The Wandering Spire

"Why are you standing around?!?! Seize them!" The Legionnaire officer cried.

The Proven were making their way out of the chamber and Jeze heard the Special Forces soldier that fought with the two-handed sword respond.

"She had me dead by rights but spared me. By my honor, I will not intervene."

Jeze smiled at that. She defeated a much larger opponent and she wondered if she had the skill to take on Drake. Jeze's fighting and Rune casting have improved tremendously since Narcadia. Will she hit Adept rank like her brother? Jeze also wondered.

"There is fighting up ahead," Dunar observed.

The comment snapped Jeze out of her daydreaming and she heard the clashing sounds of combat. Steel on steel and the grunts of effort and pain. Up ahead was the entrance chamber where Jeze knocked over the Mist making Cauldron. She recalled that the chamber branched off in two other directions. Did the Swamp Demons make another push to take control of this Dungeon? Jeze wondered.

"Form up!" Dunar barked.

The Proven moved into formation and walked steadily down the twisting corridor, and the sounds of fighting grew louder and then stopped. The Proven turned the final corner and saw what had made the commotion. They came upon Lady Kalina and four other adventurers. Jeze recognized the largest of the group, who was a little bigger than Dunar, but smaller than Rolfe and Helga. It was Alcard, the thick bearded Templar that lost the duel to Swordslayer. The one she saved from dying with her Life aspect spell.

There was another female on the team who had similar features as Lady Kalina, with short dark hair and high cheekbones. Was this her younger sister? Jeze wondered. In contrast to Lady Kalina's light padded armor, the younger woman wore heavy mail armor and was armed with a rune-covered warhammer and a small circular steel buckler. The remaining two members appeared to be Protectors in heavy armor and armed with swords and shields. They wore the same earth colors as Alcard, and Jeze wondered if they were also Templars, but she did not see any Runes on them. Lady Kalina and her squad just defeated the Legionnaires that were guarding the entrance. The soldiers were moaning on the ground, their lives spared.

"Lower your weapons," Lady Kalina ordered her team. The Ironfist Kingdom warriors obeyed without hesitation.

Dunar nodded to the Proven, and they did the same. Jeze saw Alcard staring at her. She scowled at him, and he gave a slight nod.

"Lady Kalina, it is good to see you," Dunar greeted.

The Guild Official nodded and said, "This is my team from the Ironfist Kingdom. The Templar is Alcard. This is my younger sister, Mina, and the two men-at-arms are Joff and Cris."

The Proven introduced themselves and shook hands with the Ironfist Kingdom team.

"Why has the Empire sent their Legion here? Is that even allowed?" Dunar asked.

The warriors in Lady Kalina's group snorted and scowled. Lady Kalina's younger sister, Mina, spat on the floor. There was no love between the Golden Empire and the Ironfist Kingdom.

"They want to own everything, including the Spire," Alcard responded in the raspy voice of one that had their throat cut. The "X" shaped scar was deep and visible on his throat. The mark from Swordslayer.

It was quiet for the moment, but each team knew that more Legionnaires would soon be arriving. The unspoken tension was the current Dungeon. Which team had the right to explore it? There were two unexplored tunnels, so they both could continue, but would the Ironfist team make a claim to all of it?

"What is your interest here?" Dunar asked.

Lady Kalina glanced at her colleagues. Mina shook her head, and Alcard shrugged his broad shoulders. Joff and Cris crossed their arms and shook their heads in agreement with Mina.

"A dungeon underneath the bones of a Dragon is not reason enough to be here?" Lady Kalina responded, the rare twinkle of mirth behind her normally serious eyes.

"That's what I said!" Rolfe exclaimed. The large Protector oblivious to the building unease between the two groups.

Dunar narrowed his gray eyes and said, "I sense you know more. Share with us, and perhaps we could offer assistance?"

Lady Kalina and her team turned silent. Jeze reflected that they were not very good at controlling their emotions, for it was clear that they were hiding something. Mina scowled, Lady Kalina remained impassive like a stone, and the others shifted their feet uncomfortably as if they stole cookies from grandma's jar. Alcard sighed and motioned a gauntleted hand toward Jeze.

"That one saved my life. I see no reason to keep secrets," He explained.

Cris and Joff's faces softened, and they uncrossed their arms. Mina's scowl deepened.

"What does that have to do with us?" She demanded.

Mina was hot-headed! Jeze liked her already.

"Secrets?" Dunar asked with an arched eyebrow.

Kalina waved her hand in the air and sighed. "They are being dramatic," she said with a glare that silenced her sister from further objections.

The Guild official continued, "We in the Ironfist Kingdom have an interest in Dragons."

