It was the beginning of day 5 and Cass was in a foul mood. It wasn’t just him. Everyone was pretty upset that every time they got a whiff of where the Boss monster was, the damn thing kept moving!
Cass tore into the jerky that was part of the breakfast that Edgar and Gideon had assembled. Cass and Lucian, instead of helping with the assembly of meals, and most of the set up of camp, were in charge of magical monitoring and protection whenever they set up camp.
So far, it had worked out, balancing the chores that everyone did in the camp in a way that meant no one got upset with the others. They were all just getting upset with the general situation they were finding themselves in.
Cass had no idea how they were going to pinpoint the fucking Boss monster. If they kept being this damn elusive, Cass had half a mind to attempt to drain the fucking dungeon. Was that possible? Probably not, but he could fucking try.
If they were a water-based monster, Cass would fucking suffocate them. Even if the Boss room was closed up, like it was supposed to be, Cass could handle it. He could magically open that fucking door even if he didn’t know where it was and suck the damn life out of the monster inside.
He knew he was just getting frustrated, and he had done his best to keep it under wraps. But tensions were getting high. Even the more reasonable Edgar was getting a little chuffed at the whole thing.
"Do you think if I drain the whole dungeon of water we’ll be able to find them?" Cass asked ominously and had all three men snap their heads in his direction.
"Cass, no." Edgar said, almost like he was speaking to a toddler. Gideon looked pale at Cass’ words while Lucian tossed his head back and laughed.
"Sweetness, I love how much of a go-getter you are and how much you are tired of what’s happening, but I don’t think that’s a smart idea. We don’t know how draining that could be on you, and I truly don’t think that you’ll be able to drain the dungeon as fast as it can refill itself." Cass glowered at the dragon who was doing his best to say that nicely. Cass tore at the jerky, chewing miserably.
"Why are you so sure? Has someone attempted to do that before? Were they a damn demon who feels like the fucking energizer bunny while being here?" Cass asked, and watched as confusion crossed their faces. All of their faces.
"Energizer bunny?" Gideon asked and Cass grumbled.
"It’s a mascot. A cute creature meant to advertise a product. In their case, a product that provides energy to things. The joke was that they never ran out of power because of the product." Cass explained it, but with more than his fair share of sass. Lucian’s expression softened slightly, while Gideon looked surprised, and intrigued.
"Mascots...to advertise a product. Huh. That’s interesting." He muttered, clearly wanting to ask more questions but Edgar smacked his arm and glared at him.
"While that is interesting, I do not think it is smart to attempt to do that, even if you feel like you have infinite magic power right now." Edgar’s voice was coaxing, sweet. It was clear that he was trying to convince Cass that wasn’t the right method to solve their issue. Cass grumbled.
"You may think that, but what if they want us to show a great level of power like that?" Cass asked and Lucian chuckled.
"Haven’t you been doing that already? What with all the wind and water magic you’ve been throwing around to get your anger out?" Lucian was clearly teasing him, but he did make a good point.
Cass had been throwing magic around like it was nothing, and they still hadn’t come across the Boss. Cass was beginning to see red.
"You know what? You’re right. I have been throwing around magic like it’s nothing. After all, we have stayed in the little hovels I’ve dug out with my own flesh and blood this whole time. I’m going to take finding that damn Boss into my own hands." Cass muttered, and Edgar looked horrified and at a loss that he was unable to convince him. Gideon was glancing between Edgar and Lucian, wondering what he should do and Lucian?
He tore into his own piece of jerky, staring at Cass for a long moment before he sighed, and got to his feet. Cass felt a shiver run down his spine as the other man approached, knowing that he was coming for him.
"Cass." Lucian said and Cass felt his skin crawl. That was a warning if he ever heard one. "I already said that you shouldn’t do that. I’m not saying it because I think you aren’t able to, and I appreciate that you are worried for us. However, what kind of mate would I be if I let you push yourself recklessly? You aren’t doing that. Don’t make me have to resort to violent means to keep you safe." Cass stared up at Lucian as he came to a stop in front of Cass. He loomed over him, and Cass hated that his damn little fluttery ties for his shirt drew his attention.
