Siren's Reach - Fallen Lands Book 3

Chapter twenty-nine

A Quiet Plight

Alice & Sibylla

As the doors slowly swung closed behind Alice and Caeda, they heard some final words of encouragement from Sibylla.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I designed this floor to be really terrible for trespassers! But don't worry! I'm sure you'll be fine!"

The door slammed shut with an oddly muffled boom just as the last word left her mouth, leaving them standing in the echoing dark.

Nervously, Caeda asked, "W-what did she mean by that?" as a small globe of light began to form in front of her.

Alice sighed, answering with a tinge of anger clinging to her voice, "Who knows. Considerin' she's Amélie's sister, it probably don't mean nothin' at all."

As Caeda's spell grew to illuminate the space around them, they had enough time to take in the worn wooden floors covered in extravagant plush rugs before wisps of light began to appear throughout the room. They danced and wove throughout the air, casting ever-changing shadows and showing the room to be far larger than the base of the tower they'd just entered. It was another library, but unlike the space above, the shelves and even books in this room were warped.

It wasn't so much that they leaned, but more as if they'd been swaying in a breeze before freezing in place forever, leaving none of them straight. The end of one row nearby was nearly arched over, almost like a question mark, groaning under the weight of too many books stacked at impossible angles. Another was swollen around the middle, its wooden shelves bulging out like a swollen belly of distorted books and wood. Some were so twisted the books they were meant to hold were spilled across the floor like a careless child's toy chest.

The books were no better, some so small they'd be impossible to read with others so comically large Alice doubted she could lift them. A ladder teetered sideways nearby, clinging to a wall that wasn't quite vertical, and the floor seemed to be warped just enough that someone unwary of their steps might trip and fall into an indentation. In fact, it almost looked like the wooden floorboards were like a webwork of walkways above the plush rugs.

If that wasn't odd enough, the room didn't have the familiar smell of old books. That was there, but it was more of a faint echo of what Alice expected. Instead, the air felt almost heavy, full of a scent of ink and dust backed by the whisper-quiet sound of turning pages that came from no particular direction.

"C-can we... um. Leave?" Caeda asked, but when she looked back, the door they'd come in through was gone. "Where'd the door go?!"

Alice spun to see the blank wall behind them. "That is definitely somethin' she shoulda warned us about! Alright then. I guess the only way out is through. Look, we'll be fine, Caeda. Far as I can tell, everything in here's made of paper. You're a light mage, and I've got water magic."

"What? How does that help anything?" Caeda asked in a near panic. It had already been hard enough to convince her to enter the dungeon, and she wasn't taking the disappearance of the only way out very well.

Alice stopped and pulled her into a quick hug, giving her a firm squeeze. "It's fine. We're okay. Everything in here's flammable. You could probably take this whole place down on your own. You don't need to worry, alright?" Her voice was low and steady, meant more to ground than to soothe. "We got this."

Caeda didn't reply, but she stopped objecting. Fog began filling the air as Alice's [Mistwalker] trait began to react to the perceived danger, and she advanced into the room, following the raised wooden flooring. Something about those rugs hiding down in the pit was making her nervous. Almost as an afterthought, she cast a [Water Shield] around both of them.

Following behind her, Caeda said just above a whisper, "I really wish we'd had some kind of armor or real weapons. I didn't expect Sibylla to just lock us in. What if something goes wrong?"

"You're worryin' too much. This is a newbie dungeon, and we're only on the first floor. Besides, we're both mages—what do we need weapons and armor for?" Alice offered a half-grin, trying to keep the mood light. "Besides, it's just a spooky library. Ain't like paper monsters are gonna put up much of a fight."

Of course, the moment the words left her mouth, a large tome fell from a nearby bookshelf, its pages flipping wildly and tearing away as the book flapped and bounced, flipping over and landing as the flying pages snapped back into place, leaving them looking at a cat sized paper scorpion with book cover wings. Before they had a moment to react, several other bookshelves nearby began to rattle, dropping a half dozen more books.

More animals and insects began to rapidly form around the room, too spread out for most of Alice's spells to catch more than one or two together. She was about to step back, trying to get the paper golems to chase them and group up, when Caeda called out from behind her, "[Luminous Lance]!"

A javelin of pure light blasted across the room and slammed into the first of the monsters, more than enough to burn entirely through the scorpion and send pages flying in every direction. The legs and wings twitched for a moment before the smoking wreck of a golem toppled over, with flames slowly spreading across it. There was an early moment of silence, and then the rest of the golems charged.

A paper hawk dove toward Alice's head while a massive paper roach sped toward her ankles. On instinct, she trapped the hawk in a [Water Prison] and pivoted, ready to kick the roach as soon as it skittered onto one of the plush rugs. But just as the roach's legs touched the rug's fibers, the threads lashed upward, wrapping around its appendages with the swiftness of striking snakes.

The entire rug rippled like liquid, revealing its soft fibers as barbed tongues dragging the roach into a hidden pit of snapping teeth. The trap closed around the struggling monster with the brutal efficiency of a bear trap. It happened so quickly that Alice nearly missed it – but there was no ignoring the absurd crunching sounds or the twitching legs and paper antennae being steadily dragged beneath the floor as the mimic resumed its deceptively cozy appearance.