"I told you," Rolfe said and nudged Mikal. The Healer nearly toppled over.

"You can say we have a long history," Alcard added.

"Are you familiar with the tale of Mount Dragon?" Lady Kalina asked.

Rolfe perked up and said, "The Dragon Eclipse slumbers at its peak, and you are afraid to awaken him."

Lady Kalina nodded and replied, "That is the basic tale, but there is more. We believe that Dragons have the ability, like the Spire, to travel in between realms. But, something happened to Eclipse, which has trapped him in our realm."

"It has weakened him, and so he slumbers. But when he awakens, he remembers his plight and becomes enraged. Every hundred years, Eclipse has ravaged the lands of the Ironfist Kingdom," Alcard stated.

"You are afraid that he will awaken again? You are hoping to find in this Dungeon a way to either fight him or allow him to leave?" Jeze asked.

"Very astute," Ziplocke whispered into her ear.

This startled the teenager, for she had forgotten about the Goblin, and she did not feel him on her shoulder. Jeze assumed he was hiding in the Shadows, but he must have been clinging to her pack. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that her pack was shrouded in the dark recesses of the chamber, and Ziplocke's red eyes glowed briefly to alert her of his presence. This unnerved her for some reason. She always sensed that there was something more to Ziplocke, and his mischievousness was an act to hide something deeper. The conversation snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What is the Empire's interest here?" Dunar wondered.

Lady Kalina and Alcard shrugged. Helga glanced down at a moaning soldier. The large warrior maiden grabbed the hapless man and slammed him against the wall.

"Please don't kill me! I surrender!" The soldier pleaded.

"Tell us why the Empire is here!" Helga demanded.

"I don't know anything! I'm just a lowly soldier!"

Helga pressed him harder against the wall.

"We were told that there was treasure and wealth here!" The soldier whimpered.

Helga pressed him even harder, and Jeze worried that the man would burst.

"I heard the Legion believes that there is something in here that will allow us to control the Spire! By the Holy Emperor, you are so strong!" The soldier gasped.

"Oh ya! That is so sweet of you to say that!" Helga beamed and pulled the man into a fierce hug against her ample bosom. In moments, the soldier was unconscious.

"Oops, sorry, little man," the warrior maiden said as she gently laid the sleeping Legionnaire on the ground.

Jeze looked up at the sound of movement coming from the Portal chamber down the hallway. "We don't have much time. More Legionnaires will be here at any moment," she alerted the others.

Lady Kalina turned to Dunar and said, "There are two tunnels here. Adventurer's Honor. You pick which one you want, and we will take the other."

Mina appeared that she was about to protest but was stopped by a fierce glare from her sister. Ziplocke cackled with glee and all eyes turned to the Goblin on Jeze's shoulder.

"What is that?!?" Alcard demanded. Mina, Cris, and Joff readied their weapons. It was their first time seeing the Goblin.

Lady Kalina, who met Ziplocke before, waved them down and Jeze answered, "He is my familiar."

"You can have him or slay him," Mikal muttered.

Ziplocke glared at the Healer and continued to snicker. "It's so funny what happened to that soldier!"

Dunar shook his head and studied the tunnel options. Ziplocke's snickering died, and when the others were not paying attention to him, he whispered into Jeze's ear. "Take the tunnel on the left."

She glanced at the Goblin, and he appeared more somber than usual. She wanted to ask why, but Dunar would make his decision and if she wanted answers, she would need to act soon.

"I say we take the left one," Jeze blurted out, and all eyes turned to her. She added, "It is just a hunch."

Dunar studied Jeze for a moment with his gray eyes and nodded.

"Very well, we will take the middle. If you discover anything that can help us with Eclipse, please share. We will pay if necessary," Lady Kalina said.

"Aye, it will be our honor to aid you in your cause," Dunar responded.

"Thank you, noble Frostsworn," Alcard said. He clasped hands with Dunar, and the Ironfist kingdom team departed down their corridor.

"Proven, form up!" Dunar ordered.

Jeze took the lead to scout ahead with the others close behind her. Ziplcoke was full of unusual energy as he hopped along beside her and snickered with joy. Jeze heard the Demon mutter, "It is all coming together."

"What is?" She asked.

Ziplocke glanced at her with a glint in his red eyes, and he snickered, "These Dungeons are notoriously difficult. I just pictured the looks on your faces when you fail!" He cackled at his comment.

Jeze felt that the Goblin was hiding something, but she couldn't reflect on it for long because her attention was needed at the moment. She returned to studying the tunnel before her as the team marched deeper into the Dungeon under the Dragon bones.