Dungeon 42

Communication Issues

Chapter 88

A day's travel out from Selton and his family, Elim was lying in his bedroll, unable to sleep. He'd tried to call 42 to no avail. A turn of events he found mildly worrying. She'd said she would be available.

Elim let out a sigh, wondering if he were being paranoid. It might have just been a bad moment to call. He usually texted her, so he didn't really know when it was or wasn't a good time.

The call hadn't really had a purpose if Elim were being honest. He had plenty of things to discuss with 42, but none of it was on his mind. Really, he just wanted someone to talk to.

Across the fire from Elim, Tiller was asleep or pretending to be, her back turned to him. Storm, her foul-mouthed bird, took notice of him looking and fluffed up defensively. He also let out a sound eerily similar to laughter.

Elim casually flipped Storm off, which earned another round of the unnerving sound. He felt like he'd taken it well when Tiller had informed him about the hawk being demonic in nature. Unfortunately, he couldn't say the same for her reaction to him being in a contract with 42.

Elim sighed, knowing it wasn't fair to Tiller. She wasn't being unreasonable. It was part of why he'd made up his mind not to tell her anything and cut ties. Then he'd bollocksed that up by tossing an empty potion bottle into the woods. He hadn't expected Storm to care, let alone collect it and inform Tiller of what it was.

A bitter chuckle bubbled up in Elim's throat, only to die. He was still getting used to the idea that Storm was as intelligent as a person. That the rude creature was also better versed in magic than anyone Elim knew, including army mages, had been a revelation.

If Elim had thought he'd end up forced to tell Tiller everything, he'd have handled it differently. He'd have told her sooner, likely before they left Selton. He really couldn't blame her if she never wanted to speak to him again.

"Marlow, you awake, boy?" Elim asked softly.

"Master," Marlow replied. His eyes glinted with firelight as he emerged from Elim's shadow.

"You catch any of what happened earlier?" Elim asked. Tiller had laid into him for being an idiot for what felt like hours, then stopped talking to him outright. She'd only been willing to acknowledge Storm for the rest of the day.

"Yes, your mate is rather… feisty," Marlow commented dryly.

"Don't call her that," Elim said more sharply than he intended.

"As you wish," Marlow replied.

"Sorry, it's just… It's rude to say something like that with humans. At least if you don't know if it's true or not," Elim started to explain. He wanted to talk, felt like he needed to really. Still, he wasn't interested in having Tiller even angrier with him than she already was. Getting labeled his mate, however innocently, would likely do just that.

"Tiller is my friend, and I care about her, but that isn't the same," Elim continued.

"Could you not court her? Females of my kind like shiny stones and interesting metals. You could hunt whatever your own like as tribute," Marlow offered, tilting his head in confusion. As if it were a simple matter to sort out.

"Females of my kind tend to like those too," Elim offered with a chuckle. That seemed to increase Marlows confusion, which made Elim laugh harder.

"It's not that I can't, it's that… She might not want me to," Elim admitted. He didn't have any such plans but felt an awkward little twist in his guts at the idea. He'd never had many friends. The idea of losing Tiller's friendship left him feeling cold.

"Would she not inform you?" Marlow asked.

"How do your females let you know if they don't like it?" Elim countered.

"Usually with their teeth," Marlow said flatly. That made Elim chuckle. He was rather glad human women didn't do that normally.

"Have you ever had one? A mate, I mean," Elim asked.

"No… Mana veins strong enough to support many of my kind aren't common," Marlow explained.

"The fire kinds tend to be more numerous. Though, like their own nature, the power they rely on is often fickle. So it's not unusual for them to appear during a great fire only to be snuffed at its conclusion," Marlow continued as if commenting on the weather.

"Huh, are there water hounds then? Or air ones?" Elim asked. He'd never seen an elemental up close before Marlow. Even those he glimpsed at a distance were small creatures. The occasional hearth lizard or a bird-like zephyr, the same as anyone might see every couple of years.

"Not that I know of," Marlow replied without much interest. Tiller shifted, making an uneasy sound. Elim was instantly on alert. Between Storm and Marlow, they hadn't had to set watches. The only trouble Elim had noticed was the bird's mood tended to plague Tiller in her sleep.

Despite his concern when Elim looked up, he found Storm preening without concern. Tiller still fidgeted and mumbled in her sleep, but it seemed to be nothing more than a dream.

"You've had a mate before. I've seen your pup," Marlow said, no question in his tone.

"What of it?" Elim asked, hackles rising.

