Dungeon Bound Page 2

  Maybe they’re good guys. Just a little rough around the edges?

  It didn’t take long for the three hasted warriors to topple the final wounded golem.

  Gabriel relaxed and canceled his active spells. A rush of relief washed over him as he closed off the drain on his mana pool. He watched wide-eyed as the fighters systematically shattered the golems’ torsos, quickly locating the glowing Magic Stones within.

  Farming Magic Stones made up a majority of income for those that delve dungeons. Though the Guild now considered this one low-value because of the scarcity of monsters larger than goblins, whose stones were barely worth harvesting.

  Lostbarrow had once been a major city because it hosted a well-developed dungeon. In the past decades, however, the dungeon had weakened. As a result, adventurers harvested fewer stones every year. With it drawing fewer delvers, the Guild’s presence continued to diminish. Though that would likely change once word got out about the treasure they were searching for.

  If we find it. Since the golems were real, there’s a decent chance the crystal is as well.

  With the threat eliminated, Gabriel unplugged his ears and turned to look at his elven companion. In his mind, he could already see her brilliant smile as they all celebrated their victory.

  Might even get a friendly hug.

  It startled him to find she was no longer where she had been seconds before. A whisper of sound came from behind him, and he turned to face the woman.

  Or, at least he tried to. Searing pain erupted from the back of his neck. It felt like every muscle in his body seized up as white-hot agony burned through his veins. His mind froze, unable to process what had happened. He watched helplessly as the ground rushed up to meet his face.

  The hot, coppery tang of blood filled his mouth even before he hit the ground. He’d bitten his lip when everything seized up, and blood continued to flood into his mouth as he fell. The detached thought did nothing to alleviate the growing fear washing over him when it occurred to him that no one had called out.

  Facedown on the cold stone, he could now see a pair of elegant, high-heeled boots out of the corner of his eyes.

  Estrial’s boots.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Hands grabbed Gabriel roughly and lifted, carrying his limp body over to the sinister altar.

  He had paid little attention to the dark stone object earlier. But as they brought him before it and tossed him onto its hard surface, he got to do a more thorough inspection. Carved from a massive slab of smooth basalt, with a narrow band of runes engraved below the upper edge, the sight of it filled him with dread.

  None of his muscles responded to his desperate attempts to move, and he could only study the stone in front of him. He stared at the dark stone until someone rolled him over, none too gently. His unblinking eyes, already dry and burning, stared up at a trio of male faces.

  Torrik looked almost ashamed as he positioned Gabriel’s right hand into a groove on one side, a metal band snapping into place. Dresk and Derek, by comparison, both flashed smug grins as they glared down at him.

  The three adventurers worked in silence as they bound him in additional restraints. Panic gnawed at his mind as cold metal pinched his free limbs. Torrik opened his mouth to say something but seemed to reconsider, shaking his head sadly before turning away.

  “I’m sorry it has to be this way, Gabriel,” Estrial said, her melodic voice carrying a hint of melancholy.

  Gabriel’s heart thundered in his chest, and hot blood continued to drip from his lip and into his throat. He tapped his pool, harnessing the mana within. But, instead of obeying his will, it drained away along his internal leylines, preventing him from constructing even the simplest spells.

  Shit. What kind of poison did she use on me? Whatever it was, she probably infused it with magic.

  Estrial stepped into view. “It’s most unfortunate that we have to do this, but I’m afraid the ritual needed to break the crystal’s bindings is rather specific.”

  Unable to look away, or even close his eyes, Gabriel stared in silent horror as the elven sorceress tenderly opened his threadbare gambeson. His terror ramped up when she drew a gleaming dagger from her belt and effortlessly sliced through the rest of his clothes.

  On the edge of his vision, he saw the twins jerking his pants down his legs, their cruel eyes glaring at him as the cool air teased his skin.

