-

  The meal was cleared up after the song but the ale kept flowing.

  How much ale do they have stockpiled down here? Do they brew it from mushrooms?

  Hemut and Sw?dgar clasped hands amicably after their eating contest. Both men were stuffed. Gizmo led Hemut to the bunk house. The giant man could barely stand he was so exhausted. Sw?dgar got to work sluggishly cleaning up in his kitchen.

  Khermet took his shift atop the wall and Pegg and Yandas disappeared into the camp. Presumably to be alone together.

  Vaylari thanked the dwarves for their hospitality and she, William, and Drew retreated from the rowdy dwarves.

  With the door to their bunk house closed, Vaylari turned to William and Drew.

  “Alright, what’s next?” She said.

  William looked at the short beds and started unbuckling his armor.

  “I’m heading to bed.” He said.

  “No. Where are we at with the quest?” She asked turning to Drew.

  Hero’s Quest: Save Exylandria: Speak with Exylandria.

  “The quest details are the same. And I don’t believe the person we are looking for is in the fortress.” Drew said. “She must be holed up somewhere else in the dungeon.”

  “We can use this fort as a center of operations for a little while. Maybe Hemut could help with the mining and earn us some more charity.”

  Drew nodded in agreement.

  “It’s possible the dungeon is just that mushroom chamber. The Dwarves haven’t claimed it yet, only cracked it open with their mining.” She said. “If we can find the dungeon’s core we can still claim it.”

  William managed to unbuckle his greaves but stumbled on them. He was more than a little too intoxicated to take off his armor.

  Could we enchant the armor to be easier to put on and take off?

  “Quiet. I’ll help you out of that armor in a moment.” Vaylari said.

  ”I could cure his Intoxicated debuff.” Drew said.

  ”You can do that?” Vaylari asked. “Now. Drew. Figure out more about this quest. And find the dungeon core if you can.”

  Drew nodded in agreement.

  “It will be behind some large doors or guarded by a big monster,” she said.

  “Should we be trusting these Dwarves? We don’t know them.” Drew said. “What’s to stop them from turning on us?”

  “We don’t have to trust them farther than a good nights sleep in a serviceable bed.” Vaylari said.

  With that final word she went to help William out of his armor.

  Drew flew up into the rafters above their bunkhouse door. He sat staring at his status screen and slept very poorly when he nodded off.

  Skurr level 9? (44,872/14,000) Yes / No

  -

  There was no way to tell what time it was in the endless twilight of the dungeon. When Drew woke up, the natural glowing crystals were the same whispering brightness they had been when Drew had gone to sleep.

  Ever since coming to this world I’ve never slept more than four or six hours. Is that the side effect of my stats?

  “Hero…” a voice whispered.

  Or is that a Skurr thing? On earth weren’t crows most active at dawn and dusk, right?

  “Hero…” a voice whispered again.

  Drew whipped his head around to take in the unfamiliar room. Hemut was sleeping where he had rolled out of bed, flat on his face on the floor. William was flat on his back in a cot, his armor tucked tightly under the cot. Vaylari was laying on her side with a sheet strung up around her cot for privacy.

  I heard something. Right? Did Pegg never come back? Am I dreaming?

  Drew turned to look at the double doors to the bunk house and locked eyes with a glowing girl.

  She was fair, and had pointed elven ears. Her hair was long and floated in a slow whirl around her head. She was gone in a blink.

  “Wait!” Drew whispered.

  He swooped down and out through the gap in the doors.

  The small fortress was quiet. Drew circled the few sturdy buildings and then took a larger lap around the walls. He landed back atop the bunk house without finding her.

  No sign of her! She looked like an elf. Was she Exylandria?

  “Hero…” she said from behind Drew.

  He turned quickly, startled by how close her voice was. But she was not there.

  “Exylandria?” He whispered. The elven name was difficult to pronounce with his beak but his intention was clear.

  “Hero… help me.” Exylandria said.

