^^ the 'Hoard' ^^

— Alice —

The memory stored in the Scrying Eye, (a lecture on obscure magical theories that supposedly required a Fifth Year's curriculum to understand,) ended, freeing my sight up as the lesson came to a close, and I raised an eyebrow at Cala; she'd apparently been inspecting me thoroughly, knowing I couldn't see her. "What do you need, my dear?"

Instead of flinching guiltily, as I'd expected, she hummed. "My aunt wants to send us into a Dungeon. I'm not sure it's a good idea, being you only have a month of training under your belt."

I smiled at her indulgently. "Is that so?"

She nodded seriously. "Yes. Regardless of how powerful you are, I'm unsure if you're mentally prepared for the challenge of a Dungeon. They don't just send physical attacks at you; most monsters have a Mental Attack, a sort of ability that causes you to be afraid of them, or confused. I've trained for my entire life for such things; I've gone into Dungeons with my mother every day since I turned six, like most of my people. You? You're used to winning. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, necessarily, but having never Lost, you are unprepared for this. That's my opinion." She explained, sitting in front of me.

I nodded slowly, adding a layer of mental protection to my Sigils before responding. "I appreciate your concern, my dear, but it is unfounded... how about this: I will worry about myself, like I have for so very long and through three separate lifetimes, and if at any time you feel I am in over my head, feel free to tell me, but I assure you I am fully capable of handling most anything thrown my way."

"And if you aren't?" She asked, frowning concernedly.

"Worst case scenario, I die. Oh no. How sad. After having died twice, a third time doesn't seem so bad. At least this time I won't be being drowned by a client who has a rather unhealthy 'appreciation' for waterlogged corpses." I waved a hand dismissively at the concept.

She blinked rapidly, and then shook her head in confusion. "Oh!... I'm... uhm?" She stuttered.

"Now, if that's all, let's get going; I'd rather move at night, not during the day." I dusted myself off and stood, letting my armor change from my meditation garments to my scaled armor.

"Right... Uhm..." She scratched her head slowly, attempting an apology a few times, too quiet for a normal person to hear; the words couldn't make it past her throat, it seemed.

"Who is coming with us, as Chaperone?" I asked in an off-handed fashion, moving forward casually while belting on my sword.

"Besan and my Aunt, I think... or maybe Adrian and Victor, cause they're your mentors? It hasn't been settled yet, they're debating if we're ready." She shook herself and answered, still a little demure.

"I see. Come along, we'll handle this quickly. Zara, dear, meet us in front, Alright?" I called up to the Dragoness that was in the rafters. A month of growth had made her and her siblings almost twice the size of ponies, a little bit larger than a fully-grown Clydesdale, at least eight feet tall at the shoulder.

Amoj, in a message he'd sent through Lukira, had explained that this would taper off around this time, and they'd not have another growth-spurt until they were about ten years old, and then again every decade after that, growing less each time. At 157, he'd had 15 growth spurts, and was about thirty feet tall, so it was a decent measurement. Zaire had been almost 45 feet tall, and Amoj claimed they were around the same age, from different clutches, so I imagined there were outside factors involved.

Zara stretched her newly-grown wings leisurely, then hopped down into the room, nuzzling Cala. "Hello, pretty one! We will hunt together again today! Excitement!!!" She laughed heartily, then slipped out the bay window I'd put in when she got too wide for the door; the entire wall was two panes of Sigil-Carved Crystal, -entirely invulnerable to most physical or magical impacts,- that led out onto the large balcony which was her landing pad.

"I love how she details her emotions for you like that, don't you?" I giggled softly, amused by my companion's innocent antics.

Cala smiled, nodding. "It is very helpful, when you can't read her facial expressions."

After she'd grabbed her weapon and shield, I led her out of the room, towards Jade's office. While we walked, I filled the space as she was quiet and reflecting upon her somewhat-rude assumption, and the revelation that had come from it. "So, we've managed to supplement your Mana Core a little, with the Filtering method; how far has it come? Still red?" I asked her curiously.

