<~> Chapter 126

My body ached from the remnants of the poison, but I was already starting to feel better. I was glad that the stairs were descending rather than ascending, though. I'm not sure if I would have made it otherwise. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, the steps were slippery from the sand and gravel since the last stretch of the staircase had been underwater until recently. I had to hold onto the wall for support on the way down. Between the stairs and my own weakness, I was afraid of falling.

"It's good the soldiers that went down first were able to tell the base camp what was happening so they could dam up the water again. It would be obnoxious if we had to leave our armor to swim back up," Maxwell said as he carefully progressed down the stairs.

"Why is the oasis lake freshwater if all the water in the dungeon was saltwater?" Aria asked.

("That snake monster used magic to create a cage that filtered all of the salt out of the water before it passed the stairs,") Luna replied.

Aria tilted her head. "It did that while it was fighting us, but why would it put the cage there normally? If that water floods every time the moon is above the stairs, wouldn't it pour saltwater into the lake every time it cycled without it?"

"Do you think it has a reason to block the stairs independent of us being there?" Piper asked.

"What if it uses the cage of salt to stop the crabs from escaping so it can eat them?" I asked.

Aria laughed. "Always thinking with your stomach, ey? These crabs better be good. You keep talking them up."

"Helena could be right. Maybe it was hunting the crabs," Piper said.

"Does that mean that snake monster will be there every time?" Iris asked hesitantly.

I frowned. "I hope not. It was tough. Even before the poison started to affect me, I had a lot of trouble fighting it."

("If that monster respawns, we'll have to figure out a way to reliably deal with it before the first floor could be considered safe. It was strong enough to be a floor boss, but it's odd for one to be so close to the entrance. Bosses respawn too, but not as quickly as other monsters. If it is a floor boss, it'll be gone for around a week if it's anything like the other two dungeons we've been in,") Luna added.

"What about the boss in the Lost Halls? Does that mean that will respawn too?" I asked curiously.

Piper shook her head. "What you did on that floor was not normal. You did more than kill and eat a boss. You broke the floor somehow. That's not the same thing. I wouldn't expect the snake monster to be gone for good, but I'd be surprised if the boss on the Lost Halls came back after what happened there."

"Getting back on subject, the crabs. They were annoying to deal with as well. There were so many of them, and Helena was passed out for the worst of it," Maxwell said.

"I thought the stairs were supposed to be safe. Why did that snake monster come fight us there?" I asked.

"That's a good question," Maxwell replied.

I looked behind us and saw the draco team a distance up the stairs. They hadn't trusted us to be the last ones to leave. They wanted us to remain in their sight until they could talk with Celeste about me. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish with that, but I didn't care at this point. Assuming I didn't start going around killing people, I had Celeste and Callisto's tacit backing to use my umber hound form. I was starting to regret not discussing it sooner, but I hadn't been sure what to expect here. Certainly not a huge four-armed snake monster at the top of the stairs of the first floor.

Turning back around, I continued down the steps. I could see the arch in the distance with the bright sun reflecting off the sand and gravel at the base of the lakebed. It looked like it was late afternoon, based on the color of the light. With a sigh, I pulled my blindfold out of my ring and began to put it back on.

("Are you getting tired of wearing the blindfold?") Luna asked me privately.

I frowned. ("A little. It was nice to have it off for a while, but the crafters in the camp up above might still get scared.")

("Perhaps it would be best if Celeste revealed your secret to the entire camp. Now that she knows about it, it might be better to let her control the information.")

("Maybe.") I sighed again. ("How are you feeling after all of that?")

There was a long pause before she replied, ("I was scared... This is the first time I was worried you might not survive something. Passing out face first in the water... then the poison... I was scared.")

I reached over and grabbed her hand. Without a word, she laced her fingers with mine and leaned her shoulder against me for a moment. I wish we could have continued to comfort each other, but the ground was too slippery, so she let go and used the wall to keep herself from slipping as well.

The light wasn't as harsh to me through the blindfold as it seemed to be for the others, but the difference in brightness was stark. Five mage soldiers were holding the water back while other soldiers were working quickly to rebuild the dam that had apparently been partially destroyed and washed away with the flood from the dungeon. Celeste sat nearby and watched the soldiers work. It was amazing that magically, she had been able to hold the water back herself when these five looked to be exerting themselves to do it. If she was this powerful, I didn't know why the other mages had taken over for her, though.

Celeste spotted us the moment we stepped out, and a subtle look of relief crossed her body language. Her tense shoulders sagged ever so slightly. It was so minor I might have thought I imagined it if it wasn't for the small flash of relief that had shown in her eyes at the same time.

All of us followed Maxwell up to where Celeste was waiting. She waved a few of the nearby soldiers away but didn't leave her spot watching over the mages and soldiers working on the dam.

"The water overflowed from the stairs and destroyed a lot of our previous efforts. We had to change our plans to accommodate for the water flow. I'm told it will happen again," Celeste said.

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Maxwell nodded. "We think it's on a cycle. The next time it comes through, it might be saltwater though. We believe a monster's magic was filtering the water before it added to the oasis."

