“Oh good, an empty boss chamber,” Kaleek drawled. “I guess that means we can just walk to the alter and claim the dungeon award without any difficulty then.”

Kat involuntarily rolled her eyes hard enough that she wondered whether or not she should be using healing magic on herself.

“You sound like a dad at a restaurant claiming that he should get a drink for free just because there wasn’t a price listed on the menu,” she said, her voice drier than the Sahara.

“That’s only good sense,” the big otter replied jovially, tossing her a wink. “If they wanted me to pay for a product, they should list a price. It’s hardly my fault that I would make a mistake of that nature.”

She kept herself from rising to the desoph’s bait. It took some effort, but months of etiquette lessons managed to restrain her response. Barely.

“If you ask me whether I am ‘fighting hard’ or ‘hardly fight’ I swear to God that I will personally develop a faster than light drive and hunt you down so that I can plant a boot in your furry butt in person.”

“She can you know,” Dorrik supplied helpfully. “I knew that shareholders held a position of power on Earth before I landed, but Ms. Kat has as about as much authority as a clan sub leader. It’s only a matter of time before she manages to cement a more solid hold over her planet. Focusing her scientists on a crash course to develop galactic spaceflight is well within her capabilities.”

“But that implies that she could manage to plant a-“ Kaleek began before his head snapped up. All three of them felt it at the same time. Something was moving above them, disturbing the air currents around the top of the cavern.

None of them said anything. There wasn’t any need after adventuring together for so long. Kaleek stepped a couple paces in front of them, his sword held in a vertical, two-handed grip as he peered up into the darkness. Dorrik occupied a spot a pace or two behind him, twin swords drawn and angled slightly toward the ground. Kat brought up the rear, one dagger glittering in the grip of her Pseudopod while she held her crossbow cradled in both arms.

With a rush of motion, three shapes appeared at once, each of them a rectangle as big as a small house. More importantly, all three of the rectangles were moving toward the ground at blinding speed.

Levitation snapped into place around Kaleek even as Kat’s Pseudopod wrapped itself around his waist, jerking the suddenly weightless warrior to the side as she dove free of the impact zone. Dorrik managed to dodge to the other side on his own, purple energy flickering and burning around him as it sped his reflexes to an absurd level.

All three of the boxes hit with enough force to shatter stone, sending shockwaves through the air an eyeblink ahead of a wave of gravel and rock dust. Shrapnel bounced off of Kat's armor, and almost immediately the three rectangles began rising up again toward the ceiling.

Their ascent wasn’t nearly as quick, but it was still much faster than an unaided human could move. Still, they weren’t moving so rapidly that she couldn’t make out some of their features now that they blocks weren’t actively trying to murder her.

Each of them was about eight paces wide and twelve long, made out of a dark material that resembled rock. In the center of the boxes was a large red gem, pulsing with light and power. Kat wasn’t sure whether the crushing plates were the boss itself or some sort of weapon used by the monster, but she knew a weak point when she saw one.

Kaleek shook free of Kat’s grip, and she let the heavily armored warrior go as he dashed across the floor with surprising speed, jumping onto the ‘back’ of one of the rectangles as it rose into the air. The wind of its passage whipped the desoph’s fur back and forth as he grinned madly.

His sword rose into the air, an aura of red glow surrounding both the warrior and his weapon. Then, he hacked downward, sword a crimson blur as it buried itself in the gem that stuck out of the block’s back.

The gem shattered. Almost immediately, the black rectangle began to fall apart, chunks of it plummeting toward the ground. The pieces disintegrated as they fell, transforming into dust that was pulled upward toward the ceiling by the airflow from the other two boxes.

Kaleek fell slowly toward the ground, whooping with delight as Levitation slowed his descent enough to turn his fall into something approximating an amusement park ride rather than a more mad plummet to his death.

He touched down next to Dorrik and Kat. The lokkel frowned slightly as he stared up at the ceiling, tracking the ascent of the rectangles.

“That is truly annoying,” he said, crest swaying gently.

Kat followed his gaze and found herself frowning as well. Now that she knew what to look for, it wasn’t hard to nice the three rectangular indentations etched into the ceiling. Two of them had the large dark plates in them, and in the third, a red crystal shown dimly.

