Chapter Five-Hundred Ten (Patreon)

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Freddie

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“...and please keep us safe today.  I want us to clear the trial, but if we’re not ready, better to learn it now.  So I pray for our protection more than I pray for our victory.”

Freddie sits in a pew in the Shield Church, head bowed as he quietly prays.  It’s a difficult one, if he’s honest with himself.  He wants to go on the true raid, to protect the entire world… but he can’t deny reality, no matter how much he wants to ignore it.  He and his friends are strong, but in his heart, he truly doesn’t know if they’re ready.

So he places it before the Shield, trusting that It will know better than he does.  He can feel the warmth of the Shield and knows It heard him, even if It doesn’t tell him how things will go.  Being heard is enough, and with a lighter heart, Freddie opens his eyes and stands.  Beside him on the pew, Fiona stands as well, his ogre-faced spider feeling confident.

He pats her before turning, letting her settle onto his back, over his pack and over his shield.  He has all his gear, everything he and his friends could think of to bring.  If they fail today, they won’t be able to claim they were missing something they should have brought.

Torlon meets him before he can leave the church, the gnome smiling up at Freddie with pride.  “I’d say to do the Shield proud, but you already have, Freddie.  Give it your all.  I don’t think Thedeim will accept anything less.”

Freddie smiles at him.  “I will.  We will.  I don’t think any of us will accept anything less, either.”

“Good lad,” replies Torlon, giving Freddie’s armored arm a squeeze, then steps aside to let him go.  He nods at the Head Priest, and as he walks, he realizes he doesn’t feel as nervous as he probably should be.  He exits the church and walks toward Thedeim’s main gate at the manor, where they all agreed to meet.

He can’t help but think of all the memories as the gate nears, of the very first time he passed through them with Rhonda.  She had a little stick wand with a bit of glass at the tip, and he had a knotted stick of his own as a club.  They wanted spellspores so Old Staiven would apprentice Rhonda.

He shakes his head at their past selves, ignoring the fact that it was only a little over a year ago.  If they actually knew anything about dungeons, they would have stayed away.  And they would have missed out on everything.

He smiles as he spots Rhonda looking up at the gates, too, her thoughts probably echoing his own.  “I can’t believe we actually got those spores,” he says as he steps up beside her, and Rhonda smiles with him at the memory.

“Any other dungeon, we would have been in trouble.  Even if it were Violet.  She was pretty jumpy at the start, and probably would have buried us in centipedes if she spawned up here instead of Thedeim.”

“Yeah… but it all worked out.  We got the spores.  We got our spiders.  We got our classes.”

Rhonda snorts.  “And now we’re probably going to get our butts kicked for the chance to get them kicked even harder, later.”

Freddie chuckles and nods.  “Yeah, probably.  How’re you feeling?”

“Actually… pretty good.  Lucas and I have done everything we can.  It feels like one of Master Staiven’s experiments, you know?  Everything is ready.  If it’s a success, the theory is shown to be correct!  If it’s a failure, we still learn something.”

He nods, resting a hand on her shoulder as she leans against him.  “Yeah, me too.  If we can take the blows, good.  If we falter and fall, we can still stand again, and know exactly where we are.”

Rhonda hums her agreement as the two stand there, watching the gate and quietly reminiscing.  They don’t get the chance to for long, though, as they hear Pul behind them.

“Freddie!  Rhonda!  I already got Rezlar!” he says, getting them to turn and see the truth of it.  Rezlar is indeed walking beside him, and surprisingly enough, Miller is nowhere to be seen.  Freddie even looks around.

“No Miller?  I thought he’d at least see you off?”

Rezlar smiles and shakes his head.  “He said he wanted to, but also said if he left the manor today, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from interfering with the trial.”

Pul nods.  “Yeah, my parents are worried, too.  They told me to stay safe, and when they hugged me, they didn’t want to let go.”

“Are you two nervous?” asks Rhonda, and they both shake their heads.

“No.  Lord Thedeim has done His utmost to help us prepare.  He is giving us our best chance to see if we are truly ready, and no matter the outcome, I think we can all be proud and secure in the knowledge it’s what we’ve earned.”

“Yeah.  He likes to joke around, but I’ve seen how seriously he can take things with how he trains me.  There are times to be light, and times to be heavy, and if we can’t handle the heavy times, at least we’ll know for sure here, where he can make sure we don’t get crushed.”

