Falcon threw up a fist as they reached the exit of the passage.

Turning, she motioned for the party to go back up the tunnel and the group hurried to comply until the new room was out of sight.

“What’s the problem?” Gideon asked.

“That room has more traps than I’ve ever seen, and I’m confident I didn’t spot them all. I saw ports on the walls, pressure plates on the floor, and some sort of mechanism on the far side,” Falcon explained.

“Can you find a safe path and mark where we should step?” Lioness asked.

The ranger shook her head.

“I can’t be sure I won’t miss something.”

“What sort of traps do you think they are?” Forge asked.

The ranger held out a hand to him.

“Give me my pack, please.”

Forge summoned her pack from his ring and handed it to her.

Sorting through her pack, she pulled out a notebook and pen and began drawing a sketch of the small anteroom.

“It’s only about 30 feet long and has a corridor that branches sharply off to the side. I’m pretty sure the traps are all set off by the floor pressure plates, and based on the ports in the wall, fire darts.”

She drew out the pattern of the floor and showed it to them.

“The complexity of the floor design makes it impossible for me to determine which are pressure plates and which aren’t.”

Sketching out the wall, she showed the group the picture.

“The mechanism on the far side is probably some sort of deadfall, but the ceiling is dark, so I have no idea where it would drop from, or if it would fill the room with water or acid.”

“Could we set off the floor plates and destroy the mechanism, or would they reset?” Forge asked.

Falcon chewed her lip as she thought.

“They shouldn’t be able to reset until the entire dungeon resets. But the floor plates would require at least 30 pounds of pressure to set off, and I’m not sure how we can destroy the deadfall trap.”

“I could use my magma tentacles to set off the floor plates and Cinder could set the mechanism on fire. Once it’s on fire, I could increase the heat until it melted enough that it wouldn’t work,” Forge said.

Gideon laughed.

“Why are the rest of us here again?”

Lioness smirked at the swordsman.

“That’s just one possible way. The pattern on the floor is specifically there so that anyone who knows what to look for will immediately know it for a trap. And since most teams don’t have a dragon or elementalist on them, how do they get through it?”

Falcon shrugged.

“It’s a good point. My rogue skill is pretty low, but this is a Tier One dungeon, and most teams wouldn’t have someone with a rogue skill higher than mine. We must be overlooking something.”

Gideon considered.

“If all we need to do is avoid the floor, maybe there’s a way to cross the passage using the wall.”

“Give me a moment and I’ll run down and check,” Forge said.

“That shouldn’t be necessary. The room is pretty bright. Brighter than the other caverns were, anyway,” Falcon said.

“Got it. So, where’s the light coming from?” he asked.

The party looked at one another, and Gideon laughed.

“Well, that’s as good a place to start as any.”

He turned to Falcon.

“Why’d you have us move back up the tunnel?”

The ranger shrugged.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, I wasn’t sure if something would hear us.”

Gideon nodded.

“As good a reason as any. Let’s all go down there and see if there’s another way through.”

The team made their way back down the passage until they reached the room, and carefully studied the walls and ceiling.

“The light’s coming from those recesses in the wall, and they’re angled so you can’t see them from here,” Falcon observed.

Looking up at the ceiling, Forge spotted a large square stone, as well as wooden braces that went down the length of the room.

Spotting a series of unlit torches set 20 feet above the floor, he cast a Tier One Flame Bolt and lit one.

The group watched as a section of the ceiling became visible high above.

Reaching out to the fire, Forge used it to jump from torch to torch, until the entire ceiling was lit.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lioness snorted and elbowed the shorter ranger.

“Missed something,” she said.

The ranger muttered some curses and shot the cleric a look.

“I would have found it, eventually. Perception, vision enhancement, or a light stone would have allowed us to see it.”

“Probably why we got a light stone in that chest,” Gideon said.

“Lesson learned, then,” Forge said.

“Let me see if I can get up there and see down the next corridor,”

Falcon pulled her silk rope from her pack, but Forge held up a hand.

“I’ve got this. Everyone back up a few steps, and Cinder, stay here, please.”

Cinder hopped down from where he wound around Forge’s neck and climbed up Gideon, perching on his shoulder and resting his tiny hands and chin on the swordsman’s head.

“Yay. I’m useful,” Gideon muttered.

Cinder snorted and watched Forge.

Summoning his magma tentacles, he coated the entire length in the black metal slag, then reached up and grabbed a wooden brace.

He pulled himself up and stood on the thick wooden beam.

Reaching a tentacle down towards the party, he sent Cinder a message.

“Tell Falcon to hand me the rope.”

“Rope!” the dragon sent to the party.

Understanding, Falcon uncoiled twenty feet of rope and handed the rest to the tentacle.

“I’m not the only one that finds those tentacles really weird, right?” Gideon whispered.

“Super weird,” Lioness agreed.

Tying the rope to the beam, Forge stood and used his tentacles to brace himself as he jumped to the next beam.

Traversing the thick wooden planks easily, he reached the end and studied the corridor before him.

From where he stood, he could see where the intricate pattern on the floor stopped where the new corridor began. Unfortunately, the ceiling sloped down and he was unable to see further than a few feet down the passage, but the design of the beams was seemingly designed to allow someone to avoid the traps completely.

“Tell the party it looks safe to come up,” he sent the dragon.

Dutifully reporting the message to the team, Cinder launched himself from his perch on Gideon’s head and flew up towards Forge, quickly winding himself back around his neck.

Scratching the dragon’s chin, Forge turned to see Gideon climb up the beam, then pull Lioness, and then Falcon up after him.

