“We have a few maps to the Undercity here, but there are better ones in the guild hall that’s located down there,” the attendant said.

The party had gone through their supplies the night before and realized they had enough for the expedition to the caverns without having to buy anymore. They did lack a proper map of the Undercity and had gone to the guild to ask if they had any for sale. Anna also had her rabbit and the plant.

I hope the attendants will take care of them for me.

“Wait, this city has two guild halls?” Lyreen asked.

“Yes. We have so many subterranean members here we needed one,” the attendant replied.

“I didn’t know we had members that stayed below ground,” Voekeer said.

“Oh, yes, there are ones that take the underground contracts and gather the rare materials from the caverns below the city,” the attended replied.

“Why aren’t you working with them?” Lyreen asked Thokri.

“If I wanted to live and work underground, I’d go home, lass,” Thokri replied.

“Oh,” Lyreen replied.

“Could you tell us how to get there?” Voekeer asked.

The attendant gave them directions. There were entrances to the Undercity all over the city, but the Undercity Adventurer’s Guild was located near the Overcity’s Guild, so they only had to walk a few blocks.

She handed over her rabbit and her flower to the attendants. They seemed happy about the rabbit but not so happy about the flower.

I hope they water it.

With that taken care of, they left the guild hall and headed for the entrance to the Undercity.

It was a cold day, and everyone was bundled up. An icy wind blew, causing the others to clutch their cloaks tighter around themselves. Thokri didn’t seem to mind, though he did swear a few times when an exceptionally cold burst would hit them.

They reached a small stone building that housed the stairs leading down. The party quickly went inside and started to walk down the stairs. Color started to fade as she walked down the stairs, but there were small mana lamps lining the walls, so it never went away completely.

The stairs were long, and by the time they made it to the bottom, the air had warmed considerably. They found themselves in a short tunnel which led to an open space that was about as tall as the guild hall. She couldn’t tell how far the space stretched because of the buildings which looked an awful lot like the ones on the surface.

The streets were filled with people, mostly beast people of varieties she’d never seen before with the occasional dwarf thrown in. Being warmer, most of them were wearing clothing you’d expect to see in the spring or fall.

The others let their cloaks fall open after walking for a few minutes.

They must be getting hot.

She copied them, unwilling to stand out more than usual. The part of the Undercity they found themselves in must have been some kind of market because there were stalls lining the road as well as the occasional person with goods laid out on a blanket. Behind one of the stalls, a bug like beast man was chopping up mushrooms, lichens and something with a gelatinous consistency.

That looks different. I wonder what it tastes like.

She drifted over to the stall and held up one finger. The bug nodded and pushed some of the chopped-up stuff into a large bowl, mixed it around, and poured a dark pungent liquid out of a clay jar over it. The bug tossed it a few times and then put it on a plate and handed it to her. She tossed a copper in a large jar sitting on the stall. The bug man also put a long thin stick that was sharpened at one end on the plate.

Her friends followed her over. They looked at her plate with expressions that ranged from curiosity to revulsion.

“You’re going to eat that?” Lyreen asked. She’d been the one with the sour look on her face.

“Yes,” Anna replied.

She used the stick to pick a few of the chunks of food up and then stuffed it into her mouth. She’d never tasted anything like it before. The sauce was both sweet and savory at the same time and was filled with spices she’d never tasted.

Oh, wow! Is it fermented like ale?

The mushrooms seemed to be there for texture, and the flavor of the sauce overpowered them. The lichens were bitter but not in a bad way. It seemed to help with the sweetness of the dish. She speared one of the gelatinous chunks and ate it.

Uh, what?

It was sour and salty and, well, squishy. She really wasn’t sure how she felt about it, so she decided to eat it with the rest of the ingredients. She took a big bite and chewed a few times.

Hmmm.

She couldn’t say she liked it or disliked it. This was too different from normal food for her to know.

“Wanna try some?” she asked.

Her friends all shook their heads no. She shrugged and started to wolf down the food. Once she finished, she set the plate on the stall and thanked the bug man. He clicked at her, and they started to walk off.

“Do you even know what that was?” Lyreen asked.

“No, do you?” Anna asked.

“Gross, that’s what,” Lyreen replied.

“It wasn’t that bad, and I know what you put in your mouth, so you don’t have any room to talk,” Anna said.

Thokri chuckled, and Lyreen looked confused for a moment before she realized what Anna was talking about. Then she just huffed and walked a little faster.

“They don’t taste bad, as long as he washes first that is,” Elaine said.

