The outpost was a castle. Its walls were at least twenty five feet tall and at least ten feet thick. Franco saw that it had been made out of the surrounding buildings and fused together by magic. Making it much weaker than a quarried stone he knew. That thought made him pause for half a step as he walked under the main gate of the outpost. Why did he know that and why was he sure it was correct. Thoughts or knowledge that popped into his head like that always made him feel strange. As if he was occupying someone else's body. Which he guessed was one way to look at his situation.

  The bailey they walked into was large with smaller auxiliary buildings hugging the inner wall but they left plenty of room around both of the large keep buildings in the center. There were dozens of guards on the walls or around the gate they had just entered. With three times as many workers moving between different buildings. Smiths, shops, storge and what even looked like a stable being built it seemed but they were quickly directed to the smaller of the two keep buildings and passed another guard posted on the outside of the three story building.

  Their guide, a middle aged Kimber man met them at the entrance to the smaller keep and pointed out the large common room on the main floor where they would eat their meals before he took them to the second floor and down a hallway passing several doors before he showed them their room. It was a large room with a small common area in front with a table with eight chairs and benches around the side in front of six bunk beds.

  The older Kimber man with light almost grey fur smoothed out his leather apron with one hand as he held and wrote on a clipboard with his other two.

  “I have three keys for you with a master key held by the Outpost commander. You get two meals meals a day each and can buy more food if you want it. The kitchens do close from midnight to 4am so don't give the cooks grief. They get enough from the Golds and you all are not that yet. Toilets at either end of the hallways with four seats each. The bath bath house should be up and running today and it’s out along the wall. It’s open twenty four hours a day but their are only six communal baths so there might be a line. Things are still getting set up so expect delays with most things.”

  He handed over the keys to Joscelin and had her sign some paperwork. Franco took that opportunity to take the bottom bed of the first bunk on the left which caused the others to grab a bed. Oaken pushed Faye out of the way to take the bottom bed next to him while Maph claimed the two bottom beds on the far right.

  Faye sighed “Whats worse being in front of the couple or next to them”

  She picked the first bed on the right which would leave their new team mate with the last open bottom bed on the left. At least no one would have to sleep on the top beds. Franco threw his large ruck sack onto the top bunk bed above his new bed before he started to unpack. He had noticed that there were no trunks or dressers to put anything away in so this would have to do. He laid out his sack on top of the bed trying to keep it somewhat organized, before he got everything out he pulled the one pillow and thin blanket off the top bed. He would need them as both seemed thin to him.

  Their attendant trilled after Joscelin finished signing the paperwork and turned to leave before he stopped and turned back to them.

  “Oh the Outpost commander wants you all over for lunch today at the other keep in ah, about two hours. The minotaurs will be there so so best behavior he said. I guess you are picking up a new team member there.”

  “Thank you sir, we will be there” Joscelin said as she walked the Kimber out before she closed the door.

  “Well I've slept in worst places with worst attendants but we are going to have to spend some money if we are going to live here for months.

  “Thats for sure” Faye said as she stripped the bed above hers for its sheets as well as for its blanket and pillow.

  Their room was a stone block. Various shades of grey with a small arrow slit for a window against the far wall from the door. There was nothing for heating the room or much comfort besides the table and chairs.

  “Well, write up a list of what you lazy bastards all want and if its for the team then the team will fund it. If not then you will have to pay for it” Joscelin said as she went to her bed and started to unpack.

  *****

  Taryn walked next to her father at the head of their party. The multicolored lights of this enormous craven seemed to dance slightly around her from the many reflecting crystals in the ceiling as they approached the outpost. The gates were left open but she noticed that more and more guards appeared on the walls as they drew nearer. Their hooves clip-cloped on the ancient hard road as they walked. The noise was loud against the relatively quiet city they walked through.

  They of course could move more quietly but the Goblins and other Denizens of the Deep talked about the terror the sound of thousands of their hooves hitting the ground made before battle, and her tribe, The Rout was known for the terror of their charge in battle.

