Duelling Dungeons

The Anthophilan warriors slowly spread out in a loose semicircle around Sylvia, their antennae twitching wildly. Their movements were slow, hesitant. Every once in a while, one of them would glance back at Bea with concern.

“Do you think Sylvia can take the Anthophilans all by herself?” Bella asked. She was completely engrossed in the match by this point, sitting right on the edge of her seat.

“Honestly? Not a chance,” I replied without looking up from my notes. I had to try to get my thoughts about the previous fight down before the next one started.

Luther turned towards me, his mask one of intense interest. “Really? What makes you so sure?”

“Sylvia is an exceptional fighter, but so are most of our staff and most of the adventurers that attempt delves here. She’s strong, has exceptional reach, and has her racial regeneration to fall back on, but she’s still only one person. Suppose she wanted to have a fighting chance, she should have brought Rembrandt and the other Revenants as backup. I’m guessing she’s become so used to fighting alone that she never even considered asking them.” I told them as I quickly jotted down a few last thoughts into my notes. “It’s really unfortunate, too. I really would have liked to see her magic in action.”

That last comment was apparently intriguing enough for Bella to finally rip her eyes away from the screen. “Really? What kind of magic does she use?”

“Blood magic,” I replied idly.

Bella leaned over and punched me lightly in the arm. “You know that doesn’t answer my question. The school of Blood magic is capable of a wide range of spells and effects. That’s like saying all the Dryads and Alarunes are capable of plant magic. Give us specifics!”

“Fine,” I yelped, gently rubbing my arm. “She’s capable of connecting with other people and combining their vitality, or health, with her own.”

“That doesn’t sound all that powerful,” Bella muttered.

Luther, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair and put on a thoughtful mask. “Really? I can think of a couple of interesting ways to use magic like that.”

“Like what?” Bella asked.

“Well… if you don’t have any ideas, I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” Luther replied before casually waving a hand in front of his face, allowing his mask to change to one with a mischievous smile.

“Why can’t you just tell me?” Bella moaned.

“You might see her use it during this fight, if you’re lucky,” I announced loudly. “But only if you stop bickering and pay attention, the fight’s starting.”

I watched as both their heads snapped towards the screen. If either of them had been alive, I swear they would have suffered neck pain from turning so fast.

The standoff between Sylvia and the Anthophilans had been going on for several seconds, and it seemed like the bee women had finally grown tired of the delay. Four of the warriors lowered their spears and started cautiously advancing, while the last member of the squad fell back next to Bea.

They managed to close to within a few feet, just outside of spear range, when Sylvia finally moved. In a single smooth move, she pulled the greatsword off her shoulder and swung it in a wide arc. Most of the warriors fell back a step to keep out of range of the massive weapon, but one braced themself behind their tower shield instead.

That was a mistake.

As soon as the tip of Sylvia’s blade bit into the heavy shield, gouging a long line down the middle, she stepped towards the girl. In a monumental show of strength, she stopped the heavy weapon mid-swing, brought the blade above her head, and performed an overhead slash.

I could just imagine the sound of splintering wood as the tower shield shattered under the weight of the blade. I doubted that warrior even had enough time to register what was happening before the greatsword embedded itself in her skull.

Even though Sylvia’s attack was swift, the rest of the Anthophilans recovered quickly.

Before Sylvia could withdraw her sword from the wrecked shield, the nearest warrior closed enough to plunge her spear deep into Sylvia’s side. It was actually impressive how easily she managed to penetrate Sylvia’s heavy armor.

Maybe the girls had developed a few new martial skills after evolving. I’d have to ask them later.

Sylvia whirled about, trying to bring her blade to bear, but the girl had already backed off. While Sylvia was distracted, another girl moved in and stabbed deeply into the Windigo’s side.

I winced as I watched this pattern repeat three more times. Even though Sylvia may have surprised her opponents with an early display of explosive power, once they knew what she was capable of, they used their positioning and superior numbers against her. I was pretty sure the only reason that Sylvia was still standing at this point was her superior regeneration, and even that wasn’t able to keep up with the damage she was taking.

After the fifth strike, Sylvia dropped to one knee, and the Anthophilans closed in like a pack of wolves smelling blood.

As one of the girls went for the death blow Sylvia extended a hand towards the nearest warrior. A stream of red light shot from her hand and wrapped around the girl, causing the bee girl to shake and convulse. When the spear finally landed, piercing deep into Sylvia’s back, the tethered girl screamed and collapsed.

Most people would have hesitated after seeing something like that but the Anthophilan warriors continued their assault, plunging their weapons into Sylvia again and again until both she and the enchanted girl lay still. After a second the pair dissolved into motes of light, a surefire sign that they’d died and been disconnected from the dungeon.

“What just happened?” Bella asked, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

“Sylvia used her magic,” I replied as I picked up my tablet again. “Linked her lifeforce to that girl before she died.”

“And since they were linked, the Anthophilans only had two choices. Let Sylvia live, and risk letting her kill someone else, or kill them both,” Luther explained. “I’m actually a little impressed, they didn’t even hesitate.”

“They probably didn’t even realize that’s what her magic was doing,” I said. “To them, it probably just looked like she was casting something that was crippling their friend.”

“She can forcibly create death pacts with other people? That’s horrible,” Bella whispered.

“The only time she can use it is when she’s being murdered,” I replied. “And a strong caster can break the magic, but yeah… it’s a little grizzly. It’s also effective against the right target.”

“I refuse to believe you went out of your way to hire her for that,” Bella said. “There must have been another reason.”

“Well… yes and no. I sought her out for her magic, and martial skills, just not for that specific application of it,” I said.

“What other application could there possibly be?” Bella asked.

“There isn’t one, at least for most people, but as a Windigo Sylvia has superior regeneration,” Luther explained. “So if she linked with her teammates instead of her enemies…”

“She can act like a healer!” Bella exclaimed, pounding a fist into her palm when she got it.

“Not only that but the entire group shares vitality, which makes the team extremely tanky… as long as no one gets one shot,” I added.

“Why didn’t you just instruct Sylvia to work with Rembrandt then?” Bella asked.

“Because it was her first practice, and I wanted to see what she would do. Unfortunately she was a lot more… straight forward, and stubborn, than I expected. Most people would have backed down when they realized they were so outnumbered, but she just stood there… waiting for them,” I muttered.

“Maybe she’s just inexperienced?” Bella suggested.

“I doubt that’s it,” I said, shaking my head. “She’s worked with adventure groups before. I think it’s something deeper. Hopefully Kass’ll be able to find out what’s going when she gets back.”

“And if she can’t?” Luther asked.

I paused for a moment. “I don’t know. We’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”