  The cold stone rapidly sapped the heat from his body, sending chills up his spine. Gabriel desperately wanted to swallow the lump forming in his throat, but the poison paralyzing him denied even that action.

  Horror mounted within him, threatening to shatter his mind. It warred with that little voice in the back of his head, trying to convince him that this was all just a prank. Some crazy adventurer initiation ritual, a joke they were playing on him. Any second now, she’d negate the magical poison, and they’d all laugh as they welcomed him into the group.

  Then she made eye contact with him again, and the last glimmer of hope died as the icy edge in those alien blue eyes stared back at him. All he could see was death.

  His death.

  ***

  Dresk snickered. “Not packing much down there, no wonder he’s still a virgin.”

  How did he know that?

  “I’d be keeping me mouth shut if I was ya. Given the cold stone the lad’s lying on and the terror he’s got to be feeling, I’d say he’s probably bigger than yerself in normal situations,” Torrik said. His gruff voice was sharper than usual.

  The dwarf stepped closer to Dresk, and Gabriel saw his face locked into a mask of barely restrained fury.

  I’d prefer he let me go, rather than defend the size of my dick.

  Derek started laughing, drawing the irate dwarf’s attention.

  “I do nae think ya should laugh at that. Ya be identical twins.”

  “Could you three please save the bickering for after we’ve finished this and sold the crystal? A few thousand gold coins would make it far easier for me to put up with your dick measuring.”

  Gabriel could barely see the elven sorceress at the far edge of his vision. Her face, while still flawless, held a far harsher look than he remembered.

  She glared at the twins across his paralyzed form. “That Gabriel was the only practical sacrifice which Kelith suggested doesn’t mean he deserves scorn. It may have only been temporary, but he fought alongside us, and I will not have you two mocking him.

  “We’re the assholes here, deceiving him and sacrificing his soul for our gain. At least have the decency to keep your thoughts to yourselves.”

  That little shit. I should have known Kelith wouldn’t be doing me any favors. Wait, what was that about my soul?

  A gentle hand caressed his face, the soft skin warmer than his clammy flesh, as he continued to stare unblinkingly at the smooth stone ceiling.

  “I am sorry about this. I enjoyed our time together, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I can’t pass it up.” Estrial’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, her hand continuing to stroke his cheek.

  Five minutes ago, he would have found the gesture incredibly soothing and intimate. Now it only served to amp up his fear and send his heart rate ever higher.

  “This ritual has very specific requirements to break the seal shielding the Domain Crystal. Finding a virgin with enough Soul Essence to shatter the barrier was quite challenging. Fortunately for us, Kelith led us to you,” she whispered.

  As Estrial leaned closer to him, he saw a tear slip out of her eye, and he tried to follow its path down her cheek. A glint of bare steel at her side drew his focus away from her face. Bile oozed into his throat and mixed with the pooling blood, but Gabriel hardly noticed, his attention squarely on the wicked dagger she raised above him.

  His fear spiked again, and he tried once more to form a spell. But whatever poison she’d used on him combined with his inability to move or speak, meant he couldn’t do anything with what little mana he harnessed.

  The
elf took a deep breath, and her lips formed silent words as she brought the blade down.

  Sharp, burning pain struck Gabriel like a flaming maul to the chest. He felt every agonizing inch as she drove the razor-edged blade into his sternum.

  Estrial uttered a single arcane word, and the pain surged higher. All conscious thought was driven from his mind when her enchanted dagger activated, and she began carving him like a roast turkey.

  Time slowed, and the slightest movement became an eternal torture.

  Is this what it’s like in one of the Hells? Did I die and wind up there without noticing?

  Gabriel couldn’t flinch as the magically sharp blade sliced through his ribs. The appalling sensation of bones pulling apart drove him mad, screaming in his mind but unable to utter a sound.

  Just when he thought it could get no worse, his chest spread wide as Torrik assisted the elf. The torturous experience continually drew his awareness back to the unbearable pain as Estrial butchered him.

