Wamillust

  Elysi hissed as she adjusted her footing, the small ledge she had fallen off leered over her menacingly, almost taunting her, daring her to try again. She had most certainly learned her lesson.

  She sighed and looked around the dimly lit section of the second floor. The floor was a soft earthy texture and the walls were made of the thin wood that could be found in some buildings in the dungeon and nowhere else.

  There had to be a different way out. She groaned loudly as she began to walk away from the ledge. The ground was soft, her steps remained light as she moved about, hoping she wouldn’t come across any puddles or worse in the dark.

  She had no weapons and her health was looking quite worrisome so she prayed to the entire pantheon that she did not encounter any monsters.

  A few minutes of walking through the dark space she finally found a door. Elysi sent another prayer that it was an exit door… it was not. She let out a strangled sigh at the sight of an even more dimly lit room. The same torches in the other room littered this one and she could see almost nothing from where she stood. Maybe she just had to keep going—maybe.

  The floor changed when she stepped into the room, the ground was harder, a simir stone to most of the walls of the dungeon, torches lining the walls. Elysi picked one of them, it was slightly heavy, the staff carrying the fme made of stone and the small blue fme providing such limited illumination Elysi wondered if it was a monster—only briefly.

  She stayed close to the walls as she moved, wanting to know when the path took a turn or a door appeared on her path, her fingers brushing against the cold stone.

  Elysi had no idea how long she had been walking for but by the time she found a door the faint hunger that had been little more than a nuisance had turned into a pain in her lower belly.

  She closed her eyes, sending out one more prayer and pushed the door open.

  Elysi first smelled the sweetness of fruits, fruits that should not grow in the Barren Wastends. Then, as soon as her eyes adjusted to the brighter lighting she saw a set of weapons lining the walls and another door directly facing her.

  Her stomach groaned loudly as her eyes shifted, a table overflowing with fruits sat on it and stone figures of men sat around it. The figures seemed to be posed mid conversation, each one in a gesture or with their mouth open. There was more to the room Elysi could not see from behind the door and after the next sharp pain and subsequent loud groan from her stomach, she sighed faintly and stepped in.

  The floor was soft, a fuzzy pink carpet covered the stone that peaked at the edges and it smelt faintly floral, though Elysi could not figure out which flowers were contributing to the scent, considering the fact she had never smelt that particur and scent and there were no flowers in sight. Maybe a perfume.

  There were more stone figures around the room, some carrying ptters of still fresh meat and a few children mid run pnted on the carpet, bodies frozen in time.

  Elysi avoided touching them as she moved towards the weapons, she was not hungry enough to eat random food in the dungeon.

  She picked up a bow that was almost as long as her but nearly dropped it when a rustling sound came from behind her.

  With speed she rarely showed she turned around, eyes wide and froze at the sight she found. On the other end of the room, almost obscured by a draped piece of silk cloth hanging from the ceiling was a naked person.

  Elysi watched as the person roused, most of their form covered by sheer silk. Two pert breast sat on top of a muscur chest, framed by even more muscles. Their hair—a golden hue, fell down their back and pooled on the bed.

  Elysi blinked out of her stupor and grabbed one of the swords behind her, slowly pcing the bow down beside her.

  The person shifted again, their body moving slowly as they stretched, muscles straining with the movement.

  Elysi waited, both hands holding her sword her eyes tracking the movement.

  Golden eyes blinked open and then the figure froze, their entire form going so rigid they could probably be mistaken as one of the other frozen people in the room.

  They were both quiet as they watched each other, the tension in the air thick with the fear of an attack. That tension was quickly broken by Elysi’s stomach groaning the loudest it had since she had been born.

  The person lifted a golden eyebrow and Elysi couldn’t help the fierce blush that coated her cheeks.

  “Hey.” A soft raspy voice called out to her.

  Elysi clenched her teeth and loosened her grip on her sword.

  “Hi.”

  They were quiet again, but more so due to awkwardness. The woman’s eyes flicked to the feast before them, with Elysi’s hunger mounting the smell of the fruits became even more mouthwatering.

  The other woman stood from the bed, tying a sheer silk cloth around her waist, it did next to nothing to hide the rge length of her cock.

  Elysi knew she had made an undignified sound at the sight. She had only recently quit her job as a prostitute and had seen her fair share of dicks. That had to be the biggest she had seen.

  The woman didn’t pause at the sound and in a few steps got to the table. Elysi watched in slight fear as she took a huge bite out of one of the apples, red juiced coating her lips followed by a hum, she swallowed and like Elysi was not standing there with a sword, grabbed a pte and began to fill it will a wide range of fruits and meats, taking bites of each as she went around the table.

  A small relief came at the fact that the woman appeared fine but if the fruits were dangerous the effects could be deyed.

