The four months of waiting for mana to accumulate to build the fourteenth floor went mostly peacefully for Naomi. She worked in her forge, making sections of beams, small parts for the town, and tools for builders. The rest of the day, she spent in her workshop on the last floor studying runes and enchantments. She already knows in detail how her golems work, but now she needs to take a part of the magic array and use it in a new way. Thankfully, her dungeon master interface allows her to test whatever she imagines and see if this works.
She was quite close to figuring out how to connect the golem eyes with the special mirror when she felt a disturbance on the fifth floor. It took her a moment to understand what was happening, but when she did, she dropped everything and ran.
On the fifth floor at the front of the tent, she found Grand Priest Tarron.
“Someone is climbing the main column! We need to stop him! There is the Roc nest on top of it.” She ran to him.
“I know Dungeon Mistress. But we can’t.” His voice was calm, but his fists were clenched.
“But the Roc could not forgive, especially if attacked.”
“With respect, Dungeon Mistress. Alessia had been preparing for this her whole life. She even waited four months before she went there.” The elven grand priest said to reassure Naomi. But those words were the same that he had repeated for themself for the last hour.
“Alessia? You don’t mean your granddaughter, yes?” Naomi went pale.
“Yes, Dungeon Mistress.”
“No, no, no, we need to stop her!”
“Dungeon Mistress, do you want to stop her for following her path?”
“No!. But… Shit.” Naomi's shoulders slumped, and she lowered her head. The Grand Priest placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Believe in gods. Believe in my granddaughter, Dungeon Mistress.”
“I do. But the problem is with me. I again wanted to help, but instead endangered someone's life.”
“Maybe, Dungeon Mistress. However, you also allowed my people to follow their path. Until now, finding a companion has been difficult. It’s one of the reasons why we travel so much. Now we have your oasis. Now we can follow our paths. Now, we have a hope.”
“I get it, and I’m happy for you. And I want to help other people like you, but why must the price be so high?”
“Dungeon Mistress, you can’t do anything about how high the price will be. That's why it’s better to concentrate on the result of the challenge, and how much joy it will bring when finished.”
“But what if someone dies?”
“And what is better, Dungeon Mistress. Living long and avoiding any challenge, but never following your path, or the opposite. Face all challenges that you encounter while following your path, no matter how dangerous they may be?”
“I lived life without being able to follow my path. Yes, I agree. I’m not happy, but agree.”
“Alessia is well prepared. Whatever he's looking for there, he'll surely find it.”
“Yes. Let us wait. To congratulate her and reprimand her for worrying us.” Naomi answered.
Alessia wasn’t in a hurry. It takes her two days to reach the highest point of the tower. She wasn’t at the true top of it because the rest of the column was reaching the ceiling of the floor. It wasn’t possible to climb it because its surface was smooth and hidden under an illusion magic. Surprisingly, nothing happened. Naomi wasn’t brave enough to look at what was going on there. But she was sure that the elven girl was well and alive. They needed to wait almost two days before something happened. Late afternoon of the fourth day, the top of the stone column was lit up by a humongous lightning explosion.”
“No!” Naomi shouted in horror. The Roc screamed to answer her and dive from the stone shelf straight to her, and no less terrified, Alessia's grandfather. The enormous bird reached them in a matter of seconds. In his claw was the body of an elven woman. Naomi ran to him, and he gently released Alessia into Naomi's arms.
“Thank you.” She said to the Roc, who immediately flew away. “She is alive! We need every healer!” Naomi shouted at stunned onlookers, who immediately started running to find anyone who could help.
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Alessia was slowly waking up.
“Be careful. Let me help you.” She heard a familiar female voice. For some reason, she had barely the strength to move. Someone helped her to sit and gave her something to drink.
“Thank you,” Alessia answered after water with healing herbs took effect. She slowly turned her head to the healer and gasped. “Dungen Mistress…” She whispered, scared.
“Yes, it’s me.” Naomi smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Weak, Dungeon Mistress. My lady, can I know why you are here?”
“I’m here as your punishment for scaring all of us, especially your grandfather.” Naomi smiled. “Now that you wake up, we could feed you properly.” She filled a bowl with a light stew from a small pot over the fire. “You were unconscious for three days, so you should be famished. We need to watch out for overeating, so let's do it slowly. Please tell me when you are full. And now open your mouth.” Naomi scooped the soup with the wooden spoon.