  Torrik shook his head softly, his thick beard dancing over the frozen face below him. “Does the lad really need to be awake for this? It does nae feel right.”

  “I’m afraid so. The sacrifice requires a virgin, chest carved open, and only then do we remove his heart. Unfortunately, the poison I used to block his casting has some unsettling side effects,” Estrial said, her voice brittle. “Now, just keep prying him open and let me concentrate.”

  A minute later, or maybe it was an hour, she spoke again. Nearly insensate, Gabriel couldn’t focus well enough to follow the meaning of her words. Still, he recognized them as one of the obscure languages he’d heard spoken in the Academy.

  Harsh guttural syllables danced around him, piercing his ears and rattling painfully inside his skull. They almost distracted him from the sensation of a slender elven hand grasping his heart. Then he watched that same blade descending again.

  Into his exposed heart this time. As the athame tore into him again, eldritch energies surged through the ritual dagger, and Gabriel discovered a higher existence of pain. A purer form of torment as his soul began to fray.

  His entire world flashed white.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Gabriel blinked.

  And then experience the most intense regret of his twenty-five years.

  Did someone pour powdered glass in my eyes?

  Blinking again, he found the searing pain wasn’t as bad. His eyes were just dry. Dryer than he’d have thought possible.

  Why would they be so… Shit. Those traitors killed me! Wait, if I’m dead, why do my eyes hurt?

  He raised a hand to massage his eyes, then stared numbly at the hand right in front of his face.

  Was it a dream? Or did the spell wear off? When did they remove the restraints?

  Raising his head to check was a mistake. He groaned as his whole body exploded into a symphony of pain. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. An eerie sensation of emptiness in his chest made it clear that he hadn’t been dreaming.

  Desperate to make the pain recede, he tried to relax, lying motionless. That seemed to only increase the pain, allowing him to more fully experience every twinge of agony as his tortured body begged for relief.

  Over the sound of his groaning, Gabriel heard a soft feminine voice speaking. “Oh good, you’re still alive. You don’t look so well, though. You’re fortunate you had so much Soul Essence. Otherwise, you’d have stopped existing already.”

  “Wha—?” he said, his voice breaking off into another wordless groan.

  “I’m extremely unhappy that you helped that tramp steal my Domain Crystal. But, if you promise to get it back for me, I might be willing to help you not die,” she said.

  Her voice was bright and perky despite her claim. Gabriel latched onto that soothing sound. He let it mercifully draw part of his awareness away from the still escalating pain.

  “I’ll do anything, please help me,” he begged, his voice threatening to break.

  “Okay, but you have to listen to me, I’m in charge!”

  He tried to reply, but no words escaped his lips. Finally, he nodded, the action causing his head to rotate left. A pink glow emanating from an alcove in the wall drew his attention.

  Don’t remember seeing that before.

  “Get up from there before you die. I need you to come over here and place your hand on my Core. Then swear a soul oath binding yourself to Merideva,” the voice explained.

  Oh sure, I’ll just hop up and walk over to the strange glowing light in a small cubbyhole that wasn’t there earlier. No problem.

  “It would probably be a good idea to hurry. That ritual your girlfriend performed shattered your soul, so if you die before bonding with me, that’s it. You won’t get to start over, or even visit the afterlife. You’ll cease existing in any form.”

  Oh shit!

  The moment she warned him, Gabriel felt a profound, chilling certainty that she was telling the truth. As though his soul recognized the danger and struggled to escape. That revelation got his adrenaline pumping. Which reminded him he had a massive hole in his chest when hot blood began seeping down his stomach.

  His body twitched as he struggled to rise. Just as panic began to encroach on his mind again, he managed to flop over. The move sent fresh spikes of suffering across his body, and he felt his right arm flop off the altar.

