DD2 - CH23: Back in Business

Rhen pushed his anima drill deeper into the Magnite rich wall that Joseph’s team had discovered. They were all currently off enjoying their time in the bath, while Olliat, Eli, and Derk got the Faust parents up to snuff for the Alpine chamber by farming some terrockens. They’d need cephaloshifter and blubberific before they could join them in getting out the critical ores.

All the delvers from the Welsh cluster—which was presently at auction to pay off some of Peter’s debt—came to Zephitz. There were gardeners, architects, miners, and fighters too, a good twenty of them. They had to double up in the dungeon inn, but Rhen didn’t much mind sharing a room with Jakira. When they did manage to get some sleep, it was restful in her embrace.

Silvery flecks filled the stream of debris getting funneled into the upgraded drill Wyland had provided. His secondary “garbage” container was almost full of the dark rock which the architect team would use to construct the topside buildings, so he shut down the drill. He unhooked the enon compartment and set it next to the mouth of the gratefully empty cave. He hooked in a new container and got back to work.

Three more rock containers later, his Magnite container was full. Rhen wiped the sweat from his brow and looked to his friends.

“Ready to head back?”

Aki was funneling water through a large gouge harboring an enormous solid chunk of metal. “Almost there,” he said, intently focused.

The rock cracked and gave way, releasing the metal to the floor. It landed with a heavy clunk, and Aki pulsed hot pink. “I have collected the most.”

“The most metal, maybe, but the best was most materials. Rhen and I both collected stone for the buildings, too,” Jakira said, pointing to the ten rectangular containers stacked up in the corner.

Aki let his body fall down into the watery mannequin and turn upside down, shimmering a sad blue. “I misunderstood…”

Rhen laughed. “It’s okay, buddy. Not like the dishes take you long.”

They liked to bet inn chores while out on the delve—though they usually helped one another out with the chores they’d bartered anyway.

“That is not the point. I wanted to win.”

Aki pushed his third massive chunk toward the cave exit with his water. They were making good progress, but with only three months left to go, and no room for another extension, they were going to cut it close.

That was if Sen didn’t come in and sweep the dungeon out from under him.

Bort, chubbified from blubberific, and loaded down with enon bags, ran up to the mouth of the cave. “Rhen, you’re needed back at the inn. Long night’s coming.”

“What color?” Rhen unhooked the compartments from the drill and holstered the tool on his back.

“Orange right now, about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Faust and team still out there?” Rhen helped Jakira pack up the materials in Bort’s bags.

“When I was there, yes.”

Rhen turned to Jakira and Aki. “Olliat should know to bring them home, but I’ll need you two to search for the team if they’re not back. I’m going to disable the res-node barrier.”

“Roger,” Jakira replied, her stony, lead bruiser attitude activated.

“I will find them,” Aki said confidently.

They packed up and hauled out in less than two minutes. Aki had used his water controlling bad-assery to make them a nice, wide path up the side of the mountain to the Magnite cave cluster, and so the trip down was fast. They jogged up the winding path to the exit, and made it to the lake in about fifteen minutes.

Rhen was counting down the seconds in his head. If it was mid-way through orange when Bort was there, they may only have minutes left before the long night started. He rushed the water and triggered cephaloshifter, and paid the extra anima cost to select one of the faster squid species he’d transformed into before.

Swift twitch surged through thirteen of his limbs while the last carried the team. He used each long and slender tentacle like a propeller, blasting them across the lake. He was worried for the delver team for sure, dying was no fun. But if the hexawraiths feasted on the res-node barrier, they could drain the entire rainforest chamber of its anima, a likely catastrophic event for the ecosystem.

He couldn’t lose that chamber. If the ecosystem went down, the anima flow stopped regenerating. They would lose the plants, the prey animals, the terrocken, the clean water, the ability to resurrect… everything.

Rhen made it to the other side in a record breaking four minutes, leaving every creature in the lake completely spooked. Waves still rocked the surface and lapped up against the shore as Rhen beached himself and deactivated cephaloshifter early.

He reverted to human form and rushed through the tunnel up to the inn. Blood-red light was pouring through the windows and a crowd had gathered.

Rhen shouted as he ran through the curious group. “Everyone take cover! Get out of here!”

The delvers dispersed, running back up the tunnel to the dungeon exit.

“Don’t panic, this is normal!” Wyland shouted to them as the newcomers fled. Smart man.

Jakira and Aki were right behind Rhen, battle ready, as they charged into the rainforest. They dodged whining tree branches that whipped at each other. The ground shook as massive trees were felled, trying to make Rhen stumble. He followed the white-painted rope path that lead to the res-node, praying for just a few mores seconds.

“I hear them. Jakira, with me,” Aki called and cut off from the path.

“Right behind you. Good luck, my love!” Jakira shouted with defender’s cry, filling Rhen with emboldening strength.

Her love.

Fiery determination burned from his chest down his arms and legs. He used tremor blast to dodge a plummeting giant trying to block the path. He could barely see the rope through the madness, but it was there. Just a few more posts.

The red light above was dimming, flickering, fading.

Rhen blasted his way through the chaos, getting whipped and cut by splinters as he ran. The white glimmer of the shield cut through in the blackness, and Rhen followed. A branch caught him in the chest, sending waves of pain through his lungs as he gasped from the ground.

He crawled on hands and knees, wheezing. The hairs on his arms stood on end as he passed through the barrier. Tree branches bashed into the shield, bursting into red sparks on impact. It was like terrible fireworks exploding all around him.

