Kat wiped her knife against her thigh, scraping dark purple blood against her armor. After a moment of rasping, she held the blade up to the light, grunting in disappointment as the sticky ichor clung to the side of her weapon.

Behind her Kaleek gleefully stabbed his greatsword down, crunching it through the shell of a dead mollusc and spraying himself with violet blood. Kat shook her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she shoved her dagger into its sheath.

“Tell me more about Whippoorwill,” Dorrik commanded, drawing a quick wince from Kat. “I have met her several times, and some of my cousins have formed a team with her on the lower levels, but I am not sure I understand your dilemma. Can you not simply speak to her about whatever this issue is?”

Kat cast Water Jet on her own hands, buying her a couple of seconds to think through her answer as she let the magic cleanse viscera from her fingers.

“I’m not sure it’s that simple,” Kat replied, searching for the right words. “This might be a cultural divide. I don't know much about lokkel social and cultural conventions beyond what your mother has brought up, and most of those conversations were just gossip.”

“That seems to be an accurate description,” Dorrik said grudgingly. “Still, I do not understand how this could be a matter of cultural misunderstanding. You wish for Whippoorwill to be your mate. By all appearances she wishes for the same. It seems obvious to me that you should simply state your desires to her in order to make the arrangement formal.”

“It’s not just a matter or saying what I mean-” Kat began, struggling to find an answer for the inquisitive lizard even as the blood rushed to her cheeks.

“Oh!” Dorrik cut her off, slapping both of their upper and lower hands together at the same time. “I think I understand. Your culture utilizes betrothal gifts. You cannot tell Whippoorwill of your intentions until you have an engagement present of some sort arranged.”

“What!” Kat croaked, her eyes bugging out slightly.

I would be happy to help Miss Kat,” Dorrik continued, ignoring her display. “I will need to run any gift suggestion through the consulate to make sure it doesn’t constitute a disallowed transfer of technology, but I’ve had my eyes on a pair of B’stakk Empathy Crystals. They glow in a number of different shades letting you know the mood of the person holding the other crystal-”

The lokkel kept talking, but Kat’s attention was pulled away as Kaleek swaggered up, his fur covered from muzzle to toes in purple blood. The giant otter had his sword over one shoulder and a massive grin on his face as he locked eyes with her, seeming to delight in Kat’s distress. He winked at her before cutting off Dorrik’s prattling.

“I don’t think this is a mating thing. It’s more like lokkel partner bonding. It’s about emotions, not producing offspring.”

Dorrik stopped, their crest stiffening in alarm.

“Partner bonding is a serious lifelong commitment,” they said slowly. “I’m so sorry Miss Kat. I did not mean to speak so flippantly about such an important subject.”

“I’m fine Dorrik,” Kat replied, forcing a quick smile. “Whip and I aren’t quite at that stage yet, but humans usually have a couple layers of testing periods where they try and determine whether or not they’re compatible. Usually they move in together and live like a couple for some time before making that level of commitment.”

“I don’t think I understand,” Dorrik said with a frown. “On Chrome Cowboys, Yenny Silverhand, Jenny’s secret clone, tricks Jenny’s mate into mating with her simply by stating that she wishes to mate with him after a festivity. It seemed so matter of fact on the program.”

“Yenny actually drugged Hector at the end of the previous episode,” Kat responded with a dismissive wave of her hand. “She knew that he was about to confess his love for Jenny, but that he didn’t know that Jenny had been cloned. That was all a plot to leave him so consumed with guilt over his actions that he wouldn’t propose to Jenny, letting Armand step in and make a move.”

“But that isn’t the point,” she continued, shaking her head to clear it. “I’m pretty sure that Whip will say yes, but at the same time, what if she gets upset at me for taking this long to say it. We both know that the feelings are mutual by this point, but I just feel like I’m failing her by not saying anything.”

“Honestly?” Kaleek cut in, his armor clanking gently as he shrugged. “As much fun as it is to listen to the two of you hem and haw, now that the void snails are all dead, I’m getting a little bored. If this Whippoorwill girl knows that you have feelings for her, she could have asked you out as well. She’s as embarrassed as you are Kat. It feels weird to say it, but you should follow Dorrik’s original advice. Just ask her to go diving with you or something. She’ll be so relieved by you making the first move that she won’t think to judge you.”

Kat froze, cocking her head to the side as the desoph’s words flowed over her. She blinked once as the epiphany rocked her.

