“What can we do?” Cojisto asked, seemingly oblivious to the inner turmoil going through my mind.

  Whether he meant to or not, the question did knock some sense into me. The mages from the Tower should be able to fix this, or at least keep her alive long enough that she could recover on her own, which meant we had to leave. I looked towards the sky.

  “Dungeon Master, Master of Dungeons!” I yelled, using his full title to make sure he couldn’t take umbrage with how I addressed him. “Himia! We need a door out! Oristrella will be pissed if Ferrisdae dies of an empty wellspring!”

  My heart raced through several seconds of silence. It became clear that they were unwilling, or unable, to help us.

  “Gods damn it!” I glanced back at Ferrisdae before reaching into my Dimensional Pocket and pulling out a red potion vial. I uncorked it, drank what smelled and tasted like red peppers, and coughed as a terrible heat coursed through my body only to be dispersed by a comfortable one. Then, I paused. “Moose, Cojisto, do you two trust me?”

  “Of course,” Cojisto said immediately while Moose stamped his foot once with the same vigor.

  “Right. I have a plan, but it’s both very stupid and incredibly dangerous,” I said as I walked to the edge of the arena and jumped down into the sand. Even with the Fire Resistance potion in my system, the ground was still stiflingly hot. I pulled my Hilt of Holding out, the club still extended, and started drawing in the sand.

  “Okay, how stupid and how dangerous?” Cojisto asked. I couldn’t see him next to Ferrisdae from this angle, but I wasn’t looking to begin with.

  “The potions we gave her were meant for normal people with a regular amount of magic power inside of them,” I explained loudly so that they could hear me. “But because of whatever the Dungeon Master did to expand her wellspring, we have no idea how much energy we need to give her to stave off death. We also don’t know if she’s closer to waking up or closer to death.”

  “Okay, so we know what we don’t know, how does that help us?”

  “It doesn’t,” I answered. I finished the circle I drew in the sand and looked it over. It wasn’t perfectly round, but it was well within the parameters for a ritual. Thankfully there was no wind, otherwise all of this hard work would have been for nothing.

  “Then… why did you bring it up?” Cojisto asked hesitantly.

  “Because Moose was right, vocalizing my thoughts is helping me through this, okay?” I snapped before shaking my head. I started drawing inside of the circle, using both of my feet and my club to make huge ley lines for the magic to take hold. “I don’t rightfully know what to say because I am nervous. Is that what you want to hear? That this is far more stressful to me than fighting Razorbeak?”

  Cojisto snorted a laugh. “Nah, that part actually makes complete sense to me. Go on, talk to yourself, Badger.”

  “Thank you for your permission,” I muttered.

  “What was that?”

  I ignored the question. “What we need to do is flood her wellspring with magic.”

  “Wait, I’m confused, what about the potions? Isn’t it dangerous to give her more?”

  “An understandable concern, Cojisto, but unwarranted,” I replied. “Potions are magic in a physical form. The mana permeates the liquid, which is designed to hold it. It needs time to break down after the magic is gone, otherwise it causes physical problems, which we call potion sickness. Have you run into that before?”

  “Once or twice, really early in our career,” Cojisto admitted. “But I also know that. What are you planning on doing?”

  “Ask Moose if he can figure it out,” I replied absently as I continued drawing the ritual circle.

  I regretted those words almost immediately. If I were talking, then I wasn’t thinking about how this plan could backfire. I paused in the middle of drawing the lines and looked down at my creation. It was about halfway done and would have been much easier if I had a wide stone space for a chalk circle. Unfortunately, the dungeon now stopped slightly outside of the arena. King Carr’s platform might have had enough space, but getting up there and removing the throne would have taken time I couldn’t guarantee we would have.

  If only I didn’t have to make the circle big enough to fit Ferrisdae into a place where a rune should go.

  I heard Moose’s hooves reach the arena wall and heard him release a lengthy breath. That—or rather, he—was something I could occupy my mind with.

  Moose had been the one to come up with the Dungeon Master’s potential ritual circle that turned bodies into magical items. Ferrisdae and I were too wrapped up in what was usually possible to come up with ideas as to what was actually going on. Well, that wasn’t fair. I was too wrapped up in what was possible, she just had a lot going on in her mind.

  The animal was sharp, though. I still had no idea what could have possibly made him a magic moose in the first place, or how Cojisto seemed to understand him so flawlessly, but I couldn’t dismiss his intelligence.

  Just as I was thinking that, he began croaking and stamping his hoof. I paused, trying to make heads or tails of what he was saying, but gave up quickly. Cojisto would translate soon.

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  “Wait, wait, are you sure?” Cojisto asked. When Moose stamped his foot, the man whistled. “Badger, are you trying to shove the magic of the dungeon into Ferrisdae? As in, all of it directly into her wellspring?”

  The way he worded it made me pause. It certainly sounded more dangerous when it was put that way.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. I may not have liked his words, but that didn’t make them any less true.

  “Won’t that make her explode or something?” For the first time, I heard him leave Ferrisdae’s side and approach the arena.

  “Under normal circumstances, I would never consider doing something like this,” I admitted. “But Ferrisdae is no longer a normal mage. In the span of days she has, what? Gained the full blessing of a powerful, centuries old Dragon and she’s had a forced increase of her wellspring at the hands of some random dungeon guy?” I paused, waiting to see if perhaps insulting him would get a reaction. There was none, so I scowled and kept drawing.

  “So you’re saying she should be powerful enough to handle this?” Cojisto paused as Moose croaked again. “And potions may have just been a drop in the bucket?”

  “I don’t know!” I snapped. “This is unprecedented. It’s completely uncharted territory. If I had time and resources then I’m sure I could come up with something else for someone as powerful as this. I have neither of those things, so I’m just scrambling.”

