Dual Wielding

Wyn hadn’t expected the dungeon to be so… lifeless. Of course, the lack of monsters certainly helped with that impression, but as they walked through the familiar tunnels of the first floor, it just seemed so drab. The moist air gave off a distinctly stale smell. The lightstones that lined the walls were dull and dim, washing the grey passageways in a boring, faded light.

“Corrin does the dungeon seem different to you at all?” he asked, wondering if he was just imagining it.

His friend raised an eyebrow. “No, same old boring dungeon as always.”

“Huh,” Wyn thought that was a bit weird. Maybe it was an effect of the spirit fire somehow? He’d have to ask Eia when they got out. Though he doubted she’d be of much help. The spirit had categorically refused to enter the dungeon, saying it would be “bad for her skin”. He was pretty sure spirits didn’t actually have real skin, so it was probably a lie. Spirits couldn’t be killed, so it wasn’t like it would be any danger for her. He decided to stop thinking about it. It was pointless trying to understand the mind of any girl, let alone one of an entirely different species.

Is species the right word for spirits? He wondered, what are they really?

It was something he had never given thought before. It was a fact of life that spirits simply were. They existed without beginning or end, but his recent interactions with them had made him believe otherwise.

Since Eia wasn’t with him, he asked Corrin. Ironically, being raised by Fenfreth, Corrin actually knew more when it came to spirits than Wyn did.

“Well, Fenfreth has said that spirits are born somehow, but not from other spirits. And they don’t mate. I’ve asked him about it before and apparently at some point they just start existing. But he’s never seen it happen, and most don’t remember much from the beginning.” Corrin said. “Though if new spirits are appearing, and they don’t disappear somehow, there would eventually be an infinite number, right?”

“So, they can die? I thought they were immortal?” Wyn asked.

Corrin shrugged, “They can’t be killed; they exist on a different level than mortal beings. Dying’s a different story, but that’s just my theory, even the old man doesn’t know. Apparently, they don’t like to talk about it. His favorite theory lately is that weaker spirits merge together eventually to form stronger ones, like great spirits for example. He switches theories at least once a month though.”

“Huh, he really doesn’t know?”

“I think spirits like yours that can hold real conversations are rare. From what he’s said most are only capable of conveying basic ideas. Like talking to a rabbit.”

They walked through the entire first floor without issue, and then the second, which was a trove of unharvested treasures. While ore deposits and non-essential gemstones on the first floor had mostly dried up a long time ago, the second floor offered a whole new world of resources—Wyn recognized copper, iron, and gold as they went, but he was sure there was even more. It hadn’t mattered before, when the dungeon was crawling with danger, but without monsters, the tunnels could be traversed easily by anyone.

Finally, they came to the same drop-off as before, overlooking the enormous waterfall. Wyn couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy, glancing around to watch for any potential attacks. Corrin on the other hand, seemed cool and unworried as he stared out over the cavern.

“Maybe I should take the fast way down again,” He mused.

Wyn shot back a look. “Yeah, go right ahead. I’ll rate your splash from up here.”

“Do I get extra points if I do a backflip on the way down?” Corrin chuckled. “Seriously though, it feels so weird being back here. I haven’t seen it since I fell.”

“Wait how’d you get back up then?”

“Believe it or not, I took the stairs.”

“What does that even mean?” Wyn deadpanned.

Corrin laughed. “Exactly what it sounds like. He opened a set of stairs, and I ran up.”

“I can’t say I’m looking forward to meeting this guy,” Wyn said, “But I sure would like to ask him some questions.”

“You and me both…”

Wyn looked around, there was only one way to go, a spiraling path on the outside of the pit which went down a way before curving into the wall out of sight.

“Well, only one way down, right?” Wyn said.

“Last one there buys lunch tomorrow!” Corrin yelled and took off. Wyn sighed and chased after him a moment later.

***

Reaching the bottom of the dungeon took three days. Even with no enemies to slow down, the labyrinth was simply gigantic. Endless passageways led to them discovering what they considered to be seven distinct floors, each crazier than the last. One floor was covered in ice and got down to temperatures below freezing; they’d had to go back up and get winter gear before continuing to explore. One floor had far more open caverns, with a sort of mushroom jungle growing over every inch of it. Another had trickles of magma running down the wall, and Corrin had burnt through a boot when he wasn’t paying attention.

