Roughened breaths could be heard coming from the ratkin adventurers as we forced our way through the underbrush. It hadn’t been long since we left the human settlement they had called ‘Abervale’ and the group had already reached the limits of their endurance, making me question whether or not they had it in them to become proper adventurers themselves.

As Zaleria’s champion, I had certain benefits when it came to my magic capabilities, but the nature magic the Goddess of the Forests has gifted me did by no means help me endure what, admittedly, could only feel like a forced march to the mountain folk. If anything, it was my hard work and about a hundred years of experience that had allowed me to lead them like this. Still, they should be able to keep up at least somewhat. Most of my kin certainly were capable of doing so.

Luckily, our destination wasn’t far and most of the way toward it had been pathed out by human pioneers, meaning the people in power already knew of the dungeon’s existence. I couldn’t help but feel sad at the sight of the trees they had felled, some of them hundreds of years old, but I knew it had to be done to allow earth mages to do their work and, in the future, allow wagons and carriages to pass through.

By now, the mountain that the ratkin had sworn housed the dungeon blocked the whole horizon, allowing for little else to be seen but trees and rock. It would take us another few minutes to reach it, or, at the pace my rather unwilling companions allowed for, no longer than a quarter of an hour. I couldn’t wait to see the thing with my own eyes and confirm what the ratkin had told me about it, especially the existence of monsters that looked like foxes was intriguing to me, as it indicated that the Sister of the Forest had awoken from her slumber, which was more than reason enough to check out if their claims where indeed founded on truth.

It was this chance to find our goddess long lost sister’s whereabouts that had forced me to make my move and accompany the ratkin back to the dungeon, carrying the fruits they had bought and, at least in one case, tried to steal to exchange them for the freedom of their friend and comrade.

If these would-be adventurers had told the truth, which I could only assume given the pressure they had been under, I would personally make sure they faced no punishment for their wrongdoings. No, it was likely some of the elders would even honor their actions. This was especially true when it was indeed a dungeon that not only had the Sister of the Forest involved in its creation but had also gained sapience in its few weeks of existence and thus an avatar one would be able to converse with.

A few fruits would be little of a price to pay for a sign of life coming from the Goddess of Foxes, Light, and Life, even if one of these fruits was a Golden Apple, and thus sacred to our kin and forbidden to be handed out to anyone but elders and–as I had found out only days ago–Zaleria’s champion. In fact, the ratkin had made sure only to pick fruits used for their medicinal purposes, making them all valuable enough to exchange for the freedom of one of their own. This came with the added benefit of enticing the dungeon into growing them on its own, making it much more valuable to delvers and their clients, though the group had probably not thought that far when making their decision. If anything, they had been blinded by their task, so much so that they didn’t realize they were being watched, deemed suspicious, and ultimately apprehended.

It was only by sheer luck that I had heard of their situation and their claims, which, quite obviously, were deemed mere lies and deception by those who had been interrogating them. But a feeling of warmth had embraced me back then, indicating that Zaleria was very interested in hearing more about this topic. I only had to combine the clues to realize that there could indeed be a connection between these ratkin who had claimed to have seen foxlike creatures inside of a newly born dungeon and the goddess–the long-lost Sister of the Forest was involved.

Still, I had to call in both favors and toss around my authority to get these failed robbers free, as well as to get the fruits they had claimed, which would make a wonderful gift for a newly born dungeon, should it really be Cilia’s. And even then I had to promise them to bring Eloen with me, an adventurer the elders deemed trustworthy enough to keep their eyes on the supposed prisoners. The woman in question was following after the group, one hand resting on the handle of her blade as if she feared the group could try to make their escape into the underwood.

She of all people should know best that them running away wasn’t even a risk, as she had seen my magic during a few dungeon delves we had done together. I had certain benefits due to being Zaleria’s champion, after all, such as powerful nature-aligned magic that could easily snare the ratkin in place should they risk an attempt to run away. This very spell was even more potent in a lush forest like the one we were currently traversing, as the roots of the trees surrounding us were sure to heed my call.

