Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. We are so gods dam dead. How can a dungeon be here, there’s like seven of them and none are here. It’s not possible.

The discovery was an almost crushing fate by itself and one that forced Rohl to pace around nervously and chew at his fingertips as he did so.

What do we do? What do we do? We're trapped here. We’re not good enough for a dungeon expedition. Gods fucking dammit.

There was nothing to be done, no decision Rohl could make would change their fates or situation and given how drastically his life had changed recently, Rohl surprisingly found himself far more accepting of his situation than he should have been.

We do our best or we die, that’s it, if we can get out, warn people, then we might spare others he same fate, if its spreads, Elmon is in danger. This changes nothing, we fight, kill it get stronger or we die. This is the practice I need to kill the silence and avenge them.

However, this challenge of survival and skill was not one he was alone in facing, he still had Ell and whilst Rohl was somewhat concerned about her wellbeing, he would still need her help in escaping this dungeon.

“Ell… I know this is a horrible twist but it’s not over yet, people have escaped dungeons before, and we will be the first to do so here. Think of your wandering, how many elves can say their wandering involved escaping a dungeon, you’ll be renowned. If that’s not enough, is it not better to die trying at least,” Rohl’s words were full of as much conviction and confidence as he could muster and whilst he doubted the effectiveness of his words, they did get the elf to stir a little.

She didn’t seem particularly convinced by his speech, but it had seemingly persuaded her enough to get off her feet, before shooting him a confused look and turning around to continue slowly walking in the direction they were originally headed.

I guess she’s in. Could have at least said something. I don’t know what I should have expected really.

After pushing down a sigh, Rohl quickly jogged up to the elf and once again followed her steps as carefully as he could. However, he did so with far more uncertain thoughts than before.

He knew that if they could just reach the forest's edge and return to Elmon that not only would they be safe, but they could prevent a catastrophe as well. If the dungeon expanded much further and its creations spewed towards Elmon, the casualties would be horrific.

They needed to warn people but that was a concern for the future, he couldn't exactly help the people of Elmon if he starved to death first. Water wasn’t his greatest concern, between the many small streams he had seen, and the occasional downpour received in the forest, he wasn’t too concerned about dying of thirst. However food was a different matter, they had perhaps a day’s rations left at most and seemingly no other source of food. They hadn’t seen any wild game or edible berries. Even the possibility of eating slain monsters was taken from them.

We can go a little while without food, best keep a look out and see if either of us can spot anything edible.

That thought kept with Rohl for a little longer as he walked and was only truly dispersed by his companion once again stopping in her tracks. Given the latening hour and the small outcrop of rock ahead of them, Rohl could guess why.

The small outcrop and the cramped space below it looked far from comfortable, spacious or warm but with a few branches dragged in front of it, it would at least be concealed.

It’s far too dangerous to sleep in the open or light a fire, hiding is our best option to get through the night.

The elf clearly had the same thought in mind as she wasted no time in using whatever foliage she could find to disguise their sleeping area. To any passerby, it would simply look like a large rock with a small bush growing out from one side, but unfortunately, it would offer little protection against monsters with far greater hunting abilities.

Once his companion was finished, Rohl quickly ate one of the last few biscuit rations he had before getting on all fours and essentially crawling into their shelter for the night.

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If an attack came, they would be all but defenceless especially since the rock face prevented them so much as sitting up, never mind standing and drawing a weapon. As limiting as it was, the rock still provided a good deal of protection, not that such protection prevented Rohl from attempting to sleep with one arm all but fixed to the hilt of his sword. Ell seemed to have the same idea if the location of her blade was anything to go by, she wouldn’t be able to swing but if anything, attempting to crawl in here with them, the first thing it would find was the point of her blade sticking into it.

“How much food have we got left?” Rohl whispered.

“Half a day, you ate more than I expected, I suppose it can’t be helped, humans need far more nutrition than you’d suspect given how weak they are.”

I feel like she just called me fat. Still, if she’s insulting me, she must be doing a little better.

“You have any idea how to get out of here?”

“No, do you?”

“No.”

“Shocking.”