Eventually though, it became clear that whatever demon was down here hadn’t been lying. Each and every floor was as empty as the last, leaving Wyn only able to wonder about what manner of monsters must’ve resided on each one.

Finally, after finally tracing a route low enough, they were able to rappel from an overlook down into the cavern, tying a rope to a large stalagmite before descending to the bottom. Corrin went down first, and Wyn followed right after, feet touching down on the stone floor on which his friend had been stuck for over a week. All in all, it was damp, drab, and seemed an altogether shitty place to be. Though, the way the tunnels glowed faintly in the darkness, casting a turquoise shimmer onto the surface of the streams was admittedly entrancing.

“She’s just like I left her,” Corrin said, patting the walls like someone returning home after a long time. “Ooh! My crack! Look Wyn, this is where I was hiding from the leviathan. Every time I’d make too much noise, he’d chase me back in here. Good times.”

“I hate to interrupt your trip down memory lane. But we do still have a job to finish.”

“Let me process my trauma in peace!” Corrin stuck his tongue out, earning a chuckle from Wyn.

“You can process on the way back,” Wyn joked. “Let’s find this mysterious chamber you were talking about.”

“Fine fine, it should be down this path. I hope I remember the way; it was a bit stressful at the time.”

“We can take our time and check multiple; I’m sure you’ll find it eventually.”

Thus, the journey continued, as Corrin led them down yet another series of tunnels and passageways. Though he seemed to know his way at first, merely following the stream further and further, passing the corpses of several monsters along the way, though Wyn noticed that most of them were the sheep he’d fought during the flood. Corrin regaled him with the story of being hunted by them, ending in the room where he’d apparently fought an enormous ram.

“Should we get their cores on the way out?” Wyn asked.

“Might as well, it’d be a waste not to. Though I’m not sure where they will be. Honestly though, let’s harvest the wool while we’re at it. I bet Kern could make something nice from it, and it’s really hard to cut through.”

“That’s not a bad idea actually,” Wyn mused, “We’ll do that then. Glad we brought the packs.”

They continued, but after the last room, Corrin had to guess which way he went over and over, forcing them to double back multiple times. They’d been able to get to the bottom easily enough, but in this case, since only Corrin knew what he was looking for, their progress was much slower. Eventually they gave up for the day and headed back up, taking as many cores and as much wool as they could with them.

The next day, they returned, mapping tunnel after tunnel without finding a trace of the passageway he’d used. They’d mapped every tunnel within the main passageway that Corrin knew he’d taken except one.

“So, then this has to be it.” Corrin said, though he didn’t sound very confident.

“Does it look familiar?”

“I don’t know… they’re all blurring together at this point.”

“Well, let’s go find out.”

As they walked in, Corrin started to speed up, “Yeah, yeah this is familiar, it should be left here, then right…” His pace increased to a jog and Wyn had to follow him down what turned out to be a long, straight tunnel.

“It should be just up ahead, right around this corner—” Corrin stopped, having rounded the corner. Wyn reached it as well a step after him, turning the corner to see…

Nothing. A blank stone wall at the end of a short tunnel.

“It’s gone. This is the spot; it was right here. A doorway cut into the stone… Damn it!” He slammed his fist into the wall.

Well, that was concerning. “Are you sure? This was where it was?”

“One hundred percent, this was where the doorway was. We can map the few remaining offshoots, but I’m positive this is the spot. If it’s not here, then either it moved…”

“Or he closed the door,” Wyn finished. “What could the reason be for that? I’m not exactly complaining, but I also don’t want to tell anybody we just lost a demon.”

Corrin shook his head, “He said he could destroy the world ‘if he was free’, so I think there’s something preventing him from just going on a rampage. And if he could, there’s nothing we could do to stop him, so it wouldn’t matter anyways.”

Wyn looked around at the dark, endless tunnels. “I wonder what he was doing down here then. If he’s anything like a spirit, he can be bound by contracts and oaths. Maybe something like that keeps him from attacking. Nothing we could do though?”

