Hollow Henry

Henry wanted to cry.

Everything he was looking forward to in The Hollows was staring him right in the face, but he couldn't risk giving into temptation. A fresh dungeon would be packed to the ceiling with loot. His friends had told him all about dungeons. Even the raided ones had loot to be found for a time. Once the item at its core was taken, the dungeon would stop manifesting loot slowly over time. The core item was the dream though. Almost all of the most powerful things that could be found around the world came from the heart of a dungeon. If the one beneath him was still untouched, he stood a shot at claiming the core item for himself. He wanted it more than ever at that moment. It was as if the dungeon called to him. He had no idea where it was below him, but he knew beyond the alert that it was there. The power of the place leaked through the rocks. He felt like he could reach out and hold it, even though nothing was there.

“There's a dungeon down here,” he told her, hoping she'd be just as eager to find it.

“So they say,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “People have been looking for that place since before the days of Therveinia. If it was down there, someone would have found it.”

“Maybe they weren't looking in the right place,” he offered, looking over the edge into the darkness below.

“Sure thing,” she said, giving him a thumbs up. She had a way of making her mockery sting extra hard. “Back in the real world though, we have some more pressing concerns.”

He groaned. No matter how tempting the dungeon was, it would have to wait. If it had remained undiscovered for millennia like she claimed, it might stay hidden for a few more weeks. The only real threat to finding it would be another player. As long as any other followers they might still have stayed out of the caves, the dungeon would stay a secret.

“I have rope,” he said, trying not to sound too disappointed. “I can climb down and see how far it goes,” he offered.

“I can hear the river down there,” she said, pointing into the abyss. “We might have just taken a shortcut if your rope can reach.”

“Good plan. I wish I'd thought of it,” he said, rolling his eyes.

He summoned a rope, along with a hammer and a thick nail. The sound of the hammering was sharp on their ears in the empty cave, but the nail went in easily enough with his high strength. The lower chamber floor was about 50 metres below them. It took a second rope to reach the bottom in the end. Once they were down safely he retrieved the rope and they followed the river deeper into the chamber.

It led to an opening that the water poured through at knee height, so they trudged their way through the icy cold water. At one point the cave narrowed and deepened, bringing the water all the way to their necks. It was getting deeper at a noticeable rate too. They needed to find the bottom of the path if they wanted to get out, since the rain above was making sure to try and lock them in.

Getting to the floor of the fourth chamber was simple enough. Someone long before them had carved a winding path into the chamber wall. Most of the path had eroded away thanks to the waterfall, but they managed it easily enough. Within the hour they were resting at the bottom of the main path. He would have still been in the second chamber trying to climb a wall if it wasn't for her knowledge. He had to remind himself once again that she was more than just a pain in his arse. Looking back in the direction they came from, he still felt the pull of the dungeon. That wasn't something the Scotsmen had mentioned. He knew it would be tempting, but he was nearly ready to abandon everything he was doing just to go find it. It was frustrating. He wanted what the game had to offer, but he'd gotten himself tied up with responsibilities he didn't even want. The missions pay was nice, but it wasn’t as cool as a magical ancient dungeon.

Andy updated his location, and they continued onwards. The path was untouched at its base, making it feel all the more ominous as they walked. He was almost happy to see the first sign of stoner tar on the ground. He was less happy about the smell that came with it though. The best word he could think of to describe the odour was ‘funky’. It was like foot sweat and bin juice got set on fire, then extinguished with pond mud. He started summoning air from his Temple again to try and deal with the smell. By the time they found the stoner city, Lee was ready to pass out. The city was laid out a lot like the buildings and rooms around the path. That gave them the opportunity to hide away in a room on the outskirts of the territory. They could hear the occasional movement on the floors above or below them, so they made sure to stay quiet.

He summoned the fresh air to his hand and offered it to her. She looked at him curiously, then noticed the gentle breeze coming from his palm. Trying to stay quiet, he gestured with his other hand like he was breathing something in from it. She seemed hesitant, but the smell was too strong to endure when there was fresh air right in front of her. Awkwardly, she leaned in and took a breath from his palm. She let it out in relief, and quickly sucked back another breath. Holding her breath with her eyes closed in satisfaction, she gave him a thumbs up. He went to move his hand away, but she grabbed his wrist.

“Not yet,” she whispered, pulling his hand close to her face. He stumbled with the sudden action, causing his fingers to touch her cheek and hair. They froze in awkward silence for a moment, both looking at each other in anticipation for something. He felt his heart race when she slowly put her hand on his, and held his fingers to her cheek. She took calm breaths while she looked into his eyes. He didn't know what to make of it. Too scared to move, and too reluctant to break away from her touch, he relaxed and let her breathe. He looked into her eyes too, and wondered what was going through her mind. After a long minute of tense but comfortable silence, she slowly moved his hand away. He didn't want it to stop, and she seemed pained by the idea also. He imagined they both wanted the moment to linger for very different reasons though. She smiled sweetly at him. It wasn’t her usual taunting smile, or the kind she used to take men off guard. It was a genuine smile, one with nearly a hint of embarrassment. He all of a sudden had a new favourite smile.

“Thank you,” she whispered eventually.

Knowing better than to put his foot in his mouth, he just smiled back at her and nodded.

“Where to now?” She asked, leaning in closer to not be heard.

He started sweating. The woman had never made him so nervous before. The comforting scent of cinnamon and honey filled his nose as she came in close. He wanted to lean in closer too, desperate to feel her touch again. Trying his best to fight back his swelling fantasies of the moment, he focused his attention on the location Andy had shared with him.

“It's not far,” he whispered through dry lips. “He's half a kilometre from here, and about eight floors down.”

“That's going to be tricky with so many of those things around,” she said, peaking out of the window they sat beneath.

“If anything happens, I can take us into my Temple and figure it out from there,” he declared.

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Works for me. You're turning out to be pretty useful,” she said, gently shoving him with her shoulder.

“I'm not just good looks,” he joked.

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” she jabbed through a smirk.

“Whatever. I trust my mum's opinion more than yours anyway,” he said, folding his arms.

That received a chuckle in response. In any other situation he would have been elated to have made the princess laugh, he felt a little different about the noise in a monster cave though. She immediately clasped her hands over her mouth and nose, shooting him a dirty look. He gave her a dirty look right back. It wasn't his fault she laughed. She should have been more prepared for his great jokes, in his opinion. The floor above them became alive with noise again, so they wasted no time in moving onwards. If they could stick to the higher floors and avoid the streets below, they stood a chance of remaining undetected. Lee took the lead through the first crawl way they found, causing Henry a great deal of distraction. When he woke up that morning, a moment like that with the princess wasn't on his bingo card. She was in his head more than ever now, and he had to admit to himself that he liked it. It was all a fantasy of course. He had no delusion that whatever they had could go any further. She was a literal princess, and he was still technically just a homeless guy with a sword. It was an exciting idea, but he was pretty sure that dynamic wouldn't work in any world. He'll be leaving Therveinia after he goes back for the dungeon anyway. It added a bitterness to the otherwise very sweet experience. Still, he was determined to enjoy the time he did have with her. As much as she got under his skin, he still always found an excuse to talk to her.

When they did finally reach Andy, he realised that he'd just been thinking in a loop the whole time. If anything interesting happened, he missed it. He was too busy being wrapped up in the scent of cinnamon and honey.