Dungeon Enslaved Read online

  She’d died in my arms, the last duchess of Tenemin, my wife, my love, and my life. Then, I’d been hit by dark magic that cut through my protections, I hadn’t even tried to dodge, or fight it off in my grief. Then there was nothing but darkness, and dreams of the past as I was trapped in my mind with dark magic. How did I escape? Why hadn’t I followed her into death?

  The memories were overwhelming, and I retreated into my mind.

  I remembered everything. The kingdom of Nysten used to be a place of justice, where the church and aristocracy shared power and rule. There’d been checks and balances, and corruption had been held in check for thousands of years. The legacy of changes my father had wrought lasted a long time, but nothing was forever. I’d been the first of Nurien’s line to marry into Catalina’s, but we hadn’t seen the corruption in the church until it was too late. What Jennesar failed to do so far in the past, had been done. The lines of the king, and the duchy, had been ended.

  I wondered why I had been put in a dungeon crystal, which was very dark magic. I also wondered how long ago that was, how much time had passed? I had no way of knowing, but I knew one thing, they’d regret not killing me when they’d had the chance.

  For the moment though, I retreated, my mind was in turmoil, and I needed to grieve. Despite the vow of revenge that I’d just made to myself, I had no idea how I’d make them pay. I was enslaved in a dungeon crystal, surrounded by control glyphs, and I’d no idea how long it’d been or what the kingdom even looked like in that moment.

  I’d worry about it later.

  Chapter Two

  Jenny sighed, and prayed to Yphine, goddess of truth, for patience.

  She’d been sitting outside the high cleric of Tenemin’s office for over an hour now, her appointment had been set for ninth bell, and it was getting close to lunchtime. The high cleric of Tenemin was the second most powerful man in the church, only The Highest up in the holy city outranked him. He was also the gatekeeper to her advancement. She’d achieved the rank of Adept level five over two years ago now, but despite her hard work and dedication to the church she had yet to be approved for master level training.

  Not just as a cleric of light magic, but she also had an affinity for the magical spheres of air and darkness. It was mostly unheard of for anyone to have three affinities, even two affinities were rare, but three had run in her family for as long as she knew. Of course, she was restricted from learning dark magic, theirs was the church of light, but she had adept level knowledge in air as well. She supposed she had adept level power in dark as well, just no knowledge or spells for that sphere. She was just twenty-four, and she’d started her training at the age of sixteen, it’d only taken her six years to reach adept level five, now she waited for approval to continue.

  She’d been waiting two years, a long time, but she also knew there were others that had been waiting much longer than that.

  Masters in the church of light were restricted, she hated it, but it was the way it was. She also didn’t have a choice but to serve, all citizens born with the light affinity were forced to serve in the church, there were no light mages at all in the kingdom of Nysten. Still, she couldn’t deny she felt close to and loved by her chosen deity. There were eight gods or goddesses in the pantheon for the church of light, and she’d chosen the goddess of truth.

  Thing was, she hated politics, and she suspected she was wasting her time. This would be the fourth time she requested permission to access, read, and learn about the master level truths and spells from the master archives, she’d been denied the last three times as being too young, and not having served long enough yet. She suspected there was more to it, she was admittedly ambitious, and she was also a prodigy of sorts.

  In short, she made the masters above her nervous. It didn’t help that she’d refused all overtures of marriage from the men in the church, though she believe she had good reason for doing so. She also suspected the fact she didn’t have a dick measured highly in the decision as well. Most master clerics in the church were men, and the few who weren’t were all married and under the thumb of their husbands. She’d long come to the conclusion the church was corrupt, and the suppression of learning was their way of keeping in power.

  Still, she persevered. What choice did she have?

  Jenny had long lustrous light brown hair, warm liquid brown eyes, and a soft beauty to her face, with a button nose, full lips, and light cheekbones. She was athletic, and her five foot seven athletic body was very much in shape. Given her studies as a cleric had ended for the last two years, she’d been cheating a bit and learning the sword, and would also be considered a paladin in the high apprentice ranks if she dared take an official test.

  To learn both styles was rare, but not unheard of, granted it was more likely in an elf, but some humans chose both disciplines. Magic could be turned outward or inward, those that chose the path of spells learned to harness their lifeforce and magic to cast spells and were called mages or clerics. Magic turned inward enhanced the body in various ways partially depending on the sphere, and turned out weapons masters, either paladins that served the church, or warriors.

  There were five major levels of mastery, initiate, apprentice, journeyman or journeywoman, adept, and master. Each level of mastery had five more levels of competence within the major levels, but they were more to track personal progress than anything else. Each level added years to the life of the practitioner, masters could live up to a thousand years depending on when the training was completed, as a rule every level gained added two hundred years or so to life expectancy, although initiate levels there was only a hundred year gain for the initial steps of power. So two hundred each for apprentice, journeyman, adept, and master, would get a person close to a millennia of life expectancy.