Celeste pinched the bridge of her nose. "That will be a problem if that's true. I received a few mixed reports from the soldiers. Did you kill whatever it was that was filtering the salt?"

"We did," Maxwell replied.

"Was it dangerous or something we could leave be?" She asked.

There was an awkward pause while Maxwell looked back at me. "It almost killed Helena, and she was forced to shift to her umber hound form to fight it."

Aria pointed behind her to the stairs with her thumb. "The group of draco and drakken want to talk to you about her. One of them is claiming Helena is a changeling."

Celeste raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "If she were a changeling, I would have killed her already. Myself if I had to. No, she's not a changeling or any fae that I know of. I don't know what she is. That's part of what makes her so frustrating."

("Helena! Tell her you're a human! And my lover!") Luna snapped.

I cleared my throat. "Luna says that I am a human. And my lover. She was upset by how you said that."

A subtle smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "I apologize. I hadn't meant for that to be as insulting as it must have come across. But you are not a human or even a beastkin. That I can say with certainty. I'm not sure what happened to you or how you came to be this way, but you are not a human."

Luna grumbled but didn't argue.

Celeste turned to Luna. "I do not say that to denigrate your fiancé. But she is a mystery."

Maxwell scratched the back of his head and looked a bit awkward cutting back in. "Norrik called her a northerner, but Tor'jek refused that explanation."

Celeste nodded. "I can see why the comparison is made. That explanation would work for most people I assume. But Tor'jek is that team's primary mage and is skilled at discerning types of mana. He was chosen because his skill makes him valuable at detecting things about dungeons most others would overlook. That seems to have backfired in this case."

Luna nodded. ("When he saw you in your transformed state, he must have been able to see that your mana doesn't match one of the northerner's druids. Your shift is less... organized and more intense from a mana perspective.") she said to me.

I summarized her words for Celeste.

She nodded. "It doesn't look the same to a mage. I can also see why he would suggest you're a changeling. Your transformation may look similar at a glance, but I don't think that's right either. You don't have the typical trappings of the fae. Fae are dangerous, so he is justified in being cautious. I will vouch for you, though. I've talked with you enough by now that I feel confident in your character. Don't get things wrong though, Helena. I am still wary of you. I just don't think you immediately mean to cause any harm, and you've done well at keeping my... keeping your party safe."

I shrugged. "It's a start."

Celeste laughed. "Perhaps. I do grow to find myself liking you more and more as time goes on." Her attention shifted to Luna. "I haven't had the opportunity to pull you aside yet, but Callisto found me an artifact that we can use to speak directly. We'll have to activate it in the same way that your ring is connected to the others, so we will have to apply it when we have a moment of calm. I can hardly wait to speak with you directly, but it will have to wait a little while longer. We are all occupied at the moment." She gestured at the other mages holding the water back.

She waved us away. "It looks like I will have to talk with Jol'ket and Valkin now. They are already headed this way, and I'd like to talk with them separately from your group. Return to your camping area for now. We likely won't return to the dungeon tomorrow. We have a lot of things to sift through and a few of my soldiers have already died."

Her haughty dismissal rubbed me the wrong way a bit, but I let it go. Even if the motion was meant to be condescending, it was probably better for all of us if she kept the air of impartiality. No one knew of her connection with Luna yet, except for our group... hopefully.

I sighed as all of us headed toward our campgrounds. It was surprising to me how much of a relief being out of the dungeon felt. The situation had been dangerous, but it wouldn't be the first time I had been pushed that far. Or the last time, most likely. I'm just happy I didn't lose my mind and go berserk again. The instincts had been integrating into my thoughts more and more, which led to some annoyances, such as the paranoia I experienced on the way here, but the bouts of uncontrolled emotions had become more rare as a result. I could still tell when the instincts were at their strongest, but they weren't completely clouding my perception like they had been. I still remember the fight with the snake monster clearly, which was a good sign.

("Are you okay, Helena? You seem lost in thought.") Luna asked.

I smiled and turned to her. ("I am. Thanks for worrying about me.") I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to me. ("I was just thinking about the instincts that I gained from the umber hound again. They haven't felt as overpowering as they used to. I didn't completely lose myself like the time with the goblin king.")

Luna happily leaned against me. ("That's good news, then. After that rough time in the dungeon, I could use some rest. Are you feeling back to normal yet?")

("I'm feeling better, but not entirely back to normal. That fight and the poison had taken a lot out of me. I'll need some more time to rest too. I'm also excited to see if those crabs are safe to eat.")

Luna laughed. ("Maybe Aria is right, maybe you are thinking with your stomach a bit too much.")

I grinned at her. ("Tell me that after you've had some crab. If those things are edible, you might have a new favorite food on your hands.")

("Doubtful, but I'd love to try something new. Especially something you seem to like this much.")

("Let me go strip myself out of this armor. I'll need to wash the salt water off and use some oil on it. The self-repairing enchantment will take care of any corrosion damage, but it needs to be treated to make sure it doesn't continue to corrode,") I told her.

Luna nodded. ("I'd like to wash up a little too. I have some sand and salt in places they don't belong.")

The two of us laughed and retreated to our respective tents to clean up. I was tired, but I had a feeling there would still be some discussion about what had happened in the dungeon today.

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