‘What are dungeons?’ has been many a sage’s quandary. What many agree on is that they are a piece of unknown magitech from the civilizations that came before us. They guard unknown treasures and sometimes unknown horrors away from avaricious peoples. Yes, dungeons are both the custodians of the bad as well as the good; after all, how many times have stories about adventurers stumbling upon cursed weapons or unleashing unknown species of monsters in the worlds have been told? That is why we take measures to study dungeons, translate ancient documents and map them out so that only the greater good can be accrued from delving into dungeons. from Nithenoel Wyndham’s Facts and Fiction, In the Mage’s Guild Almanac Issue Year 1524 AC .

Space twisted on itself in wisp-motes of green, blue and red hues then like a waterspout forming in mid-air, it spat out two individuals in a tangle of limbs.

“Crumb! My spleen!” “Vesper’s Pits!” went rolling a female and a male.

“Hahaha,” the girl giggled in mirth as she propped herself up by her elbows.

“Ack, you’re digging into my ribs,” wheezed the man. “What’s got you tickled pink? And will you quit straddling me…please? I don’t think I’ll be breathing for much longer.”

The female blurred, disappearing from his torso and reappeared squatting elsewhere with her back to him and her hood pulled down tightly on her head.

“Uh, Miss Nora. Where and when are we? Did we cross a time zone or something, I would swear it wasn’t even midnight when we ran away from the sloth bear?”

“Huh? You’re right,” she looked up at the sky to see the sun peeking over the trees. Birdsong confirmed it was indeed late morning instead of night as it should have been. “Can you get your bearings?”

“Hold on…” Arthur activated his navigation skill. “Eh, we exited in the right direction.”

“Thank the Primals, if we were dropped anywhere else we would’ve lost our way… What was that anyway?” Nora stood up, brushing off the grass and detritus clinging to her garb.

“I think it was a portal.” said Arthur, likewise getting onto his feet and brushing off the dirt on his elbows and pants. “I could sense it calling to my affinity for Locus.”

Retrieving his hoverboard, “Well, we’re still blind though. [Veres’ North] only tells me where north is, not how far we’ve traveled between two points.”

“Mayhap we are closer than we think,” Nora approached, finger on her lower lip as she examined their environs. “The air is different too, but feels like it rained recently, though not as much as the last place. Will you be okay traveling with little sleep?” she peered at him.

“Eh,” Arthur exhaled. “I’ll manage, we have to keep moving and find somewhere defensible if we want to keep resting.”

“Get on…” he beckoned.

They tried to keep their movement through the rest of their morning as sneaky as possible, leaving nothing disturbed in their wake. Arthur was also yawning with increasing frequency and the coziness of his cloak was not doing him any favours—that and the girl sleeping against his back.

‘Seriously, and I’m the one doing the driving. Having a supernatural constitution is not a replacement for sleep’ another yawn and his eyes watered.

Thunk! An arrow thudded in front of the ground he was about to steer over. Arthur startled and halted the board while Nora awoke from her snooze.

“Halt cretin!” a long eared, willow bodied androgynous youth emerged from the underbrush. Arthur slowly responded with the universal sign for surrender wherever one found themselves on the wrong end of a weapon.

“Er, we come in peace?” Arthur gently voiced his thoughts. Surely a sylvani could be a noble person…right? They were now surrounded by a group of five, all who had their bows strung at them.

“You shall not sully ours ears with your bawdy dialect,” the lead male recoiled as if struck. Surely it was an exaggeration, Arthur’s voice was not bad. Nonetheless, they looked visibly disgusted that the one in front of him was butchering his language.

‘Uh, when I meant noble I didn’t mean haughty taughty. Was my aesylvani that bad?’

“Hold on, there must be a misunderstanding we were—”

“I say absquatulate from hither with your slattern”

“—just passing by.” ‘Rude!’

“Did you not hear me peon? You shall not bemire the sanctitude of our arbors with your raunch.”

“Gah, will you listen, I know I haven't had a bath for days—”

“You have not had a bath?! Oonaris help us, how far the humans have sunk.”

“—but you didn't have to go that far.”

“Did I repeat myself stripling?”

“Gah! Can you believe this guy”? Arthur threw up his hands, switching back to Common. Nora who was silent all this while had to flail hers for stability as the hoverboard almost tipped over.

“First you steamroll over my attempt to parlay; then you go ahead and insult the dignity of a woman I would call my friend,” Nora blushed furiously, “and finally, you turn your nose up at the sun just because I have not had a bath for a day. I can't believe you're such pansies.”

