Ben held the hatchling to his chest in a protective embrace, Sara was leading them outside and as soon as they got to the keep courtyard Ben called the Rocs to carry them away from the dungeon borders, the majestic birds parted ways from the mists and soon the keep completely vanished in the swirling fog, they were out, in minutes the couple reached the camp outside and after a hasty landing Ben walked to the register, the dragon hidden in a satchel tied to his chest, blissfully sleeping unaware of the commotion their arrival caused.

Tam was atarting his midday watch at the register when he heard the murmurs from outside the tent, it seemed one of their legends had had enough of the dungeon for the season as the words "finished" and "out" were the common thread of conversation drifting around, he turned to serve the Mad clappers group when they suddenly drew back clearing the way to a tattered looking man that approached the counter, so Ben, had enough adventures for the season? And the adventurer seemed oblivious to Tam's sarcasm as he handed over the rune token for examination.

You could throw a thousand gold coins in the camp at that moment and no hand would even reach to try and grab them, the shock was absolute, the rune glowed not in the normal gold hue of the final boss for a dungeon but with all the colors of a mad rainbow, an effect only possible if it was in the same room as an ancient dungeon core, this adventurer has done beyond the impossible, proving once again his legendary reputation was justified, every man, woman and beast was jealous of this man's prowess, to not only finish the whole misty vale dungeon, a feat never heard of before, in record time of less than a month to even reach the lower levels of the keep but he has gone beyond that and touched the dungeon heart.

Tam dropped his pen, closed his mouth and scurried to the back to drag Viola to the front office, This better be important Tam I dont have time for, she swallowed a hard lump that caught in her throat, B Ben? How? What did you do to my dungeon?

Ben smiled and then started laughing and banging his hands on his thighs and chest, I DID IT VI, LIKE I TOLD YOU WAY BACK WHEN WE WERE IN THE SAME TEAM, I CONQUERED THE MISTY VALE, after shouting and laughing he went over to his old friend and twirled her around, I got a wonderful story to tell you, let me and Sara wash and rest, I will come and we will talk, the dungeon has a hundred and seven and i will tell you all about them for your book, meet me at the dancing wizard in and hour, get us a private room and you'll hear all about it.

The Misty vale dungeon was in a fit of rage, it was just bested by a couple of mortals and a weird talking cup that was spitting lies as fast as it could form words, There is NO other dungeon like me, you have no proof because its impossible, I AM UNIQUE, you are just some soul trapped in a pretty cup and you tricked me so i would let your master invade my heart room and run away. But i know his type, once he tasted glory he will return and i will destroy him then.

Azure wad frustrated with the results of his quest, the contact was true but Misty Vale wouldnt believe him, all the other dungeon wanted was revenge for the trick it decides was played on it, no explanations, pleas or promises would appease the frothing mad dungeon and his demand that the cup reveal its true purpose, if he had hair Azure would probably be pulling on it right now, he decided to let things cool down with the other dungeon and maybe make contact in another decade or three, he had other things to do for now.

Trevain was furious, his messenger just arrived minutes ago with the news of Ben's victory and Trev was becoming a boiling pot of rage, all his planning and perfect execution were for nothing, he was at the fourteenth level of the keep and preparing for the next boss that was the first real challenge for his team and that upstart moron had already cleared the whole dungeon, it was known that divers were somewhat quicker than perfectionists but this was usually curbed with their higer mortality rates, mainly none of them actually survived to turn in their runes as proof of success and now this buffoon had clearly not only went deeper than anyone had gone before but he also had the audacity not to die doing so.

Misty Vale was following the group that had been assailing it for almost three years now and was almost happy to see they were progressing as usual, their leader, the moustache man with the odd assortment of tools and crafts, was shouting profanities at the wall, apparently he wasnt happy about this beastmaster either so the dungeon thought to make a small bargain with the odd man.

On the wall before him Trevain could see runes forming, they were telling him all he needed to know about Ben's cheating and betrayal, how the great and rightous Benjolin Colt had sacrificed his friend to enclose his soul in a magical chalice and then challenged the dungeon to a duel of souls after stealing one of its precious children and then using his friend's soul to cheat in the challenge and steal another of the dungeon's creations, a harpy queen and a dragon hatchling were prizes worthy of great kings and emperors, not some mudspitting farmboy from an unknown town.

What Trevain needed was proof, and he bargained for it like he has never haggled before in his life, at the end the runes on the wall became a portal and when he stepped in he found himself fulfilling his dream, he was standing in front of what has been the greatest challenge of his life yet, the heart of the Misty Vale dungeon, as was their deal he collected the shards of the dragon egg shell and reentered the portal he then collected his people and in three hours they were ready to march out, another day and they all got to the main tent and he displayed his rainbow rune demanding an audience with the representatives of the crown and the guilds.

The chubby winged reptile was chunking out on the sliced foods Ben was giving him, it seemed to prefer cooked meat and sweet fruits over raw and sour ones, so Ben was indulging its appetites when the soldiers marched in followed by some officious looking people.

Benjolin Merrik Colter, i hereby call upon you to testify before the court in regards of your crimes of reginal theft and appropriation of kingdom treasures in contradiction to kingdom law and customs, come without a struggle or face the consequences.

