ThabianGD

Just adding a small 'How to pronounce' section - as some people may not know Gaelic nor my weird custom names I made.

Raianya - Raye-Anya
Maellis - May-ellis
Saoirse - Sur-sha

Thank you all for continuing to read my story - I am hoping to release it faster - but my brain it is not my friend some times. 

On to the next Chapter.

Saoirse had been hiding in the tree since she had found the camp. It was where she felt the soul energy of the one the Fae queen had bound her to. Her iridescent butterfly wings flapped in obvious nervous flutters.

Something had to be wrong!
Something had to be terribly wrong!

She was a dungeon fairy! She had spent a century learning all she needed to know about dungeons!

Saoirse looked at the woman sitting near the campfire and tried to deny what she was looking at. She used the spell again, one used by dungeon fairies to find their dungeon Core, or when it had taken a form that was not a giant glowing crystal heart.

She felt the spell cast. She felt her mana twitch with the magics' consumption of it. She felt the happy hum as the spell found its target. Then the warm feeling of when her target is found rushes over her. Then the outline she could see from the spell she cast highlights the Oni woman, guiding her to the now obvious target.

Saoirse grabbed her hair in her hands and wanted to scream obscenities at her Queen. What was the Queen thinking? What possible reason would she send a dungeon fairy to be the guide for an Oni? An Oni that was an enigma in itself! They were supposed to be all dead! How is this one alive and not destroying everything in sight?!

Saoirse flitted away from the campsite, trying to make sure that no one there could overhear her conversation. Plus, she did not want anyone to hear her asking her Queen a question about her orders.

When she felt she had moved far enough away, Saoirse then pulled out a small mirror and quickly wrote the symbols she needed to cast the communication spell onto its glass surface. She was ready to wait a while, knowing that she was far down on the totem pole of importance. A mere junior dungeon fairy never expects to speak to the Queen, even a day after they send a request.

What then happened proceeded to leave her completely stunned. Her eyes widened as the face of the Queen appeared in the mirror. Usually, Saoirse would go through several officials to ensure what she was about to ask was worthy of the Queen's attention. Instead, Saoirse got a direct line to the Queen, leaving her stunned and late in her greeting to the most powerful Fae being in this world.

Saoirse bowed her head in fright as she realized that several moments had passed in silence. “<Forgive me, oh Queen. I was not expecting to speak to you so quickly>.”

The Queen’s melodic laugh filtered through the mirror before she replied, “<Saoirse, I was wondering how quickly you would call me>.” The sheer enjoyment in her Queen’s voice tipped Saoirse off on how this conversation was going to go.

She asked, “<My Queen, am I to understand, that there has not been a mistake in the choice of the being I am bound to? Isn’t the Oni a species that is supposed to be extinct? I do not understand, and why send me? I am a dungeon fairy. Wouldn’t one of the woods or flower fairies be much more appropriate>?”

Maellis smiled at the tiny fairy, “<No my dear, you are perfect for this role. That young woman will be delving into all sorts of trouble by the sounds of it. Having someone who knows how the world works, and how dungeons work, would be a boon for her>.”

Saoirse nodded in understanding as she listened to her Queen, “<Still, I don’t know why you’re sending me instead of other fairies. I’m not trained to work with someone that moves around a lot. I haven’t even worked with a real dungeon core yet. Those take centuries to gain the mobility to move around on their own>.”

Maellis laughs, “<So you are saying that you disagree with my choice of companion>?”

Saoirse’s mind froze like it had been doused with liquid nitrogen as alarms sounded in her brain like a nuclear facility in the moments before a meltdown occurred. “<No, my Queen! Not at all! I was just->.” Saoirse back peddled like she was trying to win Olympic gold at running backward. “<I was just wanting to confirmation is all. To assuage my own doubts in-in-in myself! Thank you, my Queen, for this->.” she scrabbled at her mind for the right word to use, “<Opportunity! Yes! Thank you for this opportunity>!”

Maellis had a wide smile on her face as she listened to the little fairy flail around for a lifeline. Recognizing the fear that Saoirse was exuding, she decided to let the little fairy off. “<Just go and have fun, little Saoirse>.”

With that, the connection was closed, and the little Dungeon fairy slumped to the ground. “<What did I do to deserve this>!?” Saoirse let loose the wail of all beings that believe they have been slighted by the powers that be.

Saoirse spent a few minutes wallowing in self-pity. Then stood up, and took a big breath, “I can do this! I can totally do this! It’s only a mortal. They can’t live forever! Let's go do this!” She pumped her arms in the air as she psyched herself up before flittering her way back to the campsite she had left behind.

