‘Should we come?’ Sekhmet asked. Dominic hesitated, then eyed Alwen. Considering the subject of the discussion he was about to have, perhaps it would be better to have them back a few paces – at least the distance of Alwen’s guards. Considering how well both lionesses could leap forwards, they’d still be easily within range if he needed help. He sent that to the lionesses and they accepted the plan easily enough, sitting back onto their haunches.
‘Honoured Brother Dominic. Or is it Leo with whom I speak?’ Alwen asked as he drew near. Her cautious gaze spoke to the fact that she had indeed received news – and notifications – about the earlier events.
‘It’s Dominic,’ he replied, doing his best to affect nonchalance, like he wasn’t concerned about any misinterpretations of his actions – he didn’t know how much information Alwen had received. If it had only been the bare bones, she might have leaped to some unfortunate conclusions. ‘I hope that I’m not disturbing you but I thought it would be best to ensure that we’re both on the same page with everything that’s happened so far today and can create a plan for how to proceed from here.’
Her gaze pierced him for a long moment – if he wasn’t a lion and physically incapable of it, he’d be sweating.
‘I would be remiss in keeping you waiting for too long. My people will have to understand that their audiences must be delayed and, perhaps, postponed for now.’ Dominic wished he could read her emotions in her tone, but she was being very careful to keep it calm and steady. He couldn’t even pick up much from her scent – unease for sure, but that could be for multiple reasons.
Alwen gave a nod to the guards around her who apologetically, but firmly moved the line of elves waiting to speak to the Elder away and out of earshot. A third elf next to her then walked around them in a circle, leaving a trail of something behind. Seeds, Dominic realised a moment later when they sprouted into green shoots that quickly lengthened and thickened. It wasn’t much later before the two of them – plus the magic-user and one of the guards – were surrounded by a wall that blocked off all view of their discussion, even from Berion and Dominc’s two lionesses.
Dominic was quite impressed – he had thought that they would have to go somewhere to seek a place for a private discussion of sensitive matters or keep it to telepathy only, but it seemed that magic offered a way to make a semi-secure room anywhere, anytime. He did find himself a little uneasy about being cut off entirely from his own allies even as Alwen kept two of hers. Then again, it was a wall, not a dome, so he could always leap away if he needed to. Or they could leap in.
The lion found himself fidgeting underneath Alwen’s renewed gaze. Logically, he knew that he was the saviour sweeping in at the elves’ last hour, the only defence for them that stood a chance against the attacks sent by the matriarch. He knew that it was definitely to Elder Alwen’s benefit that she be understanding and conciliatory since if he decided to break their agreement and leave – not impossible since they hadn’t received any benefit from the elves yet despite having fought on their behalf and having even provided them with resources – the elves would definitely be in hot water and would more than likely fail their Challenge. And in doing so, forfeit their home and perhaps also their lives.
Yet all that knowledge meant nothing when he was pinned beneath a measuring gaze that had clearly seen centuries. A gaze which only now revealed the degree to which its bearer had been jaded by the machinations of man – elf – and clearly asked the question of whether she was to be betrayed once more.
Dominic found words coming to his mental lips almost unbidden.
‘I swear I didn’t try to take control – that option just came up! We have an agreement and I intend to stick to it. But I had to choose a side and I figured that it would be best to officially be part of the elven faction than to officially side with the beast waves and only secretly being your ally. It was only the fact that I’m apparently a higher level than you that the System wanted to find out if I intended to take control of the faction.’
It was only as that piercing gaze lightened just a touch that Dominic realised how much he’d babbled. More, perhaps, than he would have chosen to do. And he wondered with a sudden sneaking suspicion whether Berion and Alwen might perhaps share something in common – some ability to charm those before them. Though the effects had been different, the fact was that in the presence of each of them, he had felt something more strongly than he might have otherwise. Was it some sort of empathy enhancing Ability? Dominic needed to keep his guard up more.