Anna just shrugged not really caring. She still didn’t have any interest in sex besides using it as a topic to tease people about.

They reached the Undercity Adventurer’s Guild a few blocks later. It wasn’t as impressive as the surface guild hall. This one was only a single story and had a sign hanging over the door making it look like a tavern.

The inside was very tavern like as well. She looked around, seeing the strange people sitting at tables around the main room. There was a person with huge eyes and slick slimy skin like a frog. They walked over to the counter, and Voekeer showed his guild badge.

“How can I help you?” the slimy person asked.

“We acquired a treasure map, and it leads to the caverns below the city. We were told that you had better maps than the guild hall on the surface,” Voekeer asked.

“A little treasure hunting in the off season, eh? Can’t say I blame you. Must get boring on the surface being so cold and all,” the slimy person said.

“You have no idea,” Lyreen replied. The slimy person licked its eye.

What the fuck! How did he do that? I want to do that!

Anna attempted to lick her eye, but her short tongue couldn’t reach past her upper lip. Elaine nudged her, and when Anna turned to look, the woman was shaking her head no.

“We got maps, but I’ll have to charge you a silver for a copy. Before you ask, yes, I know that the Overcity guild hall gives them away, but we can’t down here,” the slimy person said. Voekeer gave him a silver.

“It’s alright,” Voekeer replied.

“Thanks,” the slimy person said. It got a map from the shelf behind it and handed the map to Voekeer.

“Be careful out there, alright?” the slimy person added.

“We will,” Voekeer replied.

They walked away from the counter and found a table to sit at while they compared the map from the guild to her treasure map. After looking over the two maps for a few minutes and drinking at least one mug of ale each, they decided that the treasure map was indeed a map of the actual caverns below the Undercity, and that it had a very good chance of being real. Voekeer rolled the maps up and stuffed them in his pack.

“Want to stay and eat or get going?” he asked.

Lyreen looked over at a table that had giant snails sitting at it. They were eating plates of rotten mushrooms.

“I’m not hungry,” she said.

Anna looked at the snails. They reminded her of ones that she would spot in gardens here and there, only huge and carrying people because they were wearing harnesses that had pouches, packs, and other things attached to them.

They picked up the slimy mushroom chucks with long tendrils that sprouted from their bodies. They were making strange noises at each other which she assumed to be their language. Her friends were still talking about whether or not they’d be eating, but she didn’t bother saying anything having eaten already. Not wanting to annoy the snail people, she looked around the room again.

Most of the adventurers were beast people that looked like some kind of animal mixed with human to varying degrees. There were, however, a few tables full of people that were even more strange than the snails. A group of small furry people stood on a table. They were round with short arms and legs, beady eyes, and a mouth that seemed to take up most of their body. They screeched and squealed at each other and shoved huge plates of a black dirt like substance into their gaping maws.

There was a table of giant centipedes eating raw meat. They would pause on occasion and look around as if they were expecting to be attacked at any moment. She’d seen giant centipedes before, but these were obviously different. They were wearing packs strapped to their bodies. Unlike the large packs that people shaped like her wore, these were smaller, and there were many of them, each attached to a different segment on the centipede person’s body.

They clicked at each other while they ate. One noticed her, and they all turned their heads to stare. She waved at them, and they clicked loudly before returning to their meal.

“Don’t stare!” Elaine said.

“Sorry, I’ve just never seen people like them before,” Anna replied.

“Neither have I, but you can’t stare at them,” Elaine said.

“I know,” Anna replied.

She looked into her mug. It was empty, but there were still a few bubbles at the very bottom. She watched as the bubbles slowly popped.

The others decided to eat because they would be living off rations for a few days and wanted one good meal before they started their search. The barmaid that had brought them their ales came back with fresh ones and bowls of thin soup. It wasn’t like any she’d had before with mushrooms at the base from the stock and strange gooey meat instead of beef or pork that was the usual when they were away from rivers.

She missed the food they ate by the rivers. She noticed that there was more variety in tastes and textures than inland locations. She ate the soup, not feeling any particular way about it, and when she finished, she found that her friends seemed to feel about the same way by the looks on their faces.

Lyreen looks like she’s going to throw up!

Anna smiled at the elf when she looked up. Lyreen pushed her bowl to Anna whom she must have thought wanted more. Anna took the bowl and started to eat.

Thokri always says not to waste food.

She finished Lyreen’s, and soon after, the others were done as well. They left the Undercity Adventurer’s Guild and headed for one of the cavern entrances.

“We need to go to the northwest entrance,” Anna said as they walked.

