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  [Sigurd]

  They made it up to the entrance of the dungeon at a leisurely pace, getting there in the early afternoon. Sigurd wasn’t expecting the dungeon to have kept the bodies lying around, most didn’t, but sometimes they did and that was what they were here for. To see if it was possible to recover them.

  He also wanted to check for the eagle, having not seen it yet. Sigurd doubted the boys’ claims at how dangerous it was, but he didn’t think they had made it up entirely. Odd, Sigurd would have thought the creature would have attacked him before now. Perhaps it was a very new monster then.

  Since they were only going to the first floor, he hadn’t brought anything with him beyond light armour and his axe. The others did the same too and so as a group they didn’t have to prepare and just walked straight in, mindful of the steps.

  It was such a dick move to put the steps in the dark mist of the entrance.

  As the dungeon world broke over them, Sigurd was just as awed by at as he was the first time. He doubted he would ever get used to seeing the huge cavern. Nor to the sheer scale of life that lived in the dungeon. It was just bizarre.

  Still, he put it out of mind, and they split up, taking a section of the floor each.

  It took a half hour of searching the various trees – John and Indry being too shaken up to remember where in the floor it had occurred – before they found it. Not that ‘it’ was much.

  “Over here!” Jackson called.

  Sigurd rushed over, pushing through the grasses. When he got to Jackson, he saw it, a bright red path of earth. Not a dusty red like that of some soil, but a deep red. The red of blood-soaked ground. The bodies were nowhere to be seen.

  They gave the area a more thorough search but there was nothing. No sign that they had been here, save for the red patch of course.

  Sigurd sighed.

  “Guess we can head back then, they’re gone.”

  “Yep”

  “Mmmhmm”

  As they trudged out of the entrance, up the stairs and stood outside of the dungeon for a while. Sigurd remembered.

  “Oh, shit, we forgot about the eagle, we should see if we can find it.”

  “Oh, yeah, hopefully there’s some cool loot too.” Sigurd laughed at that. Typical Kael.

  They searched for another half hour before they found it, courtesy of Jenna’s ‘sense life’ spell. The spell had only a short range, and so they had to be virtually underneath its nest to sense it, but they did. A small alcove cut into the roof. From the exit of the floor, you could just see the edges of its nest and the side of one wing. It was no wonder they hadn’t noticed it. Very well disguised indeed.

  Kael took to the challenge of climbing one of the living trees while the others gave it a harsh pruning, lopping off all of the moving branches. He reached the top easily, not being a particularly difficult climb and looked out towards the nest.

  Luckily, or perhaps intentionally, one of the thicker branches extended towards the nest. An easy path for the rogue. Kael walked along the branch with as much ease as Sigurd thought he walked along a road and paused, just an arm’s span away from the nest.

  Much as any animal would, the eagle didn’t like someone being so close to its nest, and so it attacked leading with its talons and flapping its wings around.

  As it swooped down at him, Kael snapped out a dagger and cut it down. Sending a scattering of feathers gliding gently to the floor. He caught the eagle, looked at it for a moment.

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  “Catch” he said, throwing it down.

  A few moments later, he scampered down, clutching a few jewels and coins in his hands.

  “Look at this, a veritable bounty for floor one, it’s a sweet find.” He said, showing them. The find was small as compared to the lower floors, but still a huge haul for a beginning adventurer.

  The eagle turned out to be just a normal eagle, but with sharper talons and that was it, not the huge challenge the boys had implied. It was as he had suspected. It was just bad luck and no training that had led to their deaths.

  Sad, but it was expected for newbies, the guild would clamp down on it when they got here, and having seen more of the dungeon, Sigurd suspected that they would be here in force. Especially with no bottom mapped out as yet.

  They turned to exit the dungeon again and to carry the unfortunate news back to town, marching up the steps and back through the black mist that shrouded the entrance in mystery.

  Walking down the mountain, they passed the rocky section that was just below the entrance when Kael stopped suddenly. Sigurd stumbled into him and was about to shout at him when Kael slapped a hand over his mouth, putting a finger over his own and shushing.

  He cocked his ear, trying to hear better.

  “People, below us.” He whispered. They all stepped back, trying to stay quiet. Something must be up, Sigurd thought. Kael wouldn’t normally be hesitant about encountering other people.

  As they drew closer to us, Sigurd began to hear them and listened in, closing his eyes to focus.

  “It’s got to be around here somewhere. We’re at the edge of the tree line and the rocky cliff side is just there,” a male voice said.

  “Well, keep bloody looking, the master will be most displeased if we fail him. Just find the dungeon!” another replied.

  A few moments later they spoke up again, much louder this time. “There it is, just round the corner.”

  “Good, let’s get inside, grab that core and get it back to master before he decides to punish us.”

  “Why do you think he wants the core?”

  “Why do you think I know, you fucking goblekin? It’s probably a source of power or something. Who cares? If he wants it, he can have it. You go ask him if you care so much. Idiot.”

  “No need to be so tetchy, we’re here now. It’s a new dungeon it’ll be easy to grab it and go.”

