117 – Set Free

Well into the next morning, after the sun had risen, Ari was set free from the dungeon.

‘Set free’. That was half accurate. As far as Cor was concerned, she had debts to pay. She was just considerate enough for Ari to handle them over the course of … well, who knew how long? That detail hadn’t been sorted out. Maybe forever. But only having to serve her sentence one night in every two—that wasn’t so bad. Again, as far as defeat went, it was a far preferable result. For most adventurers, defeat meant death.

Victoria’s debts, though, seemed to be settled. She’d taken care of that last night, and into this morning. Still, Ari wouldn’t mind stopping by and ensuring it was true. A few more sessions spent servicing Victoria’s needs was something she very much wouldn’t mind.

Clutching her bag to her chest, and surely looking out of sorts, she shuffled from the dungeon, feeling that somehow, everyone would know the details of what she’d been through. Returning to the daylight after so many hours of surreal events—and heart-pounding ones—she felt like some ancient cave-dwelling creature emerging into a new world. Really. Was she supposed to just pretend things were normal, after the events of the past day?

Nobody paid her much mind. Blushing, she rushed through the impromptu half-village set up around the dungeon entrance, then into the trees. At this point, she had an understanding of her surroundings, and should be able to locate the burrow without much difficulty.

Sure enough, a short time later, Ari had worked her way through the forest, arriving to a familiar location a short distance from the lake. The hungry vines seed sat there, slowly regrowing itself for a new set of armor, and Ari didn’t think she’d ever been so relieved to see home.

Home. Huh. It was kind of that now, wasn’t it? Maybe her parent’s house still held a little higher position in her brain, but the burrow had quickly become a close second.

Who was still here? Had everyone set off for the day’s adventures? She hoped nobody had worried too much about her wellbeing. At the same time, she doubted that was true. Ari knew if one of her friends had gotten captured in the dungeon, she’d be worried sick.

And sure enough, the reaction when she’d ventured down to the bottom step—everyone present, apparently sitting there and being stressed over her—was universally shock, then relief.

Claire, of course, was the first to surge forward, scooping Ari up into a hug. Ari laughed and hugged her back, making sure to make eye contact with each of her other teammates and give them an encouraging smile.

“You would not believe what I’ve been through.”

“But not in a bad way?” Claire asked, pulling back with a concerned expression.

“In an amazing way,” Ari told her. “Definitely not bad.” She paused. “Er … kind of. Mostly. There’s some crazy stuff that’s gone on.”

“Crazy stuff?”

“I did get kidnapped by the dungeon core.”

A collection of nods, as if Ari had made a great point. Which she had.

“But you’re unharmed?” Lori asked.

“A little more sore than most expeditions,” Ari laughed, “but I’m not hurt, no. Really. I’m fine.”

Seeing Opal hovering to the side, as if she wasn’t sure whether she should pull Ari’s attention, Ari extracted herself from Claire then stepped up to her.

“Sorry about that,” Ari said. “That was a more chaotic first delve than I wanted to take you on. I hope you at least had fun with Cece?”

Opal hesitated, then smiled. “I wouldn’t mind a second session with her, that’s for sure.”

“Tell me about it. Vicky was fun, but I was looking forward to Cece. Those vines are …” Ari paused, then let the unstated remain so.

“There’s always next time,” Opal said.  “Or, is there? What happened with the core?”

The meat of the matter, then.

“It’s a long story,” Ari said. “Or, not really, but a it’s a crazy one.” Giving Opal, then the rest of the Menagerie, an apologetic look, she said, “And I don’t have time, right now. I’ll have to tell you later.”

Because she had an emergency to attend to.

“Your date with Elise,” Claire guessed, reasonably the one to have kept track of something like that.

“Yeah. My date. Which I’m so, horrendously late for.”