“Well said, guys,” comes the voice of Teemo, sitting on the path beside them all.  “Boss still isn’t sure if he hopes you guys pass or fail, but he’ll accept it either way.  If you tie a bird to the nest, it’ll never fly.  Ready to see if you’re all fully fledged?”

Freddie looks at his friends and their familiars, all of them looking ready, yet not overconfident.  They’ve delved before, they’ve participated in two raids.  They know what to do, how to handle themselves.  They all nod and speak together.

“Yes.”

Teemo smiles and opens a shortcut.  “Good.”  He steps through, and they follow him.  It’s only a few steps before they exit into a rough stone tunnel, and they can feel the heat of magma through the walls.  Teemo turns to face them, speaking seriously for once.

“We’re raiding the Betrayer, and you’ve been separated from the others.  Find your way back, all of you.  This is your trial.”  With that, he vanishes through another shortcut.  A heartbeat later, they all quickly ensure their magma gear is equipped and settled.  The sound sight is strange still, but no longer alien to Freddie.

He summons his shields with a silent prayer, Fiona hopping from his back to take one.  They all take up a defensive position, backs together, as they try to figure out what to do next.

In the end, there’s really only one path, so they carefully march forward, Silhouette silently scouting just ahead.  It doesn’t take her long to hold up a little fist, signalling them to stop, then points at the ground ahead of them.  Freddie can’t see anything different, but he knows spotting traps isn’t his forte.

Pul steps forward and peers at the floor for a few moments, then nods.  “Collapsing floor.  We’ll take the wall.”  Everyone nods and moves as a unit, giving Pul time to use his affinity.  It’s strange to be able to step onto a wall like it’s a floor, but they’ve practiced this countless times before.  They continue in silence, eyes peeled, and eventually Pul directs them back to the actual floor.

They only get a few more steps before they feel a rumble and hear a loud crash from where they came.  Looking back, Freddie and the others can see light from the tunnel, which immediately makes his hair stand up.  Air wooshes past them, and Rhonda is the first to realize what it is.

“Lava!”

Freddie’s eyes widen as they all freeze for a moment, nobody knowing what to do.  Then Freddie moves.

“Against the wall!  Hold on!”

The others swiftly follow his lead, and Rose even extends herself from Rezlar’s pocket to shape the space around them as they all hug the wall.  Fiona gets a few webs off to help secure people before the wall of molten stone arrives, and instantly burns away the webbing.

Rose’s work holds up better, directing the majority of the flow away from them.  They still are all suddenly immersed fully in magma, but it’s like they’re in a lazy pool at the edge of a river, rather than the raging rapids in the center.

It lasts several minutes before the magma settles, and they shakily step away from the wall.  “Is everyone alright?” asks Freddie, and he’s relieved when nobody immediately answers.  That they all take the time to pat themselves down and make sure speaks well for their health, and for their training.

One by one, they all give a thumbs up, and after another minute to gather their bearings, they discuss where to go from there.  Rhonda points out that they should head back.  If they’re raiding the Betrayer, the nearest source of magma would be outside, where they want to go.  It’s probably better than just following whatever path the Betrayer would keep open, right?

It’s a good idea, but one that’s quickly disproved.  Not far past where they first came in, a thick stone grate bars the way.  None of them are confident in breaking it, so they return down their original direction.  Not far from where they hugged the wall, the floor falls away, the tunnel going vertical.

They carefully swim out over the edge and start downward, wary of more traps.  Eventually, the tunnel levels out again, but the bend has a severe reminder of the kind of planning they may be up against.  The floor of the bend is covered in spikes.  Their magma gear may protect them from the heat, but not the force of it rushing through a tunnel.  If they hadn’t hugged the wall, they’d have been hauled along, probably bouncing against the walls before being slammed into the spikes.

Freddie knows Thedeim would have pulled them out before they hit, but it’s still a sobering thought.  Thedeim likes to give his traps clever ways to escape.  He’s trying to remind them that for most dungeons, traps are not designed to be escaped.  They’re designed to kill.

Freddie can hear/see his friends coming to the same realization, and smiles as he sees their resolve only get firmer.  They all nod at each other before they carefully move down the tunnel, refusing to let a layered trap like that get the best of them.

Freddie can’t help but be surprised anyway when the tunnel collapses.