<~> Chapter 125
I woke up to arguing and the first thing I noticed was that my blindfold was gone. My vision swam and I felt like shit. I haven't felt this bad since the last time I got wasted at the bar. Where was I?
I tried to stand, but there were tight ropes tied around me, and my rings had been removed. The space on my finger where my telepathy ring usually sat felt odd. I hadn't taken it off since Luna and I had first met.
"What's going on?" I groaned.
I looked around. My glowing eyes lit up the surroundings clearly, and I was getting my first good look at everything with my natural eyes. I had been tied up and leaned against the stairs. My armor and body were covered in salt and sand, but the water had receded away from the beach. The hunters, especially the melee-focused ones, looked exhausted and were resting while the soldiers were sorting through a ridiculously massive pile of dead crabs.
Luna pressed her forehead against mine as she cried. She looked like a mess. Salt and sand were covering her waterlogged robes. I expected her to say something to me, but I realized that she couldn't. My ring had been taken away.
"Luna, what's going on?" I croaked out. I was parched, and my mouth was dry from all the salt water. "Thirsty..."
Luna carefully pressed the edge of her waterskin to my lips and tilted it up for me to drink from. The cool water was refreshing and washed away the remaining salt in my mouth. She pulled it away and gave me a weary smile. My heart ached and I longed to hear her voice. I leaned forward and rested my head on her shoulder. I felt sick and my muscles ached. I was wiped out as if I had just finished a challenging run early in my triathlon training. I sighed in relief as Luna held me.
"Get away from her! I don't trust you near the changeling! She's going to trick you into releasing her!" One of the draco yelled. It was the blue one. I hadn't spoken with him before.
"Changeling? What are you talking about?" I groaned as I tested the ropes. They could hold me in my human form, but I knew my transformation would rip them apart. I could escape these ropes at any time, but that would might not be a great idea right now. It was better to try and de-escalate the situation. Despite how awful I felt, my body was brimming with mana after the hearty meal I had. I snorted to myself at the pun. They wouldn't be able to hold me if I truly wanted to escape.
"Why are you laughing!" the panicked voice asked.
I shook my head. "It was nothing. I wouldn't be able to explain it." The pun didn't translate in draconic.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "We should have killed you while you slept, changeling!"
"What's a changeling?" I asked.
Luna frowned next to me and looked at the draco with a frustrated glare.
"Stop looking at me like that, beastkin. Now that she's awake, I'm going to go get Jol'ket!" The blue draco stomped off, and I followed his path to the red draco, Valkin, and Maxwell, all arguing over the corpse I had half eaten. I sighed and rested my head against the stone stairwell.
"It's good that you're awake. It was getting hard to defend you while you slept," Milana said next to me. She was examining the intricate lattice of bone that blocked the stairwell. "Luna, I think I can get through this with ice magic, but I might need your help. I think our ice is as good at melting the salt as the salt is at melting our ice."
"I hope they'll calm down once we get back to the surface. There are few things that scare delvers more than being trapped in a dungeon."
I turned to look at the voice. It was Rell'kor, the black and white drakken that was on the blue draco's team.
"Why are you here?" I asked suspiciously.
"Officially? Watching the prisoner we tied up. Unofficially, I'm waiting to talk with you about the venom you survived," the drakken replied with some mirth.
"Why should I tell you anything?" I growled.
Milana's hand touched my shoulder. "Helena, relax. Rell'kor saved your life. The venom the monster had injected you with was killing you. Rell'kor made an antidote for you on the spot and saved you with it."
I sobered at that and heard a choked sob come from Luna. She looked like she wanted to throw herself against me again but was holding back. Even from here, I could see the blue draco glowering at me.
Rell'kor shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure the venom would have killed her, but she didn't look good by the time I got to her. I'd give it half and half odds."
"What about Piper?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Her healing wouldn't have helped for this. Or... perhaps it would have given you enough time to fight it, but you would have needed a lot of healing, and she looks tapped out." He pointed over to a barrel that Piper was sleeping against. If it weren't for her breathing, she would have looked dead. "The human saved a lot of lives. There were only three casualties, and all of them were the weaker soldiers with us. That is counting the first that had died immediately."
"The snake?" I asked.
Rell'kor shook his head again. "No, the crabs. You missed it, but they were coming from all directions. I suspect none of us would have survived had you let that snake monster run rampant. I'm pretty sure you saved more lives than she did if I'm being honest."
"You saved my life right at the beginning," Milana said quietly.
I couldn't help the subtle growl that came from my chest. "Then why tie me up?"
Rell'kor sighed. "Tor'jek is convinced you are a changeling or something. He's been a little hysteric since you shifted into something resembling an umber hound. Are you truly a northerner, or are you something else?" he finished with a sly grin.
I glanced at Luna. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't without the rings.
I sighed. "Can I have my rings back? At least my telepathy ring so I can talk with Luna?"
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"I'm afraid not. Tor'jek made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate it. You're lucky he's letting me watch you instead of one of the others. I may be the only one of them who trusts you enough not to put a knife in your back," Rell'kor replied.
"Why?" I asked.
The drakken grinned. "You're interesting. When I saw you wandering around earlier, you looked out of place. A gentle looking person in scary looking armor. When I pointed you in the direction of that first crab, you disappeared and returned with it without breaking a sweat. I wondered how such a gentle looking person would be able to go searching for a monster in an unknown dungeon without any fear. I half expected you to run back with your tail between your legs, but you didn't. I was already curious about you before you turned into a monstrous hound and fought that snake to a standstill."
