning on the bay chair and rog it slightly. I pinched my felt wrong to be rude to the struaveith’s sister. She seemed a mix of mischievousness and innoce.

  “Fine, just don’t interrupt me,” I said. Oscar hopped in my p, seeing we were not pying ball. I paged through all the bestiaries but did not find the blue lizard with big cws. I did mao identify the potion from the creeping vine room. It rote from heat. I supposed that meant fire, but I was not sure.

  I recreated the elven potions from the summoner and identified them as well: lesser aether restoration, lesser stamina, and ahy enha potion. The dominate creature was the best potion I had liberated from the dead summoner.

  I had been reading aloud and pletely fotten Zorana was behind me. “Are you leaving so soon?” she asked, disappointed. She was clearly one of those annoying personalities—extroverts.

  “It has been about six hours. I have to go and help Maveith,” I said. I expected her to ask me to e, but she clearly knew she could not. I looked at the silenced poker table. “You all wahe dungeon and i with Big Z here.” I did not let her challehe niame as I teleported to the entry room ahe dungeon.

  Sitting up, Maveith looked at me expetly from his work, creating a rope from the vines. “Maveith, you do realize the dreamscape remains however you leave it? You left all those dead ord your sister unattended.”

  Maveith’s eyes got wide in surprise. “I am sorry; I didn’t know.”

  “Be careful when you up. I don’t want the enviros to reset. I have some things in the scorpion room I don’t want to have to recreate,” I told him, taking aep dowrust road.

  He nodded and added, “I uand. Is Zorana, okay?”

  I closed my eyes. “She is not real, Maveith. She is just structed from your memories by the amulet in the dreamscape. Do not get too attached. But yes, she is fine and hanging out with everyone else in the scorpion room.”

  I could see the fli his eyes. He had e to terms with what happeo his sister but could not let her go. The problem with the dreamscape structs was that they behaved exactly as you expected them to. I hoped Maveith did not bee too attached. “I will ched see if the cockatrices are back. You wait here,” I said.

  It had been over a day since we cleared the room. As I approached, I could already see the cockatrices in the grass looking for worms. They were back. I spent a few mirying to t them to see if the number had ged. I only ted six, but that did not mean anything, as a few could be in the s. I returned and gave Maveith the unwele news, “The cockatrices are back. We either have to deal with them again o up and hahe blue lizard.”

  Maveith dropped the ce he had been w on. About twenty feet of the thick rope had been pleted, but he had almost used the entire pile of vines I had salvaged. “I prefer to go up but will follow whatever you want to do.” Maveith stretched and flexed his fingers from w on the rope. He asked a question I was not ready to answer: “What about the elf griffin rider?”

  “What about her? We have not reached a part of the duhat would require a third perso,” I said, and I could see that Maveith thought much differently by his facial expression.

  Maveith put his thoughts in order. “We were outnumbered in the cockatri. An ally would have been most wele. You almost got overrun.”

  I expined my s. “She is not going to trust us. Well, trust me anyway, as I am wearing my legionnaire armor. As soon as I heal her, she will attack me. Then I will not be able to sleep, knowing she is nearby, probably thinking about slitting my throat.”

  “You always just put her ba your space,” Maveith rationalized in a sage-like tone. He had obviously been thinking about this.

  “It would take me two hours to recover enough aether to put a live person in the space. And if I ot, we have to kill her and waste a healing potion on her.” I could tell Maveith was going to be pushing for her release even before he spoke.

  “I will restrain her and protect you. Goliaths are known to be honorable people among the elves. She should listen to reason,” Maveith argued.

  I ehe discussion by saying, “Let’s up and look at the i together.” My to no room for debate. We could not leave anything behind. The dungeon appeared to let writing remain on the walls, but anything on the floor was absorbed after we left, which was nice sihere were no toilets in the safe room.

  The two-hundred-plus steps up following the corkscrew pattern were done in silence. I knew Maveith well enough to know he nning arguments for releasing the elf griffin rider. Whe to the room, it was just a sheet of clear ice. The rge eels were underh the sheet and swimming, oblivious to our presence.

  I sed the ceiling, looking for the creature. “There, Maveith. See how the river of light seems to go around that spot?”Maveith focused, but the creature was not moving.

  We stared, and suddenly, the creature dropped to the ice, aware its camoufge was exposed. As it hit the ice, its mass caused spider cracks to form us six legs, eading in a nasty log cw. Maveith inhaled sharply, and the creature looked ferocious. “Do y?”

  Maveith shook his head. “It is some horror I have never seen.” The creature’s beady blue eyes focused on us. “Maybe the elf rider knows what it is,” Maveith suggested, causio roll my eyes.

  The creature started stalking the room, repeatedly judging us. It was clearly frustrated that it could not reach us. We waited, making sure a sed creature was not in the room. “Si is just one creature, I take it.”

  “It looks fast, Eryk. Be careful.” Maveith strung his bow and got his st three arrows ready. I had not even realized the other arrows had cracked or snapped.

  The creature dug its cws into the ice, and with six legs, it did look fast. I stepped onto the ice, leaving the prote of the corridor. The head of the creature so me, its bck eyes sizing me up. It did not look afraid. All six legs locked into the ice. Shit, if it dove through the id attacked from underh, I was fucked. My armor was not de did not float either.

  Thankfully, it charged me, and the ice erupted beh it. The sheet rocked from the creature’s mass, and cracks spread with an eerie, rolling crag sound. Dodging it would be difficult on the ice, so I po jump over it after taking its head.

  At fifty feet away, it opes maw and screamed, and a e of snow, frost, and freezing air bsted toward me. The temperature dropped rapidly, and a snowy haze blocked my vision. Panic started to form in my stomach as my eas quickly froze, causing my vision to blur and darken. The thudding sound of the approag monstrosity was all I could focus on.

  I ehe box and listened, guessing at the appropriate time. I moved the box I had made into my dimensional spad felt stroance—a good sign I had gotten some of the creature. I tried to move, but the cold had slowed me.

  The sound of nails on a chalkboard hit my ears, and I figured it was the creature’s cws sliding on the surface of the ice. That was all I figured out as it smmed into me, whipping my head bad throwing my helmet away. I was catapulted hard into the wall behind me, smming my head and knog me unscious.

  ? Chted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

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