“No. Nothing at all,” Corrin said, his jaw tight.

“One more reason to get stronger then…”

“Yeah, one more reason.”

“Well, I’m hungry,” Wyn broke the tension, “My mother said she’d make dinner for us when we got back if we wanted. Are you interested?”

Corrin turned around to leave. His voice was deep and serious, like he was discussing a murder. “Wyn, you should know I’m never going to turn down free food. What is she making?”

“I think she said something about fish.”

“We’d better hurry then. That’s your brother’s favorite, isn’t it? He’ll eat it all if we don’t get back quick.”

“She also said she’d bake some redberry pie for us,” Wyn tempted as they began walking out.

Without a word, Corrin started to jog, picking up his pace as they made their way up and out of the dungeon. Even moving quickly and using the rope they’d tied to skip several floors at the bottom, the run back to the surface took almost three hours. Twisting, turning, and climbing through miles of mapped passageways until they reached the entrance, basking in the light of the setting sun.

Over hundreds of years, the grass and dirt had crept further into the tunnels, making it hard to tell where the dungeon really ended, and where the outside world began, but surely enough, eventually there was soft soil below Wyn’s feet, and fresh air filled his lungs. His jog came to a stop as both he and Corrin turned around, looking one last time at the dungeon. The once foreboding entrance now just seemed empty.

Wyn took in the view. “I just realized that statue is still standing.”

The statue of the first spirit knight stood in front of the dungeon. It was pristine, as though the horde of monsters hadn’t even touched it. Edrian’s stone face was still smiling slightly as he looked towards the outside world, rendered with a craftsmanship Wyn couldn’t believe.

“Huh, I didn’t even think about it on the way in, but that’s weird. You’d think they would’ve knocked it over as they left. Did it get knocked over during the last flood?”

Wyn shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s not like we came here back then.”

“I always hated his stupid face. Like, was he smirking while he modeled for the statue?”

“That’s disrespectful, and he’s just smiling.”

“I know it annoys you too Wyn, just look at him!” Corrin got right up next to the statue and pointed at the face. “Look into those condescending eyes as they silently judge you.”

Wyn raised an eyebrow. “I thought you loved the first spirit knight.”

“I do! He’s awesome, maybe the coolest person that ever lived. But this guy is a whole different story.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Corrin let out a soft chuckle and held his hands in surrender as he glanced back at the entrance. “Yeah, maybe it is… You know, I’m not going to miss this place, but it feels weird knowing I don’t have to come back here anymore.”

“I know what you mean. I thought we’d be—I’d be at it my whole life. Even if I know what our plan is, it’s going to be weird not having that same structure.”

Corrin smirked, “You can still stay if you really want.”

Wyn elbowed his friend, “Yeah right. Somebody has to keep you out of trouble in the big city. And if I don’t keep beating you in spars, I’m worried your ego might somehow grow even bigger.”

“Listen I—” Corrin was interrupted by his stomach rumbling, “About that dinner?”

Wyn just laughed, and they left the dungeon behind, heading back towards town. It would be best to enjoy it while they could. The dungeon wasn’t the only thing they’d be leaving behind soon; and unlike the dark and dreary cave, Wyn really would miss Straetum and the people in it. The way he could cool off in the river during the heat of summer. He’d miss relaxing under the shade of the spearwood while he waited for Corrin to show up to fight. He’d miss helping at the church, and reading at the library.

When they reached his home, they were already waiting for him and Corrin in the kitchen, the smell of a baking pie filling the room. His mom had her hair tied back and was wearing an oversized apron while Elry jumped out of the chair to come ask them about the dungeon. This was what he’d miss most of all, coming home each day to his family waiting for him.

Corrin started talking excitedly with Elry, telling him what they’d seen and how it had gone. Right then and there, Wyn whispered a promise to himself.

“No matter how far from home I get, and no matter how long it’s been, I’ll come back. I’ll come back, and then I’ll drag you guys all the way to Taravast with me, so we’ll never have to be apart again.”

As he took it all in, Wyn could only smile.

Yeah. That didn’t sound too bad.