  She knew she was trying to ignore the anxiety that was boiling inside her. Making her chest feel both tight and like it was in motion. She shifted her hand on her short spear as she tried to focus on their approach. She was a [Deepways Scout] so she looked over their approach. She saw several detection traps along their path. All of them could be skipped by classes like hers but their group was triggering all of them as they were not hiding. The traps were good vs most monsters and basic warrior classes but they were just one of the many detection traps or wards that surrounded the outpost.

  “Control yourself Taryn” her father suddenly said as they reached the gate.

  She snorted as she breathed out through her nose and nodded. She could handle this; it was just dealing with people she had only ever heard stories of. One of the races just happened to be the ancient evil masters that had enslaved half the world or so the stories went.

  She would soon have a Kimber teammate and she had to make it work. For the sake of her people even if it made her skin crawl at the thought.

  Before they reached the gate house a small group came out of the outpost led by two Kimber men. One an older dangerous looking Kimber that was carrying a threatening spear. Even if he was almost a foot shorter than her, he was impressive.

  “Greetings Longhorn Eike of The Route” the older Kimber said.

  “Greetings to you, Helmric” her father replied.

  “This here is Taryn, my daughter, the [Deepways Scout] and my pride.

  “Welcome Taryn. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s a pleasure to meet meet all of you” Helmric said in a loud voice, so the rest of the group could hear.

  Taryn stuck out her arm for a handshake

  “I’ve been told that handshakes are welcome among the people of your Expedition”

  The older, scary looking Kimber smiled, and took her hand in greeting.

  “That they are” Helmric said before trilling and waving her group into the outpost with this two other arms

  “Come come, lunch is ready and your new team awaits you. I hope you can take care of them and my boy” he said. His bill slightly opened in what Taryn thought must be a Kimber smile. It made her very uncomfortable.

  She forced herself to smile back, her wide but more human like smile was fake but she hoped only her people could see that.

  “I am sure that they will be protecting me more than I can them from the stories I have heard about them already. It will be an honor to team up with your son and his team.”

  They entered through the gatehouse into the large open area between the walls and the two larger buildings in the center. There were dozens and dozens of humans, Kimber, and even other species. Taryn wasn’t sure what they were as she had never seen their kind before. One even looked kinda like a tree. They were all standing around, watching as her group entered and followed Master Helmric through the open space and towards the larger of the two central buildings.

  She knew she would be on display from this moment on so she looked up into the open space above them and took in this ruin of a grand city cave. Greater than the city cave of Safehold, the capital of The Route. Their city cave was not as open or colorful as this first floor of the dungeon with its ceiling hundreds of feet above them. It felt strange to her to see such an open sky with such strange unnatural light. She sighed deeply as she followed her group into the large building and felt slightly more comfortable with the ceiling just a few feet above her head. They walked through a small gate house of the building and into a smaller room before passing down a large hallway before they entered into a dining area with dozens of tables set up and a slightly raised dias at its head.

  Many of the seats were already occupied and she felt the eyes of those in the room turned to watch them as her group entered the large dining area. She looked up on the dias where four tables were pushed together with seats on one side facing the dining room. On the left set five people, a Kimber and four humans with one of them looking odd and then Taryn noticed the odd man’s elongated head and ears, an elf. If her history was right. An elf with the palest skin she had even seen sat there. A thing of stories. He was tall and the more she looked the more clearly he was not human like his three other teammates. She noticed that the seat closes to the center near the last of them was open, and as Helmric led her father and her group to the head table to occupy the ten open seats that remained he pointed her to the one nearest them while pointing out a table near the front of the room that the rest of their group could sit. She wished she could join them there.