"Ah! Yes, it's still light scarlet, but I swore I saw a streak of orange, this morning!" She grinned, successfully distracted. "Ooh! And look, I can create fireballs on my own now!!!" She focused on her palm sternly, her face sweating a bit with effort, and a small ball of dull red flame appeared on her palm, then snuffed itself out.

"Well done, my dear!" I patted her shoulder, Congratulating her as was appropriate for the improvement, and opened the door.

Besan, -leaning against the wall near the door and away from the group of arguing adults,- sighed when he had confirmed it was me who opened the door. "Welcome to the show..." he muttered, reciprocating the smile I threw his way.

"-absolutely unacceptable to throw her into harms way like this with only a month of training!!!" Victor was fuming, standing in front of Adrian with his fists on his hips, his hood down for once.

"Calm down, love, it's her third life, she's not some newborn!!! Besides, Besan and Jade will be there, and they can both Solo this Dungeon!!! It's perfect!!!" Adrian pleaded, trying to appease his irate husband.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!!" Victor snapped at him even louder, and Jade took a slow, surreptitious step away from the arguing couple.

"I'm sorry, love, I just mean that you are being slightly unreasonable, and-"

"YOU WANT TO SEE UNREASONABLE?!?" His voice rose a few pitches this time, even with the magical filter, and magic began to gather in his fists.

I sighed and locked the two of them into my black Barrier, allowing sound through one-way. "Now now, children... it's just a Dungeon, and we'll have experts along who can assist if necessary. For your peace of mind, my siblings and their dragons will accompany us as support. Their dragons also need experience hunting monsters, to even out their skill-level with their companions. The three dragons can carry two people each, so that comes out even. Is this permissible, or were you too busy talking to listen?" I let the box turn transparent, and smiled at the irate-looking Victor and amused (and oddly singed?) Adrian.

"We're coming with you." He frowned at me.

"I'm not a child to be coddled, Victor, nor am I fragile, in any sense of the word. I'm going to drop the box now, if you're done having a screaming match with your entirely blameless husband over a child who is not only not a child, but also -and more importantly,- not yours?" I raised an eyebrow at him, and dropped the box.

He straightened his robes pointedly, and then cleared his throat. "I am as aware of your skills as I have ever been... being that you simply contained a Class 8 Flame Strike, and didn't even notice it... but I worry; you are a very good Apprentice, and I would hate to lose you in such an inglorious manner..."

"You realize your other Apprentice would have to die before I did, yes?" I chuckled softly, making Besan snort.

He shrugged. "He's lived a full life." His mood seemed to have improved a little, enough to morbidly joke about his Apprentice at least.

"Hey!" Besan frowned.

"Amusing. Regardless, your attentions are unnecessary. We will be fine. If that's all, Besan, Jade, we're leaving; I'd rather travel at night. Adrian, deal with your husband's overactive maternal instincts; get him a puppy or a baby, I don't care which, just something fragile he can worry about constantly." I turned and walked out of the room, taking an eager-to-leave Besan and Jade with me.

"Thanks, it was getting a bit rough in there." Besan chuckled, smoothing his hair back.

"It was, Yes, but now we've got a Dungeon to get to! Are you quite sure your dragons can carry us all?" Jade asked, clapping her niece on the back enthusiastically.

I nodded. "Unless you weigh over 600 pounds and you're not telling us? We're fine. Now stand still." I sent us to the training field where Buri and Lena always practiced, and raised an eyebrow at Buri and the beautiful girl he was currently entangled with.

Jade laughed softly, and shook her head as they both scrambled to get covered. "Honestly wasn't expecting that... little Buri, the Cleric..."

"Uhm!!! L-Later, we'll talk later!!!" The girl finished dressing first, darting out of the training yard like a wolf was at her heels.

He sighed and clothed himself with his orange armor. "Honestly!!! Could you not teleport in unannounced? What do you need, sister? You've brought Besan and Lady Jade, have you gotten into trouble?" He asked in an irritated tone; a new tone for him, as far as I was aware.

