Chapter 2
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Author's Notes: Dungeon Keepers I and II belong to Bullfrog, not to me. I am not making money off of this story, so please don't sue me.
Subtitle for this chapter: In which we meet some new faces and Evain goes into more technical mumbo-jumbo than Kaelay ever did.
Warning: This story contains slash (male/male romance). If you object to this, please don't read it. Keep in mind that if you flame me, not only did you ignore your fair warning, but you were stupid enough to go through and read something that disgusted you.
For notes on this story and this series, please go to this site for reference. (Note: If you are reading this on fanfiction.net, you will not be able to use that link. Please see my profile for the link to that reference page.) (Also note that this page is not the same as the one linked to in Dungeon Secrets; this one is more complete and contains the entire series.)
If anyone would be interested in beta-reading for me and you think you are capable, please contact me at kaged_tiger@hotmail.com. Also contact me if you have any information as to what happened to Vagabond. Did she just, die or something?
Finally, this is my story. If you would like to archive it, please inform me first. I will almost definately say yes.
WARNING: Evain goes into MASSIVE amounts of technical gobbledy-gook in this chapter. Please don't get bored with me. I promise that it's interesting from a spell-casting perspective. ;_;
On with the fic.
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Kaelay's Dungeon
Tarkasas
Ramasha.
It is Kaelay's voice. Ramasha yawns slightly and I feel his muscles stretch next to me as he sits up in our bed, looking towards the ceiling. "Yes Mistress?" he asks sleepily.
Mission, she says curtly, and immediately the two of us are more awake. Ramasha, you know the map you found?
Map? What map? I frown, but he nods. Huh. It's odd. Normally Ramasha always tells me about his research findings. He knows that I find them interesting despite the fact that I could never do the job myself. Ah well. It must have slipped his mind.
Well, continues Kaelay, we're going on a quest to find it. The Phoenixdown. Since you found the map and know the most about the artifact, you're in the expedition party. Tarkasas, you're one of my ablest fighters, not to mention I hardly expect you to let Ramasha go off on his own for an extended period of time, so you get to come too. We leave tonight, so please make your preparations.
She moves on quickly, and I turn curiously to Ramasha. "Phoenixdown?"
I expected him to break into one of his excitedly animated lectures, but instead he looks away with an almost guilty expression. Why? Is he hiding something?
"It's... an artifact. Ancient artifact from the First Age, said to be able to revive dead creatures. It would make the Keeper who possesses it practically invincible."
I whistle under my breath. Impressive. So what's with his reluctance to talk about it? "Is something wrong?" I ask him.
"What? Wrong? No. Nothing, of course not. Nothing's wrong." He looks at me, then obviously realizes how ridiculous he sounds and smiles. "Really. Everything's okay. Come on, we better get ourselves ready for the trip."
Feeling slightly relieved, I put a hand on his arm to stall his leaving the bed.
"What's your rush?" I ask, smiling and pulling him back down.
Tharian's Dungeon
Dimitrus
"You know, I really ought to be teasing you about the quantity of mirrors in your room, but frankly it's too disgusting to be funny."
I turn to face Shalla, Maiden and long-time friend of mine, with exasperation. "Oh come off it. You say the same thing every time you come into my room. It's getting old."
She smiles at me in that childish, clever way that she has. "Well it's true, you know. I know you're really special 'cause Keeper Tharian lets you have your own room and all, but your vanity is really appalling."
I raise an eyebrow at her. "Are you trying to imply something?"
"Me, imply something?" She gives me her best Innocent Look, which I immediately see right through.
"I'm not sleeping with him," I say bluntly. "I'm a powerful fighter, the best researcher he has, and one of the highest priests at the Temple. Not to mention that Dark Angels are rare to begin with. I've completely earned every privelege I have, and not because I have a pretty face."
"Though you never seem to ignore that either," Shalla jokes. She sits on my bed, though perhaps "sits" is not really the proper term. Crouches, really. While a Maiden's top half is that of a woman, the bottom half is that of a spider. So they don't really sit, per se.
I turn my face back to one of the mirrors thoughtfully. Perhaps I do spend a lot of time gazing at my own reflection. But so what? I'm damn gorgeous! I mean, look at me! Fiery red hair that comes down to just past my shoulders, broad but not overly-large nose, strong chin, thin but expressive eyebrows over deep, gorgeous golden-brown eyes. I should appreciate my looks while I can, right?
