Chapter Thirty-Three

Elysia broke through the jungle onto a rocky beach. She instantly zeroed in on Ione, who was standing on the beach, tail straight up, ears back, fur raised, staring out at sea.

Upon following her bond’s gaze, she froze. Dozens of ships appeared on the horizon. Even with her enhanced vision, she couldn’t make out anything more than vague silhouettes, but based on the shapes, she just knew they were the Changed ships.

As they neared, her assumption proved true as thousands of white top people came into view. She tensed, ready to run, only to realize they couldn’t see her. Confusion reigned until she remembered Neah Bay, where she couldn’t see the crabs from the outside. It was probably the same for them. They probably saw an empty beach before a jungle.

All the better for her. She wasn’t arrogant enough to assume they were here only for her, but she doubted it would help if they knew. Where was Urus? Didn’t she say she claimed the dungeon island? Maybe she allowed this on purpose for an extra challenge? Who knew what that massive turtle was thinking. All she knew was that she needed to be as far as possible from the speech when they landed, but for now, it couldn’t hurt to do a little reconnaissance.

The ships slowed to a stop about a hundred meters from the shore, allowing Elysia to watch them. On one of the middle ships, she spotted a familiar group led by Alex. Each of them decked out in camo equipment matching the jungle.

What was the point of trying to blend in with blinding white hair? Her question was answered minutes later as each changed hid their defining feature under helmets of similar coloring to the rest of their equipment.

When they began to organize into groups next to rafts, Elysia poked Ione, causing the feline to jump. She spun and landed in a crouch in front of Elysia, but instantly relaxed upon noticing it was her mother. Afraid of sound transferring through the dungeon barrier, Elysia just smiled before sending a message through their bond for her to follow.

With one last look at the fleet of changed, Elysia took off back the way she came. Halfway back she ran into her Chrotile team who were limping badly but trying to reach her, thinking she was in trouble. A pang of guilt shot through her at the sight. “How about we do one last dungeon together? We can use the dungeon as a safe zone to recover.”

They frowned at the suggestion, prompting Elysia to add, “Ione found a bunch of ships loaded with elementally infused humans about to invade Mezo. They appeared to be ready for war and I’d rather not give them the opportunity. I’d like to sneak deeper inland to give us some time, but you guys need some time to recover.”

Three pairs of reptilian eyes shot over Elysia toward the shore, just barely visible through the dense jungle. Focusing their gaze, they picked up part of a gunmetal gray hull, confirming her discovery. Despite their pride, they nodded their heads and fell into formation, with Elysia taking her normal spot next to Thres. Unlike before, they turned to Ione for guidance, no longer doubting her exceptional scouting skill.

Buoyant from the trust in her glorious scouting, Ione trotted to the front tail raised with its fin tip swaying merrily. Sometimes even scaly treats could see reason. She would forgive them for their misguided faith in their own skills, at least for now. The sooner the scaly treats healed, the sooner she and her mother would go on an adventure. No scaly treats or disgusting fake elementals would stand in their way. They would stand above all, as it should be.

With her superior senses at their peak, several tastier spots reached her, but she discarded most of them as their flavor didn’t appeal to her or it was too potent for the scaly treats. She would save those for when they ditched the useless scaly treats. Hopefully the disgusting fake elementals didn’t steal them from her. If they did she would need to go hunting. She would do the world a favor ridding it of such disgusting creatures. They should taste like delicious elementals or hairless treats not an abomination of both.

Her mother didn’t count. Even before her ascension, she smelled good. Nothing like those disgusting fake elementals. Not that she would ever eat her mother. No one was allowed to hurt her mother including her glorious self. All who dared would meet her unparalleled claws.

Ione shook her feline head to clear her thoughts. She needed to focus on finding the perfect tasty spot. With the team following close behind, Ione stalked forward, senses on full blast, discarding dozens of tasty spots by the minute. Annoyance built as they reached the clearing, still littered with raptors. One glance at the raptors only worsened her mood. If only the scaly treats weren’t here. Their presence made her waste perfectly good snacks. Only her mother was allowed to know of her superior feeding method. Hopefully she could teach her mother it.

Sick of traveling at the scaly treat’s pace she sent a message to her mother leaving her to tell the slow scaly treats as she blurred into the jungle. She nearly purred at the freedom as she weaved through the jungle silent despite traveling so fast she would be a blur to the inferior snacks senses. Within seconds she was a kilometer away from her mother but she trusted her to stay safe even if more feathered treats attacked.

She shot past several groups of scaly treats, unaware of her glorious presence as she circled around, scoping out each portal to find the perfect balance of tastiness. Unfortunately, she soon found any more than a kilometer in from her mother’s group had too strong of a taste for the injured scaly treats. Dejected, she turned back and settled for a portal of mild tastiness near her mother. At least it was convenient, though she would have preferred to put some more distance between them and the disgusting fake elementals. Sometimes even she had to compromise. Soon her and her mother would have their pick of the tastiest portals. She just had to be patient.

