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The Human From a Dungeon 109
🕑 Added 2025-06-23 10:14:39 +0000 UTCChapter 109
Nash Alta
Adventurer Level: 11
Orc - Nulevan
I kept a wary eye on Nick as we rose, ready to catch him if he hadn't completely recovered from the shroud. It was very likely that Ten was the only reason that Nick hadn't fallen into a coma. His legs were solid, though, so I relaxed a little.
"Thank you for your help, may we meet again under better circumstances," Nick said.
"Sure, that'd be nice," the imp replied. "Seeya, human."
Yulk and I shared a knowing look. The odds of us running into Ujin again were pretty low, but if we did Nick would probably get a much needed education. An imp is an imp, after all. Even if he had forsworn his traveling band, escaping one's upbringing is a monumental task. He had been helpful, though, so maybe I was wrong about him.
The tall fae guard stepped aside and the gate silently parted as we approached. We continued along the path, and I let Nick walk ahead of me so that I could keep an eye on him. I had relaxed, but only a little.
Before long, there were tall hedges on either side of the path. They were so tall that I couldn't see the sun. As the walkway began to curve to the right, I noticed that there weren't any shadows either.
"More magical fuckery," I muttered.
"Yep," sighed Nick.
The curve turned into a spiral that continued far longer than should have been possible. Just as I was beginning to lose patience, the hedges opened up into a massive field of flowers. The path halted, and so did we.
"Approach, mortals," a booming yet gentle voice rang out.
Larie seemed unfazed, but my brothers and I shared a concerned glance. Despite our hesitation, we did as we were told and stepped into the field of flowers. As we crossed the threshold, my skin and eyes tingled like a limb that had been sat on for too long. I blinked, trying to drive away the sensation, and found myself suddenly surrounded by wylder of all shapes and sizes.
Fairies, fae, sylvans, gulpers, sprites, and more watched us silently, as if judging us. In front of us, the ground formed a large dais. Atop it stood eight chairs fashioned from stone and root.
Four of these chairs were empty and plain, but the four chairs in the center had gem-like flowers blooming on top of their back-rests. Upon the center chairs sat the most beautiful beings I had ever laid eyes on. Except for Nima, of course.
Each of the center chairs had different colored flowers. The leftmost chair was red, then green, blue, and yellow. The occupants were wylder that might have been arch-fae, were it not for the sheer power radiating from them. I could see why discussing them made the other arch-fae nervous.
Under the red flowers was a male who looked as if he'd spent thousands of years wrestling monsters with his bare hands. His stern features looked as if they had been carved from stone. I caught myself avoiding eye contact, intimidated by his openly hostile glare.
The wylder under the green and yellow flowers were more androgynous. If they hadn't been nude, I wouldn't have been able to tell that they were male and female, respectively. Their features were warm and inviting, but there was a harsh smirk on their lips that reeked of passive aggression.
Beneath the yellow flowers was an extremely buxom female. Her puffy frown indicated a deep boredom. As the wylder under the red flowers was a caricature of masculinity, she seemed to be equally a caricature of femininity. Almost like Tits, actually.
"Yulk Alta. Nash Alta. By extension, Nick Smith," green flowers sneered. "You have been granted an audience to request our favor."
"Indeed they have, due to Mumuldobran's machinations. But why are YOU here, Larie VysImiro?" red flowers growled.
"It has been ten years, Queen Incandis," Larie replied, bowing his head. "I was to check in with you, to see if you have found a method of returning my mortal form. Since I was fortunate enough to become friends with these three mortals, I decided to accompany them when I realized that they were scheduled to meet with the honorable Summer Court, saving us both some time."
"I see."
"More dull work," sighed yellow flowers. "Did we find a way to change him back?"
"No," said green flowers. "The debt remains. It has been a century since it was first incurred."
"That means interest is owed," Incandis grumbled.
"It is an old matter, and it isn't as if we are pressed for time," yellow flowers rolled her eyes. "It's boring. Let us hear the new matter from the fleshy ones. I have hopes for excitement. We can tend to the lich after."
"Yulk Alta, Nash Alta. You behold the High Queens Incandis, Floris, Aqueous, and Luminous. You are permitted to make a request of this court," blue flowers, probably Aqueous, said in an authoritative tone. "Speak."
