The little beeping going on in my head lets me know that the Overmind has messages for me. Angrily, I dismiss the idea of checking my spam folder.

‘I don’t have time right now, BB, now fuck off and let me deal with more important shit than your nagging.’

Abruptly, the beeping stops, almost with a squawk of surprise at getting yelled at.

‘Now I really am imagining things.’

I look around. Elara is studying the circle and appears to be trying to decipher the sigil carved into the chest of one of the men. Fortunately, the victims all appear to be unconscious, so at least they are spared a modicum of relief from the situation they are in.

Misty is prowling about, doing her own investigations, so it seems. I have no idea what she may be looking for, but I am sure she has her own logic at work.Paolo is talking quietly with the rest of the party. I can smell feldspar ointment being used to ease injuries and the occasional burn. Looking to my left, I see Jake kneeling down beside the man who had been hit by the lightning bolt. As I watch, he places a gentle hand on the man's cheek, then shrugs off his jacket and covers his face in respect.

‘I don’t even know your name, but you were brave and didn’t deserve to die.’ I feel a sombreness wash over the relief I had been feeling at the successful conclusion to the battle.

As I turn to the tent, I see that the rest have noticed Jake’s action, and their faces reflect his sadness. I give a simple nod to Jake, acknowledging the loss of one of our number, and head over to see what I might find.

My first stop is the body of the dead mage. Devoid of his cloak, I can now see him properly. Even in death, he has an air of malevolence about him. His face is all narrow, sharp angles. A pointy chin is emphasised by a tightly cropped goatee, a thin face with a beak nose, and dark eyes staring lifelessly at the cavern roof. His hair is black and collar length, looking well cared for.

‘More than can be said for mine.'

’His clothes are well made and look expensive—fine black cotton rather than the villagers' rough-spun linen.

‘Was this guy trying to portray the classic villain look or what?’

On his hands are an assortment of rings, and I can feel the tingle of ether off them.

‘Either I’m getting better at feeling that shit, or they are very powerful.’ I decide to leave removing them to our resident expert once she is done freeing the captives.

At his belt is a fine leather pouch with a hefty weight to it. I remove it and pocket it.

‘We can use this to be sure of a proper burial for... damnit, why didn’t I ask everyone’s names?’

The pendant hanging in front of his chest is ornately inscribed with arcane symbols and radiates even more than the rings. I decide enough is enough and head for the tent. As I go, I look to Merl standing near Paolo and watching me conduct my search.

“Lots of weird magical items on him, Merl. Keep everyone away from him until Elara can be sure it's safe.” He nods.

“Then I figure it’s a choice of either throwing him on the fire or tossing him outside for the scavengers to feast on,” I add.

Merl gives me a grim look; I can see he agrees with my feelings about this man’s remains. Looking about, I see the others have also taken in my comments. Their stance is still angry but mixed with deep sadness and concern for those who remain chained up.

The tent is neatly kept, and despite its ragged look from the outside, the interior is clean and well-organised. A low camp bed is to one side, and opposite it is a collection of small items of furniture. A table holds the remains of a cold meal of bread, meats, and cheese, along with a half-emptied glass of what looks like wine. I give it a sniff.

‘Not wine.’ My stomach gives a lurch. ‘Definitely not wine.' I quickly put the glass down.

Alongside the table is a wooden chest, not locked, which is good as I hadn’t found a key on the mage’s body. I carefully open it, ready to leap back if it does anything crazy.

I’m not really paranoid, ‘yes, you are...’ I sigh. ‘Shut up, Del.’ I had just seen too many movies.

I give a sigh of relief when there are no bangs, no spewing forth of gas, or any one of many possible hazards a mage’s chest might hold.

Instead, what I find is a collection of bottles and vials of various potions and concoctions; none of which I have the faintest idea of what they do. In the drawers below the vial racks is a large assortment of cut herbs and other plants, along with much stranger items. What appear to be assorted animal parts are stored alongside stones and gems of various colours. In the centre of the chest is an impressive-looking onyx mortar and pestle.