Even outside of battle itself, my blessing gave me a wide array of spells for dealing with all kinds of threats, disasters, and even minor inconveniences. My magic not only allowed me to heal almost any wound or ailment, but it also allowed me to nourish barren fields or let most plants grow in mere seconds, which was a very highly regarded ability to have among my kin. I could also tame and control most forms of wildlife, aside from those one would deem sapient such as dragons or, more notoriously, black squirrels, one of the fallen races that had survived to this day.

Even if it wasn’t for all of these abilities, Zaleria’s magic had still changed my body, allowing me to stay young seemingly forever while making my blonde hair even more paler, both of which had ended up with me being rather popular among both men and women alike. Luckily, this didn’t seem to include Eloen, which had made delving dungeons with her a pleasant experience.

When our group of six finally reached the forest’s edge, the ratkin were close to collapsing. I gave them another refreshment using my magic, something that left them both deeply grateful and fearful for their future, as it only meant that their journey wasn’t yet over, but they accepted it regardless. It wasn’t as if they had the biggest say in the matter anyway, with Eloen, the woman they were visibly scared of, wordlessly ushering them to receive their share of regenerative magic.

It didn’t take us more than a few moments to finish our break, and soon I was already leading us toward a rather busy camp that already showed the first signs of a town being built at this place, which I could only assume was right in front of the dungeon’s entrance. A few dozen buildings had been risen from the earth using magic, but they looked very primitive and little better than the tents that were surrounding them. If anything, they offered a little more space at the cost of allowing very little light in. Blankets could be seen hanging in the entrances of these huts of earth, clay, and rock, giving their owners a little bit of a private sphere. Two much larger buildings that had been created the same way stood in the middle of the camp. One of them was some kind of storage, as I could see a crate and a barrel being carried out of it in these very moments, the other one was being used to prepare and serve food. Both of the storage containers had symbols branded into their woods, which depicted a wolf or, much more likely, a fox, giving even more credibility to the ratkin’s story. There were even beastkin roaming about that looked suspiciously like the foxkin I knew of from stories, with the tips of their tail and ears ending in white and black respectively, markings I only knew from pictures found in texts long deemed sacred.

It didn’t take long for our group to be noticed by the men who stood guard near the camp, one of whom shared this fox-like feature. It was a man with pale brown hair that had a long tail which ended in white fur, both of his ears becoming much darker towards their tips instead. Contrary to the stories I had been told, I didn’t sense much magic coming from the stranger, meaning that he was very weak among his kin. And he did not seem to make a secret out of that either, as he could be seen wearing a sword and armor, rather than any of the traditional attires his kin were known for. Still, if I could trust my senses, the man was a genuine foxkin, and thus shouldn’t be around guarding a random camp. This would deem every single scripture that I knew of wrong!

At least neither of the men seemed hostile or unwelcoming towards our group. If anything, they looked surprised to see an elf outside of the Great Forest, and two of them at that. Our kin certainly had no tradition of traveling the world, but there were exceptions, albeit few of them.

I waved at the guards, indicating that we were no threat, which they happily answered with a wave of their own. Their gazes then went to the ratkin behind me, which seemed to catch their curiosity even more as there was little occasion for elves and mountain folk to ever meet, let alone form a party and travel together.

On our way to the camp, we passed by a large, fenced hole that was just deep enough to trap the slimes living in it, all of them plump and rather content-looking. A small earthen hut was built at its edge, with a suspicious slope leading right into the monster’s home. It didn’t take me long to recognize the facility for what it was - a primitive but highly efficient latrine and garbage disposal site. There was no running water at this place, but they would at least get rid of the smell some lesser-developed human towns had to them.

By now, the first of the guards were greeting our group and asking for the reason we had come here. I openly told them about my position and my intention of visiting the dungeon in order to explore its origins and free the companion of the ratkin, which left them rather confused. They then pointed to a figure in the distance, that was currently serving food to those that had lined up to receive it, and indeed, it was a female ratkin.

The ratkin at my side almost immediately began running over to her, shouting her name and being noisy, thus confirming that it was indeed the supposed hostage the dungeon avatar had taken. Naturally, I asked the guards about just this, and they, without hesitation, confirmed that it was Cilia’s champion who had asked the dungeon avatar to let the woman go.