I feel a pillow hit me in the back of the head.
"Oh for the Gods' sakes, stop preening!" says Shalla in a peeved voice. I can practically hear her rolling her eyes at me.
I turn to her and give her a practiced sexy smile. "Would you rather I preened you instead? I could give you a very thorough preening." I waggle my eyebrows suggestively.
"Sorry," she says, sighing theatrically, "but I think our species are incompatible. Why don't you go seduce some virginal Dark Elf, or have a go with a Vampire. I know those fang-boys really turn you on- which reminds me!" Abruptly she changes tone from teasing to serious. "You know our new allies, those other Blues?"
"Please, Shalla," I say, rather taken aback by her informality. "Those aren't just 'other Blues.' Those are the creatures of Zannos, Keeper of the Blue Darkness." When one has power, one must be respected. Respecting those in power is actually a time-honored way of gaining power yourself. ...Not that I'd ever kiss up to anyone, of course.
Shalla rolls her eyes. "Right, whatever. Anyway, there's this gorgeous young Vampire there. He's new, too. He was actually a Hero who got turned, not an Elder Vampire from the Shadowrealm."
"Ooh." My interest is piqued. "Go on. Describe this tender young morsel to me. I've always admired Vampires. Pity they don't remove those evil-looking white masks more often."
"This from a race that almost never takes off their skin-tight face masks," she mutters, but then gets on with telling me about this Vampire, a task which she is obviously relishing. "Alright. Young and tender he is. Sandy, dirty-blond hair. And violet eyes. Amazing, right? I mean, they're natural, and he used to be human!"
"You have my interest," I say, grinning. "What's his name?"
"I don't remember," she says, frowning. "I think it was Dashyll, maybe. Or Dorym? Darym? I'm pretty sure it started with a 'D.' Anyway, that's not important. What is important is that he's new to their Dungeon, and he doesn't even have a lot of friends there, let alone a lover. He really needs someone to show him around. And get this-" she lowers her voice to a mock-whisper "-I hear he's a virgin!"
My eyes widen slightly. I'm impressed. There haven't been many of those around recently. Well, not with me here, at any rate. I smile. I know what's coming next.
"What's the bounty?" I ask.
She winks. "Twenty-two gold."
Bargaining time. "Twenty-two? Come on. For someone that beautiful? Everyone's going to be after him. It's not like it will be easy. Reasonably, I shouldn't wager less than fifty."
"Ah, but he's a virgin," she reminds me. "That means he doesn't have any natural defenses against the likes of you. Which means that all you have to do to seduce him is get there first."
I frown. We've been playing this game too long. She knows the odds. "Fine. But you really ought to try at least twenty-five. Come on, I have to earn my gambling money somehow."
She laughs. "You weirdo. This is gambling. What else would you call betting whether you can seduce someone?"
I smile, feeling smug. "Oh come on. You know as well as I that it's not a gamble. There hasn't been a soul yet who has been able to resist me. I haven't lost once. It's not a bet if it's a certainty. You just like watching me seduce young men."
"There's bound to be one sooner or later," she says, smiling and pointedly ignoring the last part of my comment. "Although you are right in that I haven't won once yet. Maybe I should start putting a time limit on you."
"Tsk, tsk." I click my tongue at her. "Seduction can't be rushed."
"Huh. Fine then, twenty-five. But you'd better hurry with this one, before someone else beats you to him. You don't get the gold if don't seduce him as a virgin."
"No fair!" I fake a pout. "You've never had any rules about my targets being virgins before!"
"That's because we've never pitted you against a virgin before."
"There was that one time-" I start, but she cuts me off.
"That doesn't count. He was in a long-term committed relationship, and there was a very good reason why they hadn't had sex yet."
I pout some more. "I think it counts."
"Doryll!" she yells suddenly, snapping her fingers. "That's his name! Doryll. I knew it started with a 'D.'"
I smile. "Well. I think it's about time we payed a visit to our newest allies, don't you?"