  As she took her seat next to a small dark skinned human woman who had striking blue eyes. The woman smiled at her and nodded her head as Taryn sat. Minotaurs like Kimber had tails with the Kimber having larger, thicker and harder tails. Almost like paddles. Minotaur’s had thin tails. They were only a few feet long with a tuft of hair at its end. The chairs here were clearly meant and built with people with tails in mind as the back was held up on one side while the other was left open so that a person with a tail could easily slide in and out of the seat and sit comfortably. That thought that they provided such a chair. That all the chairs here were made this way made this strange people a little more like Minotaurs to her, more like people to her. She found the setting and her chair all very normal and reassuring. Maybe they really did have enough in common to make this work.

  *****

  Franco woke up as light suddenly blossomed behind his closed eyes. He rolled over in his bed, pulling the second of his too thin blankets over his head before he felt his bed shake from someone kicking it.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He groaned in annoyance but pulled the blanket from his head and rolled on his side before sitting up and running his hands through his hair as he forced himself to wake up, blinking clear his slightly blurry eyes. The rest of the room was all already up and moving, and when he noticed that he was the last one still in bed, he set up and got dressed quickly. Today was the day the would descend into the second floor of the dungeon and he was excited to get on with it. They would descend to the second floor, pick a door and start their exploration. Adventure and danger waited for them in mere minutes.

  Last night was slightly blurry in his mind as he had a mild hangover he thought. He’d only drunk two beers, but he had not drunk much alcohol at any point since his memories began here. But last night had gone well, and Taryn seemed like she would fit in their group well. She seemed confident and strong.

  It had turned into a long lunch that went into early evening before they had broken up and gotten into bed early so they could have a full day in the dungeon. Franco got dressed in his armor, a thin Gamson with thicker leather at his joints that went on over his underwear. On top of that was his Sea Dreamer armor with its blackish blue color. Around his waist went his fully loaded adventure’s belt and last but not least he put his Jade Saber on his left hip hanging loose from his adventure’s belt. It still admitted a slight faint glow of power. He grabbed a smaller backpack in which he had extra clothes, food, water, and other adventuring essentials. It would see him through a few days and he would take it even if they planned to be back here tonight.

  His party got dressed by themselves and in relative quiet as it was just past 5:30 in the morning, it was always hard to tell in the dungeon, but the way down to the second floor would open at six and they wanted to be one of the first groups down. Some Gold and Silver teams had remained overnight down there on the second floor but new teams had to wait for the opening of the stairwell before they could get started. With a quick look over his supplies and gear Franco knew he was ready. Four wands at the ready with two in holsters on his belt and two more in his wand pouch on his belt. A detect magic, a light wand, a wand of flame spray, and a shock bolt was more than enough while an additional shock bolt and detect magic wand were in his little backpack. He had three healing potions, two stamina and one Mana potion.

  The Mana man potion was new, but the money his team had made from their last two hauls allowed them to buy them. It cost as much as all the other potions he had on him together and his backpack had an additional healing, stamina and Mana potion for emergencies. With his gear settled and ready he was the third out of his team packed and ready to go. Only Oaken and Maph beat him. He smiled at the two other men in his group as they waited on the three women.

  Joscelin seeing his smile huffed. “Don’t you say anything! We are almost ready and no one is late yet” she said, irritated at herself.

  Faye laughed as she straightened her hat. “I’ve been ready for the last five minutes, but I just had to make sure my make up was perfect”.

  Franco did a double take, looking her in the face before he chuckled realizing she had not put any makeup on. Her statement did get a laugh from Maph.

  “I am ready” a deeper but still feminine voice said as Taryn walked from her bed to the common area in the front of the room. Her short spear held in her right hand while a large light tan satchel went from her left shoulder down to her right hip, the satchel had a thick band for its loop and on it it held items and small pockets. Potions and other things that might be needed quickly. She wore a blue pancho underneath it that went down to the waist that covered up her thick leather armor but left exposed her armored skirt or kilt depending on how you saw it.

  Franco noticed that Taryn only had one healing potion and its small glass container was distinct from the other potions she had on her. She had no adventure belt but the satchel seemed to replace it. She carried with her a long knife and a medium size hatchet that hung on either side of her hips.