This left me puzzled, as not only did it confirm that this was indeed a dungeon created by the Sister of the Forest, as her champion would otherwise have no sway over the dungeon avatar’s decision, but it also told me that the lost goddess had chosen a champion for the first time in history. And all of that seemed to be connected to this dungeon somehow. Why else would there be so many foxkin at this place? There shouldn’t be a single one alive to begin with!

Cilia must have made a move, one that had allowed her to give her kin a second chance or likely create them again from scratch, which required a strength only the gods of old times were said to have. And I could only assume it was the dungeon that had given her the capabilities of doing so, as the few prayers she still received from devout believers still putting their hopes in her reappearance couldn’t possibly be enough to fuel such a feat.

Luckily, there were many strangers around to ask for their theories, and even if this failed, I could still ask the dungeon avatar itself. The first man I could ask was wearing fancy armor and looking all-important as he oversaw the women handing out the food. He, too, was a foxkin, and although I didn’t feel any strength coming from him, he at least looked confident. He would surely be able to give me some answers.

Having made my choice, I asked Eloen to supervise the ratkin, while I made my way over to the man in question. The guards didn’t even try to stop me upon noticing who it was that I had picked out, instead, they walked a bit with me to tell me his name, Aspen, and introduced him as their leader, claiming that he would be happy to answer any questions I might have. They then left my side to return to their posts, leaving me to explore their camp on my own.

As I made my way through their midst, the dozens of strangers surrounding me looked rather interested in finding out about the purpose of our party being here. Some of them even invited me for a chat, pointing at an unused piece of log that lay in front of one of their campfires, but, naturally, I had to decline that offer as I had no time for that. I instead walked straight up to their leader, before introducing myself to him, stating both my name and my status as Zaleria’s champion. Like his men, the man was rather surprised to see me and hear about my position, but he quickly calmed himself down, before replying in kind, introducing himself as Aspen Lowee, Son of Richard the Dragon. I nodded, though I was somewhat confused about the answer as I knew this was similar to the naming customs battle-orientated human noblemen had. It seemed like these foxkin had chosen to take this naming scheme rather than their own traditional ones that only accounted for a single name with a role or profession added to it to distinct between those carrying the same given name. As to why this man had been deemed superior to his kin, I couldn’t say, as he felt every little bit as weak as those surrounding him, maybe even weaker when compared to the humans.

Pushing my confusion over his title aside, I calmly explained my reason for coming here, beginning with how I had heard about the ratkin stealing a sacred fruit and their claim that they needed it to free their friend that was kept hostage by a dungeon that had foxlike creatures living in it. When I then mentioned that Zaleria seemed rather interested in this matter, the man nodded, likely making the connection himself.

Aspen happily told me that they had indeed found a dungeon that not only had been created by the missing goddess but also served as her chosen dungeon, which was a huge deal, to say the least. It at least explained why it was that these foxkin had flocked to this dungeon instead of creating a new life for them in the safe reaches of the Great Forest. This fact also helped to shine a light on the matter that the dungeon already had formed an avatar despite being very young. If the Sister of the Forest had indeed chosen this dungeon, then she would obviously do everything in her power to help it grow. Giving it a capable mind of its own was certainly a good start.

When I pressed him for further evidence that all he said was the truth, Aspen instead suggested we visit the dungeon together, or rather the first room of it, which, at least so he claimed, was more than enough to confirm everything he had said.

I decided that seeing was indeed better than hearing in this case, so after giving him the time to grab some necessities such as a magic lamp, I soon found myself following the man towards the dungeon’s entrance, which, quite honestly, looked like little more than a big hole in the mountain face to me. Having been to dozens of dungeons in my life, I couldn’t help but feel a little let down by the appearance of this one, but it was probably still too young and thus too soon for it to create an entrance hall or gate worthy of the name of the goddess it belonged to.

Two guards were standing at the unassuming hole, both of them human and wearing metal armor rather than the much more practical leather armor I preferred, but they let us through without uttering a single word. If anything, they, too, were curious about me, if their barely hidden stares were anything to go by.