Dust and gravel flowed in from the air around it, rapidly reconstructing the crushing plate. By the time Kaleek touched down, it had completely reformed. There wasn’t even a mark on the rectangle. It was like the desoph hadn’t even touched it.

All three of the boxes blurred into motion once again, the air in front of them forming a roaring cone as the rapid movement of the plates overcompressed it. She Leapt, stamina leaking out of her as the ability drew on her energy reserves.

The plate changed directions mid-air, curving slightly toward her as the red gem seemed to lock onto her like a baleful eye. It was falling too quickly to completely adjust to Kat’s jump, but a quick calculation confirmed that it would still manage to clip the bottom of her legs. A flicker of will sent her Pseudopod into motion, the blade of her knife drawing sparks as it slashed at her attacker.

She didn’t bother to empower her stab in any way. Kat doubted that any attack on the black material that formed the body of the plates would do any real damage. Rather, she took the momentum of the blow through her Pseudopod, letting it toss her to safety as the rectangle roared past.

Dorrik managed a similar feat, using some combination of Psi abilities and sheer athletic prowess to avoid the rampaging box. Kaleek wasn’t quite so lucky. Stamina flashed red around him as it caught him mid dodge, driving the lower half of the desoph into the stone and leaving a crater shaped vaguely like the otter as it began to rise toward the ceiling yet again.

Kaleek groaned, pulling himself out of the hole and brushing rock dust off of himself as he climbed to his feet. His armor was unblemished by the attack, and Kat knew from his experience that his hit points shouldn’t have been impacted even if the ability he had just used had expended a decent chunk of his stamina.

“This is distinctly unpleasant,” Dorrik remarked, eyes still tracking the ascending plates. “This dungeon would be hard enough if the final boss simply tried to crush us. After all, it moves dangerously fast. Regeneration and tracking upgrade its threat level into the range where caution would be advised.”

“Caution,” Kaleek said, pulling a chunk of stone out of the knee joint in his armor. “Say no more.”

“Seriously,” he continued, tossing the rock aside. “Don’t say anymore. Getting hammered into the floor by something this weak is embarrassing.”

All three of the plates rocketed downward yet again. This time, they knew what was coming. Kat fed a small amount of stamina into her skills, running and jumping from shadow to shadow in a serpentine pattern that the box couldn’t track.

The gem-studded rectangles crashed into the stone again with eardrum shattering force. This time Kaleek managed to avoid the attack entirely. Both of the boxes remained lodged in the ground for a fraction of a second before they started rising again.

“Kaleek!” Dorrik shouted. “Ride one up but don’t destroy it. I need to know if the plates are the boss or if we’re dealing with the entire roof of the cavern.”

Kat felt a twinge of anxiety. She hadn’t thought of that, but it wouldn’t be out of line. It would be exactly like the tower to turn the entire boss chamber into an opponent.

Kaleek grunted, jumping into the air. Levitation was still active, letting the desoph rocket up so that he could land on top of the rectangles. He landed on top of one, dropping into a crouch as he rose up with the plate.

Just as he reached the roof of the chamber, Kaleek hopped off of his mount. Once again, all three plates remained in the ceiling for a couple of seconds as Kaleek floated gently downward.

They threw themselves toward Dorrik and Kat, angry meteors that tried to track the two of them as they ran back and forth. Before Kaleek made it halfway down, all three of the plates slammed into the ground.

This time, they were a little closer than Kat would like, showering her with dust and gravel that irritated her eyes and throat even as it pelted her face and armor. Although she could dodge one of the crushing rectangles with a minor expenditure of Stamina, two of them was a bit much.

The plates began to rise again, and Dorrik brushed dust off of his scales with his lower arms as he called up to Kaleek.

“What are we dealing with? Is the ceiling alive?”

“Nope!” Kaleek shouted back. “Nothing but solid stone. Whatever is animating and regenerating the plates is contained within them. My guess is that it’s the red gems. It seems that all three of them are connected somehow.”

The rectangles clicked back into their slots in the ceiling.