  “You shouldn’t just…”

  “Hmm?” The woman hummed, her lips still stained red and her jaw chewing away.

  Elysi’s stomach groaned again.

  “You… you shouldn’t be eating food in the dungeon.”

  The woman continued chewing with a small shrug. “Not like I haven’t before.”

  Elysi blinked. “What?”

  The woman tilted her head. “It’s safe… you should eat.”

  Her stomach groaned again and Elysi winced, that had been especially painful.

  The woman didn’t try to convince her again and with her hunger becoming even worse the longer she refused to eat Elysi realized she would not make it out of the dungeon if she didn’t at least put something in her stomach. The risk was worth taking… just this once.

  She approached the table cautiously, sword still clutched in her and and picked one fruit, gently bitting into it. A surprised hum escaped her lips at the explosion of fvor that coated her tongue.

  They ate in retive silence, Elysi eating just enough for her to feel sufficiently nourished. She chanced a gnce at her health and was surprised to see it full. That made slight unease settle in her gut. The food certainly had magical properties—she had been lucky they weren’t negative.

  “So, what’s your name?”

  Elysi swallowed and looked up in surprise. The woman was across the room rummaging through a chest and tossing out clothes… did she live in the dungeon?

  Elysi thought about lying, “Elysi.”

  The woman hummed and with no warning took of her sheer silk and began to pull on a pair of undergarments and a set of sturdy looking pants followed soon after.

  “I’m Isran.” She responded grabbing her long hair and with a dagger Elysi hadn’t seen till that moment cut it, the now shorter hair ending just below her colrbone.

  She started wrapping her breast and then put on a gray tunic.

  “Do you… live here?”

  Isran let out an amused huff. “No, just know my way around this dungeon.”

  Elysi hummed, a bit skeptical.

  “You should get back to picking your weapon.”

  Elysi frowned down at the sword she had pced aside while she ate. “And who says I haven’t?”

  “You clearly don’t use a sword.”

  That was all she said, seemingly satisfied with what she had found she began strapping up.

  Elysi decided since Isran had trusted her enough to turn her back to her she would do the same, and hope that it wasn’t a decision she came to regret.

  She went back to the bow, there was a quiver of arrows and with a closer look Elysi found translucent blue carvings ingrained into the wood, slightly glowing.

  “Titanium in such a low ranking dungeon?” She whispered incredulously, looking over the other weapons she realized they all had titanium running through their designs. She inspected the bow even closer, some of the carving appeared to be runes, a few scratched—probably defective.

  “Huh.”

  Elysi stumbled back.

  Isran was standing right beside her, golden eyes looking over the assortment of weapons, she handed Elysi a collection of leather straps and a bag—not turning to look at her as she did.

  Elysi blinked a few times before tentatively taking the stuff from Isran’s hand.

  “Thank you.”

  Isran nodded and bent down to get a closer look at the weapons.

  Elysi pced the bag aside and looked over the strap, one was clearly for archers and the other seemed to be for her thigh, a small sheath attached to it. She buckled them on, undid and redid her ponytail and then twisted a bit, getting comfortable with the snugness of the leather.

  A rge bag was sat by the table closed but clearly filled to the brim, a smaller one sat open on the table, meats id beside it.

  “I’m not sure what the best way to store food is so I was hoping you did.”

  Elysi jumped again, taking a few steps away from Isran.

  “How do you keep…”

  Isran smiled, almost teasing and shrugged. “I’m quiet.”

  Elysi frowned, not a fan of being teased like that especially in the dungeon but she swallowed it and approached the open bag, carrying the one Isran gave her along with her.

  “Are there any papers around?”

  Isran nodded and went back to the chest beside the bed, then came back with a bundle of paper.

  Elysi took them and began silently wrapping the meats and fruits, pcing them in separate bags as Isran went back to the chest. They worked in silence till Elysi was done, both small bags closed and sitting side by side while Isran approached with a rger bag and the smallest of the bags so far in each hand.

  “Is this usable money?” She hefted the smalled bag onto the table and picked up the food bags.

  Elysi opened the bag to see a mix of coins, all very usable and all carrying a lot of value.

  “This room just has everything huh.”

  Isran hummed, a small smile on her face, and pulled slightly on the buckle on the bag, then pced it on the much rger bag and strapped it onto it.

  “Well. That should be it.” She said patting the bags and sheathing a long sword to her side.

  Elysi blinked realizing they had silently agreed to travel the dungeon together.

  “I was… well I was leaving the dungeon.”

  Isran smiled, “Yes I know that. So am I.”

  Elysi nodded a bit, holding herself back from fidgeting.

  “You should grab your quiver.” Isran said, then lifted the bag onto her back and walked towards the door.

  The cover image