I entered the dungeon proper and inspected the first room, which was very obviously trapped. The nature of the trap gave further credence to my ‘changing difficulty dungeon’ theory.

The room was a long hallway with the walls and ceiling covered in small holes that likely shot something out, such as darts or spikes. Possibly fire, but that would be harder to control with spells if you weren’t a Fire elemental. I briefly got distracted thinking how someone could set up a system using spells and artifice to control flame traps, then returned to the task at hand.

The floor was covered in plates that were not quite level with each other and the small section of floor in the antechamber before the hallway.

So, step on the plates and something probably shoots out of the walls and ceiling to murder whatever did the stepping. There’s probably an inexhaustible or near inexhaustible supply of whatever gets shot out to prevent someone from just throwing rocks. The plates are probably attuned to specific weights, so something as light as a pebble wouldn’t trigger it anyways.

Actually, if I was going to put a trap like this in one of my future death-fortresses, I’d make the first few plates able to be triggered by pebbles, and seemingly stopped, but they’d have    a second weight trigger that would activate when an elemental steps on it…

I’d designed quite a few traps for death-fortresses, so I knew a bit about them. Possibly too much, actually.

“So, how to get past this trap…well, how to get all of us past specifically.” I mused aloud.

“We could try-“

I cut off Malk with a quick, “Quiet, I’m thinking.”

Flight was a possible solution, but it would be hard to maintain with four people, as I was the only one who could fly. I could try making a raised platform across, to walk through without stepping on the plates. That was a great idea, but there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to hold it up long enough. Walking through the hall with a shield around us could work, depending on what came out of the holes.

Well, no matter what, the first course of action was to figure out what would be launched from the various receptacles. I went back outside, picked up a big rock about the size of Wabbit, walked back inside, and threw the rock onto a plate.

Nothing happened, as was to be expected if they attuned to the weight of an elemental. “Well, this could make it easy. Wabbit can just get to the end and look for a way to disarm the trap.”

“Are you even sure there is a trap?” inquired Malk.

“Of course there is. Those holes aren’t decorative, and neither are those plates.” I looked to Wabbit and gestured for him to step on a plate. He was hesitant, but hopped onto the nearest one.

Immediately, fire spewed from the walls and ceiling, and Wabbit darted back to the antechamber in a ball of darkness. His body shook, his ears falling down to the sides of his head, and he shakily spelled out, What. The. Fuck.

I picked him up and petted his head while I mused. “Hmm. Unexpected. The rock weighed about or even more than what you do, Wabbit. So it can’t be a pressure plate, it must be looking for something else. Malk, I need you to walk into the fiery inferno of death.”

He blinked at me and in a shocked tone asked, “WHAT?”

“Oh relax. If the things go off I can raise a shield around you for long enough to get you back over here. I’ve got a theory that the plates only go off in reaction to caster energy. Wabbit, Clary, and I have that energy, but you don’t.”

“Can’t you just use your ‘senses’ or whatever, like you did with the door?”

“Yep!” I smiled at him cheerfully, and then shoved him forward into the hallway.

He yelped in surprise, and clumsily stumbled forward onto the plates. There was no spew of fire, but he scrambled back to the door, clutching it and breathing heavily. “Seriously!?”

“Oh don’t be such a coward. You’re fine.” I opened up my senses once more, and investigated the plates. Each one had a spell that looked for caster energy, as well as a protective ward around each spell.    I knelt by the plates and attempted to attack the spells in a similar manner to the way I’d nullified the door, but the ward was very resilient, and after a minute of trying I gave up.

That’s very strange, and very bad.

“Okay, so the plates are looking for caster energy. So the question becomes… what do we do to not die?”

“You could fly us over, or raise a shield-“

I cut Clary off, and said, “I’ve already considered those possibilities. Flying over could trigger the plates, and I’d need to design the shield to block heat, which would be tricky and energy-consuming. What I’m hoping is that there’s some lever or device at the other end of the hallway that can deactivate the traps. That would be easiest. Malk, start walking.”

He sighed, and carefully stepped forward onto the first plate. He walked slowly at first, as if he expected to be roasted alive at any second. Granted, that actually could happen if I was somehow wrong about the spells, but it was still cowardly of him.

When he failed to die horribly in a fire, he gained a bit of confidence and strode forward at a brisk pace. Within minutes he reached the end of the hallway and called back, “I’m past the plates, there’s a hall leading off to the side. What am I looking for?”

“Lever, button, anything weird.”

I heard him walk off, and a little bit later he returned. “There’s a crystal in a side room, glowing with energy. Do you think that’s powering the spell?”

“Probably. Break it and find out.”