  There were further rankings she knew, above master, but to attain even more power required the assistance of a god. The human body could only contain so much power, and without enhancement from a deity it was impossible. In fact, if a human did manage to attain more power without the help of a deity, it would damage the body and lower life expectancy. Needless to say, it was very rare for a god or goddess to give out such boons, only great quests of service could be rewarded in such a way.

  At adept level, she was able to modify spells she knew, add or take away from a spell and change it slightly. Her air blasts for instance, could be one large one, or many small, and she could create and control tornados. Master level was the next step, creating spells from scratch. To do that, the base forms of magic itself for that sphere needed to be understood. It wasn’t something she could just figure out on her own.

  She did have the aura and raw power of a master already, her magic had continued to grow, but to be considered a master it took power, knowledge, and control, which were the three things judged when determining rank. Power grew independently and on its own as magic was used, but without master level knowledge and control she was merely a more powerful adept. Power wasn’t everything in magic, any master could defeat her easily.

  The door opened, and she stood up.

  A very young woman walked out, still an initiate, and she blushed in embarrassment as she saw Jenny sitting there.

  Jenny wrinkled her nose, as the obvious scent of sex reached her nose as the girl fled past her. She barely managed to hold back the sigh of disgust, and she kept her face neutral as she walked toward the door to the high cleric’s office. The church was corrupt, she didn’t have to see any more than what she’d just had to know that. She’d also had to put up with things like that, when she’d been an initiate, and she knew exactly what that girl was feeling. It disgusted her, and made her feel guilt at the same time, but what could she do about it?

  It was the way it was, young initiates, especially the pretty ones, had to earn their place. They were also under oath to obey the masters of the church. She’d hated it when it was her turn, but she’d done it to rise up in power. The ones that refused weren’t even granted the opportunity to
rise above apprentice. She hadn’t had to deal with it for years though, the masters didn’t insist on such things from anyone above apprentice rank. It was disgusting, and also why she’d refused those marriage overtures for the most part, what woman would want to marry a man who had previously ill-used them?

  Of course, the answer was many did, for the power, but it was something she just couldn’t abide.

  “Ah, Jenny, come on in, shut the door please.”

  She formed a spell and released it, one that would filter the air she was breathing in, the room reeked of sex and debauchery. That was much better, and she shut the door and took a seat in the chair in front of his desk when he waved his hand at it.

  He asked, “What can I do for you?”

  She took a deep breath, for patience.

  “I’m requesting access to the master archives, so I can continue to grow and serve the church.”

  The high cleric frowned, “I admire your initiative, you were always a good and quick student. There are no master openings right now, though two of us are close to retirement. You could try again in six months?”

  She ignored the fact he was staring at her breasts while talking. Her body was tight, athletic, and very much in shape, but her breasts were a little oversized for her lissome body. She hated them, or rather the attention that they garnered.

  She cleared her throat, “I’d be willing to keep up with my current responsibilities until something opens up. Is there no way I can just learn the knowledge?”

  He frowned, “I’m afraid not, it doesn’t work that way. I’ve also heard rumors you’ve been taking sword lessons from Andy?”

  She blushed, she’d thought she’d been hiding that little fact from the masters. She pushed down the panic, the last thing she wanted was for him to realize the extent of her ambitions, or the strength of them. She knew the only way to stop the disgusting practices of using the woman would be from the top, but it was becoming more than obvious she didn’t have a chance of getting there.

  Andy was one of the only men she was actually friends with and trusted, he’d never acted inappropriately or asked her to service him. He also didn’t stare at her tits in public, and actually knew what color her eyes were.

  She shrugged, “I keep up with my duties, and it’s something to focus on in my off time.”

  His frown deepened, and he said, “Most female clerics fill that off time by starting a family, I understand you’ve spurned every offer of marriage you’ve received? You’re a very attractive woman, and an important asset in the church, but these things are worrying, there’s more to life than accumulating power and knowledge.”

  She wasn’t sure how to react. In his own way, she knew he was trying to help her. She got the idea very clearly that she wouldn’t be advancing, ever, if she didn’t toe the line and do what was expected. The idea sickened her, and it wasn’t really help, even if he’d deluded himself into thinking it was. It was nothing more than a form of control. What good was the power of a master, if she was bound by laws and under a husband’s thumb?

  She’d sacrificed so much for her advancement, and because she’d felt she had no choice. She’d even sacrificed her body to the lust of her superiors when she was younger, but for some reason she’d drawn the line at marriage. The idea of marrying and being under the thumb of a corrupt man to gain in power seemed to be too high a price, or she’d have done it already. It was where she’d drawn the line, she wanted to marry for love, or at the very least, she had to respect the man she married. Maybe it was because she was older, at sixteen she hadn’t been as experienced and she regretted what she’d allowed to happen in the past then as well.

