Dungeon Robotics 9 - 14 (Patreon)

Good Morning! Let know that ya'll think of this in the comments. I enjoyed writing it, but that might not be the case for those of you reading it.

Louella

Once all the airships left, the valley command had to play the waiting game. It took time for the ships to physically travel to their targets. For the time being, everyone worked to double and triple check plans and statuses before the big event. I moved over to a display on the wall that displayed the positions of all the ships in real time.

Valamar moved up next to me since he was also mostly twiddling his thumbs. “Remind me to give the mages and engineers that got this stuff working a very large raise.”

He laughed but nodded. “Don’t worry. They’ll be living like kings and queens for the better part of the next decade. As long as they actually manage their money.”

“Good.” I looked toward the EbonyFalls fleet. It would arrive just after nightfall, but even after everything I had been through, I was still a bit nervous about the operation tonight. I just hoped that we could take the city without any bloodshed. The only problem was that I knew most plans go sideways more often than not. I sighed and turned back to Val. “How’s Azar?”

“Growing like a weed. You’d hardly believe he was only a few weeks old.”

“Children born in or near a dungeon have shown rapid growth before. He is sitting at the heart of probably one of the most powerful dungeons on the planet.”

“Yes. That’s why we weren’t too worried about it.” Val suddenly grinned. “Ezal is trying to get the jump on me and have him say mommy first, but she doesn’t know that I’ve been talking to him while she is asleep at night.”

I laughed, unable to help myself. Two of the most important people in the city and they were trying to get a baby to say mommy or daddy first. I guess we were all human and this sort of moment was what we were going to war over. So that families could be happy together.

“You should probably visit them while you can. Tonight is going to be busy,” I said finally pulling my head out of the clouds.

“You are right. Will you be alright, your highness?” Val asked with what I could see was real concern. “Ezal worries about you.”

I smiled and waved him off. “Don’t worry about me. I have more than enough people here to support me. Go use those four massive arms of yours to hug your bride.” I gestured to the people in the room. Each and everyone of them a trusted member of my staff.

He bowed with a chuckle. “Very well. If you’ll excuse me. I will be back in a few hours.”

With my nod, he turned and left the command tower. The rest of the evening passed slowly. I supposed that was usually the case in these types of situations. When you enjoyed the moment, it was over before you knew it, but when you were dreading the moment it took forever to be over. Finally, one of the officers announced that the Ebonyfalls fleet was in position.

Almost as if on que, Valamar showed up in the command room. “I’m heading down to join the strike force. You’re in full command.”

He shrugged like it was nothing. “Its only for a few hours. I expect you to be back here before sunup.”

I nodded and moved past him. Down on the field, a group of forty people waited for me. All of them well trained in dark magic which would allow them to move easier through the city toward their target. At the head of the group was Wrakras.

“Everyone is ready and waiting, your highness.”

“Excellent.” I looked at each of them in turn. “Remember we are trying to keep bloodshed to a minimum. That said, your lives are the most important. If you must choose, I want to see each of you back here in one piece.”

The group was silent but nodded. Wrakras had trained them well. He not only had infiltration training from his time as a necromancer, but he’d had access to Regan’s fountain of knowledge for almost longer than most people in the valley. There was no telling how dangerous he was now.

Moving to the center of the group, I placed the orb Regan had given me on a pedestal that was linked to a rune circle surrounding the group. It would boost the power so that the entire group could travel with me. Sadly, this was designed by Regan showing we were still far behind him in terms of magical technology and development. Though, I knew it was ridiculous of me to be jealous.

Holding my hand over the orb, I commanded it to activate. A dome of mana formed around the group and it suddenly felt like I was being pulled through a thin tube. When a spike of pain struck my temple, the world went black around me as the valley vanished.

~~

A crushing weight brought me back to the world of the wakeful. I couldn’t see anything but I felt like something was crushing in around me. I channeled my mana and forced whatever was pressing against me away. The mana also gave me a source of light and I found I was underwater.

Looking around, I didn’t find anyone from the strike force. My mind worked rapidly as I tried to piece together what might have happened. Sadly, there were too many things that could have caused an issue. I oriented myself then pushed my mana down to head for the surface of the water.

I really knew something was wrong when I broke the surface and found the sky above me. The teleport marker was supposed to be in some caves under the city. Some terms that I’d learned from Regan’s library flashed through my head like tectonic shifting or temporal displacement. Again, only Regan would know if that was the case.

I made my way to the bank, not wanting to risk flying in case I was near Ebonyfalls. The others weren’t with me, but Wrakras would be able to take command in my absence. Once I reached the shore, I dropped to the ground, strangely tried. I felt like I’d used most of my mana in one go. Something I had not felt in a very long time.

After I caught my breath, I realized that sky looked weird. I thought it was because it was night, but I saw the sun in sky. Everything was a sort of grayscale. Not just the sky, but the trees around me were missing color as well.

“What have I gotten myself into this time?” I muttered between gritted teeth.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on connecting with Regan. He would know what the hell was going on. The link which I usually visualized as a glowing line, went out a few meters before it felt like it split into hundreds of different directions. Images of dozens of different Regans flashed through my head. Only two of them seemed to realize that someone was trying to connect to them.

I broke the connection quickly. One of the Regans felt like the one I knew, but the other… It was like evil personified. Regan had shown me a few times that he could destroy the world if he truly wanted. I felt like the only reason the world might still exist with this Regan was it amused him.