"Sorry, I guess? You're sixteen, I didn't expect you to be screwing under a tree, my bad! Besides, she didn't look very satisfied, so maybe I did you a favor?" I snorted, giggling against my better judgement.

He glared at me disapprovingly. "And what would you know about that, little sister?"

"I've lived three lives, big brother, and I have an Incubus and Succubus as my personal Spirits, denoting my intimate familiarity with both sexes and their plethoric erotic fetishes and fantasies... I could teach you things about Sex that would make Our Mother faint." I responded dryly, and his entire face turned red.

Lady Jade shifted uncomfortably. "Well!!! Where's Lena? You four are going to clear a Dungeon, and your Dragons need to learn how to fight alongside you!" She bulldozed through the uncomfortable topic gracelessly.

"Hey Buri!!! Your girl is runnin' like somethin' bit her ass!!! What'd you do, put it in the wrong- oh... Hello, Lady Jade." Lena cleared her throat after she entered the field boisterously, only to belatedly notice us all standing there.

"Wonderful, we're all here. Where's Gillian and Inamoratas?" I looked up at the nearby roof of the stables, where Gillian had taken to laying once he'd gotten too big for the tree.

Buri shook his head, recovering as best he could. "They're off at the beach, chasing the Seagulls, last I checked... What Dungeon are we talking about? You're only a First Year, no offense; I know you've gotten much better during our training, but a Dungeon isn't a joke."

"Eh, we'll be fine, though I'm curious which Dungeon we're going to as well." I looked at Lady Jade for an answer, while Buri and Lena called for their companions.

"It's an Expert-Level Tier 8, but the dungeon was cleared just yesterday, so it drops down to a Tier 4 while it recovers. Adrian thinks you can handle it, given that you're from a Tier 4 Natural Dungeon. It's called Durnhaven, Buri and Lena are familiar with it, and Cala has been there before as well, I believe." She grinned easily, patting Carla's shoulder.

"Durnhaven? The Golem Dungeon? Why would you take a Golem Mage to a Golem Dungeon? Doesn't that seem a bit redundant, given she can control Constructs with her mind?" Lena asked, scratching her head.

"Exactly the point; Adrian hopes she can simply tame the Golems inside, and bring them out for materials, while a new generation is created inside. Usually we just grab what we can and get out, but this way we can get more materials from one run than we do from twenty!" Jade grinned happily.

"Point of order... I cannot control Constructs I didn't create, without destroying them first and placing a new Spirit into them." I raised a hand slowly, getting their attention.

"Oh... I see..." she frowned thoughtfully, and looked at Besan. "That puts a wrinkle in things..."

"I can store them in my Holding Plane, though, regardless of their size, so that portion of the issue is still solved. Now!!! Off we go, yes? My first Dungeon awaits!" I grinned, impatient with all of the trivialities and back-and-forth, and then laughed outright at Zara as she trotted into the field with her head held haughtily up high above her siblings, both of whom bowed their heads to her.

She sniffed everyone present, and nodded seriously. "Good, all is well. Buri is creating offspring, which is good. Gillian will be pleased. Let us be off... Impatience!!!" She extended a forearm for me to mount with a shiver of anticipation.

I threw Cala up onto her back swiftly, mounting between her shoulder blades, and grinned down at the others. "Last Dragon to arrive pays their weight in Copper to the winner!!! If we lose, I'll pay Gold!" I laughed at the two dragons, whose attention I'd immediately gotten, as they each grabbed two people and threw them impatiently onto their backs.

Lena raised a hand. "We all know where we're going, right?"

I looked at Cala, then nodded after she'd grinned reassuringly at me. "Yes!"

Lady Jade laughed loudly. "I love a good competition more than anyone I know, but perhaps tiring ourselves out before the dungeon is inadvisable?"