‘Schizzes! I thought sylvani were benevolent but they're just a bunch of xenophobic hippie’s; were my history lessons for nothing?’. Arthur wanted to lower his hands and knead his brows. He could feel a migraine coming. Diplomacy was not working

“Ho! cast your ears over yon my brethren. He's got a foul oral fissure as they say. Humans are savages…”

‘Uh, they really did speak Common,’ Arthur fumed.

“Now you're just asking for it,” Arthur would not let the speaker continue spouting their invectives any longer.

“You dare?!”

Even Nora was trembling, her hand pinching at the back of his cloak as her forehead trembled against his spine. There were tears in her eyes.

His eyes turned amber as he took in the abundance of Aer and Aqer mana around them, and started weaving a spell on the spot. A barrier of spinning gales sprung up around the hoverboard and its riders.

The sylvani jumped back in alarm, adopting battle stances and strung their bows further.

A single [Thunder bolt] would simply not do. He was scraping the dregs of whatever sleep he’d gotten and that meant none at all. Arthur was very grumpy and just wanted to find someplace to sleep.

Arthur was cranky from his near-betrayal by the clan, bug bitten and tired of travel rations...he'd been chased by a sloth freaking bear, a sloth shouldn't have moved that fast for Thea’s sake...it was in the name.

Now, he wouldn't no longer be a push over and let people browbeat him just because they thought he was naive— well, now he knew he was naïve with all the prejudices of appearances he’d judged.

The air around them mirrored his vehemence. Even though it had just drizzled and the sky was clearing up a little, there were storm clouds gathering at a rapid pace. The clouds wanted to disgorge their potential but Arthur kept them leashed.

‘Hrrnhg Not yet!’ he strained, baulking as he added more power to the spell matrix but there was no give; the spell refused to take. What Arthur was trying to do was craft a spell on the spot, surely if spell matrices could be converted into measurable quantities they were mutable to some degree?

Arthur knew how lightning worked, it could strike twice in quick succession when the conditions were right. What he was trying to do was build on the original matrix of a [Thunder Bolt] and give it a repeating factor. However, even his Fulmen mastery was not one to bow under brute forcing. Spellcraft had some rules to it.

Oh, and the slyvani didn’t just stand by and watch while he did this, they shot at him. But the thwacking of bows and screaming or arrows as they tore at the air was indistinct. The roar of the gales spinning around him cut out all sounds of the assault.

And the arrows were either violently ripped away and deflected to the sides or disintegrated into splinters and sawdust. Someone was shaking him but Arthur was far too gone. For some reason, he was beyond angry, feeling contemptuous for having people double cross him and see him as beneath him.

So he dumped the anger and indignance into the spell. Like a key’s teeth engaging the lock cylinder, everything settled into place. Arthur had an epiphany or sorts. Instinctual knowledge…the imprint.

“[Chain Light—

“[Dispel Matrix]!”

A mellifluous female voice spoke over him. There was a Tchooom! as the sky lit up brighter than daylight followed by a crack that lashed at the air. However, the thunderhead did not discharge dendritic lightning bolts as Arthur had envisioned.

Rather, Arthur felt the spell matrix collapse on itself with the sound of shattering glass. And as the energy had to go somewhere, he received part of the backlash; half fizzled into the aether and half—Arthur never heard himself scream holding his right hand as his supposed aethovascular vessels burned from the inside out. But Nora was already there, healer instincts taking over as she induced numbing in his right hand through a paralyzing skill.

None of the supposed sylvani were harmed. Because following that, barriers of interlocking teal hexagons sprang up around them boxing them in even as the spell’s backlash sputtered out in magical sparks.

“Sapheads! Do you realize how much danger you were in?!” a taller male, about 6 foot 3 and then some, emerged around the trees. He was dressed in a leaf green cuirass, a white tunic that ended and was tied off at his biceps and archer’s vambraces, and pants that were tucked into a pair of calf length boots that looked as if made from silk.

There was a purple badge, leaf shaped with green edges pinned to the left of his breast and a bow, as tall as himself was strung on his back. There were no quivers that Arthur could see but his vision was already swimming. Nora caught him before he could have stumbled off the hoverboard as it powered down.

