The first quarter of an hour of the journey to the dungeon was quiet.

  The party of knights and the rulers’ heirs who led them marched slowly through the city in a tight formation, with the outer shell made up mostly of Dessians and the inner circle largely composed of Claustrians.

  It took them five minutes just to get out of the palace compound.

  Adon rode, along with the other arthropods, positioned at the center of the procession, sitting in a special container like a large, square bowl that had been prepared for them. The vessel was strapped to a knight’s horse directly between the knight and the horse’s neck.

  As they left the palace property, Adon recognized that things had been a little too quiet.

  I was expecting to get an earful in my mind from Rosslyn at the outset of this thing, he thought. There was no obstacle to Rosslyn communicating with Adon by simply thinking aggressively at him. He would hear it, and no one else would.

  But the Princess sat in her saddle, seemingly oblivious to all the arthropods’ presence, talking periodically to either the young lords or her own knights. After ten minutes of Rosslyn never once looking in the arthropods’ direction, Adon developed a suspicion that she was carefully ignoring them, waiting to talk to him in particular until the moment was right to bring up his behavior earlier.

  That was all right with him. It took a little pressure off of him for now and allowed him to just experience the moment.

  He chatted with Goldie at first, mostly about what they hoped and expected out of the dungeon—neither Adon, Samson, nor Goldie really had any idea what awaited them. Though Adon acknowledged that among his previous lives, he had lived in a dungeon at least once, he had no idea if that world’s dungeons were similar to those of this world.

  Then Adon, observing the way the city felt much larger at ground level than it had been when he had flown high in the sky above it, traveling in and out, excused himself. He wanted to see more of the surroundings, and he could best do that from a slightly loftier height than the back of a horse, surrounded by knights on their horses. He offered to take Samson or Goldie with him, but they declined.

  So, the butterfly took off on his own, floating up into the air just above everyone else, until he could get a better look at things like the colorful rooftops and the quaint outfits. Many of the women were wearing dresses that would have reminded Adon of a dirndl if he was familiar with Alpine cultures from planet Earth. There were beautiful parks and green spaces, and Adon could smell the scent of a plant much like coffee being made into beverages as he flew past a long stream of smoke coming out of a chimney.

  It reminded Adon of what the Princess and her allies were actually fighting for. These real people were living their lives here, every day, under threat from an empire that loved to despoil cultures different from themselves.

  As the procession marched through the streets, Adon turned himself invisible and then flew down closer to the formation once again.

  Hovering just above the knights’ heads, he got to witness the people’s probable reactions to the Dessians’ military presence—and to the prospect of a possible Claustrian-Dessian union.

  The murmuring that he heard was a combination of verbal and telepathic, but it was easier for Adon to tune out the verbal entirely and focus on the mental content. Much of the spoken words were innocuous, anyway, as reasonably intelligent peasants and shopkeepers did not want to say anything that might be construed as offensive by the heavily armed and armored men marching through the streets.

  That is the Dessian coat of arms those knights are wearing. What are they doing here?

  Oh, I remember the Dessians arrived weeks ago. Are they leaving now? Wait, is the Princess going with them? What is going on?

  This is a bit scary. Why are there so many armed men in the streets? Is the Empire coming?

  Is this a wedding party we are witnessing?

  People’s responses to the sight of the Dessians among the Claustrians were telling to Adon. They had a general apprehension, more than a feeling of security, at the Dessians’ presence. Most people only felt reassured when they saw the Claustrian knights interspersed alongside them. This was despite the fact that the two countries seemed to be nominally allies—or at least seemed to have rulers who were friendly to each other.

  The people’s murmuring seemed to bother the Princess a bit.

  At an order from Rosslyn, a crier began moving back and forth, in front of the body of knights and then behind, loudly announcing what their sacred mission was.

  “Hear ye, gathered subjects of Claustria! The assembled knights have gathered here to bravely embark on an expedition to quell a nearby dungeon, under the supervision of yon fair Princess…”

  This seemed to be the formal language of the time, which no royals actually used, but which the common people expected from their rulers. The general sentiment of the crowd calmed down.

  Are the Princess and the Duke’s son getting married? Is that why the Dessian knights are joining her expedition? I suppose that will make us safer…

  There is the Princess. I suppose it is not an occupation, then.

  Are the Dessians helping us? What is in it for them…?

  Probing some members of the crowd more deeply for background information, Adon gathered that at some point in the past, there might have been a war with Dessia, but that had been outside of living memory.

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  Actually, the Claustrians are quite a warlike people, he thought, based on the associated thoughts he had gathered with his telepathic net. They don’t really have neighbors they haven’t tried to invade, besides the Empire. Most of those neighbors have tried the same back, of course…

  Medieval politics was certainly messy.

  Adon settled back into the vessel that had been brought to contain the mystic beasts, and he turned himself visible once more.

  See anything interesting? Goldie sent.

  No, just the city, Adon replied. The colors are pretty, though. Do either of you want a ride? You could see them for yourself.

  That is all right, but thank you, Goldie sent. Sammy? Do you want to take Adon up on his offer?