Ben followed the group when they passed by the smirking Trev, he then heard Sara's command voice, Put it down before you lose that arm, and he knew nothing good would come from it, so he jumped back in the tent right on time to see a soldier trying to stuff his new dragonet to a small cage, another soldier was facing Sara with a half drawn sword and in the confusion the other soldier cried in pain as he felt the razor sharp teeth piercing his armor and skin, I told you it would happen moron, Sara glared at him and the dragon was flapping all around the tent when the officials entered, What is going on here? You were told not to resist, are you trying to get in deeper trouble than you already are?

Ben called the dragon and then summoned Penny from the Hunting Grounds, Look after her my friend while i sort things out, and he released Penny back to the inner world. Thief, the official screeched, Get that treasure back here right this instant you ruffian, the man was puffed up and his face red with rage, This is the last straw, arrest him at once! The troops hurried to shackle Ben's arms and marched him to the royal tent where the king's representative held his audience, they forced him to his knees before the seat of justice where a hefty man sat wearing golden robes and displaying a wealth of jewels in abundant splendor.

Where are the treasures you stole, and where are you holding the queen? He said in a dry tone like crumpling automn leaves. Ben was lost, he had no idea what the man was talking about. Cat got your tongue? Speak up man, where is the queen and where is her pet dragon that you stole from the dungeon? Some dim light of understanding was shining through Ben's mind, he looked around to see the greedy faces of the nobles in the room and the contemptuos smile lifting Trevain's mustache.

Sara was in no mood for nonesense, she marched straight for the adventurers guild and pushed through the line, What is this crap about Ben cheating and stealing? The clerk ran off to the back and brought out the manager, Come now Sara, you were there, didnt Ben kidnap some queen from the dungeon and then used her as a hostage to get past the other monsters? We have witnesses that saw you grab the dragon from its shell and then you ran away leaving Trevain behind to fend off against the dungeon's wrath.

That is most certainly not what happened, who told you this pile of centaur shit? She was getting even more angry now and the guild manager started getting anxious about this legendary ranger who had a reputation for violence and it seemed like he was her current source of ire. Look, Sara, no need to put too much on this, the crown is already putting forth the full force of law and justice and if Ben just hand over what he borrowed from the dungeon he can probably just walk away with no more than a few stern words about misplacing crown property. STERN WORDS? ILL BE GIVING YOU STERN WORDS, YOU GET THERE RIGHT NOW AND STOP THAT FARCE OR I WILL CALL ON THE ADVENTURER TRIBUNAL TO DEAL WITH YOU AND ALL YOUR OTHER GRABBY FINGER FRIENDS, GET THERE NOW! DO IT! NOW!

When the final NOW declaration echoed in the whole camp the guild manager was dumped out of his chair trying to both run and hide at the same time, blacksmiths missed their beat, soldiers marching by found themselves obeying the Command and walking to the crown tent, in the offensive tent silence had fallen and greedy smiles turned to concerned frowns when the nobles were uncertain what calamity was about to fall on them, the guild manager of the Misty Vale branch ran inside tripping on his own cloak and right behind him marched Sara followed by a troop of soldiers and a whole bunch of curious adventurers and camp followers, the large tent was almost bursting with the crowd gatherd inside to see what was happening.

Come now Sara, you dont have to fall so heavy on them, they only wanted to know what happened at the dungeon. Ben shut up, you are so naive you couldnt defend yourself against somone claiming your skin was blue. Well you see in certain light my skin actually is. "Shut up Ben, im taking care of this right now". "Ok Sara, as you wish".

Sara looked around the room her eyes scanning faces and her mind giving them names and affiliations, the targets of her scrutiny moved uneasy in their seats. "Who in this sorry ass crowd is trying to claim rights to our spoils in the dungeon?"

The judge collected his wits and was ready to lash out on this impudent woman that dared challenge his authority in his own court, "Now see here young lady", her eyes focused on him and his voice refused to finish the sentence, "it was Trevain that has brought down accusations of theft and misconduct", a new plan was forming in his mind, "He brought back a core imbued rune a day and a half after the accused and he said he was abandoned at the dungeon's heart, is this not so?" The judge asked the man who was doing his best to vanish in the swallen croud.

Some unseen hand pushed Trevain out from the croud and when he turned to glare at those ruffians they all just stared at him so he cleared his throat and put his hands in his coat pockets, "what i said was true and I have proof", he pulled out his adventurer runestone and it shone like a rainbow casting colored lights at the awed faces in the crowd. "They want to claim it all for themselves so they abandoned me to die".

The harsh words caught Ben completely unprepared, "I am sorry Trev I didnt know you coming with us" he started apologizing when Sara cut him, "Ben I said shut up and I meant it, so tell me Tervain, what boss monster did we beat at the eighty third level of the dungeon?", "Well uhmm it was if I remember correctly the hellhound pack", "false there was no boss at that level only a ratman gang we avoided, how did we cross the mud beast's domain?", "you will just deny anything i say and state something else happened", "Fine, what is the name of the queen you say we abducted?"