“What if we destroyed all three at once?” Kat asked. “If the gems are connected, they could be healing each other. If we can eliminate all of them at the same time, they won’t be able to regenerate.”

“That seems reasonable,” Dorrik said, his crest wavering gently, “Kaleek, what do you think? Are you up for trying a simultaneous attack?”

“Always!” The desoph yelled cheerfully. “So long as Kat keeps Levitation active, I should be able to jump up on top of these silly blocks without any real problem.”

Kat nodded, reaching out to snatch the knife from her Pseudopod and slide it into its sheath. She could only use two spells at the same time, and she’d need that second slot available in just a second.

The plates launched themselves from the ceiling, careening through the air as the curved toward each of the party members below.

She broke into a sprint, running some ten steps before digging a foot into the stone and pushing off. Kat changed directions, bolting some five steps to the side as the rectangle rotated slightly in an attempt to follow her.

Just as it seemed to lock onto her, Kat switched her moment a third time, pulling away from the rapidly falling crushing plate. It crashed into the ground, barely two paces behind her, and Kat skidded to a halt.

She dropped down to one knee, pulling her crossbow up to her shoulder as she began to push mana into the bolt. As the monstrous chunk of matter began to ascend, she sighted the weapon, drawing a bead on the red crystal.

In her peripheral vision she watched Kaleek hack another gem apart from above. Dorrik took a different approach, jetting upward toward his gem from underneath and skewering it with both of his swords.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Kat fired, investing her crossbow bolt with Gravity Spike as it left her crossbow. It punched into the underside of the gem, penetrating just enough that she could see a plume of magical energy leaking out of the monster’s core.

An eyeblink later, her spell activated. Gravity twisted in on itself, shearing through the fragile crystal and shattering wit with ease.

The plate continued to rise, disintegrating into dust and gravel as it ascended toward the ceiling. This time, the dust fell toward the ground. Inert and lifeless without the mana from its companions to animate it.

Kaleek touched down next to them, a massive grin on his face. It was like he had already forgotten the way that the dungeon boss had pummeled him into the ground earlier in the fight. Of course, it would be hard to deny what happened. There was still an otter shaped crater in the stone to say otherwise.

“That was fun,” he said cheerfully, trotting over to where Dorrik and Kat were gathering. “The dreamscape should generate more bosses like that. I’ll take slam boxes over gozzlam any day.”

“Slam boxes?” Kat asked, raising an eyebrow. “That seems like an awfully blasé name for a monster that dangerous.”

“Who said it was dangerous?” Kaleek asked, blowing a quick raspberry. “I don’t think we were every really at risk. It’s not like it could deal any damage.”

Kat didn’t say anything, instead looking pointedly at the hole in the floor.

“Come on now,” Kaleek said indignantly. “That was on purpose. I wanted to see if it would be any fun to let it hit me.”

Kat couldn’t help herself. She broke into a quick laugh. Kaleek was beyond shameless, lying with the glibness of a career criminal and/or politician, but on the other hand, he was enough of a lunatic that he might have actually let the monster hit him for fun.

“It appears to be dead,” Dorrik interrupted. “That is one more iron-tier dungeon conquered. We are still moving at an admirable pace”

“Good,” Kat replied, relief flooding her voice. “Things have been quiet on Earth and that worries me.”

Dorrik cocked his head to the side, crest fluttering in confusion.

“I thought quiet would be good?” He asked. “After all the excitement and panic of the stallesp infiltration, I would have thought that you would welcome the quiet.”

“Earth doesn’t really get peaceful,” Kat said with a snort. “If things are quiet, that doesn’t mean that my enemies have given up. It means they’re plotting. I would hope that my intelligence teams would have turned up specifically what they are plotting by now, but unfortunately, I haven’t heard even a single whisper on the wind.”

“Actually,” she remarked. “What is happening with the stallesp anyway? The last I heard, the Consensus was going to punish them for interfering and starting a war, but the exact nature of the punishment was up for further discussion.”

“It got negotiated down to a fine,” Kaleek cut in, disgust in his voice. “Despite everything, the expansion faction still had enough influence to discount the atrocities of the brief war and argue their penalty down to nothing more than an exchange of money.”