Besides him, was a woman in a gossamer gown that looked ill-suited for a stroll through the forest, seeming as if she’d phased through the tree. She had cyan hair that seemed iridescent despite the scant light in the surroundings. But Arthur was in no state to notice the triumphant smirk held back at the corner of her lips as she regarded the two of them.

“And Aithlin, what did I say about playing with the fae?” was the last thing he heard from the male escort before he let sleep and mana exhaustion take him.

“Hahaha! He was lying through his teeth. You didn’t know?” Nora laughed clutching at her sides as she sat on the stool besides his cot. Arthur had awoken with a splitting headache to find himself in bed with while Nora watched over him.

“Really and you didn't think to tell me this?”

“The look on your face was simply too priceless, but that was simply overkill for a bunch of half-elves.”

“So that’s why you were shaking, I thought you were crying,” he rubbed at the nape of his neck to massage a cramp. He surveyed the room that screamed sylvani residence. The furnishings all looked grown out of one tree rather than worked by a crafter’s hands.

The wood retained all its whorls and swirls, and were it not for its hardness, he would have thought the furniture was a live tree. And the curtains, they looked too delicate to be cloth. And they were one way too and outside, they showed the dark of night, and a sea of lights of various hues. Some moved around while some were stationary fixtures. He thought they were fireflies.

Nonetheless, Arthur felt wonky as if he’d slept through jet lag and jumped one two many time zones. His biological clock was a mess and his right hand felt raw from the mana backlash.

Nora followed his gaze towards the window. She seemed chipper, maybe her constitution enabled her to go for long without sleep as well? Or it was just something about the dark of night that appealed to her sensibilities as a Nyctophile.

“ Haha, not at all,” Nora smiled. She no longer looked harried or in a state of alertness. “I just couldn’t help laughing at the exchange; you were trying very hard to speak their language yet it seemed as if you were trying to force the words out of your own throat.”

Arthur slumped. Speaking Aesylvani without the World translating for him was such a chore. Maybe it would take a while to kick in. As for Nora, well, he thought it was only natural that she would know and never bothered to ask.

However, something bothered him in Nora’s earlier statement and he whirled around so fast Nora swore his neck popped. If anything, it alleviated his neck cramp, “Wait… did you say half-elves?” he asked incredulously.

“Huh? Yes I did, why?” Nora asked.

‘Huh? So the sylvani are what half-elves call themselves, not the elves?

“ Never mind; what happened after I passed out? I should really stop waking up to strange ceilings every time…it's becoming some sort of stale joke,” he grumbled.

“The Sylvani [Warden] carried you back here. We’re at the healer’s arbor.”

“Arbor?” he furrowed his brow.

“Yea, we’re at an arbor. Don’t you see?” said Nora, whipping her arms around.

“Ah, a tree-house…tree-mansion, whatever. I am well rested now; we should get going. Wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome and find myself in chains next.”

Nora winced visibly at that. “Sorry…” Arthur said, remorseful. He looked for his boots and his hoverboard. He found the boots. However, a look of dismay from Nora let him know that something had to have happened to it.

He sighed, he could not begrudge the girl for not going up against a group of armed natives on their turf. Nonetheless, he didn’t let it bog him down, some way or another, he’d get it back or if it came to it rough it out until he made another. That was contingent on making it to civilization first…human civilization.

Following Nora, Arthur descended the stairs into the main healer’s main house and entered what passed for her living room. A warm glow suffused the whole house yet he could not see any light fixtures anywhere, mage lights, Lux crystals or any form of mundane lightning. He could’ve almost mistaken it for daylight were it not for the one way curtains showing the outside.

“Enter…Arthur Sturmdrache and Nora Augustifolia,” called an ageless woman with hair the color of ripe wheat. Arthur hesitated at the doorway but he followed after Nora who seemed to have already been acquainted with the healer.

There was a large furry feline creature napping at her feet as she ran her hands across its broad back. It had a brown fur coat mottled with grays and greens like a panther’s rosettes and its purr was throaty; he could feel it rumbling like an idle engine. Most conspicuous were four additional appendages, two limb-like protrusions from its shoulders and an extra pair of paws behind the front ones.

“Like my grimalkin?” the woman said on seeing Arthur’s gawk. Said grimalkin, awoke with a yawn that showcased its cuspid teeth as it regarded him with emerald eyes.

“What…Oh, sorry, never seen one of those up close,” he half-lied, shaken from his daze.

“Outside of the Vale, they’re as uncommon as faerie wyverns.” She met his eyes with her gray ones. “Make yourself comfortable,” she added, motioning him towards a chair. Nora was already seated, petting a smaller darker mewling specimen of the fantasy creature; its kitten.