Alice was only stunned for a moment, but when the paper emu tried to charge past her to get to Caeda, she was quick to kick it hard in the side, launching it stumbling right onto another rug. Caeda hadn't even seen the threat as she'd turned to line up another shot on a paper warg circling around and trying to come at them from the side. As the elf cast the same spell as before, Alice turned back to face the alligator about to snap at her feet. She tried to cast her [Heal Wounds] at it in reverse, but as the words began forming in her mouth, she could already tell the spell would fail.

An odd, stinging sensation shot through her head, distracting her just long enough for the alligator to lunge at her legs. Its jaws slammed into her [Water Shield], snapping and shaking violently as it tried to tear through. But moments later, the soaked snout began to soften, crumble, and peel apart. The alligator staggered awkwardly, then froze as its entire head dissolved into shredded, wet paper. Alice barely had time to read the words "Shhh! No talking in the library!" scrawled repeatedly across its body before its tail brushed another rug, and it too was swiftly dragged beneath the floor.

A notification chimed, informing her she'd reached level five, but Alice quickly dismissed it. She turned back toward the hawk she'd trapped, but it had already dissolved into floating blobs of paper and smeared ink swirling uselessly within her spell. None of the other golems had remained intact enough to read, though she suspected they'd all carried the same clue. Of course, that clue had been written in English—because, of course it was.

Caeda stepped up beside her and turned to speak, but Alice swiftly clamped a hand over her mouth. She placed a finger over her own lips in a universal "Quiet!" gesture, holding Caeda's gaze until the elf nodded her understanding.

Alice leaned in close, whispering directly into Caeda's ear. "We can't talk. That's what set the golems off last time."

Fortunately, Caeda trusted her enough to simply nod. They stood silently for a moment, waiting. When nothing else sprang from hiding, Alice slowly began walking again. She felt a fresh surge of irritation that Sibylla hadn't warned her about the rug-mimics lurking everywhere. That really seemed like something that could have gotten them killed.

She glared suspiciously at the next rug she passed but sighed quietly once she noticed the details woven into it. At first glance, it looked like a mosaic of a shark attacking a boat. But on closer inspection, she spotted small traffic "caution" signs at each corner and recognized the pixelated scene for what it was—an image straight out of one of the Jaws movies. Of course it was.

She looked around and saw they were all like that, depicting horror movie monsters with clear warning signs. So. Maybe Sibylla wasn't quite as terrible as her sister. Now that she had more of an idea of what to look for, they continued on.

***

Sibylla watched the doors close, skimming rapidly through the updates flickering across her dungeon status window before dismissing it entirely.

"Maybe I should've given them more detailed instructions, or… I dunno, some actual supplies?" She paused, ears twitching thoughtfully. "Hmm. Nah. They'll probably be fine."

Satisfied, she turned to step back through the shadows toward her tower—but hesitated as an odd melody brushed against her senses. It was faint enough that she'd nearly dismissed it as the wind at first, until the corrupted magic's scent followed. Hunger, malice, and a raw, predatory pull, as if the melody existed only to drag anything it touched into the abyss.

In a flash, she stood as a two-tailed kitsune, turning swiftly in tight circles as she traced the spell's origins. She froze, facing toward Siren's Reach.

"Oh. That's not good," she chirped softly to herself.

Sibylla glanced briefly back at the dungeon entrance, concern flickering across her expression. But Lilith, Constance, and Kira were there—if anything went wrong, they'd have no trouble retrieving their guests. Decision made, she darted toward the town, slipping through shadow after shadow in rapid succession.

***

Alice let out a muffled grunt of pain as she plucked the last quill from her arm. Nearby, the burning remains of the Paper Golem Scribe continued to crumble into ash. The creature had stood nearly ten feet tall, clearly some kind of boss monster, and Alice was frustrated by how little her spells had seemed to affect it. Beyond keeping them protected with [Water Shield] and healing cuts inflicted by the flying quills it had thrown, her primary contribution had been staggering it briefly with her new spell, [Under Current]. The few other chances she'd had to attack merely washed away some inscriptions, slowing it and dulling its movements—but if Caeda hadn't caused large portions of it to combust, things could have gone much worse.

They'd navigated the entire library in silence, cautiously avoiding traps that were almost comically obvious: a treasure chest surrounded by suspicious red barrels, a golden monkey head conspicuously placed on a pedestal, a slice of cake illuminated by a spotlight, an old wooden chair with a teddy bear ominously facing a wall, and once, an innocent-looking red balloon floating just off their path. More than once she'd had to physically prevent Caeda from investigating, and Alice wasn't looking forward to explaining herself once they reached a place safe enough to speak again.

If all of this hadn't already given Alice reason to question their host's sanity, there were also the puzzles they'd encountered. The first had involved a simple bookshelf, books scattered across the floor needing rearrangement in the proper order. While each book contained riddles as clues, they were also conveniently labeled with letters of the English alphabet on their spines—meaning anyone who knew basic English could solve it by simply tossing all twenty-six books back onto the shelves in alphabetical order. Somehow, they'd still received full credit and experience for completing this 'challenge.'

