Gina withdrew to her crystal inside the lamp, keeping her senses as minimal as possible. The creature stamped down the long hall toward her brewery. Gina's light dimmed as the creature came closer. She sensed it enter the large room, then turn toward her brewery.

Gina's intense worry shifted into anger at the thought of her brewery getting destroyed after she finally got it running. She focused her whole being on the invader, willing the monster to burst into flames before it could tamper with her ale. Unfortunately spontaneous combustion wasn't a power she had. Her ill intent seemed to be brushed away by the life energy of the monster.

The creature in her soul space was a pagnos, dwarf on the top, two legged bovine on the bottom. Two horns, one snapped short, curved upwards from a tangle of brown hair that fell to her mid back. Her strong, toned shoulders covered by a rough shirt of dirty brown cloth. A simple skirt made from a strip of cloth tied with a rope was around her waist. She had a small bag slung over her shoulder and an old, chipped, double bladed hand axe was slipped through a loop of the rope that served as a belt. Her legs were thick, covered in brown fur and ended in large chipped hooves.

The pagnos approached the brewery, sniffing she crouched down and looked at the fire, content with finding the origin of the smoke. She stood and walked over to the growing room, puzzled at the dirt and wooden troughs. She grabbed a couple of handfulls of water from the stone reservoir, drinking it from her cupped palm.

After peeking into the bedroom and the workroom the pagnos left back down the long hall. Gina sighed a long sigh of relief as the intruder left the cave, then inhaled the sigh right back in as the intruder came back with a long stick and sat on the ledge on the side of the pond. Reaching into her bag she grabbed a fishing line and tied it to the stick, hooking some dried meat to the bit of sharp bone on the end of the string.

The pagnos sat and fished until the sun started to set, the shadow of the mountain above blanketing the forest outside, as the birds tucked themselves in for the night and started to sing their lullabyes.

Two fish sat next to her as she wearily caught dinner, not even noticing as a small figure slipped into the doorway behind her, followed by three more small figures hauling a twitching hare. She eventually decided two fish was enough and grabbing a large rock, a pile of sticks and the two fish, she headed back toward the hallway.

Gina fought back the fear, if the pagnos wanted to kill and murder she would have done it already. When her wee folk arrived, she told them to stay hidden, there was no way they could take on an armed pagnos without losses. Using what little energy she had gained through the day, she made a tunnel that ran from Shales homes back to a hidden nook in the cavern.

Taking mum's warnings seriously, Shale carefully covered the windows and doors of their houses with a thin layer of stone. using the passage going to the back of the cavern, they adding another exit behind Pappi’s pot, working into the early night, moving slowly so they wouldn't be noticed and keeping a lookout just to be safe.

The pagnos roasted her fish on the small fire heating the brewery, adding more wood to the fire. After she had eaten and filled a small water skin, she left down the hall, stopping right outside the door. Gina was hoping she would keep walking, but hopes were dashed once again.

The pagnos sat on the floor outside the chilling mist of the waterfall, covered her shoulders and arms with a thin blanket, falling asleep with her back to the stone wall. Her axe rested uneasily on her lap, her bag tucked to her side, the drawstring wrapped around her arm.

Gina didn't sleep that night, her soul focused on the intruder

When morning came Gina felt surprisingly energized for not shutting down her consciousness all night. She quietly took a peek at her status, noticing she had gathered 90 energy in the night. She had a short personal crisis about consuming the essence of the living. Fortunately the crisis ended when her intruder eventually woke up, as the first rays of the morning sun broke over the treetops to light up the cavern.

Shale had already headed out with Pappi, it turned out Pappi had some quest to go on and needed muscle. They snuck out before it got light, making it even harder for them to spelunk their way around the far side of the cavern. They made it just fine though, fading outside into the dark of the night.

Gina was happy they found something to keep themselves busy, she didn't know how long this intruder was going to be here. She was happy to see shale had covered over the entrances to the hidden tunnel behind them as they escaped.

The pagnos stirred and seemed a little puzzled. Standing up with a groan and a stretch, tightly corded muscles snapped with irritation at being forced in uncomfortable positions all night. She drank a little water from the skin, and checked the door leading into the brewery. She picked a small twig up off the floor, the door hadn't been used all night.

She stepped out into the sun, letting the warm light chase away the chill fall damp. Finding her way back into the brewery she seemed puzzled at the still glowing fire, then added a few more bits of wood. She cautiously looked into the rooms again, then headed back to the pond to catch breakfast.

After eating her breakfast of fish, the pagnos left he cavern, heading towards the farm. Gina was left alone again, not knowing what to do. The intruder had left her blanket to dry on a rock, and the pole still leaned against the cavern wall. She didn't have enough energy to build anything that could stop the intruder, trying something half drafted would end in wasted energy while creating suspicion.

The intruder didn't act like it knew Gina was a dungeon, no one would casually nap inside the stomach of a magical being designed to devour everything.

She had to play it smart. She was collecting extra energy by allowing the "guest" to sleep there. The best plan would be to keep collecting energy until she was maxed out, then use her "guests" own energy against her by unleashing a devastating combo of traps. She would take down this intruder and devour her, eliminating any knowledge of the young dungeon, keeping herself and her family safe until permanent defenses could be put in place.

Gina bided her time. She cleared up a series of twelve small square rooms in two rows down behind the brewery, adding a small vent to connect them to her soul space. She was satisfied to see her energy cap raise to 500, and the vent was impossible to see behind the brewery.

The pagnos returned when it was getting dark, she headed directly to the brewery. Finding the glass quarter full of ale, she drank it all, smiling as the warmth filled her soul.

Gina was furious, she had forgotten to check, now she had missed her chance. "BRING YOUR OWN ALE!' She screamed impotently at the beast that had taken such liberties. "YOU MONSTER! I WILL GET MY ALE BACK!"

The intruder didn't notice the ranting of the dungeon she was now in. She took out her bag and dumped a bunch of barley into the tumbler.

"I will accept your tribute" Gina glowered "But I will never forgive you taking liberties with my ale"

The intruder also had some vegetables. After checking to make sure no one else was there she ate them raw at the table in the bedroom.

Gina couldn't help but notice the mud clumped in the fur of the pagnos's legs and the dirt under her fingernails. Whatever she had done to earn that barley had been hard work.

The pagnos took a quick bathe the pool, then laid down in the warmth of the brewery and fell asleep.

The next day was pretty much the same. Gina checked her energy, noticing the drain caused by Shale and Pappi. It was pleasant to know her children were all right.

The intruder returned that night, once again adding to the hopper. The mug was full tonight, she only drank a quarter of it. She ate her simple meal, then took a bath. This time she lied down in the bed.

Gina slowly consumed the ale, it still warmed her soul, even as a dungeon. She closely examined the pagnos. Gina couldn't read any stats, but she did notice the scars that covered her guest. A worn spot on her leg reminded Gina of the same mark her old body had from being chained whenever she worked in the forge room.

In that moment Gina realized maybe having this guest wasn't all that bad, they seemed to help each other out. She got barley and energy; her guest got a place to live.

Almost like they were thinking the same thing her guest sighed with contentment. "I could get used to a life like this. I wish I could stay here forever."

If Gina had eyes she would have cried. To think that only after death would someone join her in that lonely place she had existed in for so long, all alone. "Do you really mean that? She wondered.

The Pagnos's eyes flew wide open wide in terror "Who's there?" she warbled, fear dripping off every syllable.