Cinnamon Bun Chapter Three Hundred and Thirteen - Knightlight

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirteen - Knightlight

The room beyond the end of the floor was the sa room that we found at the entrance of the dungeon. There was even the dungeons exit at one end, just casually waiting for us.

There were a few small changes though. The bedrooms wallpaper now had a small pattern along the bottom that looked like entwined roots. The bed in the corner was undone and ssy, and there were more toys scattered across the floor.

Otherwise, it was pretty much the sa as the room we had entered through. Which was of course impossible unless the dungeon was doing so very silly things with physics.

Lieutenant Petalwrought pulled out a small box from a pocket tucked on the inside of his armour. It clinked, glass tapping against glass within the small wooden box.

Youre each going to want to drink one of these, he said as he undid the clasp holding the box in place and opened it.

Within were twin rows of glass vials with cork stoppers. He plucked one out, and turned around to show it to us.

These will keep you awake in the next part of the dungeon. We don't usually allow the use of these, since staying awake through your own will is a good test of a knights resolve, but we are not here to test that.

I used Insight on the vial he was holding, just out of curiosity.

Potion of Wakefulness, new

May I? Lucille asked. She pinched the bottle the lieutenant held, brought it close to her eyes, then opened and sniffed near the neck of it. It should be safe, she said. Unless the person who made it is far better at poison-making than I am at detecting them. What are the side-effects, lieutenant?

Occasionally the potion will work too well, he said. You might have a difficult ti sleeping tonight. Thats not too unusual. The potion will keep you awake, but it wont sharpen your senses. You might have an unpleasant evening. Otherwise, I would suggest a more fibrous diet tomorrow.

We each took a vial, then downed them one at a ti. There were lots of grimaces going around, and a few grossed-out coughs.

It also tastes exceptionally vile, Petalwrought remarked as he took his own.

I shuddered at the taste. It was like the worst sort of cough dicine, but sohow a hundred tis more bitter, and it was sticky on the way down, clinging to my throat and burning a bit. Once it hit my tummy, I felt a wave of wiggly energy sweep through . I wasnt sure if I felt more awake or not.

Lieutenant Petalwrought closed up his box, still with a couple of vials left, then tucked it away while he spoke. This next floor is a maze. It isnt an overly difficult one, most of the ti. The path out will be illuminated by small lights affixed near the floor. They are usually spaced apart in such a way that you can always see the next one. Its the spaces between the lights that is dangerous.

Can we make our own light? Amaryllis asked.

So of this floor's adversaries shy away from light, while others are attracted to it. On the average I would recomnd we light our way. There are two monsters in the room. One has never been seen; they attack with long, multi-jointed limbs that are relatively fragile. You can break them easily, but they have a lot of pulling power. They will ambush you in the dark, trying to grab you and drag you away. Their main body will never approach the lights, however.

Creepy, I said.

Indeed, he said. The other enemy are large... large teddy bears. Wearing a knights armour and raint. They will attack you more honestly and are attracted to any lights within the maze.

Cute, I added.

The lieutenant chose not to comnt. Well be going in with a three-two formation. Ill be at the head with two knights, our guests in the centre, and the other two knights will take care of the rear. We will be staying very close to each other. Do not stray.

We nodded, then Lucille raised a hand. At the lieutenants nod, she asked her question. Any types of magic or abilities we should avoid?

Not really, no, though you dont want to use any abilities that will hamper the others visibility too much, or slow the group down, he said.

Bron grunted. What about them arms in the dark? Any way of knowing theyll be coming at us?

They are quiet, though you might hear a scuff or shift before they appear. Generally, the arms will go for mbers that are separated from the group, or who are on the edges. Any other questions?

I have one, Aria said. Have the roots changed anything? Especially with this floor of the dungeon?

Good question. I hadnt thought to ntion it, but weve noticed so... corruption on the teddy bear knights. As well as roots entwined around the joints of the arms. They behave mostly the sa. Perhaps a little more aggressively than before.

Thank you, Aria said with a nod. She jotted that down in her book, then stuffed it away.

Any more questions? he asked.

Ah, um, how long is the maze? Awen asked.

Petalwrought shook his head. Hard to tell. Its never the sa length twice. We tend to asure them by the number of lights we cross. Usually sowhere between five and twelve.

There didnt seem to be any other questions after that, so we organised ourselves into the formation wed be diving into the second floor in. Lieutenant and knights at the front, more at the rear, and my friends and the researchers and others bunched up in the middle.

It was pretty cramped, so I folded in Weedbanes blade, just in case. I could still use it to bonk stuff with the blade folded; it was still a heavy stick with a tal bar in it, after all.