“How far is that?” Lyreen asked.

“A few hours walk,” Anna replied.

“I forget how big this city is sometimes,” Lyreen said.

“Yeah, the transport gates make it feel smaller than Oldforge,” Elaine replied.

“We could all stand for some walking after spending so much time indoors,” Barika said.

“What do you mean?” Anna asked.

“Not you, child,” Barika replied.

“Oh, that’s right. Normal people get fat if they don’t move around all the time,” Anna said. She eyed Lyreen for a moment. “You know, she is looking a little chubby,” Anna added.

“WHAT?!” Lyreen shouted. Elaine and Barika eyed the elf.

“You know, her pants are a little tight,” Elaine said.

“I think you’re right, though, if you ask me, it’s an improvement,” Barika added. Rose snapped her fingers, and then when everyone looked at her, she gave Lyreen a thumbs up.

Lyreen just kind of stared at the other women for a moment. She stopped when Thokri burst into laughter and slapped his thigh. Lyreen made a rude gesture at the dwarf and then turned her head and looked in front of her, ignoring the laughter coming from the rest of the party, sans Voekeer of course who happened to be looking at Lyreen’s tighter pants as she walked ahead of him.

I don’t get it. He sees her naked every night. Why is he staring like that?

She wondered for a moment longer and then decided she just didn’t get it and started to think about what the treasure could be.

I hope it’s something like a magic sword like in a storybook or something! Oh, wait, it could be a super elixir that makes one person live a long time! I HOPE IT’S A MAGIC CRYSTAL BALL LIKE LYREEN TOLD ME ABOUT!

She got more and more excited as they walked, thinking of all the wonderous things it could be, and before she knew it, they had made it to the cavern entrance.

The cavern entrance looked more like a city gate than she expected. The stone around the entrance had been smoothed out, and an arch had been built using stone that didn’t quite match the rock that made up the natural caverns beyond. The guards nodded at them as they passed, and they walked down a long passage that looked more like the tunnel at the entrance to the Undercity than the natural caverns she’d spent the last winter in.

After walking nearly a mile, the tunnel opened up into a cavern. There were more than a dozen passages in the open space. Other travelers were there either passing through, standing around checking maps, or simply resting. A few of the other groups had dim lanterns lit. She’d been told that out of courtesy for other intelligent races, any time an underground traveler encountered another group, they were supposed to dim any lights they may have because most of the subterranean species were sensitive to light.

Her party hadn’t bothered with any additional light as of yet because there were mana lamps in the tunnel from the city. The cavern was dimly lit with the glowing moss so they didn’t need it here either. She assumed her human and elven friends would make the light they needed on their own, so she didn’t bother asking them about it.

She headed for the tunnel that had been marked on the treasure map, and the others followed her. Lyreen cast her light spell after a few, making sure they were away from other travelers. She could adjust the brightness, but only so much, and even at its dimmest, it was still brighter than a lantern.

The reason they used a spell instead of the lanterns was that magic was free and lamp oil cost coin and hand to be carried with them. They went deeper into the cavern system heading down tunnel after winding tunnel until they found a large open cavern.

“Let’s stop here to rest,” Voekeer announced as soon as he stepped into the open space.

“Just make sure you get rest lad,” Thokri said, patting the elf on the arm.

Voekeer cracked a grin and then walked off with Lyreen hurrying behind him.

They found a nice flat spot and started to set up their tent. Anna didn’t bother taking her tent out. She just set her pack down and leaned against it.

“Feeling lazy?” Elaine asked.

“It’s not like it’s going to rain down here,” Anna replied.

“True,” Elaine said.

She started to set her tent up next to where Anna was lounging. Elaine had gotten better at setting her tent up in the last year, but she usually needed help. Anna didn’t get up but summoned a few tentacles to aid her friend. Elaine glanced at them for a moment but didn’t say anything as they started to pick poles up and push them into the tent.

Anna heard some snapping and looked over to see Rose waving at her and pointing at her own tent. More tentacles sprouted from nothingness and started to help her with her tent as well.

She didn’t have to control them. They just did what needed to be done. It was hard to describe them to her friends. They were part of her, but they weren’t part of her. If she focused, she could feel them and control them, but it was like feeling something with her mind...sort of like the pictures the eyes saw were in her mind...like thinking of something instead of actually seeing it, only it was real.

I don’t think the dreamer thought about my other parts when he made me.

She had tried to talk about it with her friends, but none of them really understood what she meant by it.

I wish I could talk to the dreamer.

