Following my proclamation, the air hung heavy and silent.

In this moment I claimed another part of my identity as a dungeon; a protector, provider, and, if necessary, an avenger. While I still do not want to search for blood, no longer will I shy away from it either. Until now, I acted too passively and that left me vulnerable.

Turning my attention back to Finn, I saw his hand resting on the pommel of his sheathed sword. His eyes told me that he acknowledged my power but was not cowed.

As if nothing happened he continued. “You don’t seem completely soft hearted then, good. The main point of negotiation my father sent me to discuss is allyship. Currently the soldiers of Rewp battle against a dungeon a far more powerful than yourself. This dungeon’s domain pushed to the edge of our settlement. Should we fall, the dungeon will be greatly empowered by our dying energy. Shortly after the dungeon will certainly bring a fight to your domain as well. Currently, you stand no chance of winning, despite your rapid growth you’re simply too young. The colony of Rewp formally proposes an ally agreement to work together for our mutual survival.” As he finished his monologue, he stood rigidly upright and formal.

“If the situation you describe is true, then I am open to the idea. What would this partnership include besides mutual defense? Your auras may be an issue as well, with them I won’t be able to use any of my energy.” I did not trust him fully, but he could end my life now.

“Auras should not be an issue. We will open ourselves up to your energy if necessary. Even if we did not, auras naturally acclimate to your dungeon over time. Were this was not the case armies could simply spread out soldiers in a dungeon, slowly clear the already made constructs, and have complete control. As far as our partnership, after defeating the attacking dungeon, Rewp would prefer to maintain a beneficial relationship. After all, within a moon cycle, your domain will also reach our borders. Eventually, we must live together or fight for territory.”

I thought about his proposal. Letting a colony of pixies inhabit my dungeon seems dangerous if they turned against me, but then they would also acclimatize. How could they fight when I could directly manipulate the air out of their lungs or simply use my limbs to rip off heads? A direct attacker from the outside not acclimatized is a bigger threat and the pixies would assist in defense from outsiders.

Taking my pause for hesitancy, Finn added, “Additionally, a whole colony of pixies living within your domain also means that various forms of death from our members or livestock gives you significant energy.”

I already decided, but that reasoning certainly made me feel better about my choice.

“I will accept your proposal of allyship. What is the situation with the dungeon, how have you battled it so far?”

“Four rotations ago one of our hunters flew into the domain of a dungeon not far from our colony. Since then we sustained increasingly large monster attacks once a rotation. The last one occurred shortly before my squad came here. Thus, we should have almost a full rotation before the next wave.”

Thinking over the attacks, I found the attacks odd.

“Why does the dungeon not store up monsters for one giant attack? The energy cost of making monsters that can travel outside a domain is significantly more than making constructs, which cannot leave. The dungeon wasted massive amounts of energy with smaller attacks.”

“We’re dealing with a young dungeon without true intelligence yet. It is driven by instinct, only the oldest and most powerful dungeons gain true sapience. Except you, inexplicably.”

“Right. In that case, we should capitalize on its lack of strategy. Using my constructs to defeat its monsters will drain its energy at little cost to me. However, I need more energy to build constructs, I wiped out most of my resources fighting the mongagers.” My mind already started racing, trying to figure out every advantage we could manage.

“Our shepherds will bring our livestock for slaughter. In addition, the King will make a proclamation that the terminally sick should move to your domain until it covers our colony,” Finn somberly stated.

“Thank you. I will honor them and see if I can ease their passing.” A part of me felt wrong accepting such a sacrifice, but the pixies were already dying. This way their death would help protect their loved ones.

After a moment of silence, Finn shook his head and continued, “Alright, enough talk, let’s kill a dungeon,” he said with a grin.

Finn left with his squad to return with news of the new allyship and begin our plans. In the meantime, I rebuilt my defenses. First I healed Avir’s wing, which took some time but did not require significant energy. Then I spawned hundreds of ubee and ant constructs that died in the mongager fight. Finally, I formed a dozen constructs of different birds for Avir to command. I needed more creatures to make different types of constructs. For now, I need to gather more energy before I can give life to a new mongager monster.

As I finished, Finn entered my domain to the North with two other pixies leading a few dozen yeetles. The beetle-like yeetles immediately leaped to eat my lush flowers, letting out their signature chirp “Yeet!”

Finn waved generally in the air, “Greetings Riva, I brought the yeetles that we plan to slaughter tonight. These brothers are the shepherds Poz and Joz,” he gestured to the two pixies. Poz was a tall, lanky pixie with messy hair and attention darting everywhere. In contrast, Joz lazily hovered at the back of the yeetle pack, stocky and wide. Finn continued, “they will collect the meat and shells. If you need anything of them, let me know.”

Poz leaned over to Finn and whispered, “Are you sure this is the best idea, your highness? We’re feeding a glatting dungeon.”

Finn responded in a loud and commanding voice, “Are you questioning the judgment of the royal family? This solution is best for our situation and so far Riva proved herself trustworthy. Also, she can hear any whispering in her domain.”

Seeing he insulted his prince and I heard his comment, Poz turned pale and nervously scratched the back of his head. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean no disrespect your highness and Miss Riva,” he rapidly stammered and bowed his head.