Falcon drew up the rest of the rope and handed it to the cleric, who stuffed it into the pack on her back.

Falcon easily jumped from beam to beam to reach him, while Gideon and Lioness used the wall to steady themselves as they crossed the beams.

Forge observed the group’s progress, ready to grab anyone that might lose their balance, but they all reached him easily.

Dismissing his tentacles, he gritted his teeth as the drain hit him.

“I really need to raise my willpower,” he sent Cinder.

“…yes,” the dragon reluctantly agreed.

Giving the team a thumbs up, he summoned his mace, then dropped to the floor below.

He crouched as he landed and peered down the corridor, seeing that it widened after about ten feet into a larger room.

He held up a fist, then opened his hand wide to signal his team, and they soon joined him in the new passageway.

The new cavern appeared barren of life, with no proper places to hide, other than a single large structure set in the middle of the room.

Falcon moved past him, taking point.

Unstrapping her bow, she held up a fist to the group, then readied an arrow before moving silently down the passageway.

She crouch-walked about sixty feet and stopped, then signaled the party to follow.

The group did their best to move silently, but it didn’t seem to matter, as nothing seemed to notice them and the room remained quiet.

Standing, Falcon turned to the party.

“I’ve read about this. The dungeon boss is in the sarcophagus, and once we get close enough, the crypt will open, and the monster will attack.”

“What’s the plan?” Lioness asked.

“I’ll take point and draw it out. Lioness can stay behind me and heal me in case I get hit when it emerges, and Forge and Falcon can attack from range,” Gideon said.

Forge shook his head.

“I have better armor and can take a hit better. I should be up front, with you and Lioness directly behind me, ready to heal me and provide support.”

“Me!” Cinder sent, hopping down from his perch to land on the floor.

“Not a chance. I need you to get into your soul space, at least until we know what we’re dealing with,” he said.

“Fight!” the dragon argued.

“I want to be in a soul space. Sounds cozy,” Falcon said.

Cinder turned to the ranger and stuck out his tongue.

Forge took a knee in front of the dragon and scratched his head.

“I need you to do this for now. Also, with you in the soul space, I’ll be immune to fire, and that could be the difference between life and death.”

Cinder seemed to consider it, then nodded, and disappeared into Forge’s chest.

“Do you think it’ll use fire?” Gideon asked.

Forge shrugged.

“No clue. But we’ve seen one monster in here use it, and I’ll take any advantage I can get.”

Reluctantly agreeing, the swordsman joined Lioness behind the paladin while Falcon moved to the side of the chamber, bow covering the crypt.

“Moving,” Forge said, taking a step forward and bracing himself.

The entire party moved forward slowly until they heard a cracking sound from the crypt.

Preparing his Flame Bolt spell, Forge waited.

Thirty feet from their target, the front of the sarcophagus fell away, slamming into the ground with a noise that seemed to shake the entire chamber.

A creature charged out of the stone construct, a horrible amalgamation of everything they had fought so far.

Its four heads glared balefully around as it extended large metallic wings.

“Move in close, so it can’t attack at range,” Gideon shouted.

All five heads focused on Forge, and breathed out a thick stream of fire, striking him.

Willing the flames to dissipate, he charged the creature.

The dungeon monster moved towards him, breathing a nonstop gout of flame.

Forge willed the flame to arc back at the creature, engulfing its many heads in fire.

The hydra-goose ceased its fire breath and shielded its heads with an armored wing as arrows struck its unprotected body.

Forge’s mace slammed down on the wing, burying itself into the iron feathers.

A massive blow sent him flying off to the side, where he hit the ground and tumbled to a stop.

Checking his System screen, he saw he was down four hit points, and touched his chest to heal himself, before regaining his feet.

He raced back toward the fight, where Gideon had slipped through the creature’s defense and was hacking into a tree-sized leg.

Not spotting the cleric, he raced forward and saw one head jerk back as an arrow struck one of the creature’s many eyes.

Forge summoned his magma tentacles and the blue flaming arms grabbed onto two of the heads, yanking him towards the creature, while knocking it off balance.

The massive monster crashed to the ground, its injured leg finally giving out, as he landed on top of the dungeon boss.

Only now realizing he had lost his mace, he could feel it nearby and tried to locate it as the necks of the two heads honked and burned.

He could feel the mace through the bound mana-gate and pushed his will into the connection.

The goose heads honked even louder, as the mace tore its way out of the armored wing and flew to his hand.

A nearby head went to bite him, teeth shining in the cavern’s light like daggers, only to flop aside, as a blade severed it at the neck.

Releasing one of the goose heads, Forge’s magma tentacle touched the neck, cauterizing the wound and stopping its regeneration.

His mace struck another head, shattering its bill, as the beast’s eyes seemed to roll around in the individual heads.

Another neck was severed, and he quickly cauterized it as well.

The monster flopped fully over then, its two remaining heads going still.

Lioness used her short sword to sever the last two heads and Forge spent no time cauterizing each.

“Forge, loot it now!” came the scream of Falcon as she ran towards them.

Touching the monster, he concentrated on his Loot skill, and the creature crumbled to dust, dropping him and Lioness to the floor.

The cleric sat up and saw the body of Gideon lying motionless.

She crawled over to him and pushed healing magic into his body.

The swordsman gasped, his eyes opening wide as he coughed and sputtered.

The cleric pushed another spell into him, and the blood that flecked his lips disappeared and his eyes sharpened.

Sitting up, he looked around at the group and grinned.

“I take it we won.”