Your linked Dungeon Core requests knowledge on the incoming members of The Order of The Broken Goddess.

Will you accept this request?

Yes/No

"Again? I didn't hear anything about more prisoners coming," Sarzina Acacia questioned out loud.

"What do you mean?" Came the response from underneath her, reminding her that she tended to speak her thoughts out loud.

Well… Usually it came out as a mumble unless she actively controlled herself, but this time the message had taken her by surprise, making the thought louder than normal.

Zina and her boyfriend, Sheriff Dakath Fraxinus, were officially still doing paperwork.

In actuality today's paperwork had been completed over 10 minutes ago. At the moment Zina was sitting on Dakath's lap, and until a couple of seconds ago the two of them had been in the middle of a heavy make out session.

"Apparently a group of cultists have arrived. But I haven't heard anything about Windin sending more prisoners our way. Have you?" Zina replied as she got off her boyfriend's lap.

"No." Where Dakath had been loving and kind underneath her mouth and hands a moment ago, the Sheriff part of him was now clear to see. Serious and worried about his people.

He didn't ask any questions about how she knew cultists had arrived. Not only because the potential threat was too big and too immediate to have time for questions, but also because he already knew it was something she couldn't tell him.

He had accepted her anyway. He had accepted her as she was, with all her passions and flaws.

She loved him all the more for it.

Before this, before the Dungeon and Karmaria, the only ones who had accepted her as she really was, was her brother and his wife.

And Oona, of course! But with her being a dawon it was a different kind of acceptance.

Her sister hadn't accepted her as she was, and certainly not her parents. Zina had been a member of many different Dungeon mining groups over her century of adulthood, but at some point they would always end up annoyed at her about something, which would lead to their separation.

It was usually, but not always, because of her tendency to mumble her thoughts.

But Dakath really liked that he didn't have to guess her thoughts.

And Dakath wasn't the only one, who had told her it was okay that she couldn't always control her mouth. Nerok, the Chief of the Tribe of Karma, and several other beastkin had said the same.

The gnomes simply shrugged it off, before asking if she wanted them to reply to her thoughts.

No one had ever asked her that. And she realized that, for the most part, she didn't actually want a response. She would rather they pretend she was normal.

The deputies had stated they didn't want her to change who she was, as that was who made their Sheriff happy. Which wasn't exactly acceptance, but still somewhat close.

It no longer mattered what the rest of Alfamér thought of her. Or even if and what history would write about her.

Zina had found her people.

"I'll alert the deputies and start searching for the cult's current location." Dakath stated as he got up from the chair and walked to the door.

"And I'll find Kat and ask if she's heard anything from Windin about this." Zina joined him as he walked out the door and down the stairs to the lobby of the Security Guild. Here he stopped to inform those of his subordinates who were present there about the situation, while Zina kept going to exit the building.

Kat, beside her job as the spokesperson for their dealings with Windin, had really helped Zina get over her fear of unicorns.

Not that they had ever been in her Dungeon together. No, Kat had declared that ‘Dungeon time is twin bonding time’ and would only ever enter with her brother.

But Kat had been incredibly helpful simply by sharing stories about unicorns from humans’ point of view, who apparently didn't fear unicorns at all! Instead they saw unicorns as a symbol of kindness and friendliness and everything good in the world.

Something completely opposite of how elves saw them.

And something much closer to what her Dungeon normally did.

And it was that realization which convinced her that the humans were right and the elves had got it wrong, when it came to unicorns.

There was little fear in her mind for unicorns after that.

Once outside the Security Guild she stopped in her tracks.

Actually… Where is Kat?

Kat could seemingly always be found at her brother's side and more often than not, they were doing what he wanted.

Reid hadn't been able to exercise his free will for years, so Kat's actions were perfectly understandable.

And as far as Zina knew, the two most likely places for Reid to be were in her Dungeon or with the Tribe as he wanted to learn all he could about the Dungeon of Karma to better be able to help and, if need be, protect them.

But with a potentially dire situation, Zina likely didn't have time to check both places.

Lucky, she didn't have to.

Holy System! I request to know if Kat is in my Dungeon!

The reply was quick.

Kathrin Alvarado is not currently located in The Dungeon of Karma.

And with that, Zina sprinted towards the grounds of the Tribe.

Upon arrival she loudly asked the first beastkin she saw where Kat was and was promptly pointed in the direction of Nerok's wooden hut.

Whatever the three of them had been talking about was immediately dropped the moment Zina slammed the door open to Nerok's dining room, which he also used as an office.

"Is Windin sending another group of prisoners here?! Have I simply not been informed?!" Came the loud, panicked, and subtly pleading questions from the normally calm, but easily excitable dungeon mistress.