I close the chest; the thing is heavy and would prove hard to carry out, but the contents make it more than worth it.

The last piece of furniture consists of a small desk and chair with a lamp burning brightly upon it. On the desk is a quill, ink, and what looks to be a journal.

Much of the writing inside I can’t read, but what I can makes me curious.

There is a letter tucked into the front of the book, it seems that the mage was not working alone, or at least, he appeared to have been commissioned to carry out his task here.

I close the journal and, tucking the letter into my pocket, I grab the sheets off the cot and leave the tent.

As I come out, I see Elara stand up and wave me over.

“Have you figured it out?” I ask as I get close.

“It’s some sort of summoning ritual, but I have been able to dissipate the build-up of potential,” she smiles tiredly. “Fortunately, it hadn’t advanced too far yet.”

“Can we get them down now, then?” I ask and get a nod in reply.

I look up and wave over Merl, Jake, and Paolo. As they approach, I tear one sheet in half and step over to the semi-naked Vita and Breeda, covering them to preserve whatever dignity they might have left.

I go to the centre and untie the bindings fixing Emily firmly in place on the altar, and then cover her nakedness before lifting her up, and gently carrying her out of the circle.

Paolo appears, hovering beside me with concern written all over his face as I lay her on the ground near the fire.

“I think, from the smell, they have all been heavily dosed with listwort,” I tell him. “Once it wears off, they should wake.”

‘The scars in their minds may take far longer to heal than the wounds carved into their skin.’

“They will need lots of care and comforting when they do; they have been through a heck of an ordeal.”

He sits down next to the young woman and gently holds her hand.“I understand,” he says quietly.

I stand back up and see that the last of the men being unchained. It is good that the manacles are secured with a simple lock nut, so we don’t need to search for a key. At last, we all gather around the firepit: six sleeping victims, thirteen surviving rescuers, and the sad body of our lost companion, Jason, as I had discovered when I spoke with Jake.

Misty chooses that moment to reappear, complete with a lizard of some sort, which she proceeds to noisily devour at my feet.

‘Thanks for that, girl,’ I say sarcastically to her.

‘More if you want?’ she replies.

“Apparently, if anyone is peckish, Misty is more than happy to go get a lizard for lunch, should anyone want one,” I say with wry humour.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The chuckle that results helps to lift the party's mood a bit.

I step over to Elara and talk with her quietly as the others minister to the sleeping villagers.

“Are you OK?” I ask, placing my hand on her arm. I can see the tiredness in her every motion. Whatever she had to do to stop the summoning has taken its toll on her.

“I just need some rest,” her answer is not surprising. “What did you find in your search?”

“Lots of magical stuff on him. A chest full of goodies in the tent and a journal I can’t make heads or tails of,” she looks interested despite her weariness.

“Also,” I pull out the letter. “This,” I add and hand it to her.

A curious look on her face, she unfolds it and quickly scans its contents.

“We need to show this to the elder,” she states.

“I know, but let’s get everyone out of here and safely back to the village first.” I put the letter back in my pocket.

“I’m going to see if I can safely retrieve the magic items and see if there is anything else you may have missed,” Elara informs me with a smile in her eyes.

‘She is as treasure-happy as a magpie.’

“You go see how the others are coming along,” she adds over her shoulder as she heads off towards the other side of the cavern.

Though the eyes of the party contain sadness, the look of triumph is brighter. The six sleepers have been made as comfortable as possible, and someone has slathered feldspar onto the carved wounds. These are already healing rapidly and will hopefully only leave faint scars to serve as a lingering reminder of what they have been through.

I nod in approval and go over to Paolo, where he sits on the floor next to Emily.

“How is she?” I ask him.

“‘Comfortable’ is, I guess, the normal term used,” he replies. “She isn’t in any pain, and as far as I can tell, she’s just sleeping off the drug’s effects.”

I give his shoulder a squeeze.“Once they wake up, we can get out of here, but we can’t lift them up that cliff. They are going to need to manage the climb,” I tell him and head over to Merl.