That puzzle wasn't so bad—but the next one wasn't great. They arrived at a pair of doors, each inlaid with expressive faces that immediately began speaking as they approached. The first door politely and predictably declared, "One of us speaks only the truth—" and Alice knew exactly where this was headed. Caeda looked eager to dive into the classic riddle, and she probably would have guessed the correct question without issue… if not for one significant complication.

The entire puzzle area was enclosed by nine enormous books, each weighing at least two tons and covered in silly rhymes about giant murder golems—again written in an annoyingly whimsical English font. Fortunately for Alice, it turned out she could just drown both Door Mimics and bypass the whole thing, quickly advancing to the boss room instead. There hadn't been any helpful clues or instructions on defeating the Scribe, but their combined spells had managed well enough.

Now, as its body dissolved into dust, two objects clattered gently to the floor: a modern concert flute etched with intricate sea creatures and a slender glass wand. Before Alice could voice a sensible caution—entirely reasonable given the dungeon so far—Caeda, blissfully unaware of the absurd number of deathtraps they'd narrowly avoided, enthusiastically bounded forward to grab the items. Alice inhaled sharply, preparing a shield spell, but nothing happened. She quickly scanned the room again. It seemed genuinely clear of golems.

"What are they?" Alice asked as quietly as she dared.

Caeda grinned brightly, oblivious to any lingering danger. "We killed a floor boss! They always drop treasure—usually something useful. This one's definitely a wand, and the other looks like an instrument… wait, do you play music?"

Alice sighed, relaxing slightly. "A bit. But why would it drop a flute?"

Before her friend could answer, the room rumbled, and part of the wall folded open, revealing another hallway. They exchanged glances, hoping it might lead outside, but after several twists and turns, they emerged into yet another circular chamber. Unlike the previous library-themed spaces, this one resembled a dungeon decorated in garish circus colors.

On the far side stood a massive door divided into four brightly painted sections: Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow. Each pastel-colored section contained a large keyhole, and scattered around the room stood four individual display cases—each containing a corresponding key.

Of course, each key was locked securely behind thick security glass, clearly out of easy reach. Beneath each key was a puzzle.

Under the Blue Key was a bright beam of light shining onto a mirrored column, reflecting sharply onto the wall. Handles attached to the pillar hinted clearly enough that it—and the dozen identical columns around the room—could rotate, guiding the beam.

The Green Key sat above a chaotic arrangement of pressure plates scattered across the floor. Each plate bore an inscribed riddle, and around the room stood a variety of animal statues atop sliding green bases, their sizes ranging from an imposing brown bear to a tiny dog. Not only were there more pressure plates than statues, but aside from the riddles, all plates appeared identical, making guesswork impossible. Solving every riddle would be unavoidable.

The Red Key hovered over a row of tall, crimson statues sculpted into various chess pieces, each placed on a single track along the room's perimeter. Only one statue could move at a time, and regal paintings adorned the walls behind them—clearly mismatched with their chess counterparts. Without knowing chess rules, or an extraordinary stroke of luck, aligning them properly seemed improbable.

The Yellow Key presided over a deceptively straightforward pattern-recognition puzzle, composed of toggles arranged in twelve distinct rows. Though it appeared simple at a glance, Alice had a nagging suspicion it would prove to be the most frustrating of all.

And as a final, malicious touch, another of those insidious murder rugs lay innocently in the exact center of the room, waiting patiently.

She took a deep breath, annoyed to find yet another puzzle between them and freedom, but quickly sighed away her frustration. There was no reason to stress—this would likely be just as easy as everything else. Sibylla had created this dungeon specifically to help her friends, after all. It was only designed to deter intruders. Alice reminded herself this was just more easy experience. With Caeda at her side and a cautious smile, she stepped confidently into the room.

Click.

The sound immediately froze them both mid-step. It had come from above. Alice glanced up sharply, realizing what she'd assumed was a dark ceiling was actually glass—and perched atop that glass was a mantis the size of a jeep, its head tilted down to stare directly at her. The creature tapped at the glass lightly, then more insistently, probing for weakness. Alice exhaled a shaky laugh when nothing happened. Just another cheap jump-scare.

Then a second giant mantis landed, and it joined the first, clawing aggressively at the barrier. Then a third arrived, each impact shaking the glass slightly.

"Maybe we should hurry—" Caeda started to whisper, but ended in a startled shriek when an enormous grinning clown head bobbed abruptly into view overhead, like a sinister jack-in-the-box. Its grotesque mask had the kind of eerie eyes that seemed to follow your every move.

Alice swallowed hard. "Yeah. Let's definitely hurry."

They began moving quickly around the room toward the massive door, checking along the way to make sure there weren't special instructions for solving the puzzle. If there were none, she'd tackle the challenges based on the door's colored sections, left to right. Halfway there, another burst of movement above drew her attention upward again—just in time to witness a gigantic white-gloved hand attached to a balloon-like yellow sleeve swinging downward toward the glass ceiling.

