Advent of Eternity - Chapter 48 (Patreon)

The following morning was upon Knell before he could even blink. Sunlight filtered in through the thin foliage of the forest above them, illuminating his face with a ray of gold. He grimaced and rolled to the side before pushing himself upright and brushing some of the dirt off.

“Sleep well, Cap?” Cyll asked.

“You didn’t wake me for a watch.”

“Didn’t need to. Sleep isn’t all that interesting to me anymore,” Cyll said with a shrug. “And Stix took the morning watch anyway. You were the most tired out of all of us after that fight, so we figured you’d want to sleep longer.”

“I see. Thank you. You were probably right,” Knell admitted. “Are we all prepared to set off again?”

They nodded. After a quick breakfast from their supplies, the crew resumed their march toward the dungeon. According to Knell’s mental clock, it was exactly five hours and three minutes when they caught sight of the dungeon.

A stout square tower, much like the one that had been in Silver Ridge, sat in the center of a grassy field. Directly before it was a cave opening. It led straight into the ground at an extreme angle.

“This pillar looks a bit taller than the one in Silver Ridge,” Stix observed. “I guess the monsters are stronger.”

“Considering how easy Silver Ridge’s dungeon was, I doubt that’ll cause us much problem,” Cyll said. “The bandits are likely the strongest things in there, and we’ve already taken care of their best people.”

“Probably taken care of them,” Knell corrected. “There’s always a chance we haven’t. Don’t make stupid assumptions.”

“Right, right,” Cyll said. “So? Can we go kill all of them now? I’m bored.”

“Might as well,” Knell said, shaking his head. “Stick to Stix’s rules again. They seem to be working pretty well. You aren’t getting instantly restrained every single fight now.”

“That’s because nobody we’ve fought has used any restraining magic,” Stix pointed out.

“Bah,” Cyll replied. “Semantics. Let’s go kill some bandits.”

They walked up to the entrance of the dungeon and started into it. Knell started his mental clock as they went, keeping track of how long they’d been in the dungeon. The halls were dimly lit by flickering torches. Knell tried snuffing one, but the flame re-ignited instantly. Whatever magic held them in place clearly wouldn’t be defeated that easily, and he had no reason to get into a fight with an inanimate object.

“So, what’s the plan this time?” Cyll asked as they turned a corner. The dungeon path just kept stretching on. There didn’t seem to be any rooms or even an end in sight – just endless hallway.

“Well, once we get out of this hall, you and Stix will kill everything,” Knell replied. “I’ve already told you this. There can be no real plan when we don’t know what we’re up against. Ideally, I’d like to scope out our opponents and then come up with something. If I were to just make something up now, it would do more harm than good.”

“So you suck at improv?”

“I said absolutely nothing to imply that.”

“You aren’t denying it.”

“I – Sixteen Seas, I can see why the gods tried to get rid of you,” Knell muttered. “Just kill things and listen to my orders if I give any. I half hope you fail Stix’s challenge so I can see what she makes you do.”

“You could just make me your first mate,” Stix said, sliding up beside him. “Then he’d have to do what I say.”

“Absolutely not. You would abuse that power to no end.”

“I absolutely would.”

“I slept with your great grandmother,” Cyll said.

Knell choked back a laugh, instantly regretting the noise as it slipped out of his mouth. He was refined. Collected. He did not laugh at Cyll’s jokes, even when they were true.

“Get back to the present,” Knell whispered. “We’re in enemy territory. Treat it as such. Silence. The only thing I want to hear is my clock.”

“What clock?” Cyll whispered back.

Knell didn’t respond. His clock told him that they’d been walking for over ten minutes without a single sign of anything. He was about to order them to turn around when they finally turned another corner and nearly walked straight into an old, wooden door.

Cyll flexed his hands and glanced back at Knell. Knell confirmed that Stix was ready, then started counting down on his hand. When the last finger fell, Cyll drove his shoulder into the door and threw it open.

He charted into the room behind it, raising his weapon, and Stix dashed in after him. Knell paused a moment before following after them, pushing the door out of the way as he stepped in.

There was nobody in the room. At its center was a curved archway, blue energy crackling within it. Cyll lowered his sword, squinting suspiciously around the room. “Well, that was lame.”

“What is this?” Stix asked, flipping the dagger in her hand. “Doesn’t seem whiskey to mee.”

“It’s an arch, not alcohol,” Cyll said.

“I – ugh. It’s slang. I’ve been trying to shake it, it makes me sound like a kid from the backwoods,” Stix said with a sigh.

“It’s cute. You shouldn’t,” Cyll said, flashing her a wide grin. It quickly faded and he crossed his arms. “This sucks, though. I wanted to kill something.”

Stix’s cheeks reddened and she looked away. Knell’s eye twitched. Was Cyll flirting? The last thing he needed was his ancient, undying psychopath dating the elf. She was only a child – or was she? Knell cocked his head to the side, thinking. Did elves age at the same rate as humans? He had no idea, but this certainly wasn’t the time to find out.