When she made it back to the campsite, the wagon was already packed up and had begun moving again. Saoirse had lost her chance to speak to the woman alone. The little fairy was afraid of being around too many people. It is why she had chosen to be a dungeon fairy! “<Dammit>!” She had wanted to be inside all day. She would only have to deal with a few people nearby at a time! Saoirse would have plenty of time to curl up in the quiet and read her books.

Saoirse sniffled and fought back the tears that were building, “<No! I already cried! No more crying today>!”

With that, she chased after the wagon in the hope of gaining another chance to speak to Iris. The woman Saoirse had been sent to guide.

The wagon continued down the old road with Stavic at the reigns again. Iris had moved up to sit up beside him, to watch the scenery pass by. They had been whiling away the time with him recounting his adventures on the southern seas. He had been traveling on a ship and ended up fighting mermen.

Iris took the chance to ask some more questions when there was a lull in the mercenary's rambling stories. “This road seems a bit, well, worn out, or not well maintained, is this normal for roads up in the north?”

Stavic laughed as he replied, “No. No. No. This is just the road passing from the Malkavian territory, to the Northern Provinces, through the Dacrathon mountains. The route we would have normally taken would go out and around the mountains to the east and then swing back into the Northern Provinces.”

Stavic then pointed back over his shoulder towards the mountains in the distance. “This route isn’t an official road and is only traveled lightly, or in times when speed is more important than safety.” He motioned forward down the path they were traveling. “It’s mostly used by Mercenaries and people needing to get out of Malkavia with haste. Which honestly is probably anyone that lives in that Sh-Hell hole.” Stavic smiled as he caught himself before he swore. He did not need another ear twisting from Doxan.

Iris snickered at Stavic’s verbal save and then asked him, “So the roads are paved along the maintained roads?”

Stavic nodded along to Iris’s question, “That and there are warded spots for travelers to sleep along the road as well. Placed there for those that can’t reach a town or village as they travel. Honestly, the only reason we’re not on the main road is that the Church is in a hurry to see what’s going on in Dungeon.” he shakes his head, “I still think that is a dumb name.”

Iris grinned, “Doxan thinks so too. I want to know why they named it that. I mean why not name it after the person who discovered the place, instead of well what is near the place?”

Stavic laughed and returned Iris's grin, “It’ll be a good story to find out I guess.”

Iris nodded her agreement and looked forward again to look at where they were going. She noticed something and asked a question to get his opinion. “The trees are thinning up ahead, aren’t they? Will we be able to leave the forest soon?”

Stavic squinted as he looked ahead, then looked left and right, “Probably about another half hour, if all goes well.” He nodded as he looked to Iris, “Nice spot. I’ll pick up the pace a little we should be out of the forest soon and able to see the city walls in no time.” He stretched his back and laughed, “It’ll be good to sleep on a real bed again.”

Iris smiled as she listened to him, “Yeah. A real bed, and a meal we didn’t have to cook ourselves, right?”

Stavic laughed in response to Iris. “Isn't that the truth!” he slapped his thigh, “Not to put down camp food, but getting a real meal is another bonus of getting to a city. We’ll have to go find the biggest bar in the city and see how much trouble we can cause.”

Doxan grumbled loud enough to be heard from the back of the wagon, “Don’t go getting my new Priestess caught up in your shenanigans you rogue!”

This caught both Iris and Stavic by surprise, causing them to let loose raucous laughter that echoed through the surrounding forest. Doxan even joined in as they laughed.

It was with this happy atmosphere that the wagon broke through the edge of the forest. Then traveled out into the open planes of the grasslands that surrounded the large walled town. Iris was now able to see the huge city as the trees now stopped blocking their view.

The city was in a basin, the surroundings cleared and obviously made into farmland. Much of the land was still untouched by a plow. The farmland was spreading out into the empty space around the city. The area was created by the clearing of trees to fuel the cities construction.

The high defensive walls looked a little strange to Iris when she compared them to the walled cities she remembered from her own world. Then it clicked as she noticed what it was that was making her feel off. “Those walls are really thick! Like, I mean. That’s got to be two or three times the thickness of a wall needs to be!”

Stavic laughed at her as she sounded so shocked, “And that proves that you have definitely never been to a town that has a dungeon in it!” He pointed at the walls. “They are a defense against the monsters outside. As well as a defense against the chance of a monster outbreak from one of the dungeons. The walls also double as a place for people to take shelter during those same situations.”

Iris simply replied with a soft wow. A grin on her face, “Do you think they’d let me look around in there? It sounds like it’d be fun to explore.”

Stavic could not help his eyes as they glanced up and down Iris’s well-proportioned body. Then as he caught himself, and coughed out, “I am sure they would, but take Doxan with you when you do. He’s good at pointing out some of the interesting things.” He then thought to himself. It’ll also stop anyone with bad ideas from doing stupid things.