Leaving the two of them behind, we soon later found ourselves in a dark tunnel with way-too-smooth walls that were only illuminated by the magical lamp in Aspen’s hands. It felt as if somebody had dug out this part of the dungeon using advanced magic, rather than it being caused by natural forces which was the common theme most other dungeons had. If anything, it made this one look boring but helped one not to lose their way, so it was a double-edged sword. Still, some light crystals and a little bit of digging would go a long way in making this unassuming hole worthier of being the Sister of the Forest’s chosen dungeon. I would certainly need to discuss this with the dungeon’s avatar, should I get to meet it.

Several hundred meters into the mountain, sunlight suddenly greeted us from afar, indicating we were about to reach the first room of the dungeon, which Aspen had claimed would confirm his story. I couldn’t help to look forward to seeing exactly what it was, imagining some kind of foxlike monster to pop up, or Cilia’s name to be carved in the floor, anything that would prove this to be her possession.

What I then saw was far more than that. Not only were there big statues to be found, but every single one of them was crafted using precious mithril, a metal that only a few people in the Great Forest could boast of owning a piece of. Not only that but every single one of them also very obviously depicted foxes. Not wolves or dogs, but genuine foxes instead. The creator of the statues had even made sure to add precious marble to color the tips of the ears and tails in white while making the eyes green gems instead–emeralds, I guessed.
But this wasn’t the main feature of the room. No, a wooden pavilion could be seen in the center of the room, surrounded by all of the statues and lit up by the artificial sky and sun above it. While the building itself wasn’t too fancy, only way bigger than usual, it shielded another statue from the sun, this time depicting two foxkin, one of them nine-tailed and thus obviously Cilia, the other one a sleeping girl that was entirely unknown to me.

As the depictions of the Sister of the Forest had been long lost to time, I had no way of confirming who it was that was at her side, or if she was of any significance at all, but the golden carvings on the statue’s pedestal, all of them written in human language, at least revealed that this was indeed Cilia that I saw taking care of the stranger. The goddess and her kin were carved out of marble, with their dresses instead made from various types of metal seemingly chosen for their color alone. Cilia’s eyes had the same color as the ones of the fox statues, implying that she was using them to watch those who set foot into the dungeon. While it was known that deities could see everything that happened inside of their dungeons, seeing it confirmed like this seemed almost like a sort of warning to me, telling me to not overstep any boundaries.

Next to the statue of the goddess and her kin, a blonde foxkin could be seen praying. She gave off a unique aura, one that I immediately knew was that of a champion chosen by the gods. While she, too, seemed weak to me, I knew she had much more potential than those we had seen in the camp, as I could feel the tell-tale signs of several types of elemental-attributed mana coming from her. This would not only give her a large arsenal of magic spells to choose from, possibly more than I had access to, but would also allow her to adapt to her opponents much more easily, compared to me who found herself struggling whenever the ground under my feet and my surroundings didn’t allow for plant magic to be used, which, sadly, did happen quite often in dungeons.

While we waited for the woman to finish her prayer, Aspen told me her name, Marisa, and indeed introduced her as Cilia’s champion, while adding she had only been selected by the goddess weeks prior, which was explaining her current state. Still, even as she was, she could likely overpower most if not all of the humans and foxkin I had seen at this place.

The woman in question soon finished her business. She stood up and turned around to reveal herself and especially the flower-shaped mark on her forehead, which was clearly of magical origin. With her big, fluffy ears, she had likely long noticed us even during her prayer, but they hadn’t allowed her to identify who it was that had walked up to her, as her surprised face openly showed. But other than most of the men that I had met outside, Marisa wasn’t shy to hide her curiosity. Instead, she openly asked me what had brought me here.

Seeing no reason to lie, especially not since she was obviously involved in the whole matter, I told her everything that had happened at my side, including that Zaleria had made me investigate the matter as it, possibly, involved her long-lost sister. Having confirmed this hunch now, I was left puzzled about what to do now, if I was being honest.

