Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds: A Dungeon Core Novel (Serious Probabilities Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (interesting books to read TXT) 📕

in the future – despite there not being any actual evidence (just stories) of a Siren ever existing.  Couldn’t be too careful, though, and those who made their living on the ocean were a superstitious bunch.

“Don’t be silly, sis.  Those are only stories; besides, even if they did exist, why is it calling out to you two.  It’s only supposed to be men, from what I understand of those tales.”  He paused for a second and grinned slyly.  “Unless you’re both not telling me something—?”

Jeska hit her brother in the shoulder at the same time Rosara hit the other, and he pretended to be hurt while giggling in the annoying way he did sometimes.  She gave the other woman a long-suffering look, which was returned just as quickly.  For the first time – and it felt extremely weird – she felt a little bit of sympathy and camaraderie with the Mayor’s daughter, at least when it came to Arcen.  I used to not envy my brother for all of Rosara’s antics, but he can be just as annoying.

“Whatever, let’s just go and leave this fool to giggle by himself,” Jeska said, wanting to get away from her brother when he was like this.  It usually took him at least 10 minutes to get rid of his giggles after making a stupid joke like that, and she’d rather face the potential danger that this cave represented than to wait for it to end.  Rosara seemed to agree, and took Jeska’s arm in her own; there was only the slightest hesitation on her part at being so close to the other woman – who was equally as annoying as her brother, though in different ways – before she walked quickly out of the room with the Mayor’s daughter and practically marched down the next hallway.

Jeska could hear her brother still giggling as he followed behind them, and it was only as they appeared to be coming up on another room that she realized it would probably be safer if he were in front of them.  Oh well, too late.  Fortunately, the next room – looking almost identical to the first – was equally as empty with no visible dangers.  Still, before they went on with their exploration (as stupid as she still found it, she just wanted to get on with it and get out of there), Arcen moved to walk in front of them.

“Just in case, I think I better take the lead from here; again, if there is anything dangerous in here, I want you two to run while I hold…whatever it might be…off.”  Neither of them protested, and though Jeska was accustomed to dangerous situations on the ocean, sailing out by herself on occasion, she had to admit that her brother was probably better equipped to handle anything they might encounter.  She had seen him rip apart a section of an extremely well-built boat before with his impressive strength; it wasn’t because he was mad or anything, but he had done it in order to save a little kid who had gotten trapped in a section of the hull that was generally inaccessible.

Therefore, she thought he would be a bit better suited to tackling dangers of a physical variety.

The next hallway looked identical to the others they had traveled down, with the heat-less magical torches spaced evenly along the way, but the next room they encountered was quite different. Instead of torches, the entire ceiling glowed with a faint light, illuminating the entire space with a gentle brightness.  The room itself was similarly constructed, however, though it was at least twice as large as the first two rooms.

“Okay.  Now I know that something is extremely strange about this place,” Rosara said, staring at the ceiling with her mouth open in awe.  Jeska had to agree with her, and forced herself to shut her own mouth from the surprise.  “Those torches I could see being created by someone, perhaps a Hero, but this…I have no words for this.”

Jeska didn’t have any either; all she could think was that it was extraordinarily beautiful.  While the overall shape of the ceiling was a bit irregular, the glow enhanced its look, making it appear like a chunk of a star fell from the heavens and implanted itself inside this cave.

“Very pretty.”  Arcen’s words were more than an understatement, but suited his personality well enough; he wasn’t as dazzled by breathtaking sights and beautiful artwork as some people were.  The way he dealt with Rosara, who seemed to have a natural charisma about her that enhanced her beauty, was proof enough of that.  “Let’s keep going; I have a feeling we are near the end.”

Now that he mentioned it, Jeska felt the pull, the drive, to explore even more ardently than she had before.  It almost felt as though she was getting close to cresting the rise of a large wave, as the anticipation and thrill of succeeding was mixed with worry that her boat might tip over in catastrophe.  Might as well get it over with.

It was tough pulling her attention away from the gorgeous ceiling, but she somehow managed it; she pulled Rosara along when the other woman still seemed entranced by the soft glow, and the movement finally brought her back to the world.  “Hey, do you think we could break off a piece of that and take it home as a gift to my father?” she asked, shuffling along after Arcen, shyly smiling at his form.  Oh, goodness; she’s talking about a courting gift!  That sneaky—

“I doubt it; I have a feeling that stuff is as permanent as those torches, and besides, I don’t have any tools to do any mining with me.  I might be strong, but I’ve never really had any luck breaking rocks with my fist; the one time I tried it, I broke my little finger,” he said matter-of-factly, shrugging at the