  Exylandria was walking away from him on the next roof top. She wore a soft white night gown. It was a translucent dress with lace details. It billowed and floated slowly in a gentle wind only for her. She now wore a wide hat, which swooped into a point, shaped like the cap of a mushroom made of moonlight.

  She is a ghost. Are ghosts real here?

  She seemed to fade in and out like a mirage and Drew waited for her to disappear completely. He kept his eyes locked on her, as if that might give her a more solid form.

  She leapt gracefully from the rooftop to the wall before she turned to look at him. Her face was smooth and sad. Her eyes empty and pleading. He heard her voice but her mouth did not move.

  “Help me Hero?” She said.

  “How? How can I help you?” Drew asked.

  Exylandria smiled with her perfect little mouth. She reached both of her arms out wide to either side then let herself fall backwards off the wall.

  “Wait!” Drew cried and flew to the wall. “Wait I will help you! Just tell me how.”

  Hero’s Quest: Save Exylandria: Speak with Exylandria. Complete. 2,000 exp.

  Hero’s Quest: Save Exylandria: Restore order to her Dungeon. (0/3)

  When Drew landed on the wall she was gone. He strained his eyes to see into the cavern beyond. Something splashed down at the lowest level of the dungeon. Down where the mine turned to a soggy wet bog.

  An ornate wooden door floated flat like a raft in the muddy water.

  Magic flared behind him in the camp. Fire whooshed into the fire pit.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Oh! The Skurr,” Pigra said. “Good morning.”

  “Morning,” Drew said. With one last look for the ghost, he flew down to perch on a wooden chair beside the dwarf. Pigra fed a lump of charcoal to the fire.

  How can a ghost give a quest? She must be able to read my status screen too.

  “You speak well for a child of Miia. Have you seen our ghost?” Pigra asked. The Dwarf had sat down with a chunk of bread and an ale. His boots were off and his toes were roasting over the hot coals, nearly in the fire.

  Drew nodded and the dwarf tossed half his bread over to Drew. He scooped it up with his wing, guiding it to land and stay on the chair.

  “Poor girl has been haunting this mine for a long time.” Pigra said between mouthfuls. “She doesn’t usually show herself, but of course she would talk to you. Miia must have sent you here to help her move on.”

  “Maybe.” Drew said and pecked absently at the bread.

  The fire had grown and settled into a small blaze. Pigra’s toes were soot stained from being so close to the flames.

  “We will miss her if you take her to Miia, but that’s for the best. Ain’t it.” Pigra said.

  But is that what she wants?

  Drew checked his Quest Status. He focused on the last part, the (0/3). The details expanded and Drew read through the rest of the quest details.

  Hero’s Quest: Save Exylandria: Restore order to her Dungeon. (0/3)

  

  
• Recover the dungeon core from the Goblin camp.


  
• Stop the mining operations.


  
• Remove all of the intruders.


  

  -

  “Put your back into it big man!” Pigra cheered.

  Hemut pushed a mine cart up the slope. The rusty wheels grated on the rustier rails as it fought him for every step.

  “Glad to PICK mining over moving mine carts! Eh!” Yocca waggled his eyebrows at Pigra.

  He cuffed the comedian over the head with a gloved hand and disappeared into the mineshaft.

  Yocca smiled. He hefted his pick and hammer over one shoulder and followed Pigra into the mineshaft.

  Pegg, Vaylari, and Drew were crouched together, talking in the bunk house. Pegg was mending some leather gear and wooden barrels. At least that was the idea but Drew was discretely doing the work for him.

  “I still can’t believe you saw a ghost.” Pegg complained as he picked at his nails with an awl. “We should just leave after we claim the dungeon.”

  “He’s a real Skurr idiot.” Vaylari said holding her head. “Drew’s been sent this quest by Miia herself. We have to complete it.

  New Item: StoutOak Barrel: Fine Quality. 254 exp.

  “I don’t know what any of that is. I may as well have gotten this quest from Exylandria herself.”

  Pegg scoffed, and Vaylari explained.

  “Quests come from Ella, Miia, and Aria. That’s why you know that you will get the rewards.” Vaylari said.

  “I’ve seen guild masters create quests.” Drew said.

