By the time Zeichen had returned all the voices to their respective owners, compliance rang out all around the room. Rhen was confused about the whole ordeal… it was, in his mind, the right way to go about tackling the problem, but none of them had come to it willingly. The whole thing left Rhen feeling both prideful and disgusted. Very confusing.

The representatives in the room recorded the verdicts and brought the mandates back to their respective guilds, and then the room emptied. Rhen stayed behind with Zeichen, remembering her invitation—and also not really wanting to share an elevator with any of the people she’d just strongarmed into following his suggestion.

“You feel bad,” Shevine said, translating for Zeichen.

Rhen nodded.

“You don’t like the way that went down?”

“Why didn’t any of them want to help? Why did we have to force them?”

Zeichen shook her head with an exhausted smile. “That’s the way it is with them. They are vile, greedy bastards who care for nothing but their legacy of wealth and power.”

“Sorin did seem concerned for his people,” Rhen offered.

Zeichen shook her head. “He’s worried about a revolt. As I’m sure you’ve heard of the uprising in Jovan, Desedra III?”

“Yes, it was in my contract paperwork for the Nexus node that I’d have to send any provisions needed to support the effort to suppress them. Fortunately, I was never asked, and didn’t have to decline.”

“Because I never asked. Desedra III is one of my dungeons, and I,” Shevine faltered again, then signed something furiously back to Zeichen. They argued quietly this way for a good fifteen seconds before Zeichen clicked her tongue with finality, her gestures getting hard and slow.

Shevine sighed, turning to Rhen. “My apologies. I believe she’s trusting you too quickly with information that could be her undoing. I’m sure you understand that.”

“I do.” Rhen looked to Zeichen. Was this a trap, or was she desperate for an ally?

“I incited the revolt in Desedra III. It’s time for change, real change. We cannot go on this way. Our dungeons are collapsing, our food is going to waste in the homes of the ultra-wealthy while the delvers survive on monster meat soup and molded bread, and we fight one another for scraps, never finding true happiness in life. Existence is suffering, and this is not the way it’s supposed to be.”

Rhen took a deep breath. This was stupid, it could get him killed, but he had to say it. “I don’t understand why you care.”

Zeichen grinned. “Let’s return to my dungeon and I’ll discuss more. I have abilities to share with you.”

Zeichen led the way down to a private vehicle that waited outside. It was several hours to her dungeon plot, even by private car, so Rhen took this opportunity for additional signing lessons. He wanted to be able to understand Zeichen better, and it just seemed the respectful thing to do.

Shevine and Zeichen taught him a few simple signs like names, pronouns, basic words like delving or dungeon, until his head was full to the brim with new information. He practiced basic sentences with Zeichen, and was corrected a lot, but by the end of the three-hour trip, he was grasping some of it.

Desedra VII was not at all what Rhen was expecting. There was no big operation, no city surrounding it, and only a few basic buildings. There was a farm plot beside the inn, and people leisurely making their way around it.

The delvers and workers all signed to Zeichen when they saw her, saying things like “Welcome home,” and “We missed you.” It was quiet. No power tools, no loud drilling, hardly any speaking outside the occasional laugh. It was blissfully peaceful.

The dungeon opening had a sign over the top that read, “We respect this place, and it provides.”

Rhen felt like he was in a dream. Was this really Zeichen IV, the brazen gutsed badass who could kill him with a flick of her finger? Did she really believe in the same practices as Rhen? This dungeon had been here a while, he knew. The establishment had ivy growing up the sides that had to have been years in the making, and the farm plots were all well developed.

Beyond the mouth of the cave opening were stations to grab equipment and weapons, none of them locked in any way. She trusted everyone here with everything she had.

Zeichen pulled a glowing halberd off the wall and inspected it. The staff was a shiny dark gray with brown leather wrappings. The butt was a short dagger with a purple gem set into the base of the blade, and the socket guard at the top was bright gold. The metal of the beak and blade were both a deep silver, with rubies inset along the blade and black, angular shards protruding from the beak. It was a beautiful weapon.