“We need to have someone go back to town and see if we can get a cart up here,” I say. “I think the less we need to ask of the kidnapped ones, the better.”

“Already ahead of you, my friend,” he tells me. “Sam’s a fast runner, so he’ll be halfway there by now.”

“Good. Now, I have some food in my pack. There was some in the tent, but I really don’t trust it.” I feel a little shudder run through me at the thought of whatever the hell was in that glass.

“I think we need to eat, take care of personal business, and rest up while we wait for them all to wake up.”

“Agreed,” he nods and heads around the group, passing along the planned course of action.

I am tired, bone-achingly so, and also mentally exhausted. This whole affair is so far outside of my comfort zone that I am beginning to wonder if I even know which way is up anymore.

I head to the far edge of the cavern for a piss, and following a nudge from Misty, I find a shallow pond a bit further around so I can freshen up a bit.

The bite of ice-cold water on my face does a lot to put a bit more vigour into me.

‘I just want to sleep for a week and forget all about fucking wizards and bloody fireballs.’

Kicking a small rock, I head back to the main group by the fire, sit down, and lean back against a small boulder, closing my eyes for a moment.

I hear that annoying ping start up again as I begin to relax.

‘OK, you bloody arse, what do you want now?’

[You have progressed on your primary Cuvat: Survive. Points added.]

OK, nice, the pinging continues. What now?

[You have learned the skill: Leadership. Try not to get too bossy.]

[Congratulations, you have enough experience to level up. Would you like to level up now?]

‘Hell yes,’ I think with a smile.

As my stat sheet opens, I notice I have gained not one but two whole levels.

‘This is more like it, Del,’ I happily congratulate myself.

I have four points to assign to my stats, so it appears I get two per level.

I put two onto Strength, one onto Dexterity, and the final one on Intelligence.

I am completely unsurprised to see Misty has levelled up.

‘Damn moggy is a higher level than me!’ I laugh at her level 5 status.

I give her a mental nudge. ‘Hey, girl, when did you get so big?’

I feel her give a little purring chuckle. ‘Newt,’ was her simple answer.

Of course, she fought the dog while I sat talking to Seth.

‘Fair enough, good on you, girl.’

I have a look through our sheets and am pleased with what I see.

Name: Del Axholm

Level: 4

Path: Archer

Health: 36

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 18

Stamina: 18

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 12

Mana: 24

Spirit: 24

Agility: 22

Presence: 10

Animal Companion: Misty; feline

Skills:

Archery lvl 3 – Able to use all manner of handheld bows and crossbows

Woodcraft lvl 3 – Basic survival skills in wooded areas. Can safely make fires and create crude shelters.

Tracking lvl 2 – Can find and follow obvious tracks or blood trails.

Traps lvl 1 – Can make basic snares and pit traps.

Sneak lvl 3 – Able to hide in available cover. Movement increases the risk of being seen or heard.

Herbalism lvl 2 – Can identify and gather basic herbs.

Skinning lvl 1 – Can manage to crudely strip the skin from a carcass.

Leadership lvl 1 - Able to command small groups of up to 20.

Attacks:

Bow lvl 3 – Simple Shot.

Sword lvl 3 – Cut, thrust.

Dagger lvl 2 – Stab, Slash.

Special Attacks:

Bow:Sneak attack lvl 1 – Doubles damage

Master Archer lvl 1 – Cost 1 Stamina: Increased damage and chance of critical hit.

Dagger:Backstab lvl 1 – Double damage.

Name: Misty

Level: 5

Path: Feline Companion

Health: 42

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 19

Stamina: 15

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 6

Mana: 25

Spirit: 15

Agility: 24

Presence: 14

Skills:

Charm lvl 3 – Can influence the attitude of someone in eye contact with her.

Attacks:

Claw lvl 4 – Attack with front claws.

Rake lvl 3 – Double rear leg attack.

Bite lvl 3 – It’s teeth all the way.

Special Attacks:

Pounce lvl 4 – Can be used with any or all of the standard attacks. Double damage, with a small chance to cause the target to stumble.

Sneak Pounce lvl 3 – As above; Triple damage.