Duelling Dungeons - Book 2 - Chapter 2 - Family Ties

So you might have noticed there was no Sov Stone this week. I love the story, and know exactly where it's going, but I feel like I've stalled a bit. More than anything, Selena's passive attitude in the last half of the chapters bugs me. I may do a minor rewrite before continuing, it'll help me reboot my brain. We'll see how I feel next week.

Despite the fog’s seemingly unstoppable progression, the match ended up being called on time, and ended as a time. Both sides had one floor boss remaining. 

Everyone was disappointed by the ending. My friends were disappointed because the second half was slow and boring to watch, and I was disappointed because despite the enrage mechanic being triggered for so long, I didn’t get one good look at what monster the Sanctum actually summoned. How was I supposed to devise a counter when I didn’t know what kind of horror they had waiting in the wings?

I was so busy taking notes that I didn’t notice the match had ended until Kass stole my tablet again.

“Hey!” I shouted, reaching feebly for the device.

“You’re only allowed to do analysis during a match,” Kass said waving the tablet. “That was the deal. Now that it’s over, you need to go back into relaxation mode.”

I glanced at the display, then the rest of the room, surprised to see the broadcast over and everyone else gone. 

“Fine, a deal’s a deal,” I admitted, as I pushed away from the table and rose to my feet. “The first adventuring team isn’t scheduled until next Monday, right? What are you planning to do with your time?” 

“Probably go home,” Kass replied, as she slithered over to the door. When I joined her she held the door open for me, and handed the tablet to me as I passed. 

“Home? You mean to your family?” I asked, surprised. “You know… we’ve talked about my family a lot, but I don’t think we’ve ever discussed yours. Why is that?”

“Honestly? It’s because our families are similar in a lot of ways,” Kass said. “And since you were still trying to work through your feelings, I didn’t want to make you feel down by reminding you of your mother, and siblings.”

“Similar how?” 

“Well… My sisters and I were all raised by a single mother in a matriarchal society,” Kass explained. “I found my mother suffocating growing up, constantly trying to get me to slither in her shadow, and take over as the head priestess of our community. Looking back, I know she only did it out of love, and concern for my future, but I think the overwhelming amount of pressure she put on me was one of the main reasons I ran away and found a job here at the Manor.”

“What did your mother think about that?” 

“She was extremely concerned, constantly calling me or sending messages to make sure I was okay, but she calmed down once I became a floor boss,” she said.

“And how long did that take?” I asked. 

Kass grinned. “Oh, you know, four or five years. On top of those near daily messages I got regular updates from my sisters telling me how much my mother was worrying about me.”

“Okay, I have to ask…” I said, slowing to a stop and staring at my friend. “If you had a lot of siblings, why was your mother so concerned about you specifically?

“Oh, I was quite the troublemaker when I was a kid. When I was six I managed to sneak away from my family and get trapped in a tide pool for a couple hours. I know that doesn’t sound that bad, but you need to keep in mind that a Naga’s lungs don’t fully develop until puberty, so I was trapped there until they found me.”

“You must have been terrified,” I muttered.

“Not really. Apparently when they found me I was playing with the crabs, and hadn’t even noticed,” she replied. “Every time I go home my sisters like to get together and reminisce about all the crazy stuff I did as a kid.

“Somehow I’m both horrified and not surprised at all. Were you really that bad?”

“Why do you think I’ve never introduced any of my coworkers to my family yet?” Kass replied with a wink. 

George, who had been following us from the lounge, huffed then pushed between the two of us, before making a mad dash towards the cafeteria. Apparently he hadn’t appreciated our slow place. If he’d done this a couple months ago I probably would have freaked out, and run after him, but over the last few months I’d worked with the cafeteria workers to put some policies in place. The big spider was allowed to have one snack between each meal, all he had to do was show up and someone would prepare it. If he tried to sneak someone else’s food without permission, he lost snack permissions for two days. 

It only took about a week for George to learn to behave. At least, while he was in the cafeteria. He was still a terror everywhere else in the manor.

“What about you? Any plans?” Kass asked once he was gone, completely unconcerned by George’s antics.

“Not really. I’ll probably do some shopping, set up an autograph session, and some light admin. Nothing special,” I said. “We’ve been getting a lot of staff applications ever since the confrontation matches started, and I thought I might go through them and flag potential future employees.”

“You’re not thinking about replacing anyone, are you?” Kass asked, suspiciously.

“Of course not. Everyone here worked extremely hard to get here. I’ll mainly be looking for potential backup for when someone quits, or goes on maternity leave. If I find someone I feel might have potential, but we don’t have a spot for right now, I’ll refer them to one of our associate dungeons along with a couple suggestions on possible themes or gimmicks they could use,” I explained.

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Kass said.

“Maybe… but I think it’ll be worth it. When you, Bella and Laniva reached out to me, and offered me a position here, it changed my life. I know not everyone can be so lucky, but I feel like I owe it to the applicants to give them a fair chance.”

“Okay, I guess I can understand that. Just don’t go overboard, you earned your spot by being so exceptional that Bella singled you out from hundreds of other people,” Kass said. “Not everyone is as exceptional as you are, and even though they applied here, not everyone deserves a chance. You need to be objective in your evaluations.”

“I can be objective,” I insisted. “Look at all my analysis!”

“There’s a difference between analysing plans, and evaluating people,” Kass replied. “Just promise me you’ll run the results past Luther, or one of the others, before you act upon them.”

“Fine, I promise,” I said. 

The two of us continued walking heading towards the atrium. As we passed the cafeteria George came skittering out the doors, a long string of sausages clamped in his mandibles. He blew past us, not even giving us a second look, before disappearing into the central area.

“We weren’t talking that long, right?” I asked.

“Of course not. A minute or two tops.” Kass replied.

“Then what the heck was that?” 

The two of us rushed out to the central area only to find George sprinting across the wall, chasing a small, black winged drake. The creature zipped back and forth, through pillars, under the central command center, and between the people spread through the area.

George, however, wasn’t willing to let the creature escape. He bounced between the pillars, swung over to the command center, then bound after the drake, nearly bowling over a group of gremlins upon landing.

“George!” I shouted angrily over the chaos. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The drake, sensing that I may be the only one that could save it, flew over and ducked behind my back. When it did George came flying over, sliding to a stop just a couple inches from my feet, and growled.

“Uhhh… What’s going on?” Kass asked.

I waited until the creature was in just the right place, then swept my back legs forward, pushing the bird sized draconic creature forward just enough to grab it. The creature chirped in alarm, and its smooth wet skin flickered, becoming an even darker shade of black.

“Umbral draconid,” I said. Kass’s blank stare told me she had no idea what that meant. “As you know the Underways are home to a ton of different species, including a type of feral dragonoid.”

“And how does that explain why George was chasing it around like a savage? I know he’s a little unruly, but it looked like he was out for blood,” Kass said.   

The big spider growled, and raised his forelegs up above my head. The little drake squawked in fear, and tried to wiggle out of my grasp, but I knew if it ever did George would never let it go. 

“The drakes and the spiders prey on similar creatures, and it seems like the two species have developed a mutual hatred of each other. If their territories ever intersect, it usually ends up in a full blown war,” I explained. “I don’t know who sent this little guy, but they either didn’t know we had Abyss Stalkers and Crushers running around, or didn’t care if it died. I wonder why it’s here.”

The draconid tilted its head to the side, then bent down to peck at a small canister around its neck.

Kass reached over and carefully detached the strange featureless canister, and gave it a shake. When something rattled inside she smiled. “Shall we find out?”