  Her blue poncho looked freshly washed and her dark leather armor underneath was clearly made from things from the Deep and not a cow or another animal Franco was familiar with; the leather seemed to have a faint hint of scales to it.

  “Hey Taryn,” Franco asked, trying to act casual as he walked back to his bed and dug through his things that he had spread out on the top bed.“Do you only have one healing potion? I think I heard that minotaurs can’t, umm I mean don’t really have anything like them. Here we all have extra so take two for me spares and we’ll make sure we order more for you out of team funds.” He looked over at Joscelin who was still packing her things away but looked up and nodded at him.

  “Yes, of course. Sorry I didn’t notice that. I’ll definitely make sure you have a full suite of potions like everyone else. We will talk about it throughout the day, if you see something we have that you would like just let us know. Can’t let our Scout go without.” She said,

  Franco looked at Taryn who seemed to have slightly frozen and quickly looked from him to Joscelin she nodded, sighing loudly through her nose much like a bull he thought.

  “Yes, thank you. The healing potions you have are not something we were familiar with. They are incredible feats of alchemy” She said as she reached out her large human-like hands.

  Franco noticed that her skin was a strange mix of cow like leather and human-like skin. Multicolored light browns like a cow with fine delicate hairs like most humans. He handed her the two healing potions and nodded, putting a smile on his face.

  “Of course, hopefully we get into our door today and you need to be at your best for that.”

  She nodded as she put one of the two potions next to the one she already had on her satchel strap across her chest as she put the other into her satchel. She placed it into a small side pocket where other potions were.

  With that taken care of, Joscelin walked to the front of their small bunk room. She was the last one ready, her bell shaped like armor on and her at times over full adventurous belt around her waist. She held her helmet in between her right arm and her side.

  “All right, check each other over. Make sure your team member is not missing anything important and we’ll leave here in two minutes.” Joscelin said as she walked over to check over Maph.

  Since he was here already he looked up at Taryn who was standing next to him and nodded towards her who nodded back. Franco raised his arms and did a slow little spin as he verbally went through everything he had brought. She nodded asking if he had an extra canteen and he nodded.

  “Yes, I do. One here on my hip and one in the backpack.”

  After Taryn finished going over his gear with him she held her hands but did not spin before she started to touch everything she had on her and named what she had brought with her. Healing potions, trap detectors, adventurer-like stick, extra knives, bandages, light sources, water, food, and a dozen other items that were often needed. She even had a bag full of at least a hundred greenish heavy little stones no more than thumb nail size. Perfect for tossing either by hand or with a sling she carried. All to help trigger traps or to make sound and distract monsters.

  “Looks good to me” Franco said as adjusted his backpack and got ready to leave.

  He felt something for this woman. She was a stranger surrounded by strangers she had just met. She seemed to have found herself in a similar situation as he had just been in.

  He looked at Taryn and gave her a smile. “So Taryn, I don’t know if you heard anything about my story.” He asked her as their team started to leave their room and walk out of the keep. He looked back and saw Oaken’s eyebrows rising on his duck-like face at his question. Taryn noticed as her eyes did a quick back-and-forth between him and Oaken before she nodded. Her horns came out of her dark, long, brown hair and curled up.

  “You are not from this area, but lost your memory or at least the memories of your past after or when they opened up the doors to the dungeon for the first time. After that you got put on this team and helped open up the Jade Temple. You also seem to be someone important, as was made clear by the little I was told” she said truthfully and without much hesitation,

  Franco smiled at her and nodded as he walked in front of her down the stairs onto the main floor and out the building before he slowed to walk next to her again.

  “Sounds about right. I don’t know how important I was, but according to what I have been told I’m a younger son from a big family up north. I mean really up north. A couple thousand miles. I think I still function like a normal adult. I can read and write and fight. Most things I can do by intuition or with a flash of past knowledge but with no real context. Faye there, our cowgirl” he said, pointing to her as they walked through the bailey.