Zeichen swished it through the air and a faint, twisted glow of red and black followed in its wake. She jabbed with preternatural speed and twirled it overhead, then let it come to rest beside her. She signed to Shevine, Rhen only picked up “good,” “I like,” and “thank them,” but he was happy he was beginning to understand her on his own.

“Pick any weapon here you like,” Shevine said, gesturing to the racks.

Rhen had left his crescent moon blades at home, since it was poor form to bring weapons into a guild chamber, so he was grateful to have this option. He looked over each blade carefully, trying to find something that spoke to him. After a moment of picking through different shaped daggers and swords, he found a four-ringed fist weapon with a blade on the knuckles that slid down the pinky to mid-forearm.

It was similar in form to his crescent blades, but different enough that it would be fun to learn. And the blade didn’t come out along the thumb side, which meant he could still fire a bow while wearing them. He picked up an average looking bow as well, and Zeichen stopped him, redirecting to a more elegant bow with inset gems the thrummed with power.

Zeichen held up the fist weapon attached to his hand, then pointed to a little button near the thumb. When she pressed it, Rhen felt a tiny pull of anima from his hand, and the blade on the pinky side snapped straight out. She pressed the button again and it retracted to the guard position. Nifty.

The three of them headed into the dungeon and Rhen looked back at Shevine. “Aren’t you taking weapons?”

Shevine smiled and held up her hands, so her sleeves fell back. Rhen had ignored the fact that Shevine always wore gloves, but now with her forearms exposed, he understood why. Her arms were weapons, no visible skin of any kind. It was like Wyland’s fake arm, except loaded to the brim with blades and trickery. She pulled off her black gloves revealing mechanical fingers. With a surge of anima, her fingers grew two-inch claws from the tip that glowed with putrid yellow light that could’ve only been poison. She bent her wrist all the way back and a foot-long blade protruded, then retracted again with a swish.

“You are a weapon,” Rhen said with surprised reverence.

“You haven’t even seen my legs,” she said with a smirk.

“What happened to you?” Rhen asked with a painful scowl. He could only imagine.

Shevine shrugged. “I was born this way.”

What kind of cruel gods did this to a child?

“Don’t feel bad for me. My trials, and Zeichen, made me who I am.” She looked to Zeichen with a smile.

Zeichen signed something Rhen didn’t catch.

Shevine chuckled. “She said she only helped me become who I was meant to be. Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get to hunting.”

They made their way through the sparsely lit, standard connection tunnels until they made it to the first node. Just behind the node was an inn not too dissimilar from Rhen’s, and it was bustling with activity. Zeichen motioned for him to keep following as she led them down a side tunnel to the first eco-chamber.

Warm, green light radiated down from the ceiling that Rhen couldn’t see, and a thin mist hung on the floor. Crickets chirped and frogs sang amid the buzzing of smaller insects. The air was moist and warm, with the scents of lilac mingled with damp wood. Trees with tangles of hanging vines, and vibrant blue blooms lined the narrow path into the chamber. The path was closed in by puddles of mossy swamp water, but the footlights helped guide the way.

After a few moments, they cleared the entryway and the chamber opened to a massive swampland. A splash and guttural growl brought the party to a stop. Rhen clenched his fists inside the weapons and dropped into stealth.

Zeichen clicked, then pointed into the water. Rhen couldn’t see what she was gesturing to, but Shevine saw it. With a swift thrust, she speared her right arm-sword into the water. Something thrashed below the surface, and a massive tail slapped up out of the swamp. The beast, a huge reptile with two rows of thick teeth, reared out of the water and tossed Shevine into the lake.

Zeichen sliced her halberd through the air, catching the beast in the throat. But the weapon slid off the creatures’ solid scales with a shink. Rhen rushed in next, targeting the space behind the monster’s front leg where the scales were small, and spaced out. He pressed the button on his right fist to pop the blade out, then laced his strike with Curse of Anima Rot, and jammed the blade into the monster’s side.

The angrigator roared and curled in on itself, jaws open wide to Rhen’s face. He was about to get chomped and hadn’t even made it one fight into the dungeon.

This was going to be embarrassing.