I watched the tiles carefully, and a few moments later their energy began fading. “Right, looks like Malk succeeded. Come on; let’s get on with this dungeon-crawling.”

I strode forward across the dormant tiles, and came to a corner. The hallway stretched off to the left, and I saw two doors closed and one door open, all three facing further into the mountain. Wabbit and Clary followed me, and we reunited with Malk, who was leaning against the plain wall, his sword lying on the ground amid the shards of a large red crystal. There was a pedestal with ornate carvings, next to the shards.

“Nice destruction, Malk. It worked to deactivate the pressure plates. Also, is there a reason you’ve left your sword on the ground.”

He pointed to it. “I’d rather not touch that until I know what’s going on.”

I took a closer look at the sword, and saw that it was crackling with energy, which seemed to be draining from the crystal. Already the shards were a paler shade of red than when I’d entered the room. Interesting. I crouched down by the sword and squinted my eyes. With a bit of focus, I made out some faint runes on the ground. I followed them one direction to reach the pedestal, and the other direction led out of the room.

“Harmless. Probably.” I picked up the sword, and the energy sloughed off of it, the runes on the ground briefly lighting up. I handed the sword to Malk. “Your sword interrupted the circuit. Seems the crystal was getting its power from somewhere else in this dungeon.”

He took the blade and sheathed it before he said, “So why didn’t say, stepping on the runes ‘interrupt the circuit’?”

“Because they’re better crafted than that. Your sword wouldn’t have normally done that, but I’m guessing the excess energy from the destruction of the crystal made it easier for that energy to escape the runes. Come on; let’s check out the other doors.”

We moved to the second door and opened it, revealing an anvil with a spiky metal sword embedded in it. The sword seemed to be marred with fiery cracks that spread to the top of the anvil. Sensing no traps, I quickly strode forth and grabbed the sword to tear it out. “It’s a bit ‘Sword in the Stone’, isn’t it?” I said as I encountered difficulty.

“Oh I wouldn’t make such a direct comparison to fiction, dear Kia,” spoke an echoing, arrogant voice. The world flickered around me as everything got cold and dark. I spun around, one hand still on the hilt, and saw a tall man in broken armor, his face hidden behind a twisted, spiked helm. His eyes glowed a sickly white color through the helm, and flared in time with his speech.

I snarled and shot a spike of darkness at him, but the moment I moved everything seemed to flicker again and suddenly he was standing right in front of me, his hand around my wrist, twisting it to the side. “You can’t fight what doesn’t exist. I look forward to seeing you challenge my more corporeal compatriots though.” He laughed coldly.

“If you don’t exist, then you have no power over me, apparition.” I tore my arm out of his grip, passing through his hand, which blurred briefly before everything flickered and he appeared on the other side of the room, walking around my friends.

“Clever. Though the term apparition wounds me, Shadow. That is your name, right? The spell that brought me to life was not as well designed as you would have made, I’m afraid.” He laughed again.

“Jovial, aren’t you? My name is in fact Shadow, so I’ve no clue why you called me ‘Kia’. Now, I take it you’re bound to this sword?”

“Hmm, that thing? It’s so boring… especially when compared to your little pets here.” As he walked past Malk, Clary, and Wabbit, he casually brushed his gauntleted hand across their cheeks. “So interesting, they are…”

“That’s why they’re my friends, after all.”

He laughed. “Friends, of course… Wabbit, the savage beast tamed to your will and your soul… Malk, the soldier who rejected that life for art and morality, only to be entrapped by your wiles… they are very interesting friends.”

“You’re forgetting Clary.”

“Ah yes, the boring, unimportant one. We can ignore her. To answer your question, the spell is bound to the sword… and won’t last long.” As he said that, the world flickered again, and my friends moved slightly.

“Time dilation? You can manipulate time? Wait, no, you said you don’t exist. And since I’m touching the sword you’re bound to, it must be… a mental thing? You’re in my mind?”

“Perceptive. And now our time is up.” The world flickered again, and then he was gone.

“What was the point then!?” I exclaimed in irritation.

Malk, Clary, and Wabbit blinked in confusion at me. “You were just looking at the sword… why’d you move so fast like that? And what’s the point of what?” asked Malk.

“Long story short, there was a spell on the sword, a stupid apparition got into my head and started talking to me. And I have no idea what the point of that spell was, because it didn’t exactly damage me, or stop me, or do anything besides annoying me.”

“Maybe it was scouting you?” postulated Clary.

“Meh. Possibly. Whatever the reason, I’m having none of this blade.” I turned back to the sword and sent a pulse of darkness, shattering it into pieces. I took a deep breath, and walked out of the room.

I turned to the final door and placed my hand on it. Forcing myself to grin, I said, “Let’s make an entrance this time.