The night had ended fairly successfully Jake thought. No bloodshed, no tantrums, everybody got fed. He’d had let his mom discover a ‘Scooby Snack’ of venison in the kitchen. The cooks were surprised and wondered what kind of monster it came from. But meat is meat and they went to town on it after washing it in the kitchen sink.

The snack plus the vegetables that his mom pulled from her inventory made a nice stew and everybody got fed. They also pulled the pots and pans and knives and cutting blocks out of their inventories too so they had enough of a kitchen to make dinner and breakfast.

Similarly, everybody got a place assigned to sleep and the watch was set and finally, everybody hit the mattress. Which in a lot of cases, since they hadn’t brought sheets or blankets, was all they had to sleep on.

But they got through it and then Fern and her husband, Hildi, Billy because he tagged along, Rex and Bernie, who held Dobbie, and Sammy and Dato ducked into a small door that Jake had built into the hallway between the Fischer’s room and the enclosure to the dungeon. He’d created the door to let Baxter back into his dungeon. Most of the people were in bed.

“So these steps lead down to him?” his mom asked.

“Yes,” said Hildi. “When I was here before the only way down was through that tunnel over there, but I guess he’s added some steps to,” she started to say ‘the dungeon’, or ‘himself’ but wasn’t sure how his mom was going to take that, so she just stopped there.

They started down the steps, bringing out their flash sticks since the steps had never been lit. Jake made a note to figure out the dungeon lighting soon. He still had that skill “Light” he could use as well as his new ability to make lights, so he had some choices to make.

Other than the Scooby Snacks he’d made for Baxter and the members of the caravan, he hadn’t really spent any more mana except for making more lights and Max’s door and filling in the windows. He’d also dropped his core the rest of the way down to the base of the second floor. Baxter had wanted his old sleeping spot back.

He’d listened in to the cooks and had gotten a bunch of feedback about what to fill his kitchen space with though, and he felt like that should be his main priority today. But he could wait on talking to his family before starting all that.

His family had begun to go down the stairs. They’d reached the first landing and stood and looked into the long empty corridor.

“So what’s this place called,” asked his dad.

“Well, he called it his first floor when I was here before. He kind of felt bad about all the traps on it, but not really. He’s a dungeon, he’s got urges.

‘Oh com’on,’ Jake thought. ‘Did you have to go there with my mother?’

“Yea,” said his mom, “we couldn’t get him out of the bathroom when he was in high school.”

‘OH MY GOD!’ Jake thought.

Hildi turned bright red. Rex and Bernie and Will all started laughing. Sammy and Dato turned a little red as well. Billy looked a little puzzled, like he might understand, but wasn’t sure and didn’t want to ask.

“What?” said his mom. “It is a natural part of a young boy’s life!”

If anything, Hildi turned brighter red.

“SHUT HER UP!” Jake pleaded with Hildi. “PLEASE GOD! LET IT END!”

“Uhm,” said Hildi, “not those kinds of urges, the bloodthirsty type. Stabby, stabby, trappy, trappy, urges.”

“He is a dungeon after all,” said Billy. “Got to expect him to want to kill people.”

His mom, fortunately for both her and Jake who was thinking about releasing the giant snake on her, moved on to the new topic.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked Billie.

“Well, dungeons, at least in the stories, are places of vast wealth, danger and experience. They create monsters and loot and adventurers explore them and fight with the monsters. And take the loot when they win. Sometimes the monsters win, sometimes the adventurers win. Usually, the dungeon starts off easier, with things like a couple of goblins and by the end of it you might be fighting dragons.”

“When you say, sometimes the monsters win, you mean, they kill the adventurers?” she asked.

“Of course,” said Billy looking puzzled at the question. “That’s what dungeons do. They kill people and create things.”

“Hmm,” said Fern. Jake recognized that sound. Especially from his teenage years. It meant ‘I’ve heard what you’re saying. Now it’s time to grow up and do better.’

‘Lord,’ he thought. ‘Even as a pink stone, I still kind of fear that sound!”