Lucian smirked and Cass narrowed his gaze up at him.
"I wouldn’t forgive you if you did that." Cass warned and Lucian shrugged.
"I know." He said it so matter-of-factly that Cass blinked, surprised. "But," Lucian continued, "I wouldn’t forgive you for having to put me in the position to knock you out for your own good. Especially after Edgar and I warned you against it. I know that normally you aren’t able to do as much as you are capable of outside of a dungeon, that does not mean you should push yourself to the limit. You aren’t doing it, Cass." Lucian said, his tone final.
Cass huffed, not liking that he was putting down firm boundaries, and that in the back of his mind, Cass knew he was being damn ridiculous.
"We’ll figure it out, Cass. The Boss can’t run from us forever." Edgar said with a gentler tone.
"Maybe I can try focusing on them more." Gideon piped up from the back. "I know I’m not as good as Ava, but maybe I’ll be better at pinpointing them today." He sounded far more hopeful then Cass gave him credit for, and it sounded genuine.
Cass stared up at Lucian’s smiling face, with his unsmiling, reptilian gaze and finally relented. Cass huffed, dropping his gaze and chewing on his jerky. Lucian’s hand came out, patting the top of Cass’ head.
"Good boy." It was a soft murmur, quiet. Too quiet, it appeared, for even Edgar to hear. Cass snapped his eyes up towards Lucian and the man smirked. "Thank you for your understanding, Cass." He said instead and Cass wanted to throttle him. His cheeks burned because he had so easily covered up what he had said to him. If Cass retorted, he would look like a fool.
"We’ll see what Gideon can do, but don’t be surprised if I try to knock down a few walls today." Cass muttered. Edgar let out a sigh, like he was trying to keep his cool, and Cass just glared at Lucian before he took his hand off of Cass’ head and moved back to his side of the bench he was sharing with Gideon. Edgar and Cass were sitting alone.
~
That was how the morning started, and by mid afternoon, Cass was on a thin fucking line.
They had gone into not one, not two, not three, but four large rooms after chasing that damn fucking feeling and not finding the Boss at all. Cass wasn’t even angry at Gideon, how could he be? The man looked distraught, like he’d outed Cass all over again, and Cass? Cass was practically fuming.
The water around him might have even been a different temperature around him, and Lucian was the one who had to keep pulling him in and calming him down. It was a bit unfair, since he still had a connection to his emotions, but from how tired Edgar was looking after trying to placate Cass on his own? He was thankful someone else could step in.
They eventually relented, letting Cass knock a few walls down, or attempt to do so along the route that the new connection to the Boss monster was in. Edgar was doubtful, and so was Lucian. Both men had no faith in him being able to change anything since even they weren’t able to change a single thing in the dungeon.
Lucian knew it from personal experience, and Edgar was just doubtful. However, it was Gideon who seemed to think that Cass might be able to do it. He did his best to give Cass the most accurate information he could, helping him pick out the wall that he thought would be the best to knock out.
Lucian only let Cass do this if he could wrap his arms around his waist and pull him out of the way if something bad happened, so that’s what the formation was. Edgar watching everyone’s back, Gideon closer to Edgar but giving Cass instructions, and Cass and Lucian together, pointed in the direction that Gideon suggested.
Cass was like a cannon being manned by a team that was doing so for the first time.
Then, Cass wound up with his magic, and flung.
The hole that developed in the wall of the dungeon was massive, shocking, and it was a good thing that Lucian was holding onto him since it was sucking water out of the dungeon, and quickly.
Gideon was grinning from ear to ear while Lucian and Edgar seemed shocked, but everyone quickly recovered.
They then went on to explore the hole that Cass had made and found that it was essentially the same environment of the dungeon, but without monsters and without water. In fact, it kind of reminded Cass of service tunnels, something that you would find in large businesses so that employees could move around out of sight of the common folk.
Cass felt a wide smile cross his face.
Oh hell yeah he was about to torment the demons running this fucking thing. Until they were begging him to leave.