Glade pushed all distractions from his mind, the problems of the world fading away until all that remained were him, his objective, and the sparks of mental energy hovering in his mind. Ensuring his weapon was locked and loaded, he flew down the tunnel with Kedryn trailing behind.

Every movement was measured and smooth as he burst around the first turn, coming face to face with two Gnolls. Without missing a beat, Glade sighted first one and then the other, squeezing the trigger twice.

The sound was deafening in the close quarters of the tunnel, but that was a concern for later. He never slowed, barely acknowledging the two notifications that appeared as he moved with all speed toward more mental signatures that had just come into range.

Before they knew it, he and Kedryn turned another corner where three more Gnolls waited. The beastmen were completely unprepared, either shaking heads or still covering their sensitive ears from Glade’s previous engagement.

Without missing a beat, a ball of fire sailed over Glade’s shoulder, lighting up the closest Gnoll’s head like a roman candle.

Two loud cracks followed, drowning out the screams of the Gnoll on fire. The other two threats fell to ground as Glade put the other out of its misery with his knife.

“That... was… awesome…” Kedryn panted, eyes wide with excitement as he knelt next to Glade.

“We were lucky these three were unprepared and didn’t have crossbows,” Glade said, quickly wiping his knife on the dead Gnoll’s fur. “If they had, it would have been a different story.”

He quickly glanced at Kedryn, noticing he was still carrying the slime catcher with Slick still frozen on the front.

Glade was about to ask how the Kid had thrown a ball of fire while holding the cumbersome metal when he noticed a small flame hovering above Kedryn’s shoulder.

“When did you learn how to cast fire without using your hands?” Glade asked, turning his head to look further down the tunnel as he thought about the next stage of their assault.

“Shortly after our talk by the lake. I realized the spell description never said anything about using your hands to create the fire, I’d just assumed. So, I tried casting it over my shoulder. Worked like a charm!”

“That’s helpful,” Glade said, giving the Kid some silent praise.

“Sir, about accepting the quest, I’m sorry…”

“Not the best timing,” Glade said, already casting his mind forward to assess what additional threats they were facing.

“I know, its just… I need you to know I didn’t do it without thinking it through. I’m not some clueless noob when it comes to these things and I don’t want you thinking I’m untrustworthy before we continue with the assault.”

Glade turned back, giving Kedryn his attention.

“Go on.”

“When I saw the quest in your feed, a prompt came up highlighting that we could get additional rewards and help from the dwarves if I accepted the quest instead of you. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first, but there was only so much time before you accepted and we missed out on better rewards. That and I have no idea how talking about those things in front of Krazzik would have affected the quest.”

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“To be honest, I was going to decline the quest,” Glade said bluntly. “I had no idea what the ramifications were if we failed and I’m not certain we can meet any of those success conditions. That and our objective is to get us out of these caves, not place ourselves in more danger.”

“I… did not think of that.” Kedryn said, the flame hovering over his shoulder dimming as his face fell. “No wonder you’re upset.”

“Do you remember what I said about trust back by the lake?” Glade asked.

Kedryn nodded, the earlier excitement in his eyes having gone out. Glade had to be careful how he addressed these next points as the wrong words would cripple the Kid.

“Good, because you are earning some that trust back. Believe me when I say that actions always speak louder than words. First, your willingness to talk with me about this is appreciated. A bit late, and not the most opportune time, but appreciated none the less.”

“On a better note, those flame attacks of yours are incredibly effective. You have proven that you can keep situational awareness while timing your spell slinging so it doesn’t interfere with my actions. That level of synchronization usually takes months of training together to develop. Instead, you’ve honed those skills over a few days.”

“Thank you,” Kedryn said, the flame over his shoulder brightening.

“Don’t let it all go to your head though,” Glade said. “There have been some other actions that we need to address, like why you chose to spend my willpower point to learn Dwarfen?”

“That was my mistake,” Kedryn admitted, a look of guilt crossing his face. “I saw the prompt and acted. To be honest, it was the first time I’d seen your prompts and mine together. When the option came up, I hit yes before realizing I had accepted on your behalf. I know it sounds lame and all, but I really didn’t know. I now have it that when your prompts come up they are color coded differently,” Kedryn sighed. “I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Glad we got that out of the way,” Glade said, putting a hand on Kedryn’s shoulder. “This is how trust is built, with honest communication. Just remember, one poor decision can, and will, wipe out all the atta-boys you’ve earned. That, and next time let’s try to avoid these heart-to-heart chats before we assault a potentially fortified position, ok?”

Kedryn chuckled, giving Glade a nod of thanks.

“Now, let’s focus on what’s going to happen next. I can sense more minds up ahead than what Krazzik warned us about. They are on the fringe of what I can sense so I can’t guarantee the accuracy quite yet. I believe there are three to four Gnolls and a handful of dwarves, but those numbers change as they move in and out of my range of detection. Expect an ambush, which means we need to move fast and strike faster.”

“Let’s hope they don’t have any ranged weapons, but we’ll plan that they do. If you have the mana, I want you to throw a ball of fire out of the tunnel right before we exit. I don’t need you to hit anything, just distract them long enough so we can get out of the kill zone at the tunnel’s exit. I will immediately turn left, hugging the wall until I can find cover. I want you to turn right and do the same. That will be our best chance of avoiding any crossfire.”

“Once you turn and rush along the side wall, focus on any threats blocking your path first. I can’t state how important it is to get out of that kill box. Once we’re out, then we’ll handle anyone in the middle, got it?”

“Sorry to ask, sir,” Kedryn said. “But why don’t you just shoot them from around the corner?”

“Good question. First, we don’t know if there will be a corner that gives us enough cover that also provides sufficient fields of fire, which means speed is the advantage. Second, I would only be able to get off one, maybe two, shots, before creating an immediate stalemate. They could then use the slaves as living shields, simply step to the sides for cover, or a host of other options. Third, if I were them, I would have already sent for reinforcements, which means time is not our friend, so waiting them out isn’t going to help.”

“Understood sir,” Kedryn replied, then hastily added, “And I won’t let you down.”

“Good, now repeat what your roles are in this assault,” Glade said.

“Move fast, throw a massive ball of fire before we exit, you’ll move left, I’ll move right, deal with any threats in our immediate path then take care of those in the middle.” Kedryn said, the excitement slowly rekindling in his silver eyes.

Glade gave him a nod, double checking his gear and reloading his partially empty magazine. Once complete, he looked Kedryn in the eye.

“You ready?”

“I was born ready,” Kedryn said in all seriousness, his voice lowering an octave as his ball of flame grew to twice its normal size.

“And that’s why your call sign is still Kid. Let’s move!”