Yulk glanced at me, and I nodded slightly to let him know that I was completely out of my depth and would appreciate it if he would do the talking. He returned my nod and gestured for me to join him. As I stepped forward, he cracked his back and knelt. I quickly knelt beside him.
"Majestic queens of the Summer Court, we humbly request that you bestow upon us a kindness with your esteemed and supreme prowess," Yulk said dramatically. "We have taken it upon ourselves to see this human, Nick Smith, returned safely to his home and family."
The Queens shared a glance and a nod of approval, seemingly impressed with Yulk's theatrics.
"So the favor you seek is our aid in your mission?" Incandis asked.
"But the human is not kneeling," Luminous raised her eyebrow. "Is that not impertinence?"
"Not really," Aqueous said. "The human is not the one asking for our help, the orcs are. And they are sufficiently prostrated."
"Well I would still prefer it if the human would knee-"
A sudden, strong static slammed into me like a hammer striking an anvil. Every hair on my body tried to stand on end. I looked up in alarm, only to find all four of the queens staring intently at Nick.
"Well, that's interesting," Luminous said coldly.
"Yes. What do you mortals call it?" Floris asked. "A touched, yes?"
"What business do the higher ones have with you, human?" Incandis demanded.
Nick froze, unsure of how to proceed. Something big had just happened, but we had no way of knowing what it was. Yulk quickly returned his gaze to the ground.
"If I may, your majesties," he said.
"By all means," Incandis sat back in his seat.
"Nick Smith, our adopted brother, has inadvertently curried the favor of the higher ones. He has even met with them during moments of insensibility. From what we have gathered, they appear to be watching him as a form of entertainment. However, we do not know why he has garnered such rapt attention."
"The answer is easily inferred," Luminous yawned. "Humans are rare. They're interesting by default, which is boring."
"All of this is quite irrelevant," Aqueous said. "Let us return to the matter at hand. What aid do you seek in accomplishing your goal?"
"Our goal is to safely return Nick to his home and family," Yulk replied. "We humbly request information regarding how to accomplish this monumental task."
"Information?" Incandis laughed. "Why not ask us to perform the task for you? Could it be that you doubt our ability to perform such magics?"
Yulk wisely remained silent.
"If it does doubt our ability, it is correct," Aqueous said, annoyed. "We could easily return the human to his home and family, but safely is an entirely different issue."
The rest of the queens nodded, though Incandis did so begrudgingly, seemingly upset that his goading was unsuccessful. Floris held out a hand and slowly pointed at Nick.
"We can tell you precisely how to get home," he said. "The rituals, chants, and sacrifices necessary to do so are all well within the grasp of mortals. However, traveling through time and space in such a manner is extremely detrimental to flesh and bone. You would arrive as nothing more than mush, human."
"That wouldn't satisfy the conditions for the requested favor," Luminous sighed, then sat up a little. "Oh, I've had an exciting idea. We could tell them a bit more about such travel and see if they could figure it out."
"Such knowledge would be worth little more than a sweet-treat," Incandis said. "Call me vain, but I'd like to think trading in such a manner is a bit beneath us."
"I would agree, but it isn't as if we know of a way to accomplish their mission."
"Is our mission truly so impossible, your majesties?" Yulk asked.
The sadness in his tone shocked me until I realized just how hopeless everything seemed. The four beings before us were our best bet to find a way to get home, and they had just admitted that they didn't know a good way to do so. I glanced at Nick, who had a clenched jaw and hands that were balled into fists. Like a young boy trying desperately not to cry.
Yulk's sorrow gave the Queens pause, and for a moment they dropped their facade and looked at him with pity. Seeing them drop their masks of superiority made them appear all the more beautiful. A moment later, three of them turned to look at Aqueous.
"Not impossible, no," Aqueous gently said. "Almost, though."
"So there IS a way," Incandis muttered.
"Yes, there is a way. Perhaps multiple. But this knowledge is not easy to obtain, though it sits at the back of every mortal mind. Whilst one would only need to seek answers to a few specific questions, knowing which questions to ask and where to find the answers is invaluable. And yet we are speaking of skipping that entirely. I wonder, do we require any suitable favors that can be exchanged?"