  It was oppressive, coercive, and evil, but she’d made the decision. Of course, the magic was a part of that as well, practicing magic, channeling light magic into spells, lowered the inhibitions and stimulated the libido. It was a truth of magic, and why adventurers and dungeon divers were such a randy lot, the channeling of magic was an aphrodisiac. She could still remember how flush and horny she got after a full day of practicing her spells, even at adept it still happened if she trained for more than an hour at a time.

  Luckily, she quite enjoyed her time with Andy after the training, and she had other friends as well that would help her out. Point was, it was one more factor that made it easy for the young initiate and apprentice females to give into the carnal desires of the masters.

  Still, the idea of offering a good time to the high cleric for access to the master archives was disgusting. That kind of thing only happened at her own desires and needs at that point, and only with those she wished and was attracted too. Point being, she dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred to her.

  Besides, it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway, he had plenty of willing females younger than her, and hungry to achieve journeyman ranks. Plus, it would put him at risk, there was a certain amount of trust and vulnerability in bed, and she was an adept at that point in her life. She could take advantage of a moment like that, where an apprentice couldn’t. She suspected that was the true reason they didn’t try to lure journeywoman or female adepts into bed with pressure.

  She said, “I understand. I’ll give it some thought.”

  And she did understand, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice the rest of her life to a man she despised for more power. Sex was transitory, and not that big of a price, but her whole future? Fuck that. She’d marry when or if she met a man that she couldn’t imagine living without, and one that respected her back. Until then, she had Andy, Sophia, Anne, and Regina to take the edge off after a day of training. Worse come to worst, she’d still live almost eight hundred years as an adept level five.

  It was too bad Andy was just a good friend, otherwise she’d have married him.

  He said, “Do that, and I hope to see you again in six months. Return to your duties.”

  She had one more argument, but she held her tongue. For millennia Nysten and Jennesar had been controlled by the church of light. To the west was the wastelands, no threat there. To the north was mountains followed by the light and dark elves, they weren’t a threat either. Of course, Jennesar was to the south, and hadn’t been a threat since the church of light had flourished and taken over there. Despite the church ruling in both kingdoms, they’d never combined them. It was a political fiction at best, to placate the minor nobility’s honor in both kingdoms. They were really nothing but puppets, and they were watched closely.

  The east was another matter. The kingdom to the east had long been at peace with Nysten, and they’d never threatened their borders in known history. But five years ago, that kingdom was conquered and overthrown by the Gira Dynasty, a large empire even further east. So far, their borders had been respected, but her thinking was once a conqueror always a conqueror, it was only a matter of time before Nysten and Gira butted heads along the border.

  She would have argued they could use as many masters as they could get, but she also knew the argument would fall on deaf ears. It seemed obvious to her, but she knew the last person to trot out that argument had been disciplined for paranoid and reactionary thinking.

  She stood and bowed, and then left the room. She blew out her breath in frustration and left the building. She had training duties, which were boring as hell. Basically, she had to follow initiates and apprentices through the first three floors of the dungeon depending on their levels, and do her best to train them, critique them, and keep them alive. The bottom three levels were journeyman to low adept, and they were supervised by masters. She could handle anything in the dungeon of course, but it might take her too long to take down a mob if a journeyman were in trouble.

  There was also the classroom training she ran for the initiates and apprentices. She was responsible for their knowledge gains and of course control that they’d gain by practicing against the dark dungeon. Generally, both responsibilities took up about eight hours a day, five days a week. She did her own training in the evenings and weekends, on her personal
time.

  She snorted, it was so boring, the dungeon was enslaved, so it wasn’t even really challenging after the first time through. The traps and mobs never changed at all, which was stupid, and horrible training.

  It was never clearer to her that the church was corrupt, the whole kingdom of Nysten was. The masters lorded their power over their charges. She knew it hadn’t always been that way, there was a time in the past where knowledge was freely available to all, and only personal effort determined rank. She would have flourished and reached master two years ago in that society. But she pushed that out of her head, what did that matter? She had to deal with reality, not wishes…

  Chapter Three

  My name was Narian. I was also screwed, fucked and not in a good way, and in serious trouble.

  With the return of my memories, besides mourning the loss of my life, my wife Carolynn, and our children, I also remembered all the magic spells, concepts, truths, and base forms of magic that I’d learned from my mother, which was pretty much the combined works of the dark elven libraries. I’d been a master of all three spheres, and I knew enough of the other three spheres to wield them through enchantments.

  All that would come in useful, but on the whole not that useful in my new life, since a dungeon’s strength was in creation of both objects and life. That was not part of what I’d learned as a human and master of fire, earth, and dark magical spheres.

  There were some things it would help, enchanting would let me enhance the dungeon, and create enchanted objects as rewards, but on the whole none of it would save me from my situation. I was fairly sure I could unravel the wards and free myself, it would be almost easy from the inside, but if I did such a thing my enemies would just kill me, or perhaps trap me again and restore the spell that’d trapped me in my mind. I’d become nothing better than an automaton dungeon again, with no will of my own.