Evain's Dungeon
Evain
Seven years ago, when we battled with Mortagui, we discovered the most incredible spell that he had perfected. It apparently allowed him to transport creatures through a Realm Border with no consequences. Needless to say, this was quite revolutionary. A Keeper could be unstoppable if he or she could transport their entire army through a Realm Border at a moment's notice. As it is, it's difficult to find enough hidden Secrets to transport even two or three, let alone a dungeon's worth. For years Keepers have been searching for a Door Spell with just such an effect. It seems Mortagui finally found it first.
After Mortagui was defeated, Kaelay's researchers (and a few of my own) spent quite a good portion of time trying to find this spell in his library. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the finished product. Mortagui perhaps did not keep it in his library, or maybe memorized and destroyed it. Even when we discovered the secret back chamber, we did not find it there.
But all was not lost. A dilligent Warlock came across the notes that Mortagui had made while designing the spell. It was amazing work. If nothing else can be said about the Keeper, Mortagui was a brilliant spellsmith. Using his notes, we were able to piece together a semi-decent imitation of the spell. And so now comes the time to use it.
Travel of this sort has never been done by Keepers prior to the invention of this spell. Since impenetrable rock is no obstacle to us, we can easily pass from one Realm to another. If we desire to start in a new Realm we must travel to the Shadowrealm and force a new Heart up into the Underrealm from there. But now we have creatures to transport as well. Obviously we cannot take them with us into the Shadowrealm or their souls and allegiances will be lost. So instead we must travel across the Realms, through the Borders, Realm by Realm. Needless to say, this is rather time-consuming.
Also, we have the added problem that our spell is not quite as professional as Mortagui's was. It is sloppy.
The spell operates on the basic principle of creating an artificial Portal in the impenetrable rock that forms in the magical field of a Realm Border. This allows creatures to pass through to the next Realm in the same way that they usually come in from the Shadowrealm.
Our first snag comes with a problem inherent in Portals. Since the spell cannot be cast by any one particular Keeper in the same Realm Border more than once, you are limited to one Border Portal (as we have come to refer to them) per Realm Border. But because these are Portals, they still retain the natural limitations of a normal Shadowrealm Portal. IE, they can only admit twenty creatures before the fabric of the Portal weakens.
Mortagui's notes on this are interesting. It was his hypothesis that a creature who passes through a portal becomes tied to said fabric. "This is best explained," he wrote, "through simile. Imagine for a moment that you have a doorway. Stretched across this doorway is a flexible, thin, invisible membrane. If a creature enters through that doorway, he does not break the membrane but extends it, carrying it in front of him wherever he goes. As more and more creatures enter, this membrane is stretched thinner and thinner until it can no longer hold another. This point is referred to as a Portal Limit, or just Limit. I have found that the first Portal in a Realm, which is augmented by the energy of a Keeper from its Heart, has a greater Limit of twenty creatures. Successive Portals, which do not feel the influence of the Heart energy, have a smaller yeild, generally of about five.
"Returning to the simile of the membrane. If a Portal has reached its Limit, say of twenty creatures, the membrane is fully stretched. But if one creature were to return through that Portal, there would be a correspoding space left in the membrane. A certain amount of elasticity still left. Therefore, the creature could re-enter, or a new creature could enter, until the Limit of twenty is once again reached.
"One wonders about the applications of this theory, which I call the Theory of Portal Limitation. Does this mean that if a creature could go through several successive Portals, eventually there would be a set limit to the distance that he or she could travel away from the Portal through which they originally entered the Underrealm? If so, would allowing fewer creatures to go through a Portal increase the distance that the remaining creatures could go? Also, is it possible for the membrane to somehow snap? What would happen if it did? Is there a way of augmenting the membrane to allow an unlimited amount of creatures to pass through? (Related to the snapping of the membrane, perhaps?) Also, a creature can exit to the Shadowrealm from any Portal, regardless of whether they entered through it. Does that mean that the membrane is permeable from the opposite direction? Perhaps the membrane is somehow negated when a creature passes into the Shadowrealm. Properties of the Shadowrealm are unusual and often unpredictable."
Most of Mortagui's research is written like that. Sometimes it can be dry and hard to follow, but the underlying facts are always extremely fascinating. At any rate, what this boils down to for our spell is that we can only take twenty creatures each with us before the Portals hit their limit. Creatures can return freely, and one can be exchanged for another, but there still cannot be more than twenty with each of us at one time, forty total.