"Pardon the interruption, but is Mumuldobran's favor not enough?" Larie asked.
"Of course it isn't," Incandis said angrily. "What we owed Mumuldobran was enough to gain an audience. If the heathen presented our debt as anything more than that, you have been swindled. Though, knowing his adoration of inebriation, it would not surprise me if the deception unintentional."
"Yes, yes, Incandis. Mumuldobran is a bad seed," Floris interjected impatiently. "That aside, I can think of no favors suitable for this exchange. Everything of sufficient difficulty has been seen to by the big orc."
The four of us didn't have enough time to express our confusion before a commotion began behind us.
"Ah, speaking of which."
The cries of indignation and anger drew our attention away from the Queens. An absolutely massive orc, larger even than High Chief Ulurmak, walked up next to us. He briefly glanced our way, then gave the Queens a sarcastic bow. But that short glance was more than enough for me to recognize his face.
It was face I hadn't seen since I was a child. It had been so long that for a moment I believed that I had imagined the resemblance. Then logic took over and I realized that there was only one orc bigger than High Chief Ulurmak. The estranged, absentee father of my soon-to-be bride.
"Agurno," Aqueous sighed. "I take it that Vailun has returned to the cycle."
"It has," the bastard nodded. "Yilin is recovering quickly, as well. Not that you'd care."
"Of course we wouldn't care about a village full of mortals!" Incandis shouted. "Asking us to care about those that will eventually be dirt and stone is like asking YOU to care about respect and decorum! How DARE yo-"
Incandis was interrupted by a movement so rapid that I couldn't tell what it was until after it had already happened. The motion in question was Agurno drawing his blade and lunging forward in an attempt to decapitate the Queen. Agurno stood before Incandis, sword lodged firmly into the Queen's forearm. A trickle of blood dripped down the blade.
"Oh, stop flirting you two," Luminous rolled her eyes. "Agurno, are you truly so crass that you cannot even wait your turn? Must you interrupt their audience simply because you can't wait a few minutes?"
Luminous gestured at us, but Agurno didn't take his eyes off of Incandis. Without even thinking about it, I stood and began to walk toward him. I wanted him to hurt, I wanted him to feel what Nima felt when he abandoned her.
I didn't know how to do that, though. Such intricate revenge was far beyond my planning abilities. Instead, I walked up to him and socked him in the kidney as hard as I possibly could. It felt like punching a rock, but he winced. I dropped into a crouch, narrowly avoided the elbow and sword that whooshed over my head, then tried to connect an uppercut. He avoided the uppercut by leaping back to get some distance between us.
We locked eyes, and his jaw dropped.
"Nash?" he asked. "Is that you?"
"FUCK YOU!" I shouted. "WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD!?"
"Wha-"
"THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXCUSE FOR ABANDONING NIMA WAS FOR YOU TO DIE, PAINFULLY, LIKE THE FUCKING COWARD YOU ARE!"
"Ah, that's what this is abou-"
"I HAD TO WATCH HER GRIEVE YOU! YEARS, YOU SACK OF SHIT! YEARS! WHAT KIND OF FATHER LEAVES HIS DAUGHTER TO GROW UP WITHOUT HIM?!"
"A shitty one, no doubt."
His nonchalant acceptance of my assessment pissed me off even further. I leapt at him and struck him in the gut. He stood there, letting me hit him over and over again. By the time my white-hot rage subsided, my fists were bleeding.
"Alright, that's enough," he said. "Calm down, kid."
And just like that, my rage returned. I swung upwards, towards his jaw, and found myself on my back. I stared up at the sky for a moment before I realized that I couldn't breathe, and I recalled a foot catching me just beneath my ribs. I wheezed and tried to sit up, but collapsed back to the ground.
Is this what Nick felt like sparring with Thunra?
Comments
Ben Bass
TYFTC! Dang, Agurno is a beast, and understands that he is a crappy father. Which tells me he most likely won't change much without something big changing him. Poor Nick, I do wonder how/if he ever will be able to head home.
DarkValorWolf
the Nick-Thunra Agurno-Nash comparison was a fun one Also that Imp is definitely a chekov's gun, can't wait to see him again