  Faye, who was wearing her cowboy hat and traditional Abigail duster over her Desanigh magic robes, looked at them and then gave them a quick smile before she tipped her hat.

  “Cowgirl? Franco, that's a little rude don’t you think.” Maph said from behind them

  Franco was taken back and looked at Taryn a little embarrassed. Taryn saw the look of awkwardness on his face and before he could apologize she coughed.

  “I do not know what a cow girl is.” Taryn said.

  Franco laughed “oh well this is awkward” He looked at his teammates for help and landed on Oaken who quickly shook his bill back-and-forth. A clear smile on the Kimber’s face.

  “Don’t look at me for help. You are the the one who stepped in this pile of crap”

  Franco rolled his eyes. No help at all. He coughed and cleared this thought. “Well sorry. Minotaurs look like half cow, half humans. Ah, cows are livestock, cattle? Large four legged beasts with horns that we get milk and meat from. Bulls are the male ones while females are called heifers I think. That sounds right to me”

  At this Taryn nodded. “Bulls, our history refers to bulls, that we are half balls, half human. That’s what the story says that we were human or elf before but then after the fall that we became Minotaurs”

  “Well like I was saying” Franco said as he looked away still feeling a little uncomfortable at the conversation before looking back at her.

  “I’m afraid that many will call you cow-like in appearance now that you’re dealing with people from the surface. They are the common term for cattle and well cowboys and cowgirls are people who work with those animals. Ranchers”

  Taryn nodded her head again in understanding “I’m familiar with the term rancher. We have ranchers ourselves.”

  “Really” Maph said. “What animals do you raise in the Deeps”. The glow from his polished elven chest plate brightened the area around him as they walked through the baily of the castle towards the gatehouse.

  They had decided last night to skip breakfast to get an early start so they all carried a few extra items of food. They might be stuck at their door for a few days or weeks like most of the Gold and Silver teams currently were.

  Tayrn snorted at Maph's question and shook her head much like a cow did to chase away flies.

  “There are several animals that we keep that are native to here. Large hairy moles called Parascals, about 3 feet tall and 5 feet long. They have nice fur and good meat. Also a large flightless bird that has a long neck and a sharp beak that lays large eggs, very aggressive and dangerous in the wild, a Deeptrich” Taryn said.

  Joscelin looked back at them. “That sounds like an ostrich. We have something like those on the surface.”

  Franco, trying to finish this conversation, pushed on. “Faye,” he said as pointed to her. She nodded at the recognition and tipped her hat to Taryn again.

  “Is dressed like a traditional cowgirl or cowboy. That kind of hat, that long cloak called a duster, the blue jeans she’s wearing, even if it’s all been reinforced to act as better armor and protection than what cowboys or cowgirls would need. She’s from Abigail and apparently knew me before I lost my past. She’s a fancy Noble which means her family is very important. She has an identical twin sister”

  Taryn slightly bowed to Faye as she walked. “What should I call you?”

  Faye’s cheeks went red in slight embarrassment as she waved off the comment just.

  “Just call me Faye, I’m a teammate. I’m no lady here.”

  They exited the outpost and turned to walk past its walls as they went to the large central plaza at the heart of the city and this floor of the dungeon where the stairs to the second floor were.

  They saw one other group in front of them approaching the stairs but Franco didn't recognize them. The Expedition had built a small building around the stairs with thick walls made from the stone rubble of the surrounding buildings with a large strong looking door.

  With the stairs in sight their group grew silent as they approached. Joscelin led the group and got them past the guards after they checked their papers.

  Then they began to descend the large ornate white stone stairs and Franco's heart started to beat faster. They were descending the stairs to the second floor of the Desanigh dungeon and he suddenly felt a pull on him. It wasn't physical but something more ephemeral and suddenly he knew it was Fate. The dungeon was calling him home.