  “The guild master only gives you access to the quest. At some point they thought up the quest and one of the Saints approved it.” Vaylari said.

  “Some fat topped guild master wouldn’t have enough mana to endorse their own quest.” Pegg said. “And a ghost especially wouldn’t have the mana. They are barely holding onto the memory of their life already.”

  “A king might be able to endorse their own quests. But it would be very taxing.” Vaylari said.

  “That’s nonsense. A Saint’s intent would supersede a king’s intentions anyways.” Pegg argued.

  Huh, so there are deities here that actually get things done? They don’t sit around in quorums all day bickering? Good to know some gods actually do something.

  Pegg and Vaylari started raising their voices.

  This is turning into a heated argument.

  Drew put down his tools and left the two ranchers to their theological debate.

  Drew flew out and circled the camp until he saw William on the wall in his armor. He flew past Khermet, he was chewing on a pencil and looking over inventory records.

  The two curmudgeons, Sdaddler and Wolderrf had joined him. They had out folios and were taking measurements of his armor.

  Drew landed beside the trio and looked out over the dungeon. He could see the Door floating serenely in the water. There were also a few freshly killed goblins near the wall.

  Was it a scouting party?

  “Drew! You can help here.” William said.

  “The Skurr? How can a beast help?” Wolderrf growled.

  The blacksmith quickly removed his helmet, he was flushed from standing guard in full armor.

  “Well, he knows more than a little about enchantments.” William said. “He is an Enchanter after all.”

  “Bah! What utter nonsense. What would a Skurr do with enchantments? A self cleaning nest?” Wolderrf laughed.

  “I made this wand. Thank you very much.” Drew said and produced his Earth affinity wand for the two old dwarves to see.

  ”Where was he keeping it?” Wolderrf whispered to himself.

  Sdaddler paused an inch away from plucking the wand from Drew’s claw.

  “Did you, now? And what does the wand do lad?” Sdaddler said.

  “You can’t be entertaining this!” Wolderrf groused.

  Sdaddler tried to push his brother off the wall but he kept his balance.

  “Tell me little fella. What do you know about enchantments?” He said.

  “This wand helps the caster sustain earth aspected spells by using ambient mana. The enchantment is my own design.” Drew said proudly.

  “That’s the most talkative beast I’ve ever met.” Wolderrf said in shock.

  “You are the one that created those walls yesterday.” Sdaddler said. “The walls that are still standing after the spell has ended.”

  The group looked at the walls then. Sure enough the walls still stood, a few chips and chunks were missing from the fighting, and they were charred by Pigra’s fire. Yet they still stood.

  “Of course they would. They are walls of stone.” Drew said, but he wasn’t as certain as he sounded.

  “Aye yes. A stone wall would stand longer than a water or wind wall would. That’s true. But our man Pigra’s fire should have weakened it. A standard stone wall would have crumbled by now.” Sdaddler said.

  “If that’s an earth wand, and not a Stone Wall wand, then blast the wall with a stone bolt.” Wolderrf said.

  No reason not to, it’s still got a couple charges left, I’ll need to recharge it afterwards just to be safe.

  “Easier said then done.” Drew replied. “Stand back.”

  The wand did not require any gestures or somatic components to activate but Drew shouted and pointed the wand at the wall anyways.

  “Stone Bolt!”

  A stone larger than Drew formed in the air at the tip of his wand. After a second the stone was ready and shot off like a rocket directly into the wall. Half of the wall crumbled on impact and the rest swayed in place. The crash echoed around the caves.

  “Oh ho ho!” Cheered Sdaddler.

  “By the gods!” Wolderrf shouted. “I would have bet my belt that you were full of it.”

  “Glad you believe him now.” William said beaming.

  “What is happening up there? Are we under attack?” Khermet yelled. “If you two fools are throwing explosives for fun again I will assign you to the mines until you earn a new class.”

  “Sorry sir!” William said. “We were just demonstrating Drew’s wand. Albeit a little too loudly.”

  “You should see my stone bullet. It makes more noise than that as soon as I cast it.”