“Anyway,” said Hildi, “this is the first floor. Jake used to be at the end of it in a small room.”

“I’ve moved,” said Jake. “I’m down on the second floor now.”

“But,” she continued, “he’s moved, he’s down on the second floor now.”

“That makes sense,” said Billy. Fern looked at him and may or may not have ‘hmmed’ him. A different ‘hmm’. This one meant ‘I’m still waiting on an explanation’.

Evidently Billy knew mom speak because he continued. “In the stories I’ve read, the dungeon has a core. If an adventurer crushes the core, they can kill the dungeon. In other stories, if an adventurer takes the core out of the dungeon, they wind up with either a mana source or a crafting material. That's why dungeons grow harder as you come closer to the core. The monsters get higher level, they come in waves, the dungeon’s traps get more lethal. They have instincts or urges to protect themselves. That’s also why they keep expanding. They want to put as many monsters between their core and the adventurers as possible. Well, that and the mana.”

“Mana?” this time it was Dato that asked the question.

“Yeah, you must have noticed that the mana level inside Max’s is several times what it used to be at your house,” Billy said. “That’s one of the things that dungeons do, they produce mana for the environment. Why I don’t know, but I think the more mana they produce, the more mana they have to use. Of course, what kind of sucks for them, is that the mana they need to run the dungeon goes up too. Plus that’s one of the ways that you can discover a dungeon. The mana in the area around it goes up. At least, I think that all holds true. That’s what all my novels said.”

Jake was amazed at this little kid. He’d summed up in two minutes what it had taken Jake a couple of weeks to figure out. And he hadn’t really thought about that mana in the environment thing. Smart. He used Identify on the boy and got the following information back,

Name: William Brown “Billy”

Age: 10

Height: 135 cm tall

Weight: 30 kg

Classless

No Titles

Level 0

Description: Human Male, Red hair, Blue eyes, Freckles.

His using the ability on her brother must have twigged Hildi’s perception because she said, “Bad Dungeon! Mine!”

Jake said, “Sorry, I didn’t know for sure who he was. I just wanted to know his name. He seems like he’s got his act together.”

Hildi looked around and saw everyone looking at her. She said, “Jake used a skill on Billy here. It’s called identify. It tells him the name, class, levels, basic information about the person or being, I guess, that it’s used on. He wanted to get my little bros help on designing himself.”

“Cool!” Billy said. “I don’t mind!”

“Yea,” Hildi replied in a big sister kind of way, that meant, ‘yeah, that’s not happening’.

“Com’on,” Fern said. “Let’s get down there. We still need to sleep and heaven help us all if everybody wakes up and panics over us being gone.” With that, they started down the steps again.

It didn’t go well. Jake should have known better, but who knew his 50 plus-year-old parents wouldn’t be happy about taking 1412 steps down to the second floor? After they reached about 200 steps, his mom stopped and sat down on the step she was standing on. Everyone else did the same, letting out noises of complaint.

Looking at them, Jake decided that none of them seemed really Ok with the steps. All the group was looking winded.

He quickly carved a room out and put a couple of benches in it at that level.

“Holy shit boy! What the fuck?” his dad said, surprised by the sudden room appearance. “Nice room, but are you trying to kill us? How many more of these damn steps are there?”

Jake said to Hildi, “About 1212.”

Hildi repeated, “1212”

The whole group let out a groan then. Rex said, “Shit!” as well. Bernie, who used to be religious back before the Event and it kind of became irrelevant, smacked him. His sisters walked over and sat on the bench.

“Tell them I’ll make a landing for them every 200 steps,” Jake said. “Will that help? Or, we can just talk here?”

“No,” his mom said. “I need to see what my boy has become. We’re going on. But the landings will be appreciated.”

Rex and Dato looked like they might be about to protest but then decided to shut up. Will just looked down the stairway, trying to see if he could see anything besides steps.

They eventually arrived at the landing of the second floor. The big open space in front of them stretched out well beyond what their lightsticks could illuminate. Even when the group tried the ‘Beam’ setting. They stood there quietly for a moment, trying to capture their breath, trying to sense how big the room they were looking into was.