"I'm curious what you gave her as tribute," Marlow said simply. Elim felt his stomach twist, then let out a sigh. June was a sore spot, but the hound wasn't asking to be cruel.

"My wife… June and I didn't exactly court properly," Elim started, laying back down. The words made him feel tired spiritually, but that, unfortunately, didn't make him drowsy.

"She wasn't healthy, but she wanted a child. So we got married, and I got Bess," Elim summarized. It was as close as he had ever gotten to telling the story to anyone. That June had lied to him about being ill. That she'd been entirely content even as she lay dying because her "duty" was complete, as she'd put it. What duty exactly and to who had never been clear. Elim only knew it hadn't been to him or Bess.

"Should you not seek another mate?" Marlow asked. Elim's hand clenched reflexively.

June had been odd from the day Elim first met her. Always self-assured in an inexplicable way. Not as if she were confident exactly, but rather like she felt like she knew what would happen. As if everything she did was just getting on with things she knew couldn’t be avoided, so there was no need to fuss even if they went poorly.

To Elim, the village girls had been lovely, and he'd been interested. June had been a weird anomaly he'd ended up more intrigued by than anything. He hadn't really had a crush on her but had wanted to shake her up a bit. Have a bit of fun showing her that not everything was predictable.

Elim rubbed his face ruefully. He'd done a rather spectacular job of that when he'd surprised her by slipping in cow shit trying to sneak up and give her flowers. Somehow she hadn't foreseen him making an arse of himself and was shocked for what she claimed was the first time in years.

"I wouldn't want to drag someone down with me. I don't think 42 would do it intentionally, but it could easily happen," Elim admitted for the first time. Getting someone twisted up in his questionable choice was different from living with the consequences of it himself. He didn't regret his contract. His mother's life had depended on it. That didn't mean he'd want to endanger Tiller.

Letting Tiller speak directly with 42 was actually something Elim hoped would convince her to give up and go on her own. He couldn't see the rather sweet but awkward dungeon master not scaring the shit out of anyone seeing her for the first time. Not to mention the confusing way she talked most of the time.

Up in the tree, Storm started squawking, but it wasn't his alarm call. Instead, he sounded curious to Elim's ear.

"I have no fucking idea what you're on about," Elim said flatly. He didn't speak demon bird and wasn't going to wake Tiller up over it.

"He's asking a rude question," Marlow informed him.

"You speak asshole?" Elim asked in surprise. That got a low chuffing laugh from the hound while Storm squawked indignantly.

"Something like that," Marlow agreed.

"What's he asking?" Elim inquired, knowing he probably shouldn't. He couldn't help being curious, though. Marlow hesitated, but the bird started squawking again, earning a warning growl.

"He'll wake his master if I don't tell you, but I'd rather not repeat the corruption that fell from his beak," Marlow growled. Storm, ever the little shit, fluttered down to land on the stump next to Tiller. He started to take a deep breath like a child about to start a proper screaming fit.

"Just tell me. It'll probably be worse if he has her translate it," Elim said flatly.

"He asked why you were willing to take an ill mate and if you didn't care that she would die of the effort of giving birth," Marlow said quietly. Elim didn't move, the words cutting like a lance of ice through his gut. He'd been too young, dumb, and horny to realize anything was seriously amiss, but he'd never been callous. With the question asked, he found an answer rising like bile for the first time.

"I wouldn't have if I knew she was ill, but she lied about it. I could have lived without us having kids," Elim said flatly. Their relationship had been odd, but he'd loved June. Storm laughed and spoke again. Elim looked to Marlow immediately, wanting to know what was said.

"He asked if you see your wife's murder when you look at your pup," Marlow said reluctantly.

"She didn't die in childbirth, and even if she had, that's no sin of the child’s," Elim replied. Storm laughed again but stilled when Elim held up a hand to forestall him.

"Let me be clear, bird. You fucking talk about my daughter like that again, and I'll find out how you taste spit-roasted," Elim said harshly. Storm puffed up, clearly enraged but a hand around his throat stopped him cold. Tiller was awake and had caught him with a glove too thick for Storm's talons to pierce.

"What he fucking said," Tiller growled. Elim was surprised for a moment as Tiller stared down Storm and finally extracted some kind of grudging reply before releasing him. The bird flew back up into the tree, but a higher perch, and visibly sulked.

"I'm still pissed at you," Tiller added over her shoulder before laying back down like nothing happened. Elim swallowed reflexively and prayed 42 scared her off. He didn't think he had the heart to do it himself anymore.