I glanced at Luna. "I would have lost if Luna hadn't helped me with her ice magic."
Milana coughed. "Erm, that was actually me. I'm glad you're not mad, but I figured you would be able to take a bit of impaling to get the upper hand. She was the one who shot the fireball though."
I chuckled. "It feels funny that two of my friends would be so willing to attack me with their area spells to give me the advantage."
"I think I'm almost through this cage. Luna, come here for a moment," Milana said, waving her over.
I struggled against the ropes. "So how long until I get my stuff back and you let me go?" I asked.
Rell'kor nodded over to the approaching group. "That depends on them. I'm not the leader of my party. Just a poison and venom expert that took a liking to you."
"Her ears are gone," Jol'ket, the red draco said when he looked over me.
"She's a shifter! A changeling!" Tor'jek cried while pointing at me.
Maxwell crossed his arms. "She's not a changeling. She's been able to shift like that as long as I've known her, and I'm not worried about her stabbing us in the back. Your party is overreacting."
"He was trying to kill her when she passed out fighting that snake monster. Norrik and I had to stop him. He could have gotten all of us killed if he started a fight while the crabs were still wearing us down," Valkin added.
Jol'ket raised an eye ridge and looked at Valkin. "You act as if this wasn't a surprise to you either."
"It wasn't. Helena saved my life on our last mission, and I found out then. Her party recommended me for this mission. She's not going to murder any of us. The blue lizard is freaking out and trying to kill another delver," Valkin replied.
Jol'ket bared his long fangs. "Do not call us lizards, dog."
Maxwell raised his hands. "Let's remain professional here. We allowed you to tie Helena up until she woke up as a sign of trust, but she isn't a threat. She is the only reason that we survived that shit show last night. That thing was fast. She was the only one that could fight it to a standstill long enough for our mages to help her put it down."
"She almost died from it too. If not for the antivenom I gave her, she likely would have succumbed to its venom," Rell'kor added. "I'm not sure anyone else would have lasted long enough to fight it after getting bit."
Jol'ket studied Rell'kor for a long moment. "You're defending it? Why?"
Rell'kor shrugged. "Gut instinct? I like her."
Jol'ket studied the drakken for a long moment before looking back at me. "Your ears are gone. Why are you posing as a beastkin instead of as a human?" he asked.
I squirmed in the ropes and blushed before glancing at Luna. "To be more like my fiancé."
His eyes went from my face to my braid and then over to Luna. Rell'kor laughed and shook his head. Finally, Jol'ket scoffed and turned to Maxwell. "Fine. Release her."
"What!? But she's—"
"Enough, Tor'jek. I will discuss this with Lady Celeste, but please leave her be for now. I saw her fight. It's not as if those ropes are even holding her. Rell'kor, return her things," Jol'ket commanded.
The black and white drakken came over and began to undo the ropes tied around me. The conversation was filled with a long awkward pause, but eventually, I was free. As soon as my hands were untied, he held out my rings. I slipped each of them on my fingers and let them resize themselves and settle in their familiar places. They felt a little odd on my fingers now, since I was hyper-aware of them, but I was happy that they had been returned. He also returned my blindfold, but I just stored that in my ring for now. Since my secret was out anyway, I was enjoying using my own eyes again.
Jol'ket turned toward Milana. "How much longer are we going to be trapped in this place?"
Milana looked at him with an unimpressed glare. "I think the two of us can break through this at any time now."
"Then do it so we can get out of here. If nothing else, we could use time outside of the dungeon to regain our cooler heads," Jol'ket replied.
The snow leopard kin turned to Luna. "On three?" Luna gave a nod and Milana started counting. When they hit three, they flashed out a burst of ice magic and pulled the salt cage off of the stairway at the root. The two tossed the cage away and stood aside to wait. After a long tense moment, it seemed that the salt wasn't going to reform, and everyone nearby gave a sigh of relief.
Maxwell stepped forward once it appeared safe. "We'll let the soldiers out first with the dead, followed by anyone taking up the last of the samples. Once all of them are clear, we'll begin evacuating the delvers. We need to hurry. I'm not sure how long between floods, but I don't want to be caught here for a second round so soon."
Jol'ket nodded. "I'll go organize the soldiers taking the samples. You speak with the ones carrying up the casualties. We need to send someone up to scout the exit, just in case. Tor'jek, go down the stairs and make sure the way is clear for the soldiers."
The blue draco grumbled. "Fine, just keep an eye on the changeling. I don't feel safe with her at my back." He stepped past us and down the stairs. Jol'ket walked off without another word.
Luna came over and wrapped her arms around me. ("I don't like being unable to speak with you... I've gotten used to you always being there for me. Having your ring taken away... It hurt.")
I gently wrapped my arms around her, careful not to squeeze her too hard. Now that I was able to move a bit more, I could tell my armor was damaged. It restricted the movement of my arms in a way that it hadn't before. I'd have to get that looked at.
("I'm sorry, Luna. Let's finish up here so we can get out of this place. I could use a break,") I whispered through the rings.
I kissed her on the head and took a deep breath. My entire body still ached. It would be nice to get out of the dungeon and see about eating some crab.
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