Gillian, whose back she was currently situating herself on, snorted at her comment derisively, then raised his wings. "Ready!!!" He glanced at the others, prancing a little, (just like Amoj did, which was adorable,) and then took off prematurely.

I laughed and didn't even have to ask Zara to follow, as she was already rocketing after him with a roar of disapproval.

Despite the Race, the flight was relatively calm; the three dragons were mostly the same in skill, even though Zara was a foot or so taller than her siblings, and their endurance was similarly equal. Zara could have used the flight Sigil to cheat and easily outpace the others, but she kept to the rules and flew fairly.

The sky was empty, besides us, which was an amazing feeling, honestly. Above the Forest, there were constant flying beasts and dragons, and you were never alone in the sky, but out here, there was nothing other than the occasional speck on the horizon of a Pegasi Herd, (which I restrained myself from hunting down,) or a particularly large Giant Eagle, the reincarnated version of an Osprey.

I leaned into the wind, savoring the rushing feeling, while Cala clutched the crystal spine in front of her as the wind pushed her savagely back. We were only traveling around a quarter as fast as Amoj, at about 80 miles an hour, but it was the fastest anything here went, so I imagine she was a little scared.

My thoughts were instantly refuted when she laughed wildly, making me turn and look over my shoulder only to find her standing up and feeling the wind just like I was.

The other dragons began to fall slightly behind, and Cala carefully directed us further northward, instead of east. The map I'd memorized said we were nearing a mountain range, though I couldn't see them yet; they were more than twenty miles away, then, seeing as the height we were at made the horizon twenty miles away, and any self-respecting mountain was over a thousand feet tall.

The grassland below gave way to foothills of exposed red dirt and clay, and then the horizon began to get jagged with mountains and ravines. Zara followed Cala's directions, diving into a silver-veined marble ravine and folding a section of her wings in; the wind screamed past her sharp wingtips as we picked up speed at an incredible pace, using our downward momentum to our advantage.

A sharp turn nearly threw Cala off, but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me with a wild laugh that nearly mirrored her own, and held on with my legs as Zara began weaving through the passes of the ravine with the dexterity of someone who knew exactly how flight worked. My knowledge of dragons and their flight abilities, (which she instinctually shared,) had proven quite useful after all, despite hunting dragons no longer being as much of a necessary skill set.

Gillian and Ina squawked indignantly at her, falling behind as they smacked into the walls awkwardly, then pumped their wings to fly above the serpentine, twisting ravine, instead of through it.

Cala called a halt after a few minutes, and we set down with a solid THUD, the remaining momentum canceling out as the others landed awkwardly and limped over to a shady spot to lick their wounds.

"You guys alright?" I asked, hopping down from Zara's back.

"Gillian sprained a wing joint, and Ina dented the shit out of her left shoulder, but I suppose we earned those, getting cocky like that." Lena sighed, and patted her Magma Dragon's nose.

Zara sprung over to them on the tips of her toes, and then laid her paw against their injuries, healing them swiftly, before boxing their heads with the same paw. "Don't be Stupid! Anger!!! Concern!!!" She snapped at them both sharply, and they ducked their heads down sheepishly.

"Did... did your dragon just cast healing magic?" Besan asked slowly, awestruck.

"She can teleport to, if you're interested? In we go!" I grinned, looking up at the cave entrance framed on all sides by Grecian columns carved straight from the canyon-side, and then stepped inside, while Zara and the others followed swiftly, not wanting to be left behind.

The first room was simple; a large dome-shaped cavern with a hoard of gold and jewels in the middle.

"That's a trap... Tempted..." Zara grumbled loudly.

The pile began to shimmer invitingly, and I laughed softly at her irritated tone. "Yes, my dear, I am as well... It's an illusion, most likely. Probably a pit or something, most likely, or a mimic... I say torch it." I created a ball of superheated plasma in my hands, and she nodded, tracing a Rune with her wing-joint, using it like a second set of hands. We unleashed our flaming attacks in sync, and then paused simultaneously as the entire pile, now visibly melted, stood up slowly.