“You’re right,” she mumbled absently, her lips almost seeming to move on their own. “Whip could have asked me out on a date too. She’s probably as torn up about this as I am. Both of us will be a lot happier if I break the ice.”

“Great,” Kaleek grunted. “Now that we have all of our emotions and feelings resolved, it’s time for us to fight this dungeon’s boss.”

Before either Dorrik or Kat could stop him, the big otter strode forward pushing the massive metal door to the final room with his free hand. It swung weightlessly open, revealing a large featureless room illuminated by pastel blue lights.

In the center of the mostly empty space stood the dungeon altar, built into a pillar made of green crystal that pulsed quietly with its own internal light. In a hexagon around the altar were six fist sized cubes made from polished green stone.

“It’s just boxes.” Kaleek’s voice made Kat jump as it broke the silence.

“Are we missing the boss or something?” He asked. “Like, is this boss invisible or attached the ceiling or something? Maybe it’s a teleporter. Those are always tough to deal with.”

Dorrik strode forward, brushing past the two of them and walking a handful of paces into the chamber. They frowned, reaching back and drawing both of their swords while squinting at the peaceful scene. Finally, they spoke up.

“I don’t have as accurate of reports on the eighth floor. Unfortunately, this is a new dungeon. It only opened a year or so ago. All I know for sure is that it’s iron tier and that it was near our adventurer’s hall.”

“That’s new,” Kat replied, casting her gaze up to the room’s featureless ceiling as she fruitlessly searched for some sign of the dungeon’s boss. “It’s been a while since we ended up squaring off with a boss without some sort of idea what it looked like or what it could do.”

“Well,” Dorrik said unhappily. “That is likely fallout from the political situation inside the Consensus. Usually Clan Ahn would freely trade information like this along with consumer goods, but as the specter of war looms over everything, we are only left with a more limited list of allies that are willing to make deals with us.”

“How are things going with the stallesp anyway?” Kat asked, stepping to the side to let Kaleek walk past. “We’ve been providing information to the Investigatory Committee for months now, but no one has actually told us what’s happening. Every request we make for an update is passed on to the Subcommittee on Probationary Race Relations, and then we hear absolutely nothing.”

Kaleek wandered toward the strange array of green objects, head turning back and forth as he looked for the inevitable boss while Dorrik pursed their lips. After almost ten seconds of pensive silence, the big lizard spoke.

“You must understand Miss Kat that I must choose my words carefully. The Investigatory Committee is aware of our relationship and I suspect that they blame me for your company gaining access to stallesp technology. As such, I cannot tell you the details of what is going on in the Galactic Consensus or as part of their investigation.”

“That said,” they continued, “I can divulge a rough outline of what is happening.”

About forty paces away, Kaleek stopped in front of one of the green cubes. The desoph lowered himself to his haunches and glared at the unresponsive stone as if daring it to do something.

“The stallesp have been formally censured,” Dorrik said gravely. “Along with a forfeiture of territory and technology, they have been assessed with a massive fine. Unfortunately they have appealed this finding, claiming that the Consensus’ Executive Council acted politically and outside its bounds in enacting the censure. A two thirds vote of the general assembly can overrule such a finding, and at the moment it appears that the moles are trying to bribe or blackmail everyone willing to admit their ambassadors in order to try and obtain the votes needed for their appeal.”

“But the evidence is obvious,” Kat replied, turning her attention away from the still boss chamber to address the lokkel. “There’s everything they’ve done on Earth. Between their attack on your ship and the evidence we’ve pulled from their ship’s data banks, there shouldn’t be much of a question that they are breaking the rules of the Consensus.”

“That is only if the general assembly cares about evidence,” they responded unhappily. “The lokkel may have… underestimated the stallesp. Their military power, while great, is not quite a match for us and our allies, but in the last centuries it appears that they have engaged in a number of predatory economic relationships with smaller races.”

“It is inappropriate that my people have overlooked the thousand or so races that only have a single world,” Dorrik continued. “Many of them barely have the technology to exploit stellar bodies in their own solar system, so they don’t play into our admirals’ power calculus when they weigh and assess the galaxy.”

“The stallesp were not so short-sighted,” the lokkel concluded. “They loaned these races vast sums that were used to purchase ships and technology transfers, and if the order of censure were to pass, these notes would all come due. A thousand worlds are threatened with poverty and being tossed from the age of antimatter back into the dark ages of fusion power and barbarism.”