  “Well, that’s not good” Sigurd whispered to the others.

  “No, not good at all. We can’t let them get the core.” Sebastien replied. “There’s no telling what they plan with it, but I doubt it’s anything good. Kael, head back up and hide, we’ll confront them, I want you to kill whoever looks most dangerous just before it kicks off.”

  “Ok” he said, sliding backwards and fading from view in short order.

  Sigurd and the group nervously stood in waiting, hearing the sounds of the others draw closer to them. When he heard their boots marching on the rocky ground, he and Jackson stepped out from the edge of the cliff first, joined by Sebastien. Jenna and Lorelei remained pressed against it. As a group they spanned across the path, blocking it.

  The motley crew of would-be dungeon killers rounded the corner and stopped short, taken aback by the adventurers that blocked their way.

  They were dressed like brigands, poor quality leather armour, sloppily stitched together and studded with metal rivets. Cheap to produce in quantity and good enough for outfitting your minions. Only the leader had better, though not of the quality that they themselves possessed.

  The bandits carried a variety of weapons from clubs and cudgels to swords and axes, none well maintained. Though how well you could maintain a club was up for debate, it being a bat with nails driven through it.

  “Who are you lot?” The leader asked in a gruff voice, hostility and anger his foremost emotion.

  “Guilders, sent to examine the dungeon, we have done so and are going to report back. I’m afraid you have wasted a trip, its closed for now, closed until the guild get here.” Sebastien replied diplomatically.

  “It’s closed is it lads?” he laughed. “Well, we’d best go home then.” They laughed with him. “No, that’s not going to happen.”

  “I’m sorry sir, but the guild hasn’t vetted the dungeon yet. As you well know, the laws place unregistered dungeons under the control of the guild, until a team of registered adventurers can examine the dungeon. A cursory examination has just been conducted, but the guild has yet to release the dungeon for public use. As a guild member, I cannot allow you to enter the dungeon before the full examination has been carried out.”

  “Oh, a sir, am I?” they laughed again. “Listen you poncy spoon-fed prat, I don’t care what the guild says, they aren’t here, I am going into that dungeon and no mincing fop and his merry band of sycophants is going to stop me. Move!” Anger clouded his words and, though Sebastien stayed calm, Sigurd and the rest shifted about, prepping their weapons.

  “As I said, you cannot enter the dungeon, not only is it not open for public use, but dungeon killers are criminals that should be apprehended at all costs. Leave or face us and die!” Sebastien retorted finally letting emotion colour his words.

  “So be it, men kill them.” As the words left the leaders mouth, an arrow whistled past us, slamming into his jaw, and sending him stumbling back over the edge. Needless to say, he didn’t rise again. Dead.

  Sigurd charged forwards, weapon swinging and blood flying. Being shorter, he stayed on the outside, aiming for the man armed with a cross bow. He looked nervous and so Sigurd wasn’t too worried about the projectile. But he couldn’t let the man get a shot off on the girls either. Sigurd swung his axe with spite, cutting through the man’s arms and making kindling of his cross bow, before swiping back and removing his head.

  Sensing an attack from his left, Sigurd rolled over the newly headless man, catching only a shallow cut on his rump from the sword swinging thug who had attacked. Getting to his feet quickly, he spun, just in time to see the head of a bolt slam out of the swordsman’s neck. The man pitched forwards with a rasping cough as he bled out.

  Sigurd saluted Kael before charging back into the battle again, cutting down a man fighting Jackson from behind, before Jackson and Sigurd each took an arm from the last bandit. With one more swing of his axe, Jackson cut the armless fellow in half, breathing heavily as the man’s torso slid off his own legs, to, with a wet slap land upon the floor, blood leaking out and seeping into the ground.

  Catching his breath, Sigurd looked around. Fifteen dead bodies laid upon the ground, all of them bandits. Sigurd’s butt cut had been healed by Jenna and no one was injured.

  “Nice work. Makes this day feel a little better. Dungeon Killers are scum” Lorelei commented, spitting on one of them. He laughed.

  “Should we clean up the bodies?” Sigurd asked, “feels rude to leave them on the path.”

  “Uh, just chuck ‘em in the dungeon I guess.” Jackson replied.

  They laughed again, and did just so, chucking them in the dungeon to be absorbed and turned into mana. A fitting end to some dungeon killers - feeding a dungeon.

  They walked back to town with smiles on faces and slept peacefully that night.

  In the morning, the group headed back, bringing news to the guild, and Sigurd stayed in town to pass on the news and prepare everyone for the huge influx of adventurers and the changes to the town that would be happening shortly.

  Very soon, Littlebrook would be unrecognisable, and he was looking forward to it. As a half dwarf, Sigurd was young still and this dungeon had rekindled his passion for delving. Hopefully, Sebastien and his group would be back, and they could delve together. If not, Sigurd thought he would set up a new group.

  God, he’d missed it. The adrenaline, the rush of discovering loot and the feeling of battle, and this was the perfect dungeon for him. Bring it on.