Mortagui seemed to have found a way around the limitation. Maybe he managed to snap the theoretical membrane or something. Kaelay and I also believe that he probably found a by-product spell of this one that allowed him to attract an infinite amount of creatures through a Shadowrealm Portal. Needless to say, this would also be very useful if we could find it.
I watch the shimmering archway in the stone border of this Realm. Creatures have never passed through the magic of a Realm Border, and I wonder briefly if they will feel its effects the way a Keeper does. But upon consideration, probably not. One assumes that the magic of a Portal would sheild them from that.
Our ranks of twenty march through their respective entrances. Imps run before them, digging the passageways a step ahead of them, enhanced with artificial speed from their own spells and ours.
Oddly enough, the twenty creature limit does not apply to Imps. As long as there is a Heart in both Realms that are being connected, they seem to be able to pass freely through the Portal. My theory is that this results from the fact that Imps are merely physical manifestations of mana, and mana can move freely anywhere.
We should be able to get through another two or three Realms before we camp for the night. Which means...
Whose shift is it? I ask Kaelay.
She thinks about it. Yours, she says eventually. Because I seem to remember already putting a Heart in the next Realm. She consults the map. The next Realm in our path should be the one southeast of here. Just follow the energy signal of my Heart.
I nod and focus on my Heart in this Realm. I don't need to ask Kaelay to watch my creatures for me; that's a given. I take a deep breath and ready myself for the plunge.
The Shadowrealm. It is difficult to remain focused here. The presence of too many Darknesses all around me... Especially the Red. I can feel the Red. It sees me. It knows what I am doing.
It feels as though I am swimming in a black ocean. I can see nothing. Hear nothing. And yet all around me I can feel whispers, taste colors. I know I must get to the surface. But the Red Darkness... Concentrate!
I focus my mind, searching for Kaelay's familiar energy. A map lights up in my mind. There are dozens and dozens of bright spots glowing above me, or perhaps around me, indicating each Heart that she has placed in a Realm. Around them, a fainter red aura reveals the general extent of her Dungeon.
It does not take me long to spot the one light that is off by itself, disconnected from the rest of the red glow. It is a good thing that she is the one who places her Hearts in the new Realms first. It is a simple matter for me to find that Heart and move next to it. It would be much more difficult to try and gauge which direction we should be heading on my own. It is very hard to retain a sense of balance and direction in the Shadowrealm. I leave that task to Kaelay, since she has more experience.
I lock my mind onto the point of light that is Kaelay's latest Heart and propel myself towards it. It is not far from me, since it is only one Realm over.
As I travel, I can feel the presence beside me of the Black Keepers. It is different than that of the Darknesses. While the Darknesses are misty and pervasive, surrounding me entirely, the Keepers are more like fleeting shapes. The Darknesses are the water of this black ocean, and the unborn Keepers like huge fish passing me, swimming like sharks in search of an awakened Keeper that holds a piece of live Darkness. Bait for them, and like a true fisherman, the Keeper of the Darkness will use that lifeline to pull them up to the surface. Even now I can feel them investigating me. Sniffing me, almost, searching for that spark. But they become disinterested when they discover that I am not carrying a live Darkness, and they drift away.
I am almost there. The light of this new Heart, shining above the waves of this sea, seen blurrily as though it is in fact through water, is close. It eclipses my vision, but I turn my head. I focus my Heart energy on an area near her own Heart. Already I can feel my energy levels fading. I have stayed here too long. I must get back to the surface.
The area of the Underrealm under my concentration melts. The intensity of a Keeper's energy pervading the Underrealm from all the way in the Shadowrealm creates Heartstone, a rare type of rock that can contain the living energies of a Keeper. It creates a circular seal of this stone in the Realm above me and I speed furiously towards it. I feel like a swimmer with little air left.
With only several gasps to spare, I rocket up through the earth, blasting through the Heartstone. It immediately reacts to my energy and reforms itself, beating rapidly at first and then slowing into a regular pattern even as the rock settles into a normal Heart configuration.
I take a deep breath and head back across the Realm Border. Even if we could speed all of our creatures and travel many Realms in a day, this would be the factor that limits us. It takes a great deal of energy and concentration to create a new Heart, and we can only do so many in a day.
I rejoin Kaelay, and she looks at me with concern. The unasked question is clear.