The big lizard caught themselves, wincing apologetically.

“No offense Miss Kat.”

“None taken,” she replied absently, worry creasing her brow. “So you’re saying that for the time being, nothing is going to happen to the stallesp. They can keep playing their games and defer the final decision until the investigatory committee comes back with a report, and even then the Consensus might ignore the truth because they owe money?”

“Well-” Dorrik began, only to be cut off by Kaleek shouting from the center of the room.

“I think they’re just boxes. They kinda look like Hasturn Music Crystals. Maybe there isn’t a boss and the boxes are part of some sort of advanced trap that we need to trigger in order to advance.”

Before either of them could respond to the desoph, he unslung the greatsword from his shoulder, leaning forward slightly to poke the green box with its tip.

The green crystal wrapped around the altar pulsed with green light, and a high pitched whine filled the room. Almost immediately, all six of the cubes circling the altar hovered off of the ground.

Kaleek hopped back, a manic grin on his face as he turned to face Kat and Dorrik.

“It’s definitely a trap guys!” He yelled cheerfully. “You should get ready, I think it’s about to-”

He didn’t manage to finish his sentence. The box hovering to his right accelerated into a blurry streak, crashing into the desoph’s chest in a flash of green light. He flew across the room, landing some ten paces away with a smoking dent square in the center of his heavy enchanted armor.

The whine disappeared, and a moment later the remaining five boxes lurched into motion, swirling from right to left in a sphere centered on the altar. None of the squares was moving all that quickly, but each of them traced an erratic pattern through the air, leaving a dim streamer of emerald light in their wake.

Kat jogged over to Kaleek as the desoph propped himself up on his elbows with a groan. Out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but notice the cubes moving faster in their orbit around the altar.

She dropped to one knee, letting her throat twist itself into knots as she began reciting the words to Cure Wounds II. A golden aura surrounded her hands as she touched them to the armor on Kaleek’s chest. Mana drained from her reserves, but a second later, the otter was breathing much easier.

Kat stood up, offering Kaleek a hand. He grasped it, wincing slightly as she helped pull him to his feet. The desoph stumbled slightly, reaching up with one of his hands to rub the still smoking crater in the center of his armor.

“I was right,” he said, looking up at Kat with his manic grin still glued to his face. “The boxes were totally part of a trap.”

“I suppose that’s one way to check for traps,” She responded wryly. “Most people try to use a stick or a rock to set them off safely. I suppose you can theoretically use your chest to try and disarm a trap, but I’ve never heard about it being recommended.”

The otter coughed into one of his paws, frowning down at the smear of red on his hand before wiping it on his armor.

“Maybe your friends are right,” he replied with a shrug. “That was fun, but even with the wound completely healed, that initial hit hurt like hell. I should probably play it safe next time.”

“You can jump into the next obvious trap,” Kaleek concluded graciously. “It was certainly an interesting experience.”

Before Kat could riposte, Dorrik’s voice snagged her attention, drawing her back into the present moment.

“Miss Kat, a moment of your time if you will.”

The lokkel was standing just outside the outer limit of the hemisphere marked by the whizzing boxes’ orbits. At some point, they had accelerated. Kat could barely track them with her naked eyes, instead mostly relying upon the streaks of green light that followed

Even as she approached, the boxes sped up further, whirring up and down through the air as they made rapid circuits around the altar. When she was almost halfway to the brilliant display, Dorrik called out to her without turning around.

“If you could circle to the left a bit before approaching, I would like to see something Miss Kat.”

She frowned slightly, but followed her friend’s instructions, changing the course she was taking across the otherwise empty room. Up close, the flying cubes were even more impressive. The wind from her passage pulled at Kat’s hair as the boxes zipped past, leaving brilliant lines of green in their wake.

“Perfect!” Dorrik exulted, slapping the sides of his swords together with a metallic ‘clang.’ “They are responding to your presence Miss Kat. The defensive perimeter is still too tight to risk a crossing, but if the three of us approach from different directions, I have an idea.”

“Kaleek,” Dorrik continued, eyes still trained on the rapidly shifting hemisphere of light. “If you are done with your break, I would be grateful if you could take up a position across from the two of us. There is one more thing I need to try.”

The big otter groaned, picking up his greatsword from where it had landed on the floor and slinging it over his shoulder. He twisted his body to the left, hissing as the dent in his armor pressed against the sensitive, freshly healed fur of his chest.

