Duelling Dungeons

“Sullivan and the girls seem to be struggling,” Bella muttered as she hovered over my shoulder. “I know they’re outnumbered, but still…”

“They’re doing their best,” I replied. “Honestly, they’re doing better than I expected. Bea knew she and her sisters had been assigned to the Training Grounds as a delaying tactic, so by sacrificing herself in exchange for Lyssa, she gave our team a better chance of pulling ahead… I just don’t think it’s going to be enough. I should have had Bea and her sisters drill against more spell casters.”

Bea tapped me lightly on the back of the head. “Please don’t talk like that. The girls just evolved, and physical activity was a better way to help them get comfortable with the changes in their bodies. You used the time we had as efficiently as possible. If you hadn’t put them through their paces, there’s a chance that Violet would have missed that shot earlier.”

“I guess that’s true…” I admitted, tilting my head to the side. “I still feel like I could have done more.”

“You always think you can do more,” Bella huffed. “I think you’ve done enough. You can leave the rest up to the rest of us.”

She glanced down at the tablet in my hands and sighed. “And there goes Sullivan. I was really hoping that they might be able to hold the line.”

“We exchanged Bea, her sisters, and Sullivan for Lyssa and the Lich guard. Not a bad exchange,” I muttered.

“What are you talking about? It’s a terrible exchange!” Bella exclaimed.

“I think it’s pretty good considering they came at us with two groups of elites, and planned to slowly sap our strength with dark magic before engaging. If they’d been allowed to carry through on their plans, they could have done a serious amount of damage to our defenses with little to no risk to themselves. Bea did us a favor.”

“Still… it feels like that puts us at a serious disadvantage,” Bella muttered.

“Only when you don’t look at the bigger picture,” I replied, handing her another tablet, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips. “Check out what Luther and Calliope managed to do while Lyssa’s team was tied up in the Training grounds.”

Bella looked at me suspiciously for a moment before taking the slab of crystal. After glancing at it for just a moment, her eyebrows shot up. “They already cleared Luka? That fast? And from what I can tell, they barely had any casualties.”

“That is the advantage of having a healer in your group, you minimize casualties,” I replied happily.

Bella squinted at the screen for a moment. “I don’t see Calliope anywhere.”

“Uh, yeah,” I muttered, trying my best not to look in her direction. “I did say minimal casualties. Not zero casualties.”

“We lost Calliope? This early?” Bella exclaimed. “Isn’t this a disaster? A lot of your tactics relied upon her maintaining our forces so we could slowly wear down the Sanctum’s forces.”

“It’s not great,” I admitted. “But she did counter two poison elementals that could have wrecked our team. In fact, she’s probably the only one in the entire manor that was capable of that feat!” I paused and cocked my head to the side. “Well… maybe Kass could have too, if she’d been there.”

“So she saved her team, but sacrificed herself?” Bella asked.

“I don’t think that was her intention, but that’s how it worked out,” I replied. “It’s extremely unfortunate, but it does open up one of the middle floors, and if we can conquer one of those, we’ll earn our first resurrection of the match.”

“Yeah, well, by conquering the Training Grounds, the Sanctum is also one floor away from earning a resurrection,” Bea pointed out. “They just need to break through the Gardens, and because you pulled Bea and the Anthophilans away to defend the Training Hall, the Gardens’ defenses are weakened.”

“It still has the Pekeketua, the Alurunes, and Chelsea there,” I replied. “Plus, I was planning on sending over some reinforcements.”

Bella cocked her head to the side, “Really? Wouldn’t Nor’Goth know if you moved people about, and change tactics to compensate?”

“Only if we moved staff from one of the open floors,” I replied, with a mischievous smile. “He still can’t reach the Ballroom or the Observatory.”

“That’s true, but you already moved troops out of here, and the Observatory, who is left to send…” Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she finally made the connection. “Oh. You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”

“You’re the best choice! The Pekeketua are hit-and-run specialists, and the Alurunes like to attack from a distance. They might not be immune to your wail, but I’m sure you’ll find plenty of openings to use it. Plus, you can use the trees to hide your approach.”

“Are you sure you won’t need me here?” Bella asked.

“I’m sure. If they don’t push or change their focus, I can always call you back,” I replied. “I think we’ve persuaded the Sanctum to back off from the lounge for now, so I should be safe enough.”

George came skittering across the stage, skidding to a halt just mere inches away from me. His eyes flicked between me and the tablet for several seconds before finally darting forward, grabbing the tablet, and taking off again.

“Guess George is getting a little stir crazy,” Bella chuckled.

“I know. I considered letting him go out and help around the other floors, but since he’s technically part of my squad, it’s not allowed,” I sighed. “He’s going to be a real pest until he sees action.”

“You could venture out yourself,” Bella suggested. “Get some exercise.”

“I plan to… once I figure out how to lure Nor’goth out. As long as he’s coordinating the Sanctum’s defenses, we’re going to have a hard time progressing,” I explained.

“That’ll be hard to do, I hear that he never once left his floor during the previous match, and he has little incentive to leave. As long as they hold the top of the Sanctum, they still have access to that timed ritual after all,” Bella replied. “You’ll have to hang some fairly juicy bait out there to lure him out.”

“I know, that’s what’s so frustrating,” I muttered. “I’ll figure it out.”

“I know you will,” Bella said, patting my head. “Look on the bright side, considering that he sent a strike team against the parlor first, you vex him as much as he vexes you.”

“It’s a small condolence,” I said, smiling at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”

“I know you will,” Bella replied. She floated upright and stretched her arms above her head. “Well, if you want me in the gardens, I should get over there before the Sanctum makes a move.”

“You probably have a couple of minutes,” I told her. “I’m guessing that they didn’t expect to lose Lyssa that early, or for that strike team to get as mauled as it did. They’ll need to go back and reorganize a little. I’m not sure who they’ll send against you. I don’t know whether they’ll prioritize defending the middle floors or pushing into the Garden. Either you and Chelsea or Kass and Sylvia will have to face him. If I had to make a choice, I’d say he’ll probably press into the Gardens. They’d rather get Lyssa back than prevent us from bringing Sullivan.”

“What? Why?” Bella bellowed.

“Because Sullivan may be strong, but Lyssa is a key part of the Sanctum’s strategy. That miasma of hers can stonewall most of our forces. Bea and the Anthophilans were probably our best weapon against her,” I said.

“Then what are we going to do to stop her?” Bella asked.

“Well, our best choice would be to throw back their next offensive and prevent them from resurrecting her in the first place,” I said, glancing at her knowingly, “but if we can’t do that, I have an idea that might work.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn't come to that,” Bella replied, as she slowly floated towards the nearest portal. “Are you going to be alright while I’m gone?”

I swung my legs back up onto the stage, stood up, and brushed off my dress. “Don’t worry, I have plenty of things to keep me busy. If the situation changes, I’ll send you a message, so check your tablet occasionally.”

“Sounds good. What are you going to do?” Bella asked.

“Well, first things first,” I said. “I’m going to get my tablet back.”

I heard a set of scrabbling feet behind me as George tried to escape. He knew what was coming. I swiveled in place and took off across the stage chasing after him. “Come back here!”

Bella just chuckled as she drifted away.