“Dungen Mistress, I can eat myself.” Alessia protested.
“This is your punishment. I understand that all of this was inevitable, but you should have warned everyone and given us time to be prepared. That way, it will be much easier for us to deal with everything.”
Alessia gave up. She was just a normal girl, and she was powerless against the will of the envoy of the gods. Dungeon Mistress's will was absolute, and only gods could stop her.
Alessia went through two bowls before she was satiated.
“Thank you, Dungeon Mistress.” She said sincerely.
“You're welcome. Now I will leave you with your grandfather. I think you have a lot to tell him.” Naomi answered and went to the entrance of the tent, where Alessia’s grandfather was now standing.
“Grandfather, I’m sorry!” Allesia said when they were alone.
“It’s all right.” He answered and hugged her, and both started crying.
One week later, Alessia regained all of her strength. It was time for her to be officially recognized as a senior warrior and to introduce her companion. Normally, this gathering was reserved only for the sun elves, but Lady Itylara decided to invite the Dungeon Mistress. They met next to the eastern tower gate shortly before noon. The east represents the beginning, the place where the sun appears, and noon is the hour of the Sun god.
“Today is a joyful day. Allesia faced her trial with pure heart, firm will, and unstopable strength, and she was judged worthy. To those who found companions, guide her. To those who are still looking, follow her example. For you, Allesia, your time has come. From this moment on, you bear the great responsibility of protecting the weak, of protecting the work of the gods.”
“I, Allesia, swear to protect all people of this world, everything that the gods created, or will create. I swear to follow their laws. If I ever break my oath, may my soul shatter into a thousand pieces.”
“The oath was spoken, and we all witnessed it. Now, Allesia, call your companion for the first time. Let him feel the warmth of the sun for the first time.”
“Yes, my Lady. However, he needs a lot of space. His wings are wide.”
“Yes, some of us witnessed one of his kind from really close.” The Lady laughed, and elves spread out to create space.
“Lord of Thunders, please hear my call!” Allesia shouted, and a ball of lightning surrounded her. However, this time she wasn’t harmed at all. When the arcs of electricity disappeared, next to her stood a five-meter-tall bird with a wingspan of twelve meters.
“Thank you, Lord of the Thunders.” Allesia bowed to his companion.
All sun elves erupted in cheers. This was the first such powerful spirit contracted after the destruction of the sacred grounds. Decades of punishment for allowing them to be destroyed are over.
“Allesia, I hope you are ready to prove to be worthy to have such a companion.” The Lady Itylara said to the young elven woman.
“Yes, my Lady.” She sincerely bowed.
“Welcome, Lord of Thunders. I’m the Dungeon Mistress of this dungeon.” Naomi approached them. “I’m here to congratulate both of you, and also ask if perhaps both of you have made some plans for the future?”
Allesia looked up at the bird, and he looked at her.
“We talked a little about the future, but we didn’t find an answer to that question yet.”
“That’s ok. You both need to get to know each other. Let me then help you a little with your decision. What I see before both of you are three choices. The first and second options are obvious. You can become a scout or officer, leading others into the battle. I don’t need to tell you how tremendous an advantage it is to be able to see through the eyes of the bird. And Lord of the Thunders could be not only the eyes but also the sword.”
“Yes, Dungeon Mistress. We discussed both of the choices, but they were lacking something. They felt incomplete for us.” Allesia confirmed, and the Roc agreed with her.
“After some talks with your grandfather, I suspected that could happen. That’s why I propose to both of you the third way. Fly together, fight together, discover the sky together.”
“But how, Dungeon Mistress? I can’t fly myself or on the lord’s back.”
“You can,” Naomi answered, and before them appeared an illusion of enormous leathery construction. It was placed on the back of a brass sculpture resembling a Roc. They were placed between the wings, and the straps indicated that it was a saddle. Also in front of Allesia, there was a strange uniform made from leather. There was a cap with strange goggles, a jacket, trousers, boots, and gloves. Everything was lined with thick fur to withstand winter weather. “On this scroll is a list of all parts of this set. They are hidden, and you will need to find them personally, but they are waiting for you. When you find them all, I expect to see your first flight.”
“Thank you, Dungeon Mistress.” Allesia started crying. She had always been dreaming about flying and climbed every cliff she could find to get a glimpse of what the world looks like from the sky. Now it wasn’t a dream anymore.