“Fine,” he responded with a sigh, clanking across the floor toward the far side of the dungeon altar. “I still think I preferred fighting the void snails. At least they made funny noises and sprayed blood when you stabbed them. This trap is just sparkly and it hurts.”

As soon as the grumbling desoph was in position, Dorrik pointed one of their swords at the pillar of crystal surrounding the dungeon altar. Their lips moved, whispering something, and a second later a bolt of violet energy leapt from the blade, streaking across the intervening space.

One of the cubes deviated from its course, jerking from the other side of the hemisphere and into the center where it interceded, intercepting the blast of psi energy and freezing in the air for a fraction of a second.

Almost immediately, a second box lurched out of its orbit, streaking toward Dorrik. The lokkel managed to backpedal a single step, their blades moving in slow motion as they tried to get them into position before it reached them.

Then it reached Dorrik, sparks and crackling green energy spitting into the air as it slammed into their crossed blades. The big lizard slid across the floor, their clawed feet unable to find enough purchase to slow the stone’s momentum as it pummeled them.

One second and some three paces later, the cube jerked away from Dorrik, returning to its orbit around the pillar. Kat frowned slightly, her eyes jumping from the rapidly moving elements to the glowing crystal at their core.

“I have good news!” Dorrik exclaimed happily. “Not only is this not a trap, but I’ve figured out how to defeat it.”

“Looks like a trap to me,” Kaleek muttered, unconsciously reaching up to massage the blemish on his armor.

“No,” Kat replied, shaking her head slowly. “A trap wouldn’t respond to ego shard like that. Psi abilities generally don’t work on inanimate objects, and that attack on Dorrik sure looked like a reflex to me. I’d guess that the crystal wrapped around the altar is the core of the dungeon boss, and that it lashes out at anything that tries to threaten it.”

“Exactly,” Dorrik beamed. “All we need to do is destroy the crystal, and we’ve cleared the dungeon. It is simply a matter of getting a person or spell close enough.”

“Okay,” Kaleek said, unconvinced. “I’m not actually sure that changes much. The stone boxes move faster the closer we approach the center. None of us are fast enough to jump through, and it sure looks like getting past the outer wave of defenses would just mean that we get pummeled in the back. I’ve already been smacked once. I think I’m good.”

“Oh no,” Dorrik answered, waving one of their swords dismissively. “You won’t be the one attacking the core. You’re much too slow.”

Kat bit her lower lip, heart hammering in her chest as she watched the boxes zip past.

“I suppose that leaves me,” she said finally. “I’m the quickest amongst us, but there’s no way I can make it through that mess in one piece. Maybe if I try and use Gravity Spike from a distance, but-”

“If you try using a spell from afar,” Dorrik replied, “I can almost assure you that the creature will preemptively attack you. No, this is a job for your knife. Now that you’ve upgraded Cat Step to Shadow Step you should be able to move quickly and erratically enough to reach the crystal in time.”

One of the cubes zipped by, moving so quickly that she could barely track it. The wind from its passage whipped her hair to the side as the residual mana caused the skin on her arms to tingle. She turned to Dorrik, raising a single eyebrow in an unspoken question.

“Of course Kaleek and I will strike first to draw the stones toward us,” Dorrik amended. “Even if the elements break off their attacks on us, everything struck by an ego shard will be frozen for a short period. That should give you enough time to destroy the core.”

“Well,” Kaleek replied. “At least with decoy work I get to stab something. I doubt the rocks will bleed, but that’s better than nothing.”

Kat took a deep breath, eyeing up the orbiting rocks for a second. Finally, once she had built up a little confidence, she nodded curtly.

“Ego storm.” Dorrik’s voice echoed throughout the empty room.

She dropped into a crouch, muscles tensing as Kat cycled through her options.

On the other side of the chamber, Kaleek charged forward into the whirring defensive array, his blade and armor glowing different shades of red as the warrior activated two combat abilities at the same time.

Purple light flashed to her side as two dozen violet javelins erupted from Dorrik, streaking toward the dungeon altar.

Three of the stones jerked out of their orbit, forming a triangle in the air with a shimmering green field projected between them. Another two flung themselves out of their defensive hemisphere, streaking toward Dorrik while the final cube slammed into Kaleek’s glowing blade.

Kat leapt forward, moving with the grace of a spooked gazelle. Stamina burned as she activated Shadow Step. She knew from the outside that her body was little more than a grey streak, blurry and hard to make out in the dim light as she closed the distance toward the altar.