It struck with a resonant crack. Alice stared wide-eyed at the enormous hand, now gripping a tree-trunk-sized chisel pressed firmly into the center of the ceiling. Several thin but unmistakable cracks radiated from the point of impact.

"Okay, let's hurry a lot," Alice corrected urgently as she spotted seven more mantises descending ominously behind the clown's other hand—this one wielding an absurdly large hammer.

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They skirted around the center of the room, giving the hungry rug a wide berth, and slid to a stop before the massive door just as the chamber echoed with a deafening crunch. A violent tremor followed, nearly knocking them both off their feet. As they struggled upright, Alice heard the eerie giggle of a child drifting down from above.

Looking up sharply, she saw the gigantic hammer slowly pulling back from the chisel in stuttering, wind-up-toy-like motions. More than twenty mantises now skittered frantically atop the glass, searching for cracks and weak points. If they managed to break through, Alice didn't think she and Caeda stood any chance of surviving.

Alice growled in frustration, urgently examining the colorful door in search of any shortcut. After several precious seconds yielded nothing but smooth, featureless paint, she spun around, scanning the room desperately for clues. Again—nothing helpful, just more puzzles. They were straightforward enough that she was confident they could eventually solve them, but not nearly quickly enough to escape in time.

Turning sharply back toward the door, Alice took a step back, forcing herself to focus on the entire thing at once. And suddenly, she saw it.

"What is wrong with these crazy foxes?!"

***

The closer Sibylla got to the town, the louder the strange song became—and the more foul its underlying magic felt. She paused at the town's edge, just outside the gates, and immediately noticed something peculiar: no one was around. With everything else going on, it seemed especially odd.

Without anyone to stop her, she trotted straight through the gates. Using her spiritual sight, she could easily see that most people were in their homes, asleep—but not everyone. In a bizarre mockery of sleepwalking, more than one person walked repeatedly into the southern walls of their homes, stumbling like confused zombies desperately trying to reach the sea. It immediately brought to mind the abandoned towns they'd investigated not long ago.

With a small jolt of urgency, Sibylla picked up her pace, swiftly moving through the streets and glancing inside as many houses as possible to observe how different residents were affected. By the tenth house, she'd shifted back into her foxgirl form, withdrawing a clipboard from her storage—and, of course, her enormous witch hat. She loved that hat. After adjusting its brim to the perfect, jaunty angle, she began jotting down notes, stepping from shadow to shadow in quick succession. It drained her mana a bit faster than she preferred, but it was worth it for the dual goal of reaching the shoreline quickly while still collecting a sizable set of observations.

The variance fascinated her. Some residents simply tossed in uneasy dreams; others appeared fully controlled, walking mindlessly toward the sea. Still, others remained completely unaffected by the song. It was an odd, discordant pattern, with fragments of the melody fading in and out unpredictably. Initially, she assumed it reflected the nature of the sea, ebbing and flowing like the tide—but further observation made her reconsider. The irregularity was more reminiscent of a radio signal, its frequency intermittently disrupted by interference. Perhaps individuals were affected differently based purely on how clearly the song reached them.

It was a compelling theory—but what she really wanted now was the source. Determined, she continued onward until she reached the cliffside overlooking the harbor. Looking down, the scene was eerie. All the lanterns remained brightly lit, casting warm pools of light across docks, ships, and the sea wall, yet not a single person moved among them.

"That's odd. Aren't there supposed to be guards and stuff?" Sibylla wondered aloud to no one in particular, her eyes scanning the harbor for movement. The ships appeared abandoned, at least on their top decks, but as she continued looking, a small flicker of movement caught her attention. Someone floated in the cove just beyond the breakwater—only their head and shoulders visible above the waterline.

She squinted, leaning forward slightly. The figure was speaking—or rather, singing—though the words didn't quite match the haunting melody she heard. Following a sudden suspicion, she swept her gaze across the cove again and quickly spotted three more heads bobbing in the waves, each one singing separately. Their voices drifted in and out, occasionally syncing with the music but often mismatched, fading unpredictably.

So perhaps she'd been right after all. Something was interfering with their—

A massive maw surged up from below the cliff edge, snapping shut right where Sibylla's head had been an instant earlier. Reflexively, she smacked the attacker directly in the face with her clipboard. Already off-balance from its failed strike—and with Sibylla's counterattack carrying more force than she'd meant—the eel-man creature tumbled from its precarious hold, crashing down onto the docks below.

Sibylla stepped to the cliff's edge and peered downward, discovering dozens more sea monsters scrambling hungrily up the rocky cliffside.

Briefly, she considered simply sounding the alarm and retreating back to her cozy tower. After all, she really despised the smell of seafood—at least, any seafood that wasn't sushi. Then again, Evelyn would be very unhappy if she returned home only to find the entire town devoured by monsters.

Sighing dramatically, Sibylla stored away her slightly bent clipboard, exchanging it for her shiny new sword. After a moment's pause, she also took out a ladle and attached it to her belt.

Who knew what exciting new reagents these creatures might contain?

***

Caeda was shocked out of her horrified stare at the monsters above them by Alice's outburst. She spun, trying to find what had unsettled her friend so much. Alice was just staring at the same door—or, no, she was staring above it—at a mural of a fish.