It swallowed their voices. Although it was only four meters high, it seemed to go on for a long way beyond the circle of light they were currently standing in.

Finally though, Jake created a light in the room in which he was situated and the group could view where they were supposed to go.

“Is that where Jake is,” asked Rex.

“Yes,” answered Jake.

“Yes,” said Hildi.

“Are there any traps or monsters that we need to watch out for?” asked Will.

“No,” Jake answered. “There are three big snakes down here, but I didn’t want to scare anybody so I moved them to the back wall. And I haven’t made any traps here. At least not yet. This was going to be my big forest room, remember?”

“No,” said Hildi. “No traps, no snakes. Just him and Baxter.”

“Yes,” said Jake. “Baxter came down here last night.”

“Well, com’on then,” said his mom. “Let’s go see my son.”

They had barely taken a couple of steps when they saw a blue light coming towards them and heard what sounded like nails on the floor. They stopped again and waited. Soon Baxter came into their circle of light and dashed over to Fern, who he’d taken a liking too. And then, after getting a couple of ear scratches, he turned and ran back into the darkness.

“Well,” said Fern, “it appears as if we have a guide. Let’s follow that dog.”

“Where’s Timmy, Lassy?” said Will.

“Hush you!” said Fern and the group came up to the doorway of the little about 3 meters by 3 meters foot room. The room hadn’t changed much.

It was still small and the only thing that was really noteworthy in it was the pedestal, the small pink gem and, of course, the John Travolta carving.

“Is that John Travolta,” his mom asked.

“Yes,” answered Jake.

“Yes,” said Hildi. She was starting to wonder how long she was going to have to relay Jake’s conversation to other folks. She didn’t mind, but she felt a little like the wheels on the bus, going round and round.

“I raised you well,” his mom said. “From John, only good things flow.” Her family shook their heads. Michael was a repeat movie night favorite. Well, a repeat movie on nights where movies were watched was maybe a more accurate assessment.

“So,” said Rex. “Is that you? Are you the pedestal? The pink stone? Or are you this whole dungeon?”

“It’s complicated,” said Hildi “but the answer is yes to all of those.”

“Honey, are you in there?” asked his mom.

“Yes, he’s definitely in there,” said Hildi.

“Yes, mom. I’m here,” answered Jake.

“He says he’s here,” she continued.

“What can I do,” asked his mom. “What can I do to fix this?”

“It’s not that bad, mom,” John said. “I’m doing Ok.”

“He says that it’s not that bad, that he’s doing ok,” said Hildi.

His mom was crying by this point. Her face was covered in tears. Her eyes were red and swollen. She clutched Will’s arm and just stared at the stone. She started to step toward the pedestal and Hildi said, “Wait! Wait! Stop!”

“What? Why can’t I go see my son? What do you mean wait?” She started to step forward again, but Will pulled her back.

“Hang on hun,” he said. “Let’s hear what the girl has to say.”

Baxter had been dancing around the room, running between the remains of his last snack and the people in the room. But when Fern had taken steps closer to Jake, he had run in front of the pedestal. The beginnings of an angry dog look on his face.

“Remember when I said, ‘he’s got urges’?” Hildi asked. “One of his most basic drives is to keep people away. He almost attacked me when I came too close the last time. It’s a little bit hardwired. Like breathing is for us. I think Billy nailed it when he was explaining dungeons.”

“His own mother?” Fern asked.

“Tell her I’m sorry,” Jake said. “Tell her I’m working on it, but it’s hard. Tell her I love her.”

“He says that he’s sorry and that he’s working on it. He loves you. He told me to tell you that,” Hildi said.

A couple of benches appeared in the room, courtesy of Jake. His mom sank down on one still clutching Will, who stood beside her. The rest of the family members moved into the room and placed themselves carefully on the benches. None of them trying to move closer to the pedestal containing the pink stone. Baxter calmed down and lay sprawled comfortably in the center, midway between the pedestal and the benches.

