“What about the dungeon lady specifically? Even if I don’t go down there — which I’m not agreeing to — she could use it on someone else. She could make you all turn against each other, right?”
“Her power isss one of manipulation,” Yurgetse said, looking down. “She tapsss into what you want and findsss the most destructive way for you to get it.”
“Perhaps someone pure of heart can withstand it,” Adriana said hopefully.
Cassia scoffed. Softer than last time, and there was affection in her eyes, but still. “No one is pure enough to be free of wants. Even you have them.”
She jerked her head pointedly toward Keaton and Adriana flushed.
He cleared his throat. “We need some kind of barrier against that magic, or some other way to block her from using it.”
“And none of your powers allow for that?” Cassia asked. “Maybe if we get you some more experience over the next few days—”
Keaton shook his head. “No, there’s nothing that would do it. Unless it’s buried somewhere and I have to advance through a bunch of other powers to reach it, but we don’t have that kind of time.”
“No, I suppose we don’t. There has to be something.”
“I could… make a poisssson,” Vrishta offered. “Technically ssspeaking, it isss just an elixir, but it poisonsss the mind. Cloudsss it so everything movesss much ssslower. It may not be perfect, but it will buy ussss sssome time.”
“Is that something you can make with ingredients around here?” he asked, giving her a hopeful glance.
“Swampsss are teeming with fogcapsss. It isss jussst that they must be carefully processed. It will take ssseveral daysss for me to do that, and I will need to tessst the effects before I will feel confident giving it to you.”
“It just clouds the mind? It won’t hurt whoever you give it to?”
“Sssso long as I do it right,” Vrishta said, her rattle shaking nervously.
Keaton looked to his lieutenants, his brows lifting in silent question.
“It may be the only recourse we have,” Adriana admitted.
Cassia just shrugged. “I’m fine with an elixir, but how are we going to get it to her?”
A slow smile curved Keaton’s lips, excitement flickering to life in his eyes. “Leave that to me.”
29
They traveled back to The Slithering Crypt with a small caravan. Keaton and his two lieutenants led the way, followed by Cassia’s warriors and a couple of goblins.
It’d been nearly five days since their first skirmish, and Keaton felt much better prepared this time around. His scale armor clung to his body, he had a new dagger sheathed at his belt and a scimitar on his hip, and settled carefully in a pouch on his opposite hip was a small vial of mind fog elixir, the liquid a cloudy blue-purple with flecks of pink suspended within it.
Vrishta had been developing it for the past three days, grinding up fogcaps from all around the swamp. She’d tested it on goblins first, but they weren’t smart enough to be able to tell the difference. So she’d given the next few draughts to Cassia’s warriors, with their permission.
It’d taken some evening out. The first batch was too potent, completely erasing the Emvolas’ short term memory. They recovered, but not without some distress. The next batch swung too far in the other direction, barely doing a thing. But this last batch was where Vrishta wanted it to be, and Keaton was hopeful about its prospects.
He had to be, because their entire plan hinged on it working.
“You think they’ll be ready for us this time?” he asked Cassia as the crypt’s sunken entrance came into view.
“I would bet everything I have that she’s had spies watching our every move outside of The Labyrinth.”
“Then she’s seen our goblins and drones gather fogcaps,” he said with a frown.
“She might not know what they’re for. Drones feast on all kinds of mushrooms, and they likely ate a few while they were transporting them.”
The optimism wasn’t like her, and Keaton arched a brow at the Emvola commander. She smirked in return.
“I’m personally preparing for the reality where she knows all of our plans ahead of time and has an answer to each, but it’s a nice thought to have.”
Keaton could only laugh, shaking his head. She had a point: It was a nice thought to have, and there wasn’t much they could do if it wasn’t an accurate thought.
“If she finds some way to thwart the elixir, or if it does not work as intended… Lord Keaton, you should truly consider falling back,” Adriana implored.
He could tell by her tone she already knew his response.
“I’m not sending all of you in there alone. I don’t feel comfortable asking you to do things I’m not willing to do myself. If it doesn’t work, we’ll improvise.”
She frowned at him but nodded. Keaton tried to give a reassuring smile, only managing a show of teeth that made him fit in better with his monstrous companions.
Cassia was right. There was every chance the dungeon lady not only knew they were coming, but had everything she needed to counter them. They wouldn’t know until they got there, and Keaton would just have to hope the preparations they’d made were enough.
If not, this was probably going to be the shortest time anyone had ever been a dungeon lord.
Aside from Lord Havron, anyway.
The entrance of the crypts was quiet. Even the traps Keaton expected to be re-armed weren’t functioning. But he wasn’t going to let himself believe they were in the clear. He’d always been able to feel when he was in the midst of a dangerous situation. It was a prickle at the back of his neck, something that brushed his skin with icy fingers. There was gooseflesh there now, his hair standing on end, and Keaton knew.
Something was going to happen. This plan wasn’t going to be executed flawlessly. That was naive to hope for even under the best circumstances, and these definitely weren’t.
“Keep your eyes open, everyone,” he warned in a whisper.
The corridor was tight, only allowing room for Keaton and Cassia in the front. Adriana was close behind, with all the Emvola warriors packed in after her. The goblins had been tasked with scouting the other tunnel to see if something was going to surprise them from behind. Right now, the plan was for Keaton to pull back and follow them so long as that tunnel was clear. With the bulk of his forces going one way, he’d ideally be able to slip into the Crystal Chamber and somehow get the dungeon lady to take the elixir.
So far there’d been no word, and the deeper they descended, the more wary Keaton became. His fingers gripped so tightly around the hilt of his blade that his knuckles turned white. The air was thick with the possibility of danger, and he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt it. Cassia was tense beside him, both her hands gripping her halberd.
A distant sound caught his attention and Keaton held up a hand to halt everyone. It could have been the skitter of spiders or some other creature, but to Keaton’s ears, it sounded like scales dragging across stone.
“Get ready, everyone,” he whispered.
Steel rang behind him as all of Cassia’s warriors drew their polearms. There was barely room for the Emvolas themselves, let alone their oversized weapons. They were stuffed in two-by-two, their broad shoulders nearly touching the walls. There was such a sense of claustrophobia in these tunnels that Keaton just hadn’t felt before. Then again, it’d only been seven of them then, as opposed to the twenty-two they had today.