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  [Dungeon]

  As the crash bird plopped into the ocean, a small spray of water leapt up from the sea, smattering onto the edge of the icy platform and freezing quickly, just missing the group. Nice shot indeed.

  Kael took the lead again, he hopped over the platforms with ease, waiting each time as the others followed with far less grace. It was comical to watch.

  The next fight went much the same, with a little more speed and a little less damage, just a few more cuts and scrapes to be healed up by Jenna. Another polar bear dead, though this time they didn’t stop to loot it. Sebastien just jotted something down in his notebook and off they went again.

  It took them another few minutes until they reached the first platform where the path split, though first they had to fight another polar bear, and this time the bear was standing proud as they jumped onto the platform, ready.

  With a rumbling roar that echoed around the room, the bear charged forward, actively attacking them instead of defensively protecting the chests that hid beneath their lumbering bodies.

  The bear charged forward, aiming for the fire mage, Lorelei. Jackson managed to elbow her out of the way in time and took the heavy bear onto his shield instead, its teeth denting the metal as it clamped shut on the top edge of the shield and its paws cutting large furrows like ploughed rows on a field as it slashed.

  Having been thwarted once, it growled in frustration, drawing back, and sending another paw flying at him. The giant man was ready however and switched his feet around, catching the second paw on the shield as well.

  With his feet planted well, he only slid back a few metres, but it was still close enough to drive him to the edge.

  I liked this group but even I didn’t know whether or not I wanted the bear to kill him. On one hand, hell yes, I did, killing them would be pleasure beyond words and the influx of energy from people so strong would fuel my growth for weeks.

  But, on the other hand if they escaped then they would bring back far more adventurers and traffic to my dungeon. And more people meant more death, much, much, more death.

  And death was good for me. I thought smiling. I decided against any intervention, what little I could do anyway, and waited impatiently as the fight dragged on.

  Jackson managed to shrug off the heavy paw and circle away from the edge and more into the centre of the icy platform, ready to keep the aggro again.

  A fireball flared into existence, bathing the bear in flames, that put off billowing black clouds of smoke as the fur crisped up and withered away in the intense heat of Lorelei’s fire magic.

  Aware of the danger of such reduced visibility, Jenna cast a wind spell in order to clear the air. Just in time too as the now balding bear charged forward, aiming for the leader, Sebastien. Who had been covered by the smoke.

  Almost taken by surprise, the wind spell saved him, clearing his vision in time for him to dive left. Nonetheless he was sent spinning as the bear clipped his legs, opening up fresh wounds that bled so profusely that a smooth trail was left over the ice as he slid backwards. Aware enough of his speed and momentum carrying him to a wet cold grave, Sebastien cut into the ice with his sword, stopping him from sliding off of the platform.

  A startled yelp sounded as the splash of cold water soaked Jenna, a crash bird having just missed and plunged into the icy water an arrow sporting from its side.

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  “Thanks Kael” Jenna called out sending a healing wave to Sebastien that stitched together his flapping wound.

  Kael saluted and drew back on his bow again, aiming for the now hairless bear.

  Able to walk properly again, Sebastien straightened up, downed a healing potion to fully restore his mobility, dislodged his sword and charged forwards, attacking the bear which was currently distracted by the thudding impact of arrows which sunk deep into its back, now able to penetrate due to the burnt off hair as well as a highly compressed fireball that Lorelei had been building for a while, which had burnt a track across its shoulders. The sizzling flesh smoking away and leaving a bloody steaming trench half cauterised by the intense heat yet oozing still that caused the bear to howl in pain.

  Making it to the foe, Sebastien took his opportunity and stabbed forwards taking the bear in its armpit and crippling it before rolling forwards and ripping the blade free, slashing deeply through the connecting tissue.

  Half crippled and dropping forwards the bear no longer able to fully support its weight at such a sudden loss of strength, it was left open for an attack from its opposite side.

  With a shout, Sigurd swung his axe, cutting into the bear’s neck about halfway and driving it to the ice. Spotting his opportunity, Jackson dropped his shield and jumped, landing with a heavy stomp on the flat iron haft protection of the axe and driving it the rest of the way through the neck like a guillotine, separating head from body.