"Alice! It's just a fish! Look, I don't want to get eaten by bugs! Come on!"

"Nope, that ain't just a fish. It's a giant red herring, and it's sittin' pretty right over the one dang door outta here!"

Caeda stared at her for a moment. "So? Why does that matter? Herring, trout, whatever, I don't see how it's related to the puzzles!"

Before Alice could explain, another crash of the hammer into the chisel above them shook the entire room and sent cracks splitting further through the ceiling, sounding disturbingly like thunder.

Alice watched the spreading cracks for a moment before answering. "It means that door ain't the way out! Look, I'll explain it later! We gotta find the real exit!"

Caeda spun around, confused and feeling more than a little lost but doing her best to find another exit. They ran around the perimeter of the room in opposite directions, checking every space for another door, trying to peek behind the chess figure paintings, and even trying to find the original door they'd come in from, but that was long gone. There was only a continuous circular wall now. They'd nearly met back up when the whole room shook with another impact, followed by the same thunderous cracks overhead and, much to their horror, a few tinkles of broken glass crashing to the ground.

Alice looked up to see where a few shards had fallen to the ground along the cracks. More than one mantis above had noticed as well, and their strikes began targeting the weakened sections. Now, when their claws crashed down, small cracks began to spread.

Snatching up Caeda's hand, Alice dragged her back toward the center of the room, where they could see everything at once. Only that damn rug was right where she wanted to stand. She stopped, about to blast it with a spell, only to finally take in the image on its face. It was a dog. He was wearing a hat, holding a cup of coffee, and sitting happily at a table in the middle of a burning room. A quote above him said, "This is fine." But, rather than the caution symbols she was used to seeing around the edges of these rugs, this one only had one marker above a door in the background of the burning room. "Emergency Exit."

Alice looked at her friend with an annoyed shake of the head, "Remind me to punch Sibylla later."

Caeda nodded, unsure of exactly what for but entirely certain it was deserved before her eyes went wide and she called out, "What? Stop!" as Alice knelt down and grabbed the rug.

In a violent flash of motion, the rug … was thrown aside, revealing a trapdoor beneath. Alice yanked it open just as the first mantis crashed through the glass ceiling above. It barely touched down before lunging, scythe-like claws slicing the air as Alice dragged Caeda into a desperate dive into the darkness below.

It felt like they were falling, weightless, for several seconds before, suddenly, they weren't. There was no impact with the ground, just the sudden feeling of not falling. Cautiously, Alice felt around with her foot, finding that she was standing on something solid enough before taking a step away from Caeda without quite letting go.

"What is this?" Alice whispered, eyes wide.

Caeda shook her head, equally bewildered. "I have no idea." She bounced experimentally on her heels, shrugging. "Maybe something new will happen?"

And on queue, a spotlight shined down on a wooden chest. They exchanged cautious glances, but with nothing else to do, they approached. Wary of another mimic, Alice darted forward and delivered a swift kick to the chest before leaping back defensively. The lid sprang open harmlessly revealing a small, pocket-sized tome and a gleaming silver pendant on a delicate chain.

Tentatively, Alice approached again, reaching down to gently touch the small blue book. Without warning, an eye on its cover blinked open, swiftly scanning the room before locking onto her. The tome lifted itself from the chest, pages fluttering open as it hovered around the two. Words rapidly appeared upon its pages, detailing their surroundings:

Field Observations: Floor 1 — The Tower of Learning (Unofficial Name: "Bookwyrm's Bastion")

Subject: Alice …Accepted.

Current Location: Hidden Reward Chamber (Floor 1 Subzone)

Detected Entities:

Caeda — Wood Elf, Level 4 Light Mage. Mildly stressed.

Index — Artifact Tome, Indispensable magical companion.

No Hostile Entities Detected. (For now.)

Environmental Features:

Non-Euclidean architecture, gravitational and spacial abnormality.

Dungeon Reward Chest

Verified non-hostile.

Contents: Dazzling Pendant — Increases light affinity spell potency by ten percent. When worn, it provides illumination within a ten-foot radius.

Alice stared at the book in confusion. As she opened her mouth to speak, it snapped shut with a clap and darted around her in a circle. Her head turned left to follow its flight, but it veered sharply, looped behind her, and attached itself to her belt on the right. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden contact, but when she looked down, it simply appeared to be a small tome in a leather carrying case—which she didn't remember it having before.

The shock settled after a moment, and she reached down to pull the tome from its case. Its pages were separated by indexing tabs labeled Codex of Curiosities, Casting Compendium, Dear Index, Legendary Quests, and Atlas of Places and Perils. Before she could flip it open to investigate, Caeda stepped forward, tentatively picking up the amulet, causing a notification to appear above the chest.

Floor One Complete. Continue to Floor Two or Exit?

Without exchanging a word, Caeda reached out, selecting the second option while calling out, "Exit!"

Firelight flooded in behind them, and they both spun on their heels to find themselves looking over the field in front of the tower. Alice looked back, startled to see that although she hadn't taken a step, the closed door to the tower was now several feet behind her. A chill went down her spine.

