Astrid had no idea how long she lay on the ground waiting for the spider monster to sink its fangs into her flesh. Every gasp for air felt like getting stabbed in the chest, and any attempt at moving caused spikes of agony to radiate through her entire body. Astrid wished it would hurry up so the pain would stop.

Something brushed against her shoulder, and she braced herself for the finishing blow, but it didn’t come. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a human figure crouched beside her. Despite the blurry vision, she recognized him as the healer from Walter’s team. If she remembered correctly, his name was Kelan. Was he talking to her? His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t make out any words over the ringing in her ears. She tried to say something, but all she could manage was a groan.

Kelan pulled a glass vail from his bag, uncorked it, and pressed against Astrid’s lips. She thought she heard the words ‘drink this,’ so she did. Warmth spread through her broken body, and instantly she began to feel better. Her breathing eased, the ringing in her ears stopped, her vision cleared, and the pain subsided.

With Kelan’s help, she carefully sat up and took in her surroundings. The spider was fighting three people that she recognized as Walter, Ina, and Jerrik. It was difficult to tell who was winning, and Astrid wanted to go help them. She tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness washed over her, and if the leader hadn’t caught her, she would have hit her head against the ground. She sat back down on the ground, trying not to throw up, waiting for the dizziness to subside.

“How are you feeling?” Kelan asked

“I’m fine. We have to help them.” She tried to stand again, but Kelan pushed her down.

“You’re not going back to the fight. You need to rest. And I recommend you go to the temple of medicine for more healing as soon as possible.” He left to join the fight, and even though Astrid wanted to join, she stayed put as the healer had said. She had to admit that she was currently in no condition to fight. If she joined them now, she was more likely to get in the way than be of any help. The team clearly had experience fighting together and gradually managed to take away the monster’s health. They played it safe, so the battle stretched on for several minutes, but their teamwork meant that no one got hurt.

Astid watched, impressed at how they used their attacks in turn, never giving the monster a chance to single out any individual or predict where the next attack was going to come from. Walter would cast a spell getting the monsters attention so Ina could attack with her sword and then retrieve before the monster could strike back. Walter would attack the spider with another spell, giving Jerrik an opening to attack with his sword. When the spider tried to use its acid spay, Kelan raised a shield strong enough to protect the entire team, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Astrid knew these people were at higher levels than her. Still, it was disturbing how many attacks it took before the monster finally succumbed. This monster was after all only at level two.

Walter walked over to her after the monster was killed with a knife in his hand. He held it out for her to take.

“I assume this is yours,” he said.

“Yes, thanks,” she said, putting the knife back in her inventory. “Are all the monsters dead now?”

“My team and I have killed two, but there were three when they were first spotted.”

“I kill one in a street down there somewhere.” She pointed in the direction of the street she had entered the temple square from.

“You managed to kill one by yourself?” Walter asked in disbelief. “And you sure it’s dead.”

“I looted it, so yes, I’m sure.”

“I have already looted this monster, but since you did some of the damage, you should have your share of the spoils.”

“You and your team just saved my life, so keep my share, and we’ll call it even,” she said. She didn’t believe in life debts, but some people took that kind of thing very seriously. Whether Walter was one of those people or not, she didn’t know, so it was better to settle it immediately if possible.

“You got yourself a deal. My team and I are going to debrief at the headquarters now. You should come along too, so we can hear more about your fight.

*

Fifteen minutes later, I entered a room inside the mayor’s office building. This was apparently the headquarters for the security guards of the city. The room was spacious, with a long table in the middle and enough chairs to host twenty people. Along the walls, shelves stood filled with books and bins.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Walter entered with a woman Astrid hadn’t seen before. She had graying hair tied back in a neat bun. Her dress was yellow with an embroidered flower pattern that must have taken forever to create. The woman introduced herself as Mayor Tuva and took a seat at the head of the table. Walter sat in the empty seat between Kelan and Ina.

“We have a lot to discuss tonight,” Tuva said. “Firstly, do we have any reports on how the monsters got into the city in the first place?”

"No, we don’t.” Walter answers. “When one of my security teams reported the breach, the monsters were wreaking havoc in the park.”

“And does that team know how the monsters got in?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. but I’ll try to debrief them tomorrow to find out exactly what happened. Astrid, can you tell your sister to be here tomorrow at noon?”

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

“I have sent all our healers out to help the injured. Anyone not involved with that are to remain inside,” Tuva said. “I’ll talk to the counsel about getting more people on the security team when we meet tomorrow. Then hopefully we can prevent another monster breach from happening. Kelan, you should go join the healers.”

“I should check Astrid over more thoroughly first. She was quite injured when we arrived at the temple square.”

