For Grim, it was a bittersweet display. For while the weapons were enticing, he knew he would never get to hold one, let alone use any of them in anger.
Eventually, the man behind the counter sidled over. ‘Anything I can help you with?’
‘We’re just looking,’ said Raya.
‘Are you the manager?’ Assata asked the man.
‘Indeed I am. Simon Granger, at your service.’
The manager of the shop offered his hand and Assata shook it.
‘Why did they open a shop in the middle of a dungeon?’
‘It was my idea, actually,’ Simon replied. ‘It’s a franchise.’
Everyone looked at him blankly.
‘So, I thought, why not have a store, right where adventurers such as yourselves need it? Say you lose or break a weapon? Or face some danger and wish you had a set of iron spikes, or a length of rope? Someone in your party gets injured, and needs medicine? Or, rather than having to carry all your victuals, you can pick it up conveniently here? That’s my idea. The franchise angle means that I am the owner of the store. Discount Dungeon Supplies helped me to set it up, they supply the merchandise, and in return they get a cut of the profits I make. I like to think it’s a scheme where everyone wins.’
‘Are you making much money?’ Grim asked him.
Simon’s face turned a little glum. ‘Well, starting a new business is never easy. But if I start to sell some of the big-ticket items, things might pick up. Footfall is also an issue. I’m trying to make it easier for adventurers to get here.’
‘That netting up the rock. That was you?’ Grim asked him.
‘Yes. The more adventurers who make it this far, the more customers I get.’
‘The lights?’
Simon pointed up at the ceiling of the shop where numerous small lights shone down at regular intervals.
‘Glow-worms. Supplied by head office. They really are quite something, aren’t they?’
‘But what about the dungeon monsters?’ Sandon asked, his features creased in puzzlement. ‘Why haven’t they destroyed this place and taken everything inside?’
‘Well, relations with them can be tense. Ernst and Gernot over there,’ he said, gesturing at the armed guards, ‘keep out the riffraff. I lock the place up at night.’ He paused, studying them. Grim fancied he was debating with himself whether to say more. ‘I have had to make a deal or two with some of the residents of the dungeon. Give them a cut. But again, that means everyone wins.’
‘And I suppose you have to pay the guards their wages?’ Assata asked him.
‘Yes. They mind the store and get me to and from the dungeon.’
Grim was thinking—about their secret quest, to find out why the trespassers kept coming to their dungeon and killing orcs.
‘Surely, if you want to attract adventurers here, you need it filled with monsters and treasure. But the floor we just passed through was virtually deserted. And the more dungeon dwellers there are here, the more guards you would have to employ, and the more of them you would need to pay off. Something about this store doesn’t quite make sense.’
‘I think I understand it,’ said Assata. ‘He doesn’t want real adventurers here. Like us. He’s making a tourist dungeon. A theme park. Soon he’ll have a stable up by the entrance, with a proper road leading to it. It will be ticket entry, and the netting on the rock will be replaced by baskets with seats that get winched down to the top floor of the dungeon. The orc rooms we searched through will be converted into toilets and baby changing facilities. There’ll be snack huts everywhere. Long queues to meet an orc or a goblin while an artist draws your picture with it. Gurin was right. This is the death of real dungeon crawling.’
They all looked at Simon. At least he didn’t try to protest. They turned to go.
‘Is there nothing you want to purchase?’ he asked pleadingly. ‘I could do you a group discount.’
Assata and Sandon turned their backs on him and left the shop.
Raya sighed. ‘You need some food, Og-Grim-Dog?’
‘Ooh, yes please,’ said Dog.
They grabbed some of the provisions and took them to the counter.
‘I’ll take that set of arrows, too,’ she said to Simon, and handed over the money.
‘Thank you for your business,’ he said.
Og-Grim-Dog and Raya left the store to join the others. They were talking together quietly, in solemn voices. They turned at the approach of the ogre and elf.
‘We were thinking it might be best just to leave,’ said Assata.
No-one argued.
THE CRUSHED GRAPES IN URLAY
After the elation of Deepwood Dungeon, Wight’s Hollow had been a let-down. But the company held strong. There was no talk of giving up, and instead they began to make for the third dungeon on their list.
‘The Sargassian Empire was one of the very first realms of men,’ said Sandon, as they left the dark maw of the cavern behind them and travelled east. ‘Old and mysterious, it fell, like all empires do, a long time ago. The Crimson Palace is a magnificent remnant of the Empire, said to have been the home of the ruling dynasty for hundreds of years. Three hundred steps take you to the top of a great mound and the entrance to the palace. Great artefacts of power have been found by those who dared to descend to the lowest levels. It is said that there are still some yet to be found.’
‘Is it far?’ Grim asked.
‘No,’ said Sandon, looking a little disappointed with the question. But the truth was, Grim’s legs were killing him. He hadn’t done this much walking for years. ‘We will be there in two days,’ the wizard answered.
Grim made a face.
‘I know a place where we can stop,’ said the wizard. ‘A nice inn, by a river. Maybe we deserve a rest.’
Gurin’s face darkened. ‘I don’t think we should be making detours.’
‘Come on, Gurin,’ said Assata. ‘I think we need a decent bed and a warm meal. Get our spirits up.’
The dwarf harrumphed at that but didn’t argue. For the first time, Sandon led the group.
‘The village of Urlay,’ said Sandon, waving down at the valley beneath them.
‘What happened to it?’ asked Raya.
‘What do you mean?’ said the wizard, staring at the settlement.
Grim looked down as well, but it was too far away to see much more than a smudge of buildings huddled along the river. Too far to see for most creatures.
‘Elven eyes,’ Dog muttered darkly.
‘Half the houses look damaged, if not totally shattered,’ Raya added. ‘Something unpleasant happened here.’
They descended the valley, a shared sense of foreboding smothering any conversation. As they neared the buildings, Grim could see that several of the wooden structures had been gutted by fire. Normally, human settlements would be a hive of activity, much of it related to farming. Humans seemed to insist on carrying out various jobs related to making plants and animals grow. Grim was under the impression that plants and animals generally tended to grow by themselves, without the need for intervention, but he didn’t pretend to understand human ways. Anyway. Not a single villager could be seen.