“It’s a lot of money though,” Dorrik supplied. He didn’t sound terribly satisfied by the outcome either. “Enough to buy multiple mining and industry planets or one habitable world. I doubt the stallesp have enough liquid funds to actually pay the fine. They would have to sell assets, likely at a steep discount. I’m not sure that it would cripple their civilization, but it would set them back at least fifty years. That may be insufficient, but its certainly not ‘nothing.”

“That’s if they pay it,” Kaleek said darkly. “Half of the funds are ear-marked for Earth’s renovation and integration plan once you develop to the point that you can enter the Consensus. The stallesp don’t have to pay up until you have a proper ascendant to represent your society in the Consensus.”

“Ascendant?” Kat asked, walking toward the alter that would teleport the three of them out of the dungeon. “I haven’t exactly heard that term before.”

Kaleek and Dorrik shared a look. The lokkel shrugged.

“We're probably on a high enough floor,” he said, but his tone was hardly authoritative. “You should be able to discuss it with her.”

“It’s why we’re rushing your level,” Kaleek supplied. “I think that the two of us have dropped some hints that the first human to make it to level twenty-four will trigger something. Specifically, that would turn you into an Ascendant, a candidate to represent humanity in the Galactic Consensus.”

Kat frowned slightly. Earth wasn’t ready for the cultural shocks that would come with intergalactic integration. It was barely managing to avoid a series of crippling world wars as is. Technically, as a shareholder, she was one of the planet’s leaders, but that didn’t change her opinion of their prospects for the better. Rather, it only made her more pessimistic about their chances.

It was clear that everyone would benefit from the cooperation and trade that would come with joining the consensus. Each and every human would be richer and live a more fulfilling life, but that was all contingent on them learning to work together and cooperate long enough to not cheat and steal from each and every alien merchant that visited their planet.

As the old adage went, you could lead a horse to water, but you couldn’t make it drink. On modern Earth, things were noticeably worse. If you led a cyberhorse to water, it would stab the other cyberhorses to stop them from drinking. Half the time it would forget that it was there to drink in the first place, instead simply hording the water while it grew thirstier and thirstier.

“That doesn’t seem to be a terribly good idea,” she said lightly. “In fact, I think letting Earth into the Consensus would be a downright bad idea at the moment.”

“It absolutely would be a miserable idea,” Dorrik agreed. “The Galactic Consensus isn’t just rewarding raw power with the Ascendant. Becoming one gives you the qualifications to take a test that would turn you into your race’s representative, but most of that test is to determine your personal ethos and ethical makeup. It is still possible to fail the test. In fact, many do.”

“That makes me feel a little better,” Kat replied. “At least it isn’t just a race. I doubt anyone from Millennium would pass-“

“They’ll just cheat,” Kaleek interrupted her. “New races affiliated with the stallesp have generated a series of ‘uncharacteristically corrupt and violent’ representatives. No one knows how they’re managing to circumvent the testing, but everyone knows that they are doing it somehow.”

“Once they’re in charge of the world,” he continued, “they have access to some of the Galactic Consensus’ resources. They are supposed to be used to build up their world’s infrastructure and society to standards that conform to galactic norms, but the stallesp affiliates tend to all end up hiring contractors from the same firms, often at rates that are well above average.”

“That’s lovely,” she responded, her face screwing up into a frown. Kat knew a kickback scheme when someone spelled it out that plainly for her. “So is that their plan? Take over Earth and drain enough money from our reconstruction fund to take the edge off of their fine?”

“They probably won’t pay the fine at all,” Dorrik said gently. “If a stallesp Ascendant ends up representing humanity, I would be surprised if their first act wouldn’t be to forgive the stallesp debt in exchange for some vague promise of support or technical leadership.”

Kat pursed her lips. There wasn’t much to say in reply to that. The Galactic Consensus was much better than human society, but corruption and political favors were as universal as starlight itself.

She reached out, touching the dungeon alter.

Congratulations Adventurer!

You have completed the Iron Tier Level Eleven Dungeon, Ice Caves of Raknos

Three of Three party members surviving. Good Job!

Assigning awards:

Agility + 1

Stamina + 3