I'm alright, I assure her. My concentration wavered slightly and I didn't get out of there as quickly as I would have liked. But it wasn't exactly a close call. I wasn't in any real danger. Besides, you know going into the Shadowrealm always shakes me up a bit. I don't know what I'd do if I had to also remember and follow directions while I was down there.
She smiles. You get used to it. When you have to control mobs of ravenous Black Keepers, you learn to concentrate on more than one thing at once, and your concentration must still be absolute. Actually, it's easier for me going down like this. When I'm just making a new Heart I can fight off the Black Keepers all I want. When I go down to collect them, I have to hold on to them, but still hold them back at the same time. It's difficult.
I can imagine. I am weary, and she feels it. She sends me a small bundle of energy and I take it gratefully. I need to go on. We still have several more of these yet to do before we rest.
Zannos's Dungeon
Zannos
Mortagui was a coward, and an opportunist of the worst kind. He let his prejudices and hatred sow within him a lust for vengeance that blinded his common sense, if indeed he had any of that in the first place. He was a sniveling excuse for a Keeper, latching on to anyone with power, even risking the wrath of his own Darkness if it meant currying the favor of another. At the same time he was also arrogant, always overestimating himself and underestimating others. He was, without a doubt, one of the most disgusting examples of our kind.
That being said, he was not without his uses.
Because of him, I inherited perhaps the single most useful spell in the Underrealm. It is called the Realm Portal, a practical example of the much sought-after Door Spell, and it allows me to transport as many creatures as I wish from one Realm into another. He designed the spell and gave it to me, allowing me to use it to transfer a portion of my army into the Realm where a Heart imbued with the Blue Darkness awaited me. Unfortunately (for him) he died before I could return it.
It is quite a marvel. First, one casts the spell on a Realm Border. Once twenty creatures have gone through it, the spell appears to have reached its limit as a normal Portal does. However, the limit can be forced. No normal creature can pass through a Portal at its limit, but a Keeper in possesion of a creature has enough energy to manage it. When the Portal is forced, the limit breaks (along with something referred to in the spell as a "membrane") and any number of creatures can then pass through it.
It is quite a useful spell. In fact, I use it now as we travel. Tharian does not possess this spell of course, so I allow him to use my own passageways. Consequently, our creatures merge, and I watch their dynamics thoughtfully.
Most of Tharian's creatures appear well-trained and respectful, but not fearful, of him. This is a sign of a good Keeper. I am pleased that our Darknesses's second is so skilled. Still, I can feel his nervousness as he travels with me. Neither of us are currently in our corporeal forms, and I can tell that he feels rather exposed without the cover of the formality of physical manifestation.
I chuckle silently to myself. Poor kid. He is only seven. It may not seem like much, but a Keeper must be tough to last for seven years. When it is brought into this world, a Keeper is awoken to full consciousness, not this strange, dreamy, half-alert state that Hero children and some creature young exhibit. A Keeper has no "childhood" to speak of, unless it be that time when he or she is a Black Keeper, unaware of anything but the hunger it lives with.
Tharian has made it to his seventh year, and already he has advanced to the rank of second. I will have to watch him closely. While he seems to have no malicious power lust, he may someday be quite capable of taking me out.
Poor Tharian. He is not used to the pace of such travel. Every once in a while we must add a Heart to a new Realm. With the Portal completely open, the energy of our Hearts can pour through to the next Realm without hindrance, but there is a still a limit to the distance where it can travel. I can feel my Heartbeat getting weaker and weaker as I distance myself from it. And as I feel the distance, so do my Imps. They need the closeness of the Heart to continue their work in excavating a trail for us.
One might wonder why, since we have a map, we do not simply open a Heart in the Realm containing the Phoenixdown. I considered this course of action for a long time, but I decided against it for two reasons. Firstly, it is quite possible that there are no Portals in that Realm, and I will likely need creatures for this task. Also, I decided that I would rather have a fully-formed army at my back in such a situation. Who knows what protections we might find surrounding the Pheonixdown. If a map to it exists, surely other Keepers must have tried for to find the artifact. I am not so naive to think that our map is the only one, or that we are the first to find it. Possibly there is an army of undead whose only purpose is to guard the Phoenixdown. Who knows? But I would rather be prepared. The Blue Darkness shall not be lost again.
Oh God, that was hideous. Take me back.
or
Oh God, that was hideous. Let me complain to the author.