She thought that he would always be with her, but after he brushed her mind in the caverns, she hadn’t felt him again, and when she tried to reach out in her dreams, nothing was there. Thinking about it made her feel utterly alone even though she was surrounded by her friends.

No one will ever understand me.

She looked at the ceiling of the cavern, studying the rockface and wondering what the point of all of this was until she smelled food. She turned her head to find the others sitting around a glowing lantern happily munching on some of the rations they’d brought with them. She pulled out a piece of candy and popped it in her mouth, not really feeling like jerky at the moment.

She got up and sat with the others. They were in good spirits and joking with each other. She smiled and joked back out of habit. One by one, the others went to their tents to sleep before she was left alone again.

She laid on her pack, summoning an eye to float around and watch the surroundings. Hours later, Thokri got out of his tent and started to pack it up. She got up and put her pack on. The loneliness had left her as fast as it had come on, and she felt better.

Once the others had packed their things, the party headed farther into the cavern, eating their breakfast as they walked. They spent several days walking down tunnel after tunnel. The caverns getting more and more wild as they went.

Something slammed her against the wall, and she felt sharp fangs tear through the shoulder of her dress. With reflexes quicker than lightning, she grabbed the thing that had shot out of a hidden passage in the cave wall and tore off two feet of it. She was doused in foul smelling ichor, and the thing’s body flopped around like an eel caught on a fisherman’s line. She looked at the chuck she had pulled off. It was nothing more than a large mouth with long leg like appendages surrounding it.

“What the fuck is that?!” Voekeer asked, his voice sounded panicked.

“Dead,” Anna replied.

“I can fucking see that. I mean, what is it?!” Voekeer said.

Why is he mad? I’m the one that got bit, dammit. It ripped my dress!

She looked down at the huge tear, and then down at the ichor that now covered her. Thokri walked over and looked at the part she held and then back at the twitching body. He rubbed his beard and then spit.

“No idea,” he said.

“But you’re supposed to know everything!” Voekeer replied.

“Lad, I’m not from this far south. Don’t know all the nasty critters that live here,” Thokri said.

“I can spot them now that I know what to look for, so don’t worry about it,” Anna replied, tossing the mouth part to the side.

She kept walking trying to wipe the thick fluid from her dress only succeeding in smearing it around. An eye floated ahead of her, looking for the mouth part of more of the creatures. She slammed a tentacle into the wall of the cavern a few yards farther down the path. It went right through the mouth parts of the monster and deep inside before growing spikes and twisting. This all happened in less than a second. The tentacle disappeared and gore poured out of the cave wall, pooling on the floor.

Her friends all gawked at the shredded beast as they walked past.

“I’m never going to get used to those things!” Lyreen said.

“You can walk in the front if you don’t like my tentacles,” Anna replied.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that I don’t like them at all. I’m just surprised by how amazing they are, that’s all!” Lyreen said.

Anna turned to look at her friends. Voekeer and Lyreen were both smiling and nodded, and it looked like the others were doing everything they could not to laugh at them.

“Thank you,” Anna said. She turned and started to walk down the tunnel again. “Even if you are full of shit,” she added.

This time the others burst into laughter. She walked out of the tunnel into an open space. The cavern was huge, but it lacked the moss that lit most of the caves they’d been in so far. She looked around the cavern and noticed something sparkling on the other side of the cavern.

She sent the eye over to investigate, focusing so that it would see magic better than usual. The sparkling area on the cave wall shimmered. She could see streams of mana flowing into intricate patterns.

Looks like the whole wall in here is just a spell.

“That wall is a magic spell,” Anna said, pointing at the wall. The others looked towards where she was pointing, squinting to see.

Wait, only Thokri can see that far in the dark down here, and he wouldn’t know magic if it fell on him.

They walked over to the wall, and Lyreen cast a spell that caused the wall to shimmer, but it went solid again after a moment.

“I can’t dispel it. Try your tentacle,” Lyreen said.

Anna summoned a tentacle and poked the wall. There was some resistance at first, but then it popped like a bubble, sending sparks of mana flying in all directions. A blast of fetid air blew out of the sealed room.

She walked into the opening and down a short tunnel, reaching a small room that was clearly made by people. In the center of the room, there was a pedestal, and on that pedestal sat a mace. Anna walked over to the pedestal and looked at the mace. It was swirling with divine power.

She reached out for the mace but paused.

I shouldn’t touch it.

She pulled her hand back from the mace. She heard Barika gasp and turned to look at her friends. All of them were just staring at the mace.

“Is that what I think it is?” Elaine asked.