  “You’re doing your best, Badger, and that’s alright,” Cojisto said, and I resisted the urge to scoff. “What’s going to happen to the dungeon?”

  “Disappears, leaving us each in our own empty pocket dimension until the world corrects itself,” I said before shaking my head. “Should, at least. Not sure what’s going to happen with the Dungeon Master and Himia doing absolutely nothing to help.”

  “Huh, alright.”

  That response made me pause, and I looked up to see Cojisto standing with one hand on his hip and one hand on Moose’s neck. “Alright? Just… alright?” I asked incredulously.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, we trust you.” Moose nodded his agreement. “If it can help Ferrisdae, then we’re all for it.”

  “That’s—” I shook my head. That was Moose and Cojisto in a nutshell. “Grab her and bring her down.”

  “On my way,” he said before jogging back.

  I started putting on the finishing touches as I heard Cojisto come down the stairs. “Everything’s going to be going dark for a bit. We’ll be fine, but floating. We won’t know if it worked until we’re either released by the Dungeon Master or Himia or something shuts off the dungeon. Best case scenario, we’re there for a few minutes. Worst case scenario, we’re in there until the Thousand Year Blizzard is finally stripped of its magic and the overdungeon no longer has a purpose and dissipates, returning us to the material plane. I don’t expect to be stuck for that long with the DoD, the Adventurer’s Consortium, and the Mages’ Guild all working together.”

  An alternate plan had also come to mind, but I didn’t bring that up because I didn’t want to get their hopes up. If they already agreed with it, then there was no point talking about it.

  “Wow, that sounds like it’s going to suck,” Cojisto replied. “Guess I’ll have a lot of time to practice Fluid Force, huh?”

  I shook my head. The optimism this man had was dangerous. I looked up at Moose, but he just nodded. The optimism they both had, then.

  Motioning for Ferrisdae, I took her from Cojisto and held her up over the sand. She was cold to the touch, and I almost thought she was dead for a moment. If I needed any further indication that the potions hadn’t worked, then I had it.

  My footfalls were careful as I navigated the ritual circle. I made sure to step only where lines were already made, and only when I was sure that my foot would align with them. The empty circle meant for a symbol at the end of the spell was close to the edge, and it just took a few steps to get there. I gently set her down, not caring about disturbing the sand as I moved her body so that she was laying straight. It was just the right size.

  Leaning over, I used my hand to wipe the sand flat before standing and looking at Ferrisdae. The Forest Elf, as much as I hated to admit it, had wormed her way into my good graces. She was ambitious, smart, great with people, and had good sense. If this worked, and she still wanted the position, I wouldn’t have minded having a junior for a little longer.

  Only for a little longer, however. I was sure that Ferrisdae would become a full-fledged Dungeon Inspector the moment her first year at the DoD was over. If she didn’t let this magical travesty cloud her heart and mind, then she would undoubtedly have a great career ahead of her. A part of me thought that she might even take Brackenhorst’s position when he finally retired, in a casket as he’d always say, in ten or fifteen years, but only time would tell and I might not be around for it.

  “Badger?”

  I shook my head, sighed, and carefully walked out of the circle once Cojisto snapped me out of my thoughts. “Are you two ready?” I asked.

  “We already agreed. Are you ready?” he countered.

  “No, but she’s not going to get better if something drastic isn’t done.”

  “Then get on with it. Light this torch, Inspector,” Cojisto said with a grim chuckle.

  I couldn’t help my small smile. That was a good old expression from the Adventurer’s Consortium that I never minded. “Light this torch, indeed,” I repeated.

  Once I stepped outside of the circle, I walked along the outside with a critical eye. Everything had to be as close to perfect as possible. Sand was already a terrible medium, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and time was nearly up. I tapped myself on the head as I recognized my negative thoughts and tossed them aside; this would either work, or it would fail. Either way, I did everything that I could.

  Taking my stone club, I made a final connection between one ley line and another. Reaching into my Dimensional Pocket, I pulled out a small piece of Hajidi Paper with runic symbols across the length. A Ritual Starter, meant to do exactly as its name implied. I ripped it in half and tossed both ends inside of the circle.

  It came to life immediately, the lines shining brightly as the world began to shake. Moose nearly lost his footing, but Cojisto and I planted ourselves and watched as the sand outside of the circle started shifting thanks to the vibrations. The sand inside was still, glued in place by the ritual, and Ferrisdae was in no danger.

  As the rumbling became even more pronounced, Cojisto finally started to look worried. “How much longer until—”

  The sky rushed into the ritual circle like liquid through a straw, and I put on a grim look. After that was the arena, its red stone passing through us without damage. Finally, the ground was sucked up, disappearing completely.

  Then, there was darkness.

  As I expected, we were in the void. Well, that wasn’t completely accurate. Even though I thought “we,” there was no one else. I stood alone in the inky darkness just as Moose would and just as Cojisto would.

  I looked around at the dimensional void surrounding me. My body was still clearly visible, but I couldn’t retrieve anything from my Pocket. That was okay, though. It was time to see if my next plan was going to work and, if it didn’t, it would just be a matter of time. I had faith that the Department of Dungeons would see to it that we were returned in a timely manner.

  A part of me couldn’t believe I was about to go through with this, but I had to; I didn’t want to wait to see if Ferrisdae was okay. I got down on my knees and put my hands together.

  “I’m not sure if Himia was telling the truth, but I sure hope she was,” I said solemnly, closing my eyes. “Cheroske, goddess of community, please listen to this humble Halfling—”

  I didn’t even finish the sentence before I felt the world around me start to change.