“How can you hear him and I can’t,” his mother said. “What do I have to do to hear my son again?”

“We formed a bond,” said Hildi.

“Fine,” his mom interrupted. “I’ll do it. What do I need to do?”

Hildi shook her head and started again. “We formed a bond. It was something that Jake offered to me. We set terms and then agreed to it. Afterward, he and I could talk. I could also talk with Baxter.”

“Wait, the dog talks,” said Rex. “That mutt there? Sorry about that,” he quickly apologized to Baxter. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just that you’re obviously a mixed-breed, dachshund and some kind of hound.”

He turned to his wife, “should I be apologizing to the dog? I’m confused.”

“Hush,” Fern said.

Baxter said, “Temple Dog. Shapeshifter! Hmph!”

“Hush,” said Hildi, and then looked at Rex and said, “Sorry, I was talking to Baxter.”

“Both of you, all three of you, be quiet. I’m talking to my son here. Jake, I’ve finally got you back. Whatever you want me to swear, I’ll do it.” A notification appeared in front of both Jake and Fern.

Soul Bond (Unequal - Greater)

A being, well actually your mother, wishes to :

Be a part of your life

Benefits:

Beings can communicate with each other at a distance Beings can communicate with each other’s servants or companions Beings can receive help in the form of mana or qi transfers once per day. The amount transferred can not exceed the transferee’s maximum limits. You can finally order your mother around

Over time and at higher levels of bonding, additional benefits may accrue.

Penalties

Bondees in violation of the bond will lose one mana point or stamina point per day until death or the violation is repaired.

Agree to be bound

Deny bond

Fern pushed the Agree button and just as quickly Jake pushed the “Deny bond” button. He had to admit bossing around his mom sounded like it would be awesome, but just no.

“Honey?” she said.

“Tell her just a second. I’m thinking,” Jake said.

Hildi said, “he says to wait for a minute. He’s thinking.”

“Why did he say no?” asked Fern, looking first at the pedestal but then at Hildi. Beside her, Will looked vaguely relieved. So did Rex and the rest of the group.

“It was an unequal bond,” Jake said. “I’m not going to enter an unequal bond with my mother. You and I got pretty much married because we didn’t take time to think about this. What is it we’re getting, what is it that we’re giving. I’ve been wondering what the hell all those people upstairs are expecting? What am I supposed to do for them? Plus I want to talk with Rex and Bernies and Sammy and Dato, the whole family. I don’t want to be their boss to do it. It sounds like I could actually own them. I don’t want that.”

“He says he rejected it because it was an unequal bond. He and I formed an equal bond. We both got or will get something out of it. It’s literally branded on my flesh now.” She held up her wrist and caused the mark to show itself.”

“What did you both get out of it?” asked Will.

“I got to hear Jake and Baxter, plus I got him to help me keep my brother Billy here safe,” she said. “And he got me to go find you all and bring you back here where he could help keep you safe. Oh, and I got this cool outfit and my weapons.”

“That makes sense to me,” said Will. “Not the outfit nonsense, but the other. My wife here is a little impetuous. I’m not. I’m a planner. Jake takes after me, this one, pointing at Rex, is kind of midway between the two of us, while the girls are, well, clones of the wife.”

Every one mentioned thought about how he’d just described them and, after a moment of two, less in the case of the impetuous ones nodded in agreement. “I graduated high school, joined the service," he continued. "Served my hitch where I got trained as a pipefitter, a plumber and a welder, all according to plan. Then I got out and the first day I was back in town, I met this one.” He hugged Fern close.

He continued, “Pregnant and so beautiful it made my eyes water just to look at her,” he continued. “I say this, just so I can say, that day, that day that I met your mom in Tally’s Diner, was the last time that anything has gone to plan. But looking around, looking at all you, I am so happy with my life. I have been blessed. All that said, we’ve got more than 130 folks upstairs, all who are going to be wondering first thing tomorrow morning what we’ve brought them here for. So, people, we need to come up with a plan.”