“I’m fine,” Astrid said. She still wasn’t sure if a healer would be able to tell that she was in disguise or lying about her age if they cast diagnostic spells at her, but she preferred not to risk getting exposed if she could help it. “I’ll drop by the temple of medicine later. Right now, other people need help more than I do.”

“Maybe your right,” Kelan gave her a last look of concern before he left the room.

“Walter, what’s your plan for security going forward?” Tuva asked as soon as the door closed behind Kelan.

“The nightshift for the security guards starts soon, so I’ll have them patrol the city wall, so no more monsters come in. I can have them enforce the curfew as well.”

“That would be nice. Now that’s settled, we can move on to the next point. Astrid, I hear you took on one of the monsters all by yourself. Could you please tell us how you managed to do that?”

Astrid told the story, feeling a bit uncomfortable with everyone’s attention directed towards her. She had to be careful not to say anything that could get her in trouble, although she was starting to worry if she had already slipped up. Gorm knew about her, and there was no telling how many people had seen her fight at the temple square.

“That was impressive,” Walter said as she finished her story.

"Thanks,” Astrid answered awkwardly. It felt weird being praised for fighting monsters when she had just been scolded for doing so a few hours ago. And by the same person, none the less.

She was glad they didn’t feel a need to make any more comments on her story. Instead, Walter told how he and his team had defeated the first spider. It was much like how they had fought the last one. Astrid envied their ability to get through battels like that without taking any significant damage. She herself had almost died multiple times tonight.

“All of you have done a great service to the city tonight. A lot of people owe their lives to you, but the danger is far from over. The monster population increases every day, and we haven’t been able to get aid from the capital despite many requests.”

“I don’t get why they don’t send a team to help us,” Jerric said.

“The kingdom is big, and we’re near the borders, far from the capital.” Ina said. “Even if they could find someone qualified to help who was willing to travel all the way here, it would be expensive. We have to deal with this on our own.”

“Other people tried that already,” Jerrik said. “All of them died in an attempt to clear the dungeon.”

“Have you told the king that?” Walter asked Tuva

“Yes, but it didn’t change their response.”

“It’s because the king doesn’t care about us.” Ina said

Astrid had heard most of this before, but the last part was new to her. Was it true the king didn’t care about them? She didn’t want to believe that, but why else would he refuse to send help?

“Of course, the king cares,” Tuva said. “It’s just expected that cities can handle any level tree and below monsters on their own.”

“Then we should try clearing the dungeon again. My team will be able to do this,” Walter said.

“It’s too dangerous,” Tuva said. “We can’t afford to lose you guys too.”

“If only we knew what we would find inside the dungeon, we could prepare for it,” Walter said.

“Monsters, traps, and puzzles,” Astrid said. The way the others looked at her made her realize she had said more than she should.

“How do you know that?” Jerrik asked.

“Uhm… Isn’t that what you find in all dungeons?” Like most people, she knew very little about dungeons, as for the longest time this whole area of the kingdom hadn’t had any. That meant no one had seen one, and it wasn’t taught or talked about publicly.

“Monsters yes.” Ina said. “They spawn in dungeons and only begin leaving once the dungeon is filled to capacity or they are chased out by stronger monsters. However, the other challenges vary depending on the type of dungeon. Traps and puzzles are the worst combination. They are notoriously difficult and extremely dangerous.”

“They are also supposed to be rare at low levels,” Walter added. “It’s more likely that the challenges are more straight-forward. Maybe something like killing a strong monster or running an obstacle course. That could still pose a danger, but it’s something my team can handle. Please let us do this, Mayor Tuva.”

“If you’re sure you can handle this, I guess I can let you have the location to the dungeon.”

“I’m sure.”

This was bad. If the mayor allowed Walter and his team to enter the dungeon unprepared, they would die like all the others. Astrid remembered how she had easily been able to imagine how a hundred people could get stuck and killed in the dungeon. She shuttered at the thought. She didn’t want that to happen to these people.

“You can’t go,” Astrid said, getting everyone’s attention.

“Why not?” Walter said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s too dangerous, and you don’t know what you’re up against.” She felt like a whiny child, but at the moment she didn’t care.

“I know the danger, but I have full confidence in my team.”

“A hundred people died in there. And so too will you if you enter unprepared.”

“There’s no way to prepare, as there’s no way to know what we’ll face. But every day we don’t do something is a day where the monsters grow stronger, so we have to act now. Can you give us a location, mayor?”

“It’s right here,” she said, drawing a circle on a map she had retrieved from somewhere.

Astrid had no more ideas for how to change Walter’s mind, which left her with just one option.

“You asked how I know there are traps and puzzles in this dungeon.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I know because I’ve been there.”