"No…?" Kat replied confused, with fear beginning to form in her eyes as she realized the implications of the questions.

"Then the cult is back," Zina stated, both to confirm Kat's suspicions and to ensure the remaining two understood the situation.

"Why?" Nerok questioned. "Why do they keep coming here? There are easier Dungeons for them to get to! According to Lagurith they simply want the Cores, so to them, shouldn't one Dungeon be just as good as any other?"

Now is not the time! "Revenge over their fallen? Perhaps simply because they hate that they've already lost twice to this particular Dungeon. Or maybe it is as her Highness said and the cult considers this Dungeon's Core the most important one of them all. Why doesn't matter! It matters that they're here!" Zina had barely had time to breathe, she was speaking so fast.

"Right. Of course!" Nerok said, somewhat sheepishly as he got up from his chair with the Alvarado twins repeating his actions. "Do we know which direction they're coming from?"

"Dakath and his deputies are looking for their exact location." Zina replied as she pulled out her emco to call her boyfriend for updates.

The orb began blinking red to signal that it had connected as requested and was waiting for the other person to pick up.

After more than a minute of this, it became clear to the four that the Sheriff wouldn't be picking up.

No…

"Tell everyone to get ready for battle." Reid commanded. "Not only must we protect the Dungeon, we know they won't hesitate to deal with those in their way. While mind control is their first choice, killing isn't far behind for those with no free will left. From what I've gathered, the cult came from the west the two times they've been here on their own accord. That's likely where they'll come from again. So, let's meet on the west side of Karmaria and look for them there."

Agreeing with his words, the four split to warn people of the impending battle with the cult and to get ready for it. Either by putting on armor and grabbing a weapon, or by hiding in a closet or something, so the cult couldn't take their free will away.

After warning several dozens of people, Zina was satisfied that the message would spread quickly and headed for her own place. Armor, one-handed crossbow, an emergency dagger, and, of course, Oona.

Oona was meant for riding into battle with. It would be stupid to leave the dawon behind after the many Dungeons they had fought through together.

But when Zina and Oona arrived at the west side of Karmaria, not only was the place already a battlefield, she was immediately reminded of the main difference between fighting in Dungeons and fighting other people.

Dungeon creatures didn't have Classes. And they didn't always have a Skill, rarely ever two.

People did have Classes, and they had plenty of Skills.

Additionally, in a Dungeon you knew, roughly, what level your opponent would be. You didn't in a fight like this. You didn't know if your opponent was several tiers higher than you and you had no chance of winning, or if you needed to pull your punches to stop yourself from killing a mind controlled innocent in one hit.

Zina had never fought against people before. It was pure chaos.

"What? Why did you do that?" Her opponent, the fastest human she had ever seen, had slapped a metal bracelet around her arm rather than attack with the shortsword in her other hand.

The female human didn't answer and instead kicked her leg out in an attempt to trip the dungeon mistress.

She had jumped off Oona shortly after arrival to allow her feline to pounce on her opponents without having to worry about a rider falling off in the process. Zina wasn't worried Oona would attack any of their allies on accident, as dawons had excellent noses and memory of all they had smelled before. Oona knew who belonged to Karmaria better than Zina did. And likely better than anyone else too.

Despite not usually fighting against people, she had enough experience fighting in general to predict the trip attack and counter it by using her favored Forest element to grab the human's leg with several roots.

Only… the roots didn't grow anywhere near high enough to actually be able to grab the leg, much less before the leg could hit her.

Down on the ground, Zina was quickly subdued. "My mana! What did you do to my mana!" It was like she couldn't access the majority of it. It was still there, but only a tenth of what she had could be used at a time.

The human ignored her and called out to another cult member instead. "Cardinal! I have one!"

If I can only use a tenth at a time, then I'll simply use that tenth constantly!

The sudden Lightning coursing through the female human had at first caused her to freeze up and tense her muscles, making her grip on Zina even more secure.

Then the scent of burnt meat became detectable, and the human jumped away from the elf, freeing her in the process.

"Again! And keep holding her this time!" A new voice commanded before Zina could do more than simply stand back up.

"Yes, cardinal!" The human replied before using her immense speed to pull Zina's hands behind her back before she could react.

To which Zina simply began flooding the human with Lightning again. But this time the human didn't let go at the smell of her own burnt flesh.

The centaur, who had been the one to order the human around, walked closer as Zina fought against her captor.

With the Lightning no longer effective and only having access to a tenth of her mana, she couldn't free herself. She simply wiggled in the other's hold.

Then everything made sense again.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I really should have known better. I did! But then I forgot… But I remember now!" Zina stopped the Lightning and, with a nod from the cardinal, the human holding her let her go.