What is going on?! I jumped to my feet and tried to figure out where I was. The only clue I had were the mountains. If I was right, I was about two or three hours outside the valley. If I was right, then I was well outside the reach of Ebonyfalls. Though, that probably wasn’t a concern right now.

I channeled my mana to jump into the air, but I barely got a few meters into the air before a pulse of some sort knocked me to the ground. I attempted to fly again, only for the same thing to happen. “Walking it is then,” I growled after getting back to my feet.

Walking towards the valley entrance, I suddenly felt another pulse of mana. It was different than the one that knocked out of the air. It was like the world changed around me. Where an ash-colored forest with crystals embedded in every direction had been around me with an almost dead sky, a plane of metal replaced the dirt under my feet. A magnificent city almost seemed to grow around me.

Shadows of people moving around caught me off guard. I threw my hands up to defend myself, but the shadows appeared to not even notice my existence. I waited to make sure it wasn’t a trap before I put my hands down. Shaking my head at the weirdness of it all, I continued making my way to the valley while taking in what appeared to be Utopia around me.

I finally reached the valley after an hour of jogging when there was another mana wave that rippled over everything. Where the valley walls used to be, there was a crater that sank into the ground for as far as I could see. Pieces of vessels of some sort were lodged into the crater walls. It was only a guess, but a tremendous battle took place here.

I could barely make out a sinister looking tower in the distance. It appeared to pierce the heavens. In fact, I was sure it made it all the way out into space. The top was hidden by more than one layer of storms. I suddenly felt a crawling feeling and realized that there was something in the tower looking at me.

The tower began to glow before it emitted a pulse. Before I could do anything, the pulse washed over me and the color in the area flashed into being. That when I realized there had been no smell before. Now all I could smell was ash and brimstone. There was also something else that I could only describe as death. The miasma of the undead was the closest I could come to describing it having never smelt anything like it before.

A cloud of something emerged around the tower. Whatever it was, was heading directly at me. I grimaced before I turned on my heel and started to run, pissed that they could fly while I couldn’t. A few minutes later, I was able to make out what looked like crystal undead with Regan’s circuitry embedded in them.

I charged my mana around my staff, before twisting sending the bolt into the cloud. I pursed my lips when I only managed to take out two of them. Something happened, and the lightning washed over the rest. A second bolt yielded zero results. Silently I prayed for the other mana pulse to take me to the metal version.

The ground shook as green crystals began to burst from the ground. If my reactions were any less than accelerated, I would have been impaled with how fast they were. In the midst of dodging and running, I noticed an almost perfect line where the color vanished back to the grayscale.

“The edge of his aura!”

That nearly cost me my arm, but I managed to correct my posture before the next crystal spike emerged. I poured on the mana and managed to fling myself outside the aura. Almost instantly, the mana wave washed over me switching to another version. This time it was just plain wilderness. Even the mountains were completely gone.

I sighed and dropped next to a tree as I caught my breath. Is this all real? Just what was going on here? Questions continued to flash through my head, but I had no way of getting answers. At least no one here. I needed to get back to my world? Time?

I wasn’t sure how long I laid there. My mana was nearly drained before all the fun started. The little sprint had burned just about the rest of it. I got up from my seat, but when I looked around, I had no idea which way to head. I might as well be lost in the woods.

I was about to start heading in the southward direction based on the sun, when I felt a mind connect to me. I knew it well, but at the same time it felt foreign. At the very least I knew it meant me no harm, so I didn’t resist it letting it find me. I jumped when an orange-colored crack, quite bright given the colorlessness of the world around, appeared a few meters away.

“Mother. You’ve wandered a bit off the track,” said a voice that was one of the most beautiful sounds I’d ever heard. Soon, a beautiful woman that reminded me of myself emerged from the portal. Flames danced around her as if they were dancing. She was a full head or two taller than me. The sun spirits instantly flashed to mind, though I had no way of being sure.

“Um, sorry?” I said a bit lost for words.

The woman reached out and pulled me into a hug before I could do anything. “I must say I’ve missed you. As have my sisters.”

I smiled, happy to hopefully figure out what was going on and seeing that she managed to grow up so wonderfully. What parent didn’t enjoy knowing their child was this beautiful. “So, you are one of the sun spirits. Where are the others?”

“They have their own suns to manage. It would be difficult for them to come here. Even I can’t say too long. This isn’t our correct dimension.”

“I’m not sure how I managed to get here in the first place.”

“Yes. Sun energy is dangerous for teleportation. You are a partial sun spirit now, when the spell to teleport you to Ebonyfalls happened your energy linked with that of the sun back in your time. That’s a lot of energy to flood a spell with. Your lucky you only got flung into the future and not have your body ripped to shreds.”

“This is the future?” I asked looking around the area. “I mean I had my suspicions.”

“One of many that are possible. Every decision made affects the outcome. There is no telling what you coming to the future might change.”

“Surely, if I keep my mouth shut?” I suggested but knew it was more complicated than that. Just my having knowledge would affect my own decisions going forward.

“I’m going to have make you forget all this, but I’ll leave the knowledge of teleporting. It wouldn’t do for you to make the same mistake. Father should be able to adjusts any teleporting spells in the future to control the sun’s influence.” She leaned down and kissed more forehead. “Time to send you back. The others won’t even notice you were gone.”

“Is that so.” I said sad to leave her. “Tell your sisters that I am happy they are doing well.”

“I shall. Please take care of yourself.” She hugged me again before the world started to bleed away. Like wet paint from a canvas.

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