Iris grinned and nodded, “I bet.” she then looked around at the grasslands, “Doxan said that there are creatures around here I could beat up on, right? I mean, they shouldn’t be too dangerous for me to fight?”

Stavic glanced around, “Maybe when we’re closer to the walls. There are usually low-level monsters around the city walls. They are attracted to the waste and garbage of the city. So, they are a bit of a local nuisance. Young kids and other young mercenaries use them to earn a little money from culling them. Stuff like Bog Rats, and Mushmen.”

Iris ohs and nods, “No slimes?” Again, her hope for cute little balls of jello and not liquid nightmare fuel came to the fore.

Stavic blinks, “Oh no. Slimes are-.” he stopped and thought a little more, “You generally only find slimes in nature-based dungeons. They’re kind of weak, and not much to them, but they are generally not a problem.”

Iris sighed in relief.

Stavic nodded at her sigh, “I mean if you met one of those outside a dungeon, it’d have been an overflow, and they’d be eating anything and everything in reach. They can only survive in a nature dungeon because everything regrows so fast. The blobs just consume anything fleshy.”

Iris’s relief was washed away, and her panic came back, “So they aren’t like-” she made hand motions in a ball shape, “Round water balls? They’re like gooey?”

Stavic looked a little confused, “Well yes, that pretty much explains them. Round gooey water balls that are more like goop than water. They’re greedy little monsters that you need to keep an eye on, even if they move slowly. If one drops on you from above, or if you step in one, you’re going to have a very bad day.”

Iris now just looked confused, “I guess I’ll just have to see one for myself.”

Doxan spoke up from the back of the wagon again, “One of the dungeons in this town is a nature-based dungeon. It should have some slimes in it.”

Iris’s confusion slid away, “Oh! Yes! That’d be great! I have a little list of monsters I want to see. Slimes are one of them. Getting it off the list early would be awesome.”

Stavic chuckled, “What are some of the others you want to see?”

Iris ticked off on her fingers, “Well Arachne, Dryads, Manticores, Dragons, Wyverns, and Leviathans are on the top of the list.”

Iris looked over to Stavic as the silence from the mercenary was palpable. His jaw was wide open as he looked at the woman beside him.

The silence was broken by Doxan coughing and sticking his head out into the front of the wagon, “First, Dryads are not classified as monsters. They are recognized as sentient beings. As such, they have a tentative stance as an independent race. We do not call them monsters anymore.”

He then continued, “Arachne are not known to frequent any dungeon that has been found. They are generally only found in the deep south, among the forests of Ulaara. It is still debated about if they are also sentient.” He took a deep breath, “Of the last four, they may be a little hard to find. As all four are classified as either first class threats or nation class threats.”

Iris blinked in confusion, “Dragons aren’t classified as intelligent?”

Both Doxan and Stavic laughed out and grinned at each other. Stavic then motioned to Doxan to answer.

Doxan spoke, “Oh they are highly intelligent. They’re probably smarter than most humans. Just it is that they are more likely to burn a town down than to bother telling it to get out of its roosting area. Which can cause some issues, to say the least.”

Doxan then smiled to Iris, “That is if they are Ancient Dragons if it is the lesser dragons, then they’re little more than monsters out to eat and sleep. Both are very rare, but the first is more likely to be met by pure chance than anyone actively trying to do so.”

Iris nodded as she took that in, again it felt like she should have known this, but now she did it was making more sense. Then mentally she put ‘Ancient Dragon’ on her list of things to find and meet, along with highlighting Dryads and Arachne.

Doxan smiled at Iris, “Do you still want to fight some of the monsters near the city as we spoke of yesterday?” He motioned to Stavic, “We’ll likely need to wait in line to get into the city, but Stavic can get the process started, and we can catch up to him before he enters the gates. There is always a line to get into a city like this.”

Iris grinned with excitement and nodded to Doxan, “As long as Stavic is okay doing it, I would like to try fighting some little monsters.”

Stavic groaned as he heard Doxan’s plan and saw Iris’s eyes looking at him. Her big green eyes were like that of a kid waiting to be told it’s okay to go play with her friends, “Of course. The line.” he rubbed his head in frustration, “Fine. Fine. But you owe me a beer!”

Iris punched the air and yelled, “YES!” in excited joy.

Stavic laughed at the loud yell, “Don’t get too excited it’s just probably going to be Mushmen. Those things are slow, and they’re a bit stinky. They also have lots of teeth, and if you find an evolved version of one, they can release puffs of gas that smell like death and doesn’t come off for days.”

Iris nodded and replied, “Note to self, learn how to use a bow.”

Doxan laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll be there with you, and I’ll be sure to point out any of those before they trouble you.”

Iris had a wide grin on her face as she nodded, “This is going to be fun.”