"Well, that ain't creepy or nothin'." She glanced around, noticing the guards still stationed nearby, but no sign of Sibylla. Calling out to the nearest guard, she asked, "Now where'd Sibylla run off to? Wasn't she s'posed to wait right here?"

The guard snapped to attention, answering promptly, "She left toward Siren's Reach in a hurry, my lady. She did not provide any details prior to her departure."

Caeda, still awkwardly holding the amulet by its chain, asked nervously, "So, what are we supposed to do now?"

Alice sighed, looking up toward the top of the tower and then back down the dark road toward Siren's Reach. "I think I've had about enough of this nonsense. First thing, go on and put that necklace on. Then we're marchin' right back to town and findin' us a nice, normal inn to stay at."

The guard gently cleared his throat. "My lady, your carriage is still here. It may save you hours of walking. It should only take a few minutes to be prepared."

Alice paused. "Sibylla didn't take it? Alright, then. We can wait on the carriage."

Caeda, clearly thinking the same thing, asked, "Wait. How did everyone else leave without it? They just walked?"

The guard turned back from where he'd started toward the barn. "They ran, my lady."

When Caeda didn't immediately respond, he turned and hurried off to the nearby barn. Caeda turned to Alice, whispering in confusion, "Why was he calling us 'my lady' like we're nobility?"

Alice glanced down at her dress, noticing the few tears and singed spots already repairing themselves, and then gestured toward her friend. "Reckon it's probably got somethin' to do with the way we're dressed and the company we're keepin'."

Caeda nodded slowly. As they stood watching the lights flickering on inside the barn, she cautiously placed the amulet's chain around her neck and startled when the area around her suddenly illuminated. "Oh, wow! That's almost worth going into a dungeon for." After a beat, she looked up at Alice with a mixture of joy and disbelief. "We just completed the first floor of a dungeon, and we're not dead!"

Her friend was considerably less enthusiastic. "You mean Sibylla dumped us in a dungeon and ran off. I thought she was gonna escort us through it, maybe show us how to handle things—but no, she just ditched us."

Caeda sighed thoughtfully. "That might be for the best. Who knows how high-level she is if she can just create a dungeon? We wouldn't have gotten any experience if she'd gone with us. Or at least, not enough to matter." She paused for a moment before brightening. "I got two whole levels in there!"

Alice was still having trouble feeling good about it, frustration lingering after how the day had gone, though Caeda's reasoning made sense. "And let me guess: if she'd told us all the details beforehand, it would've ruined our experience gain, too?"

Caeda shrugged. "It wouldn't have helped. It's widely believed that figuring things out on your own boosts experience gain, even if you're just a commoner working on skills."

Alice sighed again. "Fine. She ain't as bad as Amélie, but this sure ain't what I was expectin'. After all that nonsense, it's hard not to take my frustration out on the whole lot of 'em. I swear, I think they're all a little crazy." She let out an exasperated breath and started walking forward as a team of horses led the carriage out from the barn.

Her friend hopped to her side. "Evelyn seemed normal enough. Maybe a little high-strung, but she is under a lot of stress."

Alice just shook her head. "We'll see when she gets back. If she turns out crazy too, well… might be we're better off goin' it alone."

After they got into the carriage, they traveled in quiet. It wasn't just that it would be awkward if the driver heard them speaking so frankly about his employer, but they were dead tired. It wasn't long before they both passed out, napping for the majority of the trip. Alice only jolted awake when the carriage came to a sudden stop. Caeda was still asleep, lying across a bench, but the carriage didn't rock with the tell-tale motion of the driver getting down to open the door, so Alice didn't wake her.

After a few seconds like that, she woke up enough to notice the nervous snorting and stomping of the horses and an odd singing in the distance. It was discordant, like she was only hearing a part of the whole, and then, it stopped. She pulled the curtains back from the window enough to see that she wasn't inside the town at all. In fact, it had to be nearly half a mile away. Carefully, she opened the door, but nothing seemed amiss.

Sticking her head through the cracked door, she called out, "You alright up there?"

There was an odd silence in response, a short, sliding noise, and then a nervous whinny and stomp in reply, but nothing else. She gave it another two seconds but then stepped out, closing the door behind her and walking around to the front of the carriage. The seat was empty, and all four horses were looking in every direction, tails lashing like they wanted to bolt.

"Whoa, hey now, whoa..." she called out soothingly to them, climbing up on the driver's seat and picking up the loose reins to head off any problems. She wasn't too familiar with driving, but she knew enough about riding to pretend if she needed to. Alice kept her voice low and calm, gently tugging the reins as the horses shifted restlessly under her. "Easy now... Ain't nothin' here but night air and long roads, yeah?"

But the words rang hollow in her own ears. The wind picked up just enough to stir her hair and carried with it a strange sound. A voice? No… voices. Half-formed words in a melody that never finished, like someone was trying to hum a lullaby they didn't quite know. It rose, faded, then cut off sharp like a knife drawn across silence.

Alice's brow creased. Her fingers tightened around the reins, and she murmured, "That's not right…"

Trying to remember the little she knew about driving a wagon in case the driver didn't return, she looked down at the brake lever beside the seat, only, it wasn't engaged.