Petalwrought opened the door wed use to enter the room. This ti, it led into a poorly lit corridor. If you have magical lights, nows the ti to use them, he said.

Two of the knights summoned little wispy balls of light, then Lucille cast a spell that made her staff glow. Not hard enough that it was difficult to look at, but still bright. She leaned it up onto her shoulder, and it cast a circle of soft light around us.

I summoned my own little light ball and held it up next to while a few of the others did the sa.

We were a well-lit group as we moved through the narrow corridor, then finally through a wide door at the end of it.

The first I saw of the maze was a passageway whose proportions were all off. The ceiling was too high up and the walls too far apart. Wallpaper covered everything but the floor, with dancing teddy bears and knights and fantastical creatures. They were all really big though.

The maze stretched out before us, with a few side-passages just barely visible in what little light reached them, and way off in the distance was a circle of light with a glowing device in its middle.

Thats a nightlight, I said.

Hmm, was Petalwroughts reply.

The nightlight was shaped like an elephant, and I suspected it was made of sothing like glass, with an incandescent bulb within. Were those kinds of lights more common than I thought on Dirt?

By unspoken agreent, none of us rushed ahead to the nightlight. We walked with careful steps, the only sound filling the dark our footfalls, the clink of the knights armours, and our breathing.

Slowly, quietly, we crossed the distance with every eye scouring the darkness for motion and danger. My big ears swivelled this way and that as I tried to spot anything before it ca at us, but I couldnt hear anything.

And so we arrived at the first nightlight.

The knights moved past the light and ford a cordon within the lit area. Everyone accounted for? Lieutenant Petalwrought asked. He made a point of counting every head. Good. Wheres the next light?

Sir, that way, one of the knights said. They pointed into the dark. I squinted that way, and could make out a faint light in the distance, it was clearly just so light illuminated a wall, not the nightlight itself. That had to be around a corner, but I couldnt see where the corridor turned.

Sa formation, the lieutenant said. He shifted things around so that he was back at the front of the formation with two knights by his sides.

More darkness, though this ti we werent moving parallel to the pattern in the carpet. I hadnt even noticed that it had a design of interlocking squares until we werent moving along it.

Our lights illuminated corner walls and when we finally arrived at the light the knight had pointed out, it was obvious that it was just an intersection. The nightlight itself was further down.

I glanced back at the last light. It was far away from us, and flickering.

Was it getting darker?

Thered be no retracing our steps if we had to.

This is spooky, Awen muttered.

I nodded. Yeah, I whispered back. This didnt feel like the kind of place made for loud voices and laughter.

We started towards the nightlight, then stopped when the lieutenant raised a fist.

I aid my ears at the dark. The hairs on the back of my neck rose as sothing shifted. The sound was an echo, distant... maybe. Or maybe it was coming from just around the corner and we had no way to know that a corner was even there.

Onwards, the lieutenant said.

We reached the next light with a collective sigh.

Safe. For now.

The light flickered, barely noticeable with all the lights we held, but still there.

Were perhaps moving a little too slow, the lieutenant said. Next light?

I see it, Bron said. Left a ways, and forwards. Sothings near it, I think. Cant rightly tell.

The next light was down a long, narrow corridor. The lieutenant went ahead, and since he couldnt walk with his knights by his sides, they were split up so that theyd be mixed in with the rest of us.

The hallway was so narrow I could touch both walls without having to stretch my arms out far. It made the lights we were collecting feel too bright, especially as the wallpaper had a slight reflective quality here.

The images were all of plush animals, so of them being held by long hands with too many fingers and joints. Roots clung to so of them, like nooses around their necks.

We crossed a few openings as we pushed forward. Long passages into the dark that our lights couldnt illuminate the whole of.

We were nearly at the next nightlight when sothing crossed before it.

There was no missing that the light had dimd for a mont. It brought all of our attention up and forwards, and onto the large form waddling past the light.

The corridor widened, which was probably for the best.

The creature pacing next to the nightlight saw us coming with its giant beady eyes. It was a teddy bear, like the lieutenant had said. Bands of iron encircled its big belly, and it had an open helt squeezed onto its plush head.

A long sword was held by its side in a plush hand. It looked as sharp as any sword Id seen.

Two of us will take it on, the lieutenant said. The rest of you pay close attention to the dark. It wouldnt be beyond a grasper to use the distraction to grab soone.

The lieutenant and one of the knights stepped up.

That left the rest of us just outside of the safety of the nightlights glow, in the near-dark that seed harder and harder to ward off.

Thats when I started to hear a shuffling, a shuffling that was growing louder by fits and starts.

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