Dungeon Robotics 9 - 7

Good Morning! 

Louella

A few days passed with barely anything to note happening. Vaihdetta was for all intents and purposes a self-contained city that pulled all its required resources from the dungeon. In fact, we could live fairly comfortably without having to go further than the twentieth floor.

We really had to thank Regan for being able to come this far. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like if Regan’s dungeon hadn’t formed here. For one, this place would still mostly be a small village with little more than mud roads. It was hard to remember with how fast the village changed.

Currently, I was standing on the valley pass wall on the Lecazar side. The pass wall spanned the almost kilometer distance with brick and mortar. The dwarves had really went to town on the structure. It was nearly three dozen meters wide now, now mentioning the main gate and towers. Add to that the fact there was an almost identical one on the Thonaca side as well as all the district walls that segmented the city. Vaihdetta city was one of the most fortified cities on the continent now.

“When should they be arriving?”

“The scouts said they heard the noise earlier this morning. They should be here any minute.”

It wasn’t long before I felt mana fluctuation from the distance. The grinding of steel and soil soon reached us. The large vehicle clearly of Regan’s design, it was laying tracks similar to the ones from the city in the Beneath. The train was being commanded by Izora right now. As a fellow queen, it was only right that I greet her.

The construction continued up until the outer wall where everything ground to a stop. I easily spotted Izora working on the deck of the vehicle surrounded by here guards and assistants. I hopped into the air and floated down to meet her.

“Your majesty,” Izora said with a nod.

“Your majesty,” I replied with a similar nod. We stared at each other for a few seconds before we broke into laughter. “I am glad to see that you are more yourself.”

“I am also glad to see you in one piece. I heard about your little adventure in the beneath from members in Steel Spire.”

“Embarrassing as it was, I believe that it ended up being an overall good experience. At least it allowed us to create ties to some of the people living down there.” I looked her and her people over. They were all healthy but had seen much better days. “Come. I know the dungeon is only a short walk away, but let me show some hospitality to my friends.”

“That will be most welcome.”

Back in the castle, Izora and I sat across from one another as we discussed the situation of the world. Here guards had all went to get some food and rest in other rooms. They knew this was a safe place.

“The scar is that bad?” I asked after listening to some of the stories from Izora.

“It will be an undertaking of a generation or two to repair the damage to our planet. Even once the taint is gone, the forests and land will take time to recover.”

“Unless Regan comes up with something that does it in a few months,” I replied taking a sip of tea.

“We can only hope,” she said with a chuckle. “How goes things here? And I heard there is a new member to the family.”

“It is quiet around the area. Each day that it remains so, I thank the fates. Azar was borne about two weeks ago. He is already producing enough heat to cook a steak. Ezal and Val are quite happy.”

“That is good to hear. With all the death and decay. The news of new life coming to the world in a welcome change.”

“I agree, and I plan to keep this valley safe in order for him to grow up.”

“Any news from Thonaca?”

“The king is refusing to meet with me.” My advisors had suggested attempting to negotiate a peace with the King. I had sent both messenger hawks and sendings, but hadn’t heard a thing in reply yet. If the damage they received during the short war was as little as our spies were reporting, I worried they were recouping to attempt another assault on the valley.

“Royalty,” Izora commented giving me a wink.

I snorted and shook my head. “I would rather deal with you any day of the week.”

“Ah. The only difference is that you had something of great interest to me at the time. All things withstanding, if that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t have given your little village or the tiny lord that was the exiled outcast of one of the countries the time of the day.”

“Another benefit of Regan being my neighbor, I suppose,” I said with a shrug.

Izora looked out the window. The cityscape that might not existed with a few different decisions here and there in the past. “I was a fool. Blind to everything around me. I was so busy trying to protect and advance my people that I didn’t even look at them. So many turned against their brothers and sisters. My own father corrupted by his desires.”

“The benefit of hindsight. I’ve had a lot of time to think recently and I’ve thought back over the last year on things I might have done differently. Like you’ve said there were people that died that didn’t have to. People in Lecazar that might still be alive today had we been able to move faster.”

“If anyone has any right to be proud of how they handled themselves, it is you, lady Louella. Not only were you exiled by your own father, you managed to crawl by up and bring so many people along with you. There are nearly a million people in this valley that have better lives than they have ever known. Tens of thousands of slaves that are essentially free to live their lives out like everyone else.”

“Thank you. To hear that makes me feel much better about my actions up until now.” Izora suddenly yawned though I saw she tired to fight it. “I’ve kept you from your rest. Please,” I gestured for the guard. “Enjoy the guest rooms. I’m sure if you go back now, your people will swarm you with questions.”

Izora laughed and nodded her thanks. “I was actually just thinking about how to avoid my councilors for a few hours to rest my eyes. I will take you up on that offer.” She followed the guard out and the door closed with a click.

I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. There was so much that was uncertain, but I was glad to see her back on her feet. The gnomes had been worried about her according to Ignea. They would pester her every now and then to check on her.

The fairy wielded considerable influence among the populace of the dungeon. Even if they would do everything that Regan said as if he was a god, which I guess he was to them, the free-willed members of the dungeon had their own political landscape. The automata, goblins, gnomes, adventurers, and whatever else he had in there made for an interesting climate.

“I suppose the Beneath races will be added to that list soon. How far will Regan’s reach grow before this all ends?” I mumbled to myself.

~~~

“Knock, knock.”

I jolted awake realizing that I had fallen asleep on the sofa in my office. I rubbed my face to see Wrakras standing in the doorway with a tray of food. I hadn’t seen him since the battle with Glourios. “Wrakras? What brings you to this neck of the woods?”

The man had short cropped black hair that framed his much nicer face. He’d been horribly scared before, but that had vanished with his transformation. The rest of his body was well built, showing off nice muscles. He currently wore a dark robe that brought out green eyes.

He walked over and handed the tray over to me. Ever since I hit Tier four, my appetite was more of a second thought sort of thing. If I didn’t think about it, I could go for days without eating. However, if someone put food in front of me, I had no problem eating. “Kenia has finally finished relocating her dungeon. I’m back here for the time being.”

“Kenia… Ah! The Wraith core, I think is what Regan is calling it. Good. I was worried about that situation.”

“She has here issues. Master is going to have a hard time controlling her desire for revenge once the threat from the demons is over.”

I raised an eyebrow at the statement. “You sound pretty confident that Regan can handle whatever they throw at us.”

“Master has literally turned my world inside out more than once.” He made a small hole barely large enough for his finger to fit through with his hand. “He pulled my body through a hole this big when I first met him. I think if anyone is going to be able to deal with this threat it is him.”

“I agree. I just fear how much collateral damage there is going to be when he says the war might engulf the planet.”

“Trust me. This will be the safest place anyone could hope to be. There are three cores in close proximity to each other, and he could easily move three or more in the path of anything that makes this place a target. Don’t forget that barrier he placed over the entire valley.”

“You’re right. I’ve been sitting on my hands the last day or so. I’m finding idle thoughts are my worst enemy.”

“It is possible to think too much.”

I laughed as memories of the passed popped into my head. “At least our meeting had a last impression.”

“The villain is supposed to capture the damsel. I am honestly glad that I failed that day.”

“Me too!” I laughed again then sighed. “Well. It is good to have you back around. At least now I will have someone to talk to that isn’t suffering from baby fever.”

“A pleasure to be of service.”

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