Dungeon Sniper

I would have enjoyed the voyage for the harbor city of Octoportum if I had not been chained to the deck all night long. Elysia was taken inside the cabin when the sun had just begun to set on the beautiful horizon of blue nothingness.

"Where are you taking her, you sick, backstabbing lizards!"

The crew of the Drowning Salamander started and stared at me in the middle of escorting my beloved away from me.

"You plan on letting your lady friend out in the cold the whole night?" croaked back the one-eyed Reptil with the racially characteristic falsetto voice.

"I see this one's no gentleman," said the other of the two crew tending to the to-be-slaves on the ship.

"Liars! I know what you're going to do to her!" I yelled in spite.

"What are we going to do to her?"

The two Reptils stared back at me indignantly.

"... I don't know, torture her?" I said unconvincingly.

"Why would we damage the goods? The more scars you have, the lower your prices."

"Who do you think we are, some kind of sadistic slave traffickers?"

"Well, we are slave traffickers, Luciano."

"Oh, right."

"But not sadistic."

"Far from the truth."

I blinked as I listened to the two Reptils go back and forth with each other. Elysia seemed resigned as she sighed between the two giant lizard men.

"Then why are you leaving me here? What about my condition as a good?"

"Oh, you can survive the night. It's almost summer," Luciano waved off his thick, clawed hand casually.

"Besides, we once had runaways in the past when we kept them together out on the deck."

"They jumped into the ocean and drowned. With tied hands and all," nodded Luciano gravely.

"Yeah, well, what makes you think I'm going to sit here tight by myself? What if I jump off the ship too?"

The two Reptils did not even budge at my bluffing.

"Nah, you don't look like you got guts enough to pull that."

"Take that back, snake!"

"Why, thanks for the compliment," beamed Luciano.

Shit. I forgot that they loved to be called snakes.

"All right, calling you gutless may have been uncalled for. Sorry, mate. But I doubt you'd drown and let your lady friend here get sold in the market all by herself. Why, you ask? Because my twenty years of watching soap operas on the shitty Orb on this ship tells me that you're a passionate type. Maybe a little too passionate, risking your life and stuff like that."

"Oh yeah, I can definitely see that," agreed the other crew.

"Right? And Captain thinks Orbs deprive us of our insight. 'There's no need for a flat-screen plasma Orb. The one we have is perfect.' Perfectly lousy, I say," scoffed Luciano.

"Can we just go?" grunted Elysia. The shackles on her hands cluttered irritably.

"Pardon me, miss, this way."

"Will you care to join us for our soap opera screening for the evening? We've got tea and everything."

"At least throw me a blanket or something!" I yelled at their backs.

"Boohoo! Man up, dude!" was the only response I got back.

For the rest of the night, only a few crewmen went about the deck. Almost all of them were friendly, asking me how I was doing and a couple of them offering me drinks.

I had fallen asleep awed and frustrated watching the starry night sky. The crew was already busy preparing for the landing. I raised my body to see that the land was indeed in sight.

Elysia was brought back on the deck. She did not seem hurt, but she did not look refreshed either.

"Was everything all right?" I asked warily to the ruffled Elfina.

"Yeah," paused Elysia, "Everyone was... oddly polite."

"Reptils are weird," I nodded reassuringly.

"They are."

"Anything else? Did you get some sleep?"

"... There was this thing on the Orb. The one they called a 'soap opera?'"

Uh oh.

"Please don't tell me you liked it," I gulped.

Elysia blinked.

"It was... odd."

"I think I know exactly what you mean."

"I mean, how could two people love each other so much in such... twisted ways?"

"I really don't want to know, Ellie."

"Just like the title. Of Passion and Pride."

I had a rough night as I did. I did not want to wake up and listen to a rerun of last night's episode of a Reptil soap opera. And from what I could tell, Elysia was hooked.

"You don't have to talk about it, you know," I said nervously. I almost hoped that we would land soon even if that meant we would be sold as slaves at the market.

"I... I think I have to. Talk about it. About Of Passion and Pride."

Now I was seeing some weird fire in Elysia's eyes.

"Did someone say Of Passion and Pride?"

A Reptil crew nearby approached us eagerly.

"Last night was a blast. The way Leonardo and Lauretta meet again after ten years of estrangement?"

"Hey, pal, don't you have work to do? "

I stepped in between the Reptil with sparkling eyes and Elysia who was nodding back enthusiastically.

"I have a minute or two to spare. So, I see that you got hooked on your first watch. That's how it usually happens."

"Really? I thought I was being weird. I've never been so fixated about something so obsessively," sighed Elysia in relief.

