Chapter 125: 125. The Queen’s Price

The tunnel beneath the Deepwood opened onto fairy territory.

One moment they were walking through root-lined darkness, Caelen’s glowing staff the only light leading the way. The next, the walls fell away and they stood in an open glade illuminated by soft bioluminescence. Flowers that pulsed with gentle light. Mushrooms that grew in spiraling patterns. Air that shimmered with motes of floating luminescence.

“Welcome to the Glimmering,” Caelen said quietly. “Try not to step on anything. The fairies get… territorial.”

Leah looked down at her feet. “Uh… About that.”

She was standing on a mushroom. A very small mushroom. A mushroom that was now releasing a high-pitched squeaking sound.

The glade went silent.

Then the air exploded with movement.

Hundreds of tiny figures emerged from flowers, from under leaves, from behind mushroom caps. Each was perhaps six inches tall, with translucent wings and eyes that held ancient wisdom in miniature forms. They surrounded the party in seconds, weapons—tiny spears, thorns, what looked like needles—all pointed upward.

“You stepped on Gerald,” one of them said. Her voice was surprisingly clear, pitched just above human hearing range. “Gerald was three hundred years old. Gerald was my cousin.”

Leah carefully lifted her foot. The mushroom—Gerald—lay crushed and oozing.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see—”

“Of course you didn’t see. You giants never see.” The fairy’s wings vibrated with anger. “You stomp through our homes, crush our families, and expect us to just—”

A new voice cut through. “That’s enough, Thistle.”

The fairies parted.

Queen Asteria was smaller than the others—barely four inches tall—but her presence filled the glade. Her wings were crystalline, catching light and scattering it into rainbows. Her eyes held depths that made Elder Mosswood look like a child. She wore a crown of living flowers that bloomed and wilted and bloomed again in endless cycle.

She floated to eye level with Owen and studied him.

“The dragon who carries Dominus’s bloodline,” she said. “The one who seeks the fragment of power.” She tilted her head. “You’ve been busy.”

Owen inclined his head. “Your majesty, We need information about the dungeon.”

“I know what you need.” She drifted to Yuki, examined Uru with interest. “A primordial slime. Haven’t seen one of those in…” She calculated. “Four thousand years, give or take. It chose you?”

“Mhmm” Yuki confirmed.

“Interesting.” Asteria moved to Leah. “Lion-folk who’s learned the full transformation. Impressive for one so young.” Then to Odessa. “Dragon-kin tamer with… political connections.” Finally to Alfred. “And the human who’s seen more than he lets on.” She floated back to center. “You’ve assembled quite a collection.”

“We need to enter the dungeon,” Owen said. “The timeline—”

“Is shorter than you think.” Asteria’s expression shifted. “The elves think you have days. The dwarves think you have days. Even the druids, who should know better, are counting on a schedule that no longer exists.”

Caelen stepped forward. “What do you mean?”

“The dungeon’s manifestation has accelerated. Dramatically.” Asteria floated higher, addressing the whole party. “Malachar’s death disrupted more than his influence. The energy he’d been feeding into the dungeon for months—it destabilized when he died. The fragment inside is now pushing outward, trying to complete its emergence ahead of schedule.”

“How much time do we actually have?” Yuki asked.

“Three days. Perhaps two.” Asteria let that land. “The dwarven stabilizers might buy you an extra day. Might not. The timing is… uncertain.”

The party exchanged glances.

“That’s half what we thought,” Odessa said.

“Yes. That’s usually how these things work.” Asteria drifted closer to Owen. “I can give you more than just timeline information. I know what’s inside that dungeon. I know what guards the fragment. I know the path you need to take.” She paused. “But nothing is free, little dragon.”

“What’s your price?”

“A favor. To be named later.”

“That’s dangerously vague.”

“Yes. That’s the point.” Asteria smiled. “Fairies don’t deal in gold or promises we can’t collect. We deal in possibility. A favor owed is a thread connecting us to your future. When we need that thread pulled, you’ll pull it.”

Leah stepped forward. “My mother taught me about fairy deals. They always cost more than you expect.”

“Your mother is wise. She’s also alive because a fairy warned her about an assassination attempt twenty years ago.” Asteria looked at Leah. “She never told you that part, did she?”

Leah’s expression flickered.

“Fairies aren’t malicious. We’re just… precise. We give exactly what’s asked, and we expect exactly what’s promised.” Asteria returned to Owen. “I’m asking for a favor. One act, within your power, at a time of my choosing. I won’t ask you to harm your friends, betray your cause, or destroy yourself. Beyond that, the terms are mine to set.”