“Tell him no offense taken, I understand the connotations around dungeons and that I am the exception. I hope my actions will show him and the other pixies that I am trustworthy.” I thought to Finn.

After Finn conveyed my message, Poz visibly relaxed. By now the trio led the yeetles to a clearing and began to separate out individuals. I took the opportunity to inspect the yeetles further, they had a long, oval torso, black with green zig-zags, and a small head with two massive spiky horns.

Soon small, “yeet” whimpers could be heard as Poz and Joz got to work gathering the beetle meat. The sight saddened me, but I reminded myself that the pixies do this all the time to eat. The lovely rush of energy helped distract me as well.

“Finn, how long will it take for your auras to adjust to my domain? I need to continue preparing for the battle,” I thought to Finn.

“Oh, my apologies. Poz, Joz, open yourselves up.”

At his order, the three auras suddenly turned from impenetrable forces into malleable and shrinking bubbles. Within seconds they disappeared completely. To test out my renewed powers and show my gratitude, I coaxed a root out of the ground into the form of a sled and then disconnected it. I essentially made a large vine basket two runners since they worked better than wheels on the uneven ground.

“Thank you and here, you may use this sled to transfer the meat back to Rewp,” I said

The pixies stared in wonder as roots magically manipulated themselves before their eyes. My words broke their stupor. “Ah, I completely forgot we will need to bring them back. Keep working you two, I will return with help,” Finn ordered Poz and Joz before he turned to go.

“Wait, Finn. Do your people have any other domestic creatures that I could get a sample of? I currently feel like I am lacking a proper arsenal of monsters that I can create,” I inquired.

After a moment of consideration, Finn responded, “Hmm, we have a few different types of insects but most of them are too small or friendly to be useful in combat. The next time I return, I will bring one of our strategists. Soon healers will also bring our two mostly sickly pixies who likely only have a few rotations left.”

“I understand.”

Before Finn flew out of sight, I’d already begun preparing to expand my domain again. By now the dying pack of yeetles filled my capacity to halfway. I slowly infused my domain with energy from my core and rotated it. I kept the speed controlled and slow. For now, I wanted to keep more control than the last time I expanded.

I continued experimenting with my control. First, I accelerated or decelerated the body of energy. Moving it around en masse felt like wind blowing around inside my body. I tried concentrating all of it on the outskirts of my domain to make a ring and finally centered it. More of the yeetles’ energy joined the storm as they died. Try as I might I couldn’t force the energy beyond a certain rotational speed. This meant the farther from my core the greater the tangential speed as it needed to follow a larger circumference.

When I felt the moment right, I pushed all of it into a compact layer on the edge of my domain. I pushed it to my maximum speed. Then immediately I shrunk the layer as quickly as I could. This slingshotted the energy toward and past me. As it passed me and flew towards the edge of my domain, I pushed with all my might.

The end result was spectacular. Between speeding up the energy in a spin, pulling it towards me, and then pushing it away, I managed to propel my it much farther than before. My domain expanded one and a half times as far as my last attempt.

The flood of new information dazed me for a few seconds. In addition to more forest life, I also noticed the start of a mountain to my south, the river to the east raged downstream, and a few interesting veins of ore hidden deep below ground. But those explorations would need to wait. To my northeast, I now noticed the edge of the pixie kingdom.

Most of the pixies lived in tall, hollowed out tree trunks. Although I noticed two giant skulls used as homes. I made a note to myself. Don’t anger pixies. In addition to the “homes,” a variety of bridges, ropes, and nets wove through the trees. The reason quickly became apparent as three young pixie children ran into view. The last girl tripped and fell off a walking platform. Although she flapped vigorously, her wings did not support her and she plummeted into the net.

The other two children poked their head over the edge of the platform, laughing and pointing. The speech sounded like gibberish, but I could tell the young girl felt embarrassed and angry. In response to the shouting, a stern an older pixie appeared. The set of her shoulders and bags under her eyes showed extreme stress and fear. Quickly, she carried the girl back up to the platforms, and shuffled them all back out of my domain. The older woman seemed skittish, looking around and harried. Had the adults noticed my presence?

As if to answer my question, Finn flew into view. Another male pixie followed shortly behind. The newcomer held himself rigidly, had a sharp haircut, and wore a sharp uniform with a metal circlet around his upper arm.

“Riva, is that you? How did you push your domain out this far so quickly?”, Finn’s arms waved animatedly in distress. “We nearly launched an attack before we realized the domain came from your area of the forest!”

“I should have thought to warn you, I apologize. I don’t know how I differ from other dungeons, but I expand a large amount all at once,” I thought to him, “and who is the other pixie?”

Finn let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, as long as you know to keep me informed. This gentleman is Commander Jarh Ead. He is the primary tactician for the royal army and will coordinate with you on battle strategy. Through me you should be able to think into his mind.”

“I must admit I’m not fond of working with a dungeon after all your kind has done,” Jarh said. “But if I can give those glatters a whooping with their own monsters I’ll be a happy man. Let’s not waste any more time on small talk, let’s plan a slaughter.”

“I agree wholeheartedly.”