"What, he just hopped off without settin' the brake? Yeah, sure. That sounds real likely."

The horses stamped again, ears pinned and eyes wide. They weren't looking at her. They were watching something just off the road, beyond the ditch, out where the moonlight barely touched the edge of the fields.

Then she smelled it.

A sharp tang of brine, thick and metallic. Blood. And fish. A mix that churned in her gut like something foul from a forgotten market stall.

A wet, slurping noise followed, slow and rhythmic, punctuated by the unmistakable crunch of something soft giving way beneath powerful jaws.

Alice turned her head slowly, dread crawling its way up her spine like ice water.

There, just off the road where the cornfield started, something shifted. A shape too large to have gone unnoticed. Hunched low, almost still, but breathing. Feeding. She hadn't seen it before, not because it wasn't there, but because it hadn't moved.

Now, it did.

A limb—arm? Tentacle?—lifted in the dark, limp and tattered, and something heavy dropped from it with a splat into the corn. The shape of a boot. The hint of a sleeve. The glint of the driver's lantern still clutched in a pale hand.

Alice didn't scream. But her throat went tight.

"Well… that explains the brake."

She eased herself upright in the seat, drawing the reins in quietly.

"Alright, darlin's," she whispered to the horses, voice barely more than a breath.

"We're gonna move real slow. Real quiet. Don't look back, and don't you even think about boltin'."

Just when they started to move, the wind shifted again. The broken song started once more… Only cut off as somewhere far off in the distance, something howled in pain. The scream tore across the night like a gunshot. Sharp, violent, almost human, and anything but weak.

Alice flinched. The horses reared and shrieked in panic. And that thing in the field, the one she'd only just realized wasn't a nightmare, lifted its head.

It was hideous. A warped tangle of flesh, scales, and barnacle-crusted hide, slick with blood and reeking of salt rot. Something deep in its twisted form understood the scream. It was a challenge, a threat, and a call to arms.

It surged toward her. Its bulk moved awkwardly on land, slapping through the rows of corn like a drunk with too many limbs, but it was fast. Faster than anything that size had a right to be.

Alice's instincts snapped to life. Her mana surged.

"[Under Current]!" she cried, and slammed her will into the ground.

A wall of water erupted from the dry earth, crashing forward in a surging wave. It struck the monster full in the chest, blasting it back – but not away.

The water soaked the field, turning firm ground into muck, the road into slurry. That had been a mistake. The creature writhed with sudden glee, its body slithering with ease through the shallow flood.

"No no no –" Alice gasped.

The monster slammed into the carriage with a wet, meaty thud, tentacles latching onto the wood. The whole frame lurched sideways. She heard Caeda roll against the far wall with a soft grunt. The horses shrieked in terror and bolted, snapping the soaked reins taut.

Alice didn't hesitate. "Let her go!" she snarled, hurling herself upright in the seat and channeling everything she had into her magic.

"[Heal Wounds]!" But she twisted the intent. Reversed the polarity. Turned the life-giving spell inward. Not to mend, but to unravel.

The spell hit the creature square in the head, flooding its twisted flesh with raw, confused mana meant for healing. It wasn't made to receive that kind of grace, no matter the intent. The flesh rejected it.

The monster screamed, an awful, keening wail, as part of its head sloughed away in chunks, dissolving into the foaming trail of water. A pair of writhing arm-tentacles split open and fell twitching to the mud.

With the sound of ripping, putrid flesh, the carriage sped away, tires skipping through puddles, wheels bouncing over uneven ground until Alice managed to get it back on the road.

In what felt like moments, Siren's Reach loomed ahead. Only… something was wrong. The gates stood wide open. No lanterns burned. Only as she closed in did she see the bodies littering the cobbled road. Guards, ripped open and mauled, their blood fresh in the moonlight. There was nothing she could do for the dead, and she left them behind without stopping. She needed to find somewhere safe for Caeda.

As she closed in on the waterfront, she realized the sound of battle was clear in the harbor. Another wave of song washed over them before being cut short. It made the reins tremble in Alice's hands. She felt the pressure in her chest and heard the lull to sleep hidden in the noise, but her mind remained clear.

The horses stumbled but didn't fall. She blinked. "Didn't affect me…" she whispered. Then louder, "Hang on, Caeda. We're almost there."

People were fleeing down side streets, ducking into buildings. One of them, a large inn with its doors flung wide and guards posted outside. Alice made her choice.

"Sorry, fish boys." She steered the carriage directly into a pack of the flopping creatures, crushing two under its wheels as she hauled on the reins. The carriage screeched to a halt in front of the inn.

She leapt down, grabbed the knife from her belt, and cut the horses free, slapping their flanks. "Run! Get outta here!"

Then she wrenched the carriage door open and hauled Caeda out, cradling her like a sister.

"I gotcha. We're goin' in."

The guards shouted but didn't stop her. One took her arm, and another covered their retreat as she bolted through the doors into the crowded warmth and relative safety of the inn.

***

Sibylla. Hated. Saltwater. She hated it So Much. She especially hated it as her sword tore through the ribs of a Naga, coming free alongside its severed arm in a spray of gore and yet MORE SALT WATER. She shrieked.