"Nothing wrong with that, girl. You're perfectly fine. So, what was your first impression, if I may ask?"

That was it. Call me cranky, but I was not going to start my day (which would end me in a slave rag for all I knew) by listening to some dumb, pointless discussions on some Reptil soap opera. Any soap opera, for that matter.

"Wait, did you hear? I think your captain just called for you," I tapped the scaly shoulder of the crew gingerly.

"You don't even know my name, Human," frowned the Reptil to show how much he did not like to be disturbed in the middle of a very important, very substantial conversation.

"... Lucas?"

I took a guess.

The Reptil crew's hairless eyelids fluttered slightly.

"... With a c or a k?"

"K."

The Reptil blinked and let out a curse.

"Damn it. She must be bitching about the morning tea as usual. You, miss, stay right here until I get back. I've always wanted to discuss possible plots with someone from a different race. Wait, okay?"

Lukas ran back downstairs to his captain dutifully.

"Elysia?" I called cautiously.

"Yes?"

"I'm not going to judge you for liking something that I may or may not deem classy."

"Okay."

"I'm also not blaming you for enjoying a tea party with those who plan to sell us away. Nor am I bitter that you got to watch an entertaining show cozily inside the cabin while I almost froze to death outside."

"It wasn't that cold last night—"

"My point is, I'm hoping you at least used your relative freedom to come up with a way to get us out of this situation safely. Freely, as in not as slaves."

I rattled the shackles still tied to a pole on a deck. Elysia was also shackled, but she had not been tied to anything since yesterday.

I was hopeful that Elysia, unimaginative but practical, had come up with a way to free ourselves.

But the blank, apologetic look on her beautiful face told the whole story.

"I'm sorry, Beta. The show, I just took a glance, and an hour later, the episode was over... and a new one began right away."

"What? No commercial break or anything?"

If that were true, I was not even mad. That was amazing. How many evenings of premiere television shows were afflicted with loud, cliffhanging commercial breaks in my life? How many dire, emergency Youtube how-to-videos were interrupted with the most random, irrelevant advertis.e.m.e.nt clips?

"You mean those annoying breaks that people came out and asked me to buy stuff? Oh, I hated them."

Elysia, welcome to capitalism.

"It's fine. At least we'll slave away for the rest of our lives together, right?"

I smiled sardonically, but Elysia did not smile back.

"... Actually, I heard that it's rare for two different races to be sold to the same owner. Preferences, the Reptils said."

That felt like a slap across my face.

"No. That can't be true. There has to be a way."

The land was nearing, the crew was busy all around us, and panic was rising inside me.

At the same time, Lukas the soap opera lover came running back on the deck.

"Sorry. False alarm. She called for Liukhaas, not me, so you were just slightly off, Human bro—"

"Can you, like, get lost right now, Lukas? Much appreciated."

Lukas blinked, looked between Elysia and me, and came up with his own conclusion.

"Ah, a lovers' quarrel. Classic. I'll leave you two to settle things then," winked Lukas before leaving.

How addicted were these poor lizards with soap operas? Never mind them for now, as my biggest concern was that we would be landing in less than ten minutes from now.

I turned to Elysia and beckoned her to come closer.

"All right, quick. Let's think. It's not the first time I escaped from being a captive. I have to be good at this thing by now."

"Have you always been shackled with iron chains on a ship before?" asked Elysia poignantly.

"... No, but I got out of a Goblin lair—"

"In five days. And the Reptils are much smarter than the Goblins."

"The Dwarves—"

"Were drunk and left you alone in a hut with all your weapons on one side. We don't have any weapon with us right now."

Of course. She decided to be the level-headed Elf now of all times.

"Deltaris prison—"

"Was where I broke your chains free by intruding from the outside."

"Prepare for landing!" hollered a Reptil hanging by the foremast of the galley. The speed of the ship stopped abruptly as the rowers raised the rows and let the ship drift into the dock.

... What? We reached the land already?

I looked up in panic, and that was when I realized that I had been looking at the wrong land, the wrong island.

Octoportum was made up of nine islands. The biggest, roundest island was in the middle, and eight smaller, narrower islands extended from the main island like curled tentacles of a giant octopus.

At first, I counted eleven, not nine islands. There were jagged rocks sprouting from the sea next to the two farthest surrounding islands.

It looked as if the islands formed a giant sea monster, and the sharp rock spires on both ends were its feared weapons, held to fend off the unwanted, unwilling visitors.

.

.

.

"Next, assets from Captain Laracroft and crew, a Human and an Elf!"

Elysia and I stood on the stand nervously with many eyes appraising us. Reptils, Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs... every race was there except the Goblins.