  They celebrated rapturously at the kill and Sigurd and Jackson high fived. “That was epic!” “Awesome combo there” “So sick” they exclaimed gushing over that final combo and drawing Sebastien into a tight hug. I was impressed also, the teamwork to plan that out would have been impressive yet the fact it was off the cuff was even more so.

  Another bear down and the path forward open. They were certainly doing well, though without Jenna healing them up they would surely be in a sorry state, my dungeon was dangerous enough it seemed. I doubted they would be going that much further.

  It took them a few moments to get set up again and much to Sigurd and Jackson’s amusement, Jenna had to ask Lorelei to dry her off, meaning that the boys had had to turn their backs as she stood half naked on the ice for a while as Lorelei worked.

  When they were done, they crowded around the farther end of the platform and debated which way they would go. As I had designed it, there was one side that had smaller platforms that looked harder, but the other side were more wobbly. Up to this point all the icebergs had large flat surfaces and they didn’t wobble when you walked on them.

  From here onwards though, you either had smaller flat platforms similar to the previous ones but meaning that the danger of getting knocked off increased. Or you could choose the larger, wobbly ones that had uneven and sometimes jaggedly towering icebergs that would have to be scrambled up and could be even more perilous, especially with the crash birds and other dangers that could cause a fall or even a roll of the platform that would dump you into the water if you weren’t too steady on your feet. I wondered which way they would choose.

  If they went down the wobbly route, then I might get a kill as the big mountain man would be likely to unbalance the platforms by a lot, he looked very heavy.

  Though in that case they definitely wouldn’t encounter the secret room, which could only barely be seen from the furthest out of the small platforms. But watching them climb over the icy mounds should be fun.

  As it turned out they did choose the wobbly platforms, jumping over without caution and when the platform shifted dramatically at Jackson’s weight they stopped, looking scared and quickly backtracked, unwilling to chance fighting on such unstable ground. A wise choice. I wondered if they would spot that secret room as they took the other route.

  It was the smaller platforms for them, and as they jumped over much more carefully this time expecting the wobble, they looked relieved when the ice didn’t move. Perhaps I should make one of them wobbly later on I thought to myself. That would be an excellent trap and I could alternate which one it was such that future delvers would have to be careful on each and every jump just in case and thus spend far more time in freezing conditions.

  Yes, that was an excellent idea.

  Diving birds harried their progress making contact only once as Kael kept shooting them down with unerring accuracy. One only got through because two came at once and the second one slammed into Jackson’s shield with a sad sounding clunk and a squawk, before he kicked it off the ice with a small shuffle. It slid over, barely reaching the end of the platform before toppling over. All in all, it was pathetic, but it was funny. I would wait until a few more adventurers had experienced it before changing anything. But perhaps a few more birds attacking at once would fix the issue. This group were obviously experienced, and I wanted to see how the regular delvers fared once I had some.

  The next few fights were also a bit more touch and go with the edges of the platforms so close, but they won with only an injury here and there, and a few splashes of blood staining my ice.

  The next path split was entirely arbitrary and only affected what the chests contained. Left went in favour of new equipment, and right in favour of money. They went right and by the time they reached the last few platforms they had accrued a significant sum.

  I was slightly peeved that they wouldn’t get to experience the orcas this time, but it was hardly to be expected, Sebastien had noted something seemed off and had timed the run to perfection meaning that the orcas missed them entirely. A surprise for future delvers that wouldn’t be forewarned so that was something good at least. Any facet they missed would surely be a nasty surprise later on and I was looking forward to it.

  The last fight went smoother than any before and they dispatched the biggest bear yet without a single hiccup, not bothering to loot it but just pushing it whole into the icy depths in order to take the money hiding below.

  As the last jump was cleared without issue, I could almost feel them exhale in relief as firm ground greeted them once more. Slippery still, it was an ice world after all, but it was solid with no gaps leading to a cold wet death.

  The archway was plain and as I watched them descend the stairs, I felt it could do with some touching up, perhaps a nice carved pattern or image to liven it up a bit.

  As the party continued down the stairs, I settled in to observe them, eager to see what they thought of my mirrors.