‘Huh, Nora is a cat person? Never expected the healer to be an old lady with a cat either. At least I can sense she’s old from the magic around her…how is that a thing?’ He thought as she settled down in a wicker chair woven out of stems and leaves like the rest of the furniture.

“Uh, what do I call you lady healer?” Arthur started. “Nora here, told me you were the one who saw to my well-being when they brought me in. You have my gratitude” he bowed his head.

“Just call me Selessia young sprite,” the sylvani healer replied, giving a warm smile that seemed like it could charm summer itself. If Arthur were Japanese, he would have picked the nuance of ara ara vibes from that display.

“Uhm,” Arthur stumbled over his words. Nora giggled. Arthur glared at her. “I would like to repeat just how much we’re grateful you hosted us…but I’d hate to impose on you further. Seeing as I am already recovered, we’d like to be on our way. How much do we owe you?”

“Ho! So soon? Are you sure about that young sprite? I hear you over exerted yourself casting a spell in a fit of rage,”

“Uh—”

“Your frail body is not ready for the power of draconic magic boy and unfortunately I heard you could not redirect the backlash,” she admonished.

Arthur winced, feeling the raw soreness of his right hand. Every flex of his wrist sent pins and needles smarting throughout his veins, the other ones. He was still getting used to another vascular system in his body.

Nonetheless, her features softened as she added, “ And forgive my niece for reacting the way she did, she can be very impulsive at times.”

“Er,” Arthur shrunk under her gaze. “ I didn’t know what came over me; I just had an urge to get it over with so I could find somewhere to sleep.”

“Then you were not well-taught in mastering your bloodline’s abilities. Until you grow into them, I would advise you refrain from abusing your body so much,” so saying she turned to Nora, “and you, young day walker, I would charge you to keep him from harming himself.”

‘ Yea right,you try learning magic from a dragon,’

“Yes lady Selessia.” Nora acknowledged with a bow of her head.

“Hmm, now. The [Warden] would like to interrogate you —”

Arthur blanched.

“ And also, your relic and weapons were taken in by [Winter Keeper].” she added after a beat.

‘Not again!’ Arthur paled. ‘Fool me twice…’

“—however, inasmuch as I do not care for Aesylvani politics and all that. I can tell you have a good disposition and do not mean harm to our people. So I will make sure that you are not treated unpleasantly. Alas, even with my standing I cannot sway the Court of Seasons so you’ll have to be on your best behavior.”

“Lady Selessia, we couldn’t possibly—”

“Hush now, you needn’t worry about your items. That old twig Volemhir wouldn’t let anything happen to your artifacts. Also, you don’t even need to pay me for my services. Let’s just say I found the young day walker’s company endearing.”

Arthur looked at Nora who just shrugged nonplussed. However, he was anxious about a repeat of what happened with Clan nightcrawler. But seeing as Nora was at ease, he relaxed; or tried to.

“I’ll take that as your assent then,” she looked to her feline pet who turned to regard her. Silent communication seemed to pass between them before the big cat stood up then doing a stretch that looked impossibly flexile even for a feline. However, at the same moment, the cat popped out of existence.

Arthur blinked, then brushed it off. What was there to gawk at when he’d already experienced two types of translocation magic in the span of two days? As he was thinking this,the grimalkin returned, popping into existence in a flurry of green and purple motes. She had in her mouth, a scruffy bundle which yelped when she dropped it on the ground.

“ But first—”

“Guah!,” the bundle of beddings moved, as a head popped out. “ Ugh, Aunty Sel! Its not the spring festival yet!” they grumbled rubbing at their eyes. One of their silky gown sleeves loosened over a shoulder.

“ Seeing as you’re already acquainted with Szephia, I can’t think of anyone else more fitting to showcase our slyvani hospitality,” Selessia smiled demurely.

It was the sylvani girl from before. The very same that deconstructed his spell matrix. Arthur was left confused.

‘She is the healer’s niece?!’ Arthur almost stood up perplexed. And that was when the sylvani girl’s eyes landed on him and their face turned pale as if they’d seen a ghost. Arthur’s eye twitched; he was half-expecting his danger sense to start screaming at him. The young man knew that look from somewhere and he reacted almost instantaneously.

“ Uuh, bummer; [Wind Shiel—”

“Kyaaa! [Gale Burst!]!”