Rohl couldn’t help but give a weak chuckle at that but soon silenced himself as it seemed the elf was readying herself to speak once again.

“I guess you’re not completely incompetent. The dungeon's influence would have easily outpowered your meagre abilities. It's… it’s not your fault,” Ell muttered in a somewhat calmer tone compared to her usual derogatory one.

She’s acting as if just saying those words pained her, but coming from her that may as well be a shining recommendation of my abilities.

“Thank you, it's not your fault either, you couldn’t have known the dungeon was here, no one could have. It's no wonder we got lost, the thing is probably messing with our senses,” Rohl replied in an attempt to try and make some kind of headway with his companion.

“I know I'm not a fool. I did everything as perfectly as anyone could. It is whoever's in charge of this region's fault. Letting a dungeon go unnoticed, human stupidity and negligence at its finest.” The elf’s disdain was clear, not only from her tone but from how she shifted her body so that she was now facing him directly as they huddled under the rocky outcrop.

Is she expecting me to apologise for it or what?

“Once we get out of here, we can report this, but I don’t know if anything will come of it. The dungeon is buried in a forest, no one in their right mind explores deep into one. I’m not surprised it wasn’t discovered. The wilds belong to the monsters, the cities, and towns to us. That’s how it’s always been.”

Given the frown that soon appeared on Ell’s face, it was clear she wasn’t convinced by his rather poor excuse.

“Once we get out of here, that’s some confidence for a rookie,” Ell said as she fidgeted slightly upon the somewhat bumpy dirt beneath them.

“No point losing hope just yet, I’ve got far too much left to do for it to end here.”

Besides the last thing I need to do is get any more depressed.

The elf seemed somewhat conflicted at his words, as if she wanted to inquire further but also didn’t quite care enough to actually ask. After a moment or two, it seemed she finally made a decision on what to do.

“You best get some rest then, if you’re this when rested, I fear to see what you're like when tired.”

“And a goodnight to you too.”

With that small exchange over and the elf now turning around to face away from him, Rohl had nothing to do but attempt to get some kind of sleep.

It’s going to be hard enough sleeping as is, having her face me whilst doing so would have made it far too difficult.

Rohl wasn’t exactly used to comfy beds or rough sleeping, for most of his life, he had slept in a basically average bed and even with the many rough nights he had endured since the attack. Sleeping on a path of cold bumpy dirt underneath a large sheet of rock was definitely one of the roughest. He didn’t have enough room to truly stretch out, enough cover to get warm or even anything to use as a pillow.

It was definitely one of the roughest places to sleep and yet Rohl found the morning light appearing much faster than he realised, he didn’t even remember drifting off to sleep, but given everything he had endured in the past day if not months, it was hardly surprising that his body needed as much sleep as possible.

And with his stomach beginning to rumble slightly, it was clearly not the only thing he needed.

I should be thankful we just got through the night unscathed.

It was a rather sobering thought and one Rohl quickly dismissed after snacking on the last of the biscuit rations he had.

If the sound had disturbed her or if she had already awoken, Rohl couldn’t be sure, but a second after he finished his breakfast, his companion began to stretch slightly before crawling out of their shelter, sword first.

Given the lack of screaming or sword fighting, Rohl was fairly sure it was safe to leave and so hastily followed her out.

However, unlike the previous day, his companion was not ready to set off and simply waiting on him, instead she was stood near the entrance, hand outstretched.

“Hand over one of the black twigs,” the elf all but ordered.

After taking a short moment to make sure he had understood, Rohl quickly complied with the unusual request. And given that the next motion the elf took was to quickly break off a piece of the twig and devour it, Rohl's confusion only grew.

“Their edible, like roots. Any you eat come out your cut. Now let’s go.” It was a very short morning greeting and one that Rohl didn’t find particularly satisfying either. The black twig knowledge was useful to know, but Rohl would have preferred a deeper discussion, one where they came up with some kind of plan or strategy. But since Ell had already started walking away, it seemed there was little chance of that.

And so Rohl continued doing the only thing he seemed to be able to do on this trip, follow her lead.