  Samson shook his head. I enjoy listening to the knights talking back and forth. I’m getting a lot of interesting opinions about Dessia.

  I was enjoying that as well, Goldie transmitted. It feels as if this is the first I have heard of a place outside of this country, except for the evil Empire that wants us all dead.

  Adon thought for a moment about how to change the subject from that rather dark topic. He finally decided on raising something he had wondered about earlier.

  I was surprised when you offered to stay behind, Adon sent, primarily aiming the remark at Samson, though it transmitted to both spiders.

  Samson simply sat thoughtfully for a moment. Adon could hear his brother thinking in his own head, What did Adon expect me to do? Leave my siblings completely unprotected? I mean, we did all end up leaving, but it’s only natural that I would offer. Was I that inconsiderate as a brother?

  But Samson’s reply was more considered and less reactive than his knee jerk internal response.

  I thought about what the right thing to do for my family was, he sent, employing a less defensive tone than in his inner monologue. Then I offered to do it. The fact that it wasn’t necessary is great for me, but I’m also glad I offered. And Adon, bro, just try to let me know if you need something from me too. I’m trying to be more considerate. All right?

  Yeah, Samson, I get it, Adon transmitted. You’re not a bad brother or something. I just meant, I knew you were really looking forward to this trip. I know you want to get stronger more than almost anything.

  You’re not wrong, Samson replied. I know I’ll still be way behind you when we come out of the dungeon, but if I can catch up a little bit, maybe I can be of some use in this war. Then, who knows? Maybe they’ll put up statues and carvings of spiders in the streets, not just butterflies.

  As Samson’s reply reached Adon’s brain, the spider pointed with his left forelimb, and Adon saw one of the external gates of the city fast drawing closer. It looked like that was where their party was headed.

  The surface of each massive side of the gate was embossed with a giant, golden butterfly sigil.

  Adon felt a strange mixture of pride and embarrassment.

  That’s right, that’s me, basically, he thought to himself. I wonder, if the crowd had seen me with everyone, if I hadn’t been hiding invisibly, how would they have reacted to that? A massive butterfly like me probably hasn’t been seen in centuries, considering the history as I sort of vaguely understand it. So, it would be pretty much a guarantee that I was a mystic butterfly, without me even having to say anything. At the very least, it would be obvious that there was some kind of divine favor for Rosslyn’s mission…

  Adon looked around and quickly realized that much of the crowd was still there, following the party of knights through the streets.

  I’ll be right back, he sent to Samson.

  He turned invisible and then took off, allowing his body to remain at its normal size and shape. He floated around a corner, into a dark alley where no one could see him.

  Then he turned visible again, flew up above the entire party, and began changing his wing coloration, first from crystal clear to a brilliant aquamarine, then to hot pink, then purple, then red, then indigo, and on through the spectrum of colors.

  The display drew the crowd’s attention. More eyes turned to the rainbow of light glimmering and whirling through the sky. People began oohing and ahhing, then hooting and hollering, and finally the low rumble of the crowd erupted into cheers.

  At the onset of those cheers, Adon fluttered down and landed on Rosslyn’s shoulder, where he continued rapidly cycling through colors to the crowd’s wild approval.

  The people cried out phrases like, “savior,” “in our darkest hour,” “Goddess’s chosen,” and “we are saved…”

  It was rather moving for Adon, who could feel in the mood of the crowd that these sentiments were genuine—that he had somehow shifted the mood of the people who had seen him from cautiously optimistic at best to jubilant and renewed, full of life and ready to face what could come next.

  They no longer doubted what the Dessians and the Princess were doing. Faith had taken its place.

  Adon knew that the people’s feelings could shift at any moment, but he had the sense, for now at least, that he had made a difference. The rest of the city would hear about this incident. Before the day was out, rumors of the Empire’s coming attack, which seemed to have seeped into the crowd’s awareness to some degree, would be at least partially displaced by rumors that a supernatural force was on their side. The Goddess—and a mystic butterfly that she had sent.

  The procession marched on, and as they reached the city gates and waited for them to open, people all around began picking and throwing flowers at the knights’ feet. The moment felt more like a parade, all of a sudden, than a life or death mission.

  That was… Rosslyn thought quietly. That was very special, Adon. I did not expect it. But you showed good instincts here. People are worried. They hear rumblings of what is going on, and they see their Princess leaving the capital. Many of them do not know what to think, regardless of what I announce. But they see our national symbol, and many of them believe the old stories. And with you landing on my shoulder, they know in their hearts that I am not abandoning them. They begin to believe that I will return triumphant. They see you, and they feel a sense of hope. Thank you for easing my burden a bit. There is still a conversation that we need to have later, but I appreciate you. And so do my people.

  Adon did not know what to say back, so he kept silent and let Rosslyn interpret that in her own way.

  The gargantuan gates slowly opened before them, swinging inwards on massive hinges that were as tall as the length of Adon’s wingspan.

  Then the party of knights, nobles, mystic beasts, and one princess marched forward, toward the entrance of the dungeon that threatened the city, into the thick of the closest danger.

  Still remaining in his place as they moved through the gate, Adon felt at peace, as if perhaps this was what he was meant to be doing all along.