Choice made, Ione returned to the clearing and beckoned the scaly treats and her mother forward with a wave of her tail.

The Chrotile glanced at one another, but even without a mental message, Elysia instantly knew what her bond wanted. Trusting Ione to have scouted out any enemies, Elysia broke formation and followed her bond toward a gap in the jungle. She paused just before entering the jungle and turned back to the Chrotile to find them still in formation behind her.

After a moment of hesitation she retook her position next to Thres earning a flash of annoyance from her bond but she ignored it. She promised she would protect them until they healed. She couldn’t just run on ahead. Hopefully the dungeon Ione chose was close. While they looked better most of it appeared to be faked. Thauzo especially was struggling as he moved with stiff strides favoring his uninjured leg. The other two unlike before were much better off but they still lacked their previous fluidity.

Fortunately, nothing jumped to them on their way to a portal embedded in a massive tree. At least it appeared to be embedded in the tree. Magic tended to mess with simple things like perception. Unlike usual, the portal wasn’t in a clearing but at an intersection of paths that appeared to be animal paths, though very few wild creatures seemed to roam the jungle.

They glanced at one another, then at the feline sitting proudly before the portal. Elysia only took a moment before stepping forward, earning a happy chirp from Ione, but just before she stepped through a ding resonated through her mind, freezing her mid-step.

Another faction detected.

Initiating faction war.

An unknown curse escaped the Chrotile, causing Elysia to turn a curious gaze on them. “What’s a faction war? I have an idea, but when the system is involved, I’m usually wrong.”

Within annoyance tinged tone, Thauzo explained, “it’s the reason why it’s an unspoken agreement to leave a dungeon island to anyone who claimed it first. Unlike a normal dungeon, a dungeon island can adjust if multiple factions enter. Fortunately, you were neutral, so it didn’t trigger anything then, but now things are going to get messy.”

When Thauzo paused for several seconds, Elysia prodded, “messy?”

“A dungeon island’s usual purpose is to facilitate competition between factions. When only one faction enters, you could say the dungeon island is in standby mode. We can enter dungeons and gather loot, but nothing more. Now the system will take a more active role. I’m not sure what will happen, as something like this hasn’t happened to us since Urus’s early days as a city before she earned a reputation.”

“So expect anything? Is it still safe to hide out in a dungeon?”

“That depends. I’ve heard dungeons aren’t instanced when a faction war is initiated, but like I said, our race hasn’t ran into a faction war in well over a millennium. Back then, we weren’t the best record keepers. At best knowledge was passed down through verbal stories. Urus wasn’t all-powerful like she is today. Which makes this all the more confusing. Why would she allow another faction into our dungeon island? There’s no way she isn’t aware of this.”

Thauzo paused for a second in thought. “For now, we should hide in the dungeon. Even if it isn’t instanced, it should buy us some time. I know you want to go off on your own, but please stick around until we know what’s going on.”

Stupid Changed. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone? She had a perfect opportunity to hunt and now they threw a wrench into things. She already had some uber powerful elemental Council descending on her and now this.

Suddenly, Elysia froze. How did Sereia send her a message about the Changed? She should still be hundreds of kilometers away. Did Urus warn her? She supposed that made sense. If Urus couldn’t communicate with her people inside Mezo, her only option was probably her twin, as she knew their bond was powerful. Why warn them if she allowed the Changed to enter, though? Something was going on here. From what Thauzo said, it didn’t make sense for Urus to allow a faction war. Whatever the reason, she would probably find out eventually, likely by falling headfirst into it.

Not wanting to delay any longer, Elysia stepped through the portal. The rest followed her through right after, but she ignored them in favor of investigating her surroundings. Humidity permeated the air, but not at as high of levels as in the jungle. Towering trees loomed, but the force was hardly dense. Little vegetation grew on the ground, aside from some scattered ferns and moss. Overall, it felt familiar but foreign at the same time. Similar to when she visited Northern California, but different enough that she would know she wasn’t there, even if she didn’t know she was in a dungeon.

No enemies jumped out at her but neither did those mind controlling birds. She had to be prepared for anything. Even something massive could fit through some of those gaps between trees.

Ione stalked away as Elysia fell into formation with her team, though considering their still healing injuries they remained at the entrance, which, unlike usual, remained open. Still, based on the previous dungeons, the area near the entrance appeared to be the safest location, as if it repelled the inhabitants. That didn’t explain how some found their way outside unless they spawned there.

More mysteries she may or may not solve in the future. For now, she needed to focus on surviving and hopefully grow stronger while she was at it.