‘Leo, if I again start talking more than I should, prod me,’ he requested his leonine companion. After all, they had evidence that a mental effect which was affecting the main ‘pilot’ of their shared body might not affect the consciousness sitting in the back seat.
‘You mean like you did just there?’
‘Precisely,’ Dominic admitted grimly.
‘Fine. I’ll watch your tongue for you,’ Leo granted magnanimously. Dominic sent him an eyeroll, though accompanied by a hint of gratitude as he returned his attention back to the situation at hand. Fortunately, their mental communication had only taken a couple of seconds, thanks to thought travelling faster than speech, so he hadn’t missed anything.
‘I appreciate hearing that you didn’t intentionally instigate a challenge. As you no doubt understand, a change in leadership – and one so drastic as that – would not be good for my people at this time. Fortunately, your companion also chose not to seek leadership over us.’
‘What companion? Leo?’ Dominic asked, mystified. Then his eyes widened as another possibility occurred to him. ‘You don’t mean Nyx, do you?’
Elder Alwen inclined her head. ‘That was the name that came up in the notification which appeared before me, yes.’
‘Huh,’ commented Dominic intelligently. He hadn’t considered that Nyx might have also been given the option and she hadn’t said anything to indicate that she had. Perhaps she didn’t think it was necessary since she’d clearly turned it down as well. Though that had interesting implications – that it wasn’t just the fact that he was a chimera of a human and a lion which had made him eligible to be the leader of the elves. And was this an isolated case or might beasts later end up becoming the bosses of human or humanoid factions?
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He’d see in the future, he guessed.
‘Anyway, I have a question for you too,’ he asked, picking up the thread of the conversation again. Elder Alwen tilted her head to one side gracefully, prompting him silently to go ahead. ‘When we joined your faction, I was given ‘Challenge Credits’. Do you know anything about this currency?’
The pink-haired elf inclined her head briefly.
‘I do. These have been features of every Challenge so far, including this one. They are awarded upon acts which work towards the success of the Challenge. Notable successes receive the greatest amount of the credits, but even small actions can receive a handful. During the healing Challenge, those who collected the ingredients or helped to prepare them received a few credits even if the bulk went to the healers and mages who created the healing poultices and potions which were required to accomplish the Challenge. At the successful completion of the Challenge, further credits were awarded, according to participation.’
Dominic nodded unconsciously. That made sense.
‘And what could you use these credits for?’
Alwen shrugged gracefully. ‘For a week after the successful completion of the Challenge, a building near our settlement centre was populated with items available for purchase for various quantities of credits. If I can extrapolate from the two Challenges I have seen completed, the goods offered are generally along the theme of the Challenge – crafting goods for the Crafting Challenge; healing goods for the Healing Challenge. However, there were always staples of weapons, potions for health, mana, and stamina restoration, and a few other useful or intriguing items.’
Interesting. Even if Dominic wasn’t sure whether the System would choose to offer weapons that would be suited to beasts, they could always do with a few of those potions. And perhaps there would be more storage items which even his Pride members would be able to use. That would enable them to carry around the potentially life-saving liquids along with other resources like bodies and Cores. And who knew what other nice surprises he might find?
‘Alright, thanks for the information.’
‘Of course,’ Alwen offered gracefully, then she hesitated for a moment. ‘Honoured Brother Dominic…I have to ask. Do you feel that anything has changed about…our strategy, following recent events?’
Dominic was about to speak when a sudden notification flashed up in front of his eyes even as a loud alarm sound rang in his ears and made him flinch.
[Warning! Reconstituted Planet XV15246OP’s unexplored dungeons are reaching critical overflow status. You are in an area which is within the overflow area of: 6 dungeons
- 4x rank F dungeons (4:23:59:59)
- 2x rank E dungeon (5:23:59:59)
If the dungeons are not cleared of beasts within the time specified for each rank, overflow waves of beasts will emerge and attack anything they encounter within the dungeon’s reach until the dungeon is cleared.]