"Saltwater IN MY TAILS!" She savagely chopped through its neck before the corpse could sink below the waves, snatching its head-fin in her offhand and holding it up face to face to scream, "Do you know how much work I put into keeping them clean?! This will take forever to get out!"

One of the Siren Spawn surfaced not twenty feet away, arms spread wide with a look of fanatical glee on its face. It was Virell, the weird one with the inflatable, singing ribcage. She hurled the Naga head directly into his grinning face. The wide-eyed look of shock as he spun, crashing back down into the waves almost—ALMOST—made this worth it.

She held up a handful of her hair, growling under her breath. "I'm going to end up with split ends! That's. It. Emergency decontamination bath, triple-distilled hydrophobic infusions—three-stage ritual MINIMUM."

One of the massive Naga guards launched itself out of the waves from directly beneath her, but her attention snapped toward another figure breaking the surface. She stepped through the shadow of a wave and into Nysha's shadow. Nysha was the "pretty" one, whose song put everyone to sleep. Sibylla's sword came up, but she was forced to dodge away as a massive cleaver made of bones and broken ship parts exploded from the water where she'd just stood. A trap. Again. Predictable.

This was the third time they'd used the same tactic, and she'd been expecting it. As soon as the cleaver broke the surface, she rolled into its shadow and stepped out onto the shoulder of its wielder, Gralloch, the bloated, barnacle-crusted butcher. He was an engine of destruction, even when he roared his "song." She wasn't looking forward to that B minor war crime again.

First, she focused on Nysha. The siren spawn's veiny throat inflated with magic, and her mouth opened, the first hints of her hypnotic melody rising—

Sibylla's wand appeared in her offhand. She posed with a perfect swish and flick. "Maledicta Araneae Regurgitata!"

Nysha's eyes widened in horror as spiders began erupting from her mouth instead of music. Dozens, then hundreds. Every kind imaginable spilled, crawled, and climbed their way out, covering her face, falling into the water, killing and eating each other—all while Nysha could do nothing but choke and suffer. Sibylla shook her head, muttering internally, "Spiders again. Maybe frogs next time? Or kittens? No, that'd probably be unethical."

The butcher jerked his weapon away, opening his mouth to bellow his own terrible song. Sibylla folded her ears back to avoid distraction, leaping from the weapon onto his arm, dodging as another of his many limbs swatted at her. She dismissed her wand with a wave and scrambled onto his shoulder, just below his massive, gasping neck-gills. Summoning a grossly underrated healing item to her hands, she dove into his shadow, flinging a cask of cauterization powder right into the pink, slimy organ.

In a flash of smoke and the pungent, nauseating stench of chemical burns, the delicate membranes of his gills immediately began to seal and shrivel. He went wild, flailing in a panic before plunging back into the depths – only to explode back to the surface a moment later as the seawater only served to dissolve, spread, and activate the powder further. His flailing body crashed into the burning wreck of a merchant ship, and he impaled himself on the broken masts, tangling himself up in what was left of rigging with his struggle. One way or another, Sibylla was pretty sure that one was out of the fight.

Sibylla's night had not been going well. At least, not at first. She'd never tried to fight around water before, and she never intended to. She'd just wanted to hang out with her new friends/dungeon test subjects, help them level up sufficiently to justify celebrating, and then – well, it didn't matter. She'd ended up here instead.

It had been interesting. She'd arrived to find them singing their songs in weird bouts above and below water. They didn't like the surface, but something about that sea wall was blocking their magic, and they were experimenting on how to take down the town's defenses. They'd put nearly everyone in the harbor to sleep, and their monsters had eaten most people out in the open. Someone managed to fire off some kind of explosive weapon on a merchant ship, which mostly just caused the ship to catch on fire, but that just added some ambiance.

She would never be able to shapeshift as well as Evelyn or cast illusions as well as Amélie, but she could do some real work with shadows, and that was exactly what she needed here. Every wave cast a shadow in the moonlight, and every monster's flickering shadow was cast long by the burning ship.

She didn't have anyone to coordinate with when she'd decided to break up their chorus, and now that the town was awake and trying to defend itself, she couldn't really stop to coordinate. Instead, she was stuck playing whack-a-mole. The Sirens couldn't sing their magic effectively below water, and while she was definitely not going to chase them into the depths, she was perfectly capable of making any stay above the surface unpleasant. And, bonus, they had a ton of guards who were just full of rare materials.

She turned back to Nysha, who was still coughing and spitting out spider legs. The siren spawn's glare locked momentarily with Sibylla's murderous gaze and, caught between rage and terror, only hesitated a moment before she dove beneath the waves and swam swiftly away. Sibylla didn't pursue; she'd already magically marked every siren spawn that surfaced, so chasing now was pointless.

Sibylla sighed. Whatever was orchestrating these creatures was ancient, fascinating, and absolutely worth investigating—later. Right now, she had an ocean full of reagents to collect.

She glanced down at her soaked tails through her clinging hair, sighed again more dramatically, and muttered, "But first, I need to do something about this vile saltwater..."