Owen considered. A fairy favor was dangerous—every story warned about that. But without the information, the dungeon might kill them all anyway.

“One favor,” he said. “Within those limits.”

“Agreed.” Asteria extended her tiny hand. Owen reached out with one claw, and they shook—the smallest handshake he’d ever participated in.

“The dungeon,” Asteria began, “is not a typical Remembering. It’s a prison.”

“Prison?” Yuki asked.

“Dominus didn’t just store power there. He stored something else. A piece of Vorthraxx’s original self… ” Asteria’s voice grew serious. “The fragment contains not just power, but memory made solid. Complete memory. If you defeat it… Well, You’ll know.”

“An experience that could break a person” Alfred said quietly.

“It could. Or it could give Owen understanding no one else possesses.” Asteria looked at him. “The fragment will test you. Not with only combat, but with empathy. It will make you feel what Vorthraxx felt. Make you understand why he made the choices he did. If you can survive that understanding without losing yourself, you’ll claim the power.”

“And if I fail?”

“Then you become him. Another Desecrator, born from sympathy instead of grief.” Asteria shrugged. “It’s a risk. But you asked what’s inside, so now you know.”

Owen absorbed this. A test of empathy. A chance to truly understand his brother—and a risk of becoming him. “We’ll, I’ve already dealt with all of that in the second story dungeon”

“What guards it?” Leah asked.

“Yourself.” Asteria smiled. “The dungeon will manifest your greatest fear and force you to face it. For you, lion-child, that’s losing control of your transformation and hurting those you love. For the tamer—” she looked at Yuki “—it’s watching Owen die again, unable to save him. For the heiress—” at Odessa “—it’s failing everyone who depends on you. For the knight—” at Alfred “—it’s outliving everyone you’ve sworn to protect.”

“And for the dragon?” Owen asked.

“Not just a fight but Maybe Losing Yuki? knowing you could have prevented it if you’d been stronger? faster? better?.” Asteria’s eyes held sympathy. “The dungeon finds your deepest wound and tears it open. The question isn’t whether you’ll bleed. It’s whether you’ll keep fighting while bleeding.”

Silence settled over the glade.

Caelen broke it. “Well. That’s cheerful.”

“The truth usually isn’t.” Asteria floated back toward her throne, a particularly large flower. “You have three days. The path to the dungeon is through the Crystal Gorge, east of here. The dwarven stabilizers will need to be placed at the four cardinal points around the dungeon’s perimeter. The fairy blessing, which I’m giving you freely, not part of the deal, will help you resist the dungeon’s mental pressure.”

She gestured, and motes of light drifted from her wings to settle on each party member. They sank into skin, leaving faint sparkles behind.

“That should help. A little.” She looked at Owen. “Remember your favor, dragon. When I call, you answer.”

“I remember.”

“Good. Now go. You’re wasting daylight.”

—

They left the Glimmering in thoughtful silence.

The path east was clearer now—the forest seemed to part for them, perhaps responding to the fairy blessing, perhaps just recognizing that these travelers had business elsewhere. By nightfall, they’d reached the edge of the Deepwood.

Hilda was exactly where they’d left her, still calibrating her devices.

“You’re back. Good.” She looked up. “You have that expression people get after dealing with fairies. What did you promise them?”

“A favor,” Owen said.

“Ah. Well, try not to think about it too much. That’s what they want.” She packed her equipment. “The stabilizers are ready. Four devices, four locations. We’ll need to move fast.”

“How fast?” Odessa asked.

“Three days fast. Maybe less.” Hilda stood. “The dungeon’s energy signature changed while you were in there. It’s spiking. The fragment is pushing hard.”

“Three days is what the fairies said.” Yuki looked at Owen. “We’re running out of time.”

“Then we run.” Owen transformed to his full dragon form—twenty-four meters of black scales and golden eyes. “Everyone on. We’re not walking.”

They climbed onto his back—Yuki and Uru near his neck, Leah and Odessa behind her, Alfred and Hilda securing the equipment, Caelen last. His wings spread wide.

“Hold on.”

They launched into the night sky.

Below, the Deepwood shrank to a dark patch. Ahead, mountains rose against the stars. And somewhere beyond them, the dungeon pulsed with growing light—a beacon calling them forward.

Three days. They’d make it. They had to.

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