Dominic was further stupified by a sudden burst of extra information that must have had its origins in the knowledge he’d stolen from that malicious dungeon master all that time ago. It had been a long time since that had triggered – not since learning about the Place of Power. It was annoying that he had no idea what would trigger the download of knowledge until he stumbled across it, apart from knowing about the existence of Places of Power in the first place. If he’d known about dungeon overflows prior to this moment, he might have been able to better prepare for it happening.
‘We wouldn’t have been able to stop it, even if we’d known about it,’ Leo told him, sounding uncharacteristically subdued. ‘We’d have needed to find the dungeons to clear them and we’ve been doing too many other things to do that. Including clearing and destroying a dungeon which now won’t be one of those threatening us.’
‘That’s true,’ Dominic sighed, relaxing from the tension that had filled him, turning to Alwen again. Immediately, he could tell that she had received the same information, though the other two elves didn’t seem to have done so given their confused glances between Alwen and Dominic. Was it only sent to those considered to be leaders of some sort? He might need to ask Nyx when he returned.
‘What is this?’ the elven leader asked with more than a hint of dismay in her voice. ‘Another Challenge?’ The magic-user and guard elf exchanged alarmed looks.
‘Elder Alwen?’ the magic-user ventured. ‘What is wrong?’
The Elder looked at them with the same piercing gaze which she had laid on Dominic at the beginning of their conversation. The magic-user looked away even as the guard stood firm. The Elder sighed.
‘It appears that the System has decided to give us an additional Challenge,’ she confessed. The two elves recoiled with horror on their faces.
‘At the same time as this attack of these unnaturally bloodthirsty beasts which so threaten us?’ the magic-user blurted out, then sent a quick glance at Dominic. ‘No offence intended to present company, of course.’
‘None taken,’ Dominic assured her – it wasn’t like her description was even wrong. The beasts, himself included, were unnaturally bloodthirsty, prompted by the always-ravenous desire to grow stronger that beset all but perhaps the most peaceful of herbivores. ‘It’s not a Challenge,’ he then told them grimly.
‘You know something of this? How? What do you know?’ Elder Alwen asked, her brow furrowed with confusion – Dominic hoped that the glint in her eyes wasn’t suspicion, but he decided to do his best to allay it if so.
‘Let’s say that I had a…fortuitous encounter in the dungeon the first time I ran it. I almost lost my freedom, but in the end was able to keep that and a bunch of information about dungeons. Unfortunately, the knowledge only comes to mind when prompted – like a notification being blared into my eyes and ears at the same time.’
‘I see,’ the Elder said slowly, seeming to accept his explanation. ‘Then would you be so kind as to share your knowledge with us as your allies?’ It could have been sarcastic; it wasn’t. But Dominic suspected that there was a test inherent in the question. About how far he considered them allies, and what that meant to him.
Deciding that honesty was the best policy, especially given the fact that this was about a threat endangering them all, Dominic explained what he knew to the best of his ability.
‘Dungeons draw creatures to themselves in order to populate their interior spaces with various beasts. At the same time, they absorb some kind of power from the environment.’ Dominic didn’t say it, but he suspected that it was the same kind of power that his Place of Power transformed into Prey Points for the use of those within its territory. It would make sense given how dungeons wanted to absorb Places of Power to grow stronger. ‘The more power they absorb, the stronger and more plentiful their beasts become. If their halls are not cleared in a long time, they can send their beasts outside their extra dimensional realms. I think that the beasts can help them gain more power and conquer more territory? I’m not sure about that part. But either way, dungeon overflows present a danger to anyone they encounter as the dungeons definitely gain more power by killing other beings.’
Elder Alwen looked grim, her lips pressed into a thin line. The other two elves didn’t look much better, even the chocolate colour of the guard’s skin turning milky as he went pale.
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