These were the people that escaped Olothi and the Goblin Crawlers from Level Two fifty years ago and settled here at Level Three since then.

... To think that Benedikt died to protect these slave trading and condoning pieces of shit.

The crowd did not seem excited to see a young Human-Elf couple. I doubted that were even aware that we were a couple. No, I was sure they did not give a shit. Why would they? They came here to shop, not to attend a wedding.

The auction was taking place on the main island in the center. The eight other islands were all connected to the center via sturdy bridges and could be traveled on foot. The crew of the Drowning Salamander docked their ship at the bottom left island, and then we walked for the slave market from there.

The only comfort during this walk of shame was that people barely paid attention to a Human male and an Elf female tied in ropes and shackled on the hands.

Great first impression, people of Octoportum. Screw all of you.

And now, we were here, as the prized 'asset' of the hour.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Laracroft whispering something to the auctioneer. The auctioneer, a fellow Reptil male who winked amicably at the female pirate, cleared his throat and announced the additional information.

"Correction in order: the assets are not just a Human male and an Elf female. They have come from the other Level. Levels. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the multi-Transcendents!"

The potential bidders then began to murmur and stir lively.

"Fifty thousand trios for the Elfina!"

"Sixty thousand!"

"Sixty-five."

I had no idea how much a trio was worth, but it was both flattering and frustrating to see us being so wanted.

Oh, wait. Did I say 'we?' Because I meant to say, just Elysia.

"Three hundred for the homely Human."

"Two hundred."

"One-fifteen."

First of all, what the f.u.c.k did they mean by 'homely?' Sure, standing next to Elysia might have masked my masculine, perfectly Humanly good-looks. I could get by that. It was not the first time that I was called ugly unjustly. But what was with the decreasing price? Not to mention that my price was one-hundredth of Elysia's.

I knew I would have felt mad whether I was sold high or low, but I was only a Human. I was entitled to getting feelings hurt and hold grudges.

Level Three just kept goading me to turn against everyone of its inhabitants. Maybe run the islands to the bottom of the sea, if I could.

The bidding kept going, simultaneously and chaotically, until only the top bidders remained and the prices rose sporadically and intermittently.

"Ninety-six thousand for the beautiful Elfina and seventy hundred—nope, my mistake, 'seventy' trios for the Human—"

I held back my tears then, swearing revenge on everyone for this shameful day.

"—Anything higher? Going once, twice—" the Reptil auctioneer readily grabbed a bell in his hand. Instead of a gavel and a mallet, the auctioneers seemed to be using bells to declare the highest bid.

I closed my eyes, expecting to hear the bell ringing. I had not lost hope altogether though. I was merely biding for the right time to bail. First, I would have to get these shackles off me. That would happen once I was bought over and officially made a docile, diligent slave.

Whoever bought me would pay the additional price.. with his or her life.

I was not afraid of freeing myself from some fat, abominable slave owner. I would gladly slit my master's throat with no guilt whatsoever.

The only fear I had was the prospect of parting with Elysia. The Reptils on the ship were weirdos who did not lay a finger on her. A racial difference could have prevented any foul play too. But what if Elysia was sold to some sick, perverted Elves? Or just Humans?

The bell never rang though. I opened my eyes and spotted from the crowd a bearded Human male with gray whisker and a raised hand.

"One hundred fifty thousand for the Elf," said the bearded man gruffly. Small, inadvertent gasps broke here and there. I could tell it was a bold raise.

The crowd fell silent. No one seemed to want to up the bid.

Meanwhile, my fear was coming true. The old man who seemed to be in his fifties did not seem to be a complete nymphomaniac or anything, but he did not look perfectly safe either. He looked a worn but still strong sailor to me. And I hated to imagine his tanned, muscular arms wrapping around my Elysia.

"Sold! The Elfina belongs to Captain Baha," announced the auctioneer as if my did not just end. It did.

Elysia and I locked eyes. She did not seem afraid. Only sad. I was sure I looked devastated to her eyes.

"And back to the Human, we were at seventy trios—"

The auctioneer closed his mouth as Laracroft approached him again and whispered another message. The auctioneer blinked uncomprehendingly first and then nodded briskly. I caught Laracroft eyeing the now owner of Elysia, Captain Baha as he was called, with a shady smile.

"Captain Laracroft has offered that as a token of gratitude for such a generous price, she would like Captain Baha to take in the Human as well, free of charge, but only if the captain is willing."

I turned sharply to Captain Baha, who stood tall and stoic amongst the curious crowd.

"Fine," said the old captain disinterestedly.

Just for that, I almost swore an oath of eternal loyalty to my new owner.