The device panel glowed softly at the base of the resurrection node. Rhen powered toward it, finally getting a breath of air. He flipped the toggles, and pressed both buttons, then hit execute.

With a loud snap the anima ripped away from the six posts in the ground. The spinning plate dropped to the ground and buried itself in a tree trunk. Rhen breathed a sigh of relief. He’d made it just in time.

The trees went quiet in the blackness.

But he wouldn’t be making it out.

He hunkered down against the node and pressed his hand to the surface to save his anima profile. White light surged down his arm and into his chest. The flow of anima drew the hexawraiths right to him.

Pain tore through his spine as claws raked over his back. Rhen held tight to the node until the save was complete, and then turned on his heel. He fired tremor blast at the stupid fluffin’ thing that thought he was a tree. It burst, shooting warm water all over the forest.

Bright yellow light flared high on the wall in the distance, and Rhen could see silhouettes of people watching from the windows. He really didn’t want to die.

He gritted his teeth and ran for the light, stumbling all the way. Claw and teeth gnawed and chopped all around him. Weakness trembled in his legs. He’d used too much swift twitch…

Rhen’s foot caught on a log and he went down. He crawled again, elbows, knees, and feet pushing into the muddy earth.

“Rhen!” Jakira’s cry was desperate. “Keep going! You can make it!”

He wanted to make it. He wanted with all his heart not to get shredded into pink mist, but it would be quite poetic if he did just feet from the safety of the inn, and Jakira’s embrace.

Water rushed under him, lifting him from the ground and carrying him the last dozen feet to the exit. Aki’s anima use called a hexawraith to him, but Jakira ended it with a quick bash to the chest.

Alex and Ulecks pulled Rhen up by the arms and carried him into the inn. The shuttered the door barred it, then dropped Rhen on one of the chairs. He leaned his head back, a chuckle making its way up his throat. The chuckle grew into a laugh, and then Jakira broke, too. Aki turned yellow and swirled around in his water.

Hexwraiths flew past the windows, just shadow creatures in the low light of the hearth.

“Why are you laughing!” Arannet demanded, horrified.

“We made it,” Rhen said, wiping mud from his face. He was covered head to toe in it, dripping on the floor. “I’m going to the baths.”

“Same,” Jakira said, reaching a hand to help Rhen up.

They clasped hands, but he was so slippery with mud that she couldn’t pull him up. He fell to the floor, and they laughed even harder.

“Did you guys just lose it?” Alex asked incredulously.

“Definitely cuckoo,” Ulecks added.

Wyland hobbled down the stairs. “Didja turn it off?”

“Just barely,” Rhen said, finally regaining his senses from the intense laughter. “They were on it fast.”

“Hmm.” Wyland swished his moustache and brows back and forth. “Fifty-two days since the last long night.”

Rhen scowled. “Thirteen anima cycles.”

“What does that mean?” Arannet asked.

“I don’t know,” Rhen said with a happy shrug. “But we’ll start documenting it and find out, I guess. We should put a sign over the entrance to the chamber that keeps count.”

Wyland bobbed his head. “I could prolly hatch somethin’ up that would do a count down, if it’s consistently fifty-two days.”

Jakira started mumbling to herself. “Long night lasts six hours, one forth a day… four days per cycle… No…”

Rhen finally found the strength to climb to his feet. He’d given that mad dash everything he had, running his anima dangerously low. The rejuvenating bath would help. He went to the window first. Rain pattered against the glass, making a calming atmosphere despite the hexawraith carnage on the other side.

“We brought back plenty more ore and stone,” Rhen said to Wyland. “Can you see that it gets where it needs to?”

The old man smiled. “You betcha. Keep it comin!”

He locked muddy arms with Jakira. They went to the lowest bath in the tier to clean off first, since it was the last stop before the water flowed back up to the surface. They were so filthy they didn’t want to start at the top, hot bath. They jumped in, clothes and all, and scrubbed one another off.

When they were clean enough, they wandered back up to the warmer, private baths. Jakira followed him, a devious gleam in her eyes. “These might be our last months in comfort.”

Rhen chuckled the at the word, “Comfort,” but he understood what she meant. Rhen hadn’t told her about his plan to escape. She must’ve known he wouldn’t relinquish himself to a prison dungeon, or Aki had shared. No matter. She was with him no matter what.

Rhen stepped back into the dark bath with glimmering purple ambiance, pulling Jakira with him. She yanked his sopping wet shirt off and tossed it to the ground. Rhen fought with her complicated straps and buckles for her armor while her fingers traced his neck down to where the crystal encased sliver of her horn rested at his sternum.

“Thank you for making space for me,” she whispered.

He faltered. There was so much he wanted to thank her for. “You’ve been… more than I could imagine anyone being. I never knew how much I needed you.”

She smiled, helping him with the buckles for her pauldrons. Her armor fell away, leaving her in thin, tight undergarments. He pulled her into the steaming pool. The mixture of heat and emotion made his head foggy.

“Do you still want your own inn?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“You won’t have that if you come with me.”

She flinched in his grasp, then relaxed into him. “An inn of three is enough.”

“Is it?”

“I’ve already chosen what’s most important,” she said, her hand touching the necklace again. “I will build the life I want.”

His hand slid around the back of her neck and pulled her close. He would enjoy every last moment of comfort he could.