“It’s the scepter of Octavius the Great!” Barika replied.

“Who?” Anna asked.

“No one for you to be concerned with, little girl,” a cold voice said from behind them.

They all spun to look at the entrance to the tunnel. A man dressed in black with a long cloak stood there. He had his right hand resting on the hilt of a sword. There was something off about him. A strange black aura seemed to surround the man. He took a step towards them, and her friends all scurried back. She looked at them and was confused by the fear she saw on their faces.

They look like they are about to piss themselves. Who is this prick?

“Who you calling little girl?” Anna asked as she took a step forward. The man smiled a wicked smile at her.

“You’re either brave or stupid, girl,” he replied. Anna took another step towards the man.

“Call me stupid again and I’ll rip out your guts,” she said. He started to walk towards her.

“It’s clear you have no idea who you are talking to, so I’ll tell you, using short words of course. I happen to be the fifth general of the…” he replied.

She back handed him, sending him flying into the wall. He bounced off and fell to the floor. He got up slowly and gingerly touched his now bleeding lip. The smile was gone from his face, replaced by a look of rage.

“The fifth general of the lord of darkness, and now your enemy. May your false gods have mercy on your soul,” he added. Anna laughed.

“I’m not the one that’s bleeding, mister fifth general,” she replied.

He drew his sword, and a wave of malevolent power radiated off the black blade. He sneered at her, and she laughed again.

“Is that all you have, big boy? I was expecting more,” Anna said.

She took the ironwood club from her belt and smacked her palm with it. The rage drained from his face as he watched her. Then he smiled his wicked smile again.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m just an adventurer,” Anna replied.

“No mere adventurer could have made me bleed,” he said.

“Is that some big deal? Because I didn’t even hit you that hard,” Anna replied.

She had hit him hard enough to kill any normal person, but nowhere near as hard as she could hit someone.

He sheathed his sword and sighed.

“Looks like my plan attracted the wrong person,” he said.

“What plan?” Anna asked.

“Where do you think that dwarf got the map?” he replied. Anna shrugged.

“Never thought about it,” she said. He shook his head.

“Only a fool would rush into unknown places in times like these,” he replied.

A tentacle wrapped around him and squeezed tightly.

“What did I fucking say about calling me stupid!” Anna said.

He squirmed, trying to get free, but the tentacle’s grip didn’t budge.

“FUCKING COCKSUCKING GOATLOVER!” Thokri shouted. He stormed over, a look of pure hate on his face.

“You’re not scared anymore?” Anna asked.

“It was a fucking spell, lass!” Thokri spat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Anna replied. Thokri just spat and muttered something horrible about the man’s mother in dwarven.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do now?” Voekeer asked.

“Want me to squish him?” Anna asked.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” the man said in a strained voice.

“No one asked you!” Anna replied.

“I was just letting you know I’d rather not be squished, that’s all,” he said.

“And I’d rather not be called stupid, but you just couldn’t keep your mouth shut, now could you?” Anna asked.

“Look, I may have lost my temper and said things I didn’t mean, but there’s no reason to be rash,” he replied.

The end of the tentacle turned into a large veiny phallus. She waved the throbbing member in front of his face.

“One more word, and I’m shoving it down your throat,” Anna said. He eyed the phallus with concern written on his face.

“We are going to turn him over to the paladins,” Barika said.

“What about the mace?” Anna asked.

“We have to turn that over as well, child. It’s a relic of one of the greatest champions of the light,” Barika replied.

“So, we didn’t find any treasure?” Anna asked sadly.

“Are you kidding? You know how much of a reward we are going to get for turning over one of the dark one’s ten great generals and a holy relic?!” Elaine replied.

“So, we did find treasure?” Anna asked.

“Looks like,” Voekeer replied.

Anna grinned and walked over to the general. She causally picked him up and put him over her shoulder, tentacle still wrapped around him.

“Wait, they aren’t attached to the ground?” Lyreen asked.

“No, why would they be?” Anna asked.

“But, how, that just doesn’t make any sense!” Lyreen replied. Voekeer put his hand on Lyreen’s shoulder.

“What about her makes sense?” he said. Lyreen sighed.

“You’re right. I don’t know why I even asked,” she said.

“I’d rather not be anywhere near the tunnel full of monster corpses when we camp tonight, so let’s get going,” Barika said.

“I’m with you there, lass,” Thokri added.

Barika took the scepter from the pedestal, and they left the small room heading back to the city with strange but valuable treasure in hand.

I think I like treasure hunting!