I looked over at my troops, who were very relaxed despite the fact they were about to engage in a hit and run war with the staff of the Gardens, before making a quick hand gesture that sent George scurrying into the undergrowth. “I think it’s about time to begin. I don’t plan to interfere that much, since you’ll be under Kass’s