  Lungs gasping for breath, his eyes grew wide as he began sliding off the cold black stone. Too shocked and exhausted to respond, Gabriel watched on in horror as the ground grew closer and closer, slowly approaching until his cheek slammed the tiled stone floor.

  More pain, but at least it distracted him from the unyielding agony of his butchered chest. A moment of concentration brought his awareness back, and he spat out a broken tooth, along with a mouthful of blood.

  Probably didn’t need to find any more ways to leak blood. Wait, how can I still be alive after Estrial stabbed my heart?

  Gabriel bit his tongue to distract from that train of thought and focused his will on moving his arm. Laying on the ground, he could now see the source of the pink glow. A fist-sized crystal orb sat on a block of poorly carved stone. He didn’t recall seeing the rough hole it hid in earlier.

  “Stop lazing around and put your hand on me! You’re getting my floor bloody,” the disembodied voice whined. The glowing orb pulsed at the same time.

  Is she the orb?

  A wet cough wracked his body, lighting up new and demanding nerves. Apparently, he hadn’t experienced all the pain he could. Gabriel kept coughing, feeling more than tasting several globs of bloody mucus as he spat. Another attempt to reach the orb saw one arm rise, only to flop down on the opposite shoulder.

  Would help if I moved the arm closer to the orb.

  The room grew dimmer, and he fought back the rising fear when he realized it was his vision, not the lighting that weakened.

  Stop wasting time. Move your damn arm!

  He forced his throat to swallow, then began running his ragged mind through the basic focusing meditation he’d learned in his first year, back when he was only six. It took him longer than usual, but he’d practiced so many times that he soon fell into the routine, almost forgetting the pain radiating from every part of his body.

  “Why are you just lying there resting? I thought you were going to help me.”

  Gabriel ignored the talking crystal, letting her voice serve as background noise for his meditation. He continued to hone his focus as long as he dared. All of his senses seemed to dim as he put every drop of concentration he could muster into the thought of reaching out to touch the glowing crystal orb.

  His eyes snapped open. A voice screamed, and his arm shot up, reaching toward the now brighter orb. The last thing he knew before darkness overtook him was the touch of warm crystal beneath his bloody hand.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Gabriel woke to the sounds of gnashing teeth and tearing flesh.

  “Stop! Don’t eat that. Oh gods, that’s disgusting,” a
light, feminine voice cried.

  Am I dead?

  Powerful lungs drew in strange-tasting air. Gabriel wrinkled his nose at the unfamiliar smells as he took another breath. Most prominent was blood, strong enough to taste. But beneath the coppery tang of blood were so many other smells that he didn’t recognize.

  Senses slowly sorting through them, he focused his sluggish mind toward identifying the new odors. They stank. As his mind came more awake, he recognized the vile stench of vomit mixing with piss and far too much blood.

  That smells worse than the butcher’s scrap pile.

  Gabriel sat up hesitantly, wincing in anticipation of more crippling agony. The lack of pain startled him. So much so he found the courage to gently probe at his chest. Cracking open eyes still adjusting to the light, he felt across his chest.

  To his great surprise and relief, his hand touched only smooth, flawless skin. Bare ass sitting on the cold stone, he forgot to breathe as he groped about his body with both hands.

  What the hells? There’s no way I could have healed that quickly. Was it all a bad dream?

  His hands traced along defined muscles. He groped and squeezed at the firm, warm flesh.

  Why do I seem so much bigger?

  More munching and slurping interrupted his thoughts, causing him to flinch. He screwed his eyes shut before opening them again and turned to find the source of the noises.

  Who would be eating in here?

  Shadows shifted off to his left, and his head tracked the movement. He was still on the black stone altar, and something was devouring a bloody carcass on the ground behind it. His eyes widened, and his jaw fell open.

  That goblin is eating my cock!

  Gabriel stared at his body—or was it his corpse—sprawled out on the cold stone, right where he’d fallen while trying to reach the Core. One bloody arm stretched out toward the hidden recess.