  Sdaddler’s eyes gleamed.

  “Show me!” He said eagerly.

  “No! No more flashy magic!” Khermet yelled, flailing his arms over his head in frustration. “You idiots are going to catch Pigra’s attention. Then all of you will bring this cavern down on our heads.”

  “You are too uptight Khermet.” Sdaddler said.

  “He’s turning green in the face, he’s so mad.” Wolderrf chuckled.

  “Come along lads, Khermet needs some time alone on the wall to cool his head.” Sdaddler said.

  Wolderrf stuck his nose up in the air in mock disdain.

  “We shall continue our conversation much more respectably at my drafting table.” He said.

  -

  Unsurprisingly, Wolderrf’s drafting table was exactly that. A table where he did his drafting and drinking. The brothers put their folios into a drawer set into the top of the table and locked it with a key. The same key unlocked a spigot on the small cask on the table.

  The whole surface was littered with a few empty tankards and a mess of paper. Half of the pages had irreverent doodles of Khermet and Yocca. The other half had fine sketches of the flora and fauna of the caves. All of the papers included meticulously drawn gears and fly wheels and other precision components.

  With so much paper they must have a map of the mines, but I bet I could improve it.

  “Alright what enchantments are you thinking of?” Wolderrf asked once he had sat down. His brother poured an ale from the small cask on the table and handed it to him.

  “We are not sure.” William said with a sigh.

  “I only know a handful of enchantments, and we have not had time or the inspiration to come up with something new.” Drew said.

  “You two are going about this all wrong,” Sdaddler groaned as he sat beside his brother. “Think about how William fights and specialize this armor to complement that.”

  “This armor is not for me. It’s for the king.”

  “Which king?” Sdaddler asked.

  “Not any Dwarven king, that’s for sure!” Wolderrf chortled.

  “A worthy king. A future king.” William said.

  “There was a prophesy.” Drew offered.

  “And a quest I assume?” Sdaddler asked while Wolderrf laughed some more.

  “You need to live to old age before you can complete a prophesied quest!” Wolderrf yelled. “Brother were we ever this young and stupid?”

  “You were, I was born with a full beard and an ale in each hand!” Sdaddler said and clasped his brother’s shoulder.

  “Yeah because you took my ale!” Wolderrf growled. He muttered something about a little runt under his breath.

  “You do not have time to waste on prophesy if you don’t live long enough to complete it,” Saddler said.

  “He’s right William,” Drew said.

  “You need this armor for yourself, make your future king or queen their own armor another day,” Sdaddler said solemnly. “So you can make me a fine set of armor.”

  “Bah, I might as well make you an enchanted garter belt for all the good plate armor would do you.” Wolderrf said.

  “So how do you fight lad? Why do you fight?”

  “I don’t know,” He said slowly. “I am not a fighter, I am a blacksmith. Same as my father, and his father, and our entire family line before him. We have always been blacksmiths.”

  “You can fight William,” Drew said. “You barrel in shield first, then strike heavy blows with your sword. The adventurer guild calls that a tank.”

  The two dwarves took down some notes on scratch paper.

  “You end up off balance, and you are not yet able to use your sword to parry or deflect blows, but that’s what the plate armor is for.”

  “So he goes out there and makes a mess of things, gets hit, and hits back.” Wolderrf said.

  “Those are your triggers then,” Sdaddler said. “Every time he is hit on the shield, something, and every time he hits with his sword another something.”

  William put up his hands when the dwarf offered him his notes.

  “Thank you masters, but that’s enough. The guild expects me to do this without any more help,” William said.

  “This much is free.” Wolderrf said. “Any more help and I’d expect some compensation.”

  “You have honor son.” Sdaddler interjected. “That’s a fine thing. A lesser man would bend or break.”

  “A lesser man would fail.” Wolderrf said.

  “Drew and I shall enchant the armor and take your advice to heart.” He replied.

  “I know you will.” Sdaddler said, laughing. “You promised to survive and make even finer Orichalcum armor for me. Would you break a promise so easily?”