This whole situation was obviously big news and something the elders had to hear of as soon as possible, but I couldn’t just go there empty-handed, especially not when I had paid for this opportunity using a sacred fruit among other things. I had to bring some proof, and at least some sketches depicting the goddess so that she would once again be known to our kin and her return could be properly celebrated and honored.

Marisa was quite willing to help me once I told her this. She told me we could visit the avatar just right now, if I wished so, as the dungeon’s monsters wouldn’t even choose to attack me as long as she was at my side. She even added that an ink mage was residing in the camp outside, which would likely be very happy to accept the task of drawing a few, highly detailed paintings for me to bring home with me. Naturally, I could only accept her offer, as it was exactly what I needed and wanted after traveling days to come here.

As for what came after I had returned with all of these news and discoveries, I would happily leave that for the elders to figure out, as I could already guess it involved a lot of politics with the humans already being here and ready to build a town, as things seemed.

For now, the best course of action was to pray, both so I could tell Zaleria about my findings, if she wasn’t already aware, that was, and to ask her for any more signs or instructions. And it would probably help to send a prayer to Cilia as well, as she could hopefully give me some valuable insight, if she deemed me worthy of her attention, that was.

I told Marisa to wait for a moment before going to pray to myself, choosing one of the fruits we had brought with us as a first offering. It was the cheapest of the bunch, a Sadium Fruit, which, while certainly useful due to its ability to disinfect and clean wounds without the help of magic, wasn’t really popular since its deep red flesh emitted a foul smell once the fruit was cut open. While closely resembling the beloved mango fruit, this flaw alone limited its availability, as nobody liked the risk of a single fallen fruit ruining their day, which meant only a few of these trees were to be found on the outskirts of towns, and sometimes none at all.

The other fruits, especially the Golden Apple as the most precious one of the bunch, I would hand over to the dungeon’s avatar itself, after confirming its intention and plans, that was.

It only took me a minute or two to update Zaleria about my findings. The goddess sent me a wave of warmth as thanks, indicating that she was very pleased with my work. Sadly, she did not choose to task me with anything else for now, which left me to deal with the situation at hands on my own terms.

Slightly disappointed, I placed the Sadium Fruit down next to the statue, before praying again, this time trying to reach Cilia instead. Quite honestly, I didn’t believe anything would result from doing this, but as soon as I had greeted her, a feeling of warmth washed over me, one that lasted for several seconds and was intense enough that I could only describe it as breath-taking compared to what Zaleria had rewarded me with. I didn’t quite know what I had done to deserve this praise or welcome, but I desperately clung to the feeling, knowing that, next to the sudden appearance of a champion, was the best possible proof for the goddess’ reappearance I could ask for. Sure, it wasn’t anything I could show the elders, but at least I was certain what to do now.

I thanked Cilia, for both answering me and for being alive, before rising up with a more than satisfied smile on my face. Some of the goddess’ power seemed to linger with me even now, as I could feel holy magic circulating through my body, the tell-tale sign of a blessing, and a powerful one at that. Even without a mirror, I could almost swear I carried the same magical tattoo on my forehead now, as the flower motif would be more than a good fit for the Sister of the Forest.

When I then turned around, I found an additional silhouette nearby, barely hidden behind a barred-off passage leading to a neighboring room, one that featured a lush, flowery meadow with foreign colors and healthy, albeit unknown to me trees. A foxkin girl with red hair was peeking around a corner, unnoticed by the others and visibly intrigued by my appearance, although her fluffed-up tail indicated she was feeling rather threatened by me as well, for unknown reasons.

I watched the girl for several moments, neither of us risking a single move, if you didn’t account for her tail, which was openly showing her restlessness. She seemed strangely familiar, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I felt that way. It was only when my eyes wandered over the rest of her body, and especially her clothes, that it clicked to me. I turned around, facing the statue once again. And indeed, there she was, wearing the very same outfit, and resting at the side of the goddess as she was being showered with motherly love.

I turned on my heels and was about to call out for her, to ask her who she was and what her connection to the Sister of the Forest was, only to catch her silhouette running away as fast as she possibly could, nearly stumbling over her own feet as she made her hasty escape.

“What?!”

- - - - -

Catnip

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