Mana churned in her gut as she began casting Gravity Spike. Despite moving at cheetah-like speeds, every step seemed to take an eternity. Kat couldn’t help but feel a target painted on the small of her back. Every time her foot touched the ground, she couldn’t help but feel like that was it. That was the moment when one of the green cubes would slam into her.

Dorrik’s ability struck the defensive shield. The Psi bolts that hit the shield rippled and faded harmlessly, but each of the stones took at least two blows, freezing them in place as Kat darted past.

Something flashed in the corner of Kat’s vision and she Leapt into the air, burning a small amount of stamina to empower the ability. One of the cubes rocketed past, barely missing her shins as Kat began her descent.

She unleashed Gravity Spike. A sphere of blurred air, like a heat mirage, appeared around the crystal. A fraction of a second later the green entity was covered in a webwork of cracks.

The box that had been whipping around for another chance at her faltered, wobbling in the air as Kat’s spell damaged its main body. Before it could recover, Kat hit the ground, left hand on the back of her knife’s pommel as she slammed it into the crystal, Penetrate operating at full power.

It shattered, shards of translucent mineral pelting Kat in a flare of green light. Most hit her chest armor, but at least a couple shards hit her unprotected wrists and face, slicing easily through her flesh and leaving painful trails of blood.

The stones it was using to fight fell to the ground, clunking lifelessly off of the dungeon’s stone floor. On the other side of the room, Kaleek pulled himself to his feet, his left arm hanging limply beneath shoulder armor that bore another crater matching the one in his chest.

Dorrik walked up to Kat’s side, crest wavering proudly as they surveyed the fallout of the fight. Once they took in the injured desoph, Dorrik shook their head slowly.

“Kaleek,” they said severely, the hints of a smile tugging at the corners of their muzzle. “I thought you said you did not enjoy being hit by the creature. Have you considered dodging? If properly executed, it does wonders.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Kaleek replied through gritted teeth. “I think I’ll try that next time. Now Kat, if you could set the broken bone in my arm and heal me, that would be great. It’s hard to find the words to describe how much this hurts.”

She rolled her eyes, walking over to her friend as Dorrik placed one of their hands on the altar, disappearing in a streak of rainbow colored lights. Kat said the words to Cure Wounds II, letting the spell take a chunk of her mana as it knit the desoph’s bruised flesh and broken bones back together.

As she waited for the spell to finish, Kat closed her eyes, calling up her status.

Name

Katherine Debs

Class

Elementalist Initiate

Max Level

8

1624 Marks

HP

47/51

Dodge

Poor

MP

62/87

Damage Mitigation

Insignificant

STA

44/53

Strength

5

Agility

11

Fortitude

5

Endurance

6

Mind

8

Reaction

10

Charisma

7

Spirit

7

Spells Known

Elementalist

Gravity

Water

Light

Gravity’s Grasp

Pseudopod

Dazzle

Levitation

Dehydrate

Shadow

Gravity Spike

Water Jet

Mirage

Gravity Plane

Overpressure

Blind

Flight

Watershape

Flare

Crushing Fist

Scald

Illusory Clone

Skills Known

Knife I - 12, Max (Dancing Blade)

Gravity II - 11, 31%

Water II - 10, 81%

Shadow Step - 2, 11%

Light II - 8, 29%

Cure Wounds II - 4, 82%

Penetrate

Crossbow I - 5, 14%

Perks

Nightvision

Leaping

Sensory Dampening

Crippling Blow

Fast Healing

Second Wind

A number of improvements since the day she had captured the stallesp cruiser and become a shareholder. Still, it wasn’t enough. The more powerful she was, the stronger the enemies that sought her death. Worse, Mr. Jackson was still on the loose, and there was no telling how powerful he had grown with the help of the stallesp in the meantime.

It wasn’t nearly enough.

Cure Wounds II stopped drawing mana from her. The damage that could be cured from the attack on Kaleek was healed.

Kat turned around and approached the altar. Despite everything, its stone was cool under her touch. A moment later, she was surrounded by a nimbus of prismatic lights, and a pop up appeared in her vision.

Congratulations Adventurer!

You have completed the Iron Tier Level Eight Dungeon, Hammers of Stone

Three of Three party members surviving. Good Job!

Assigning awards:

Skill Stone (Arcane Magic: Protection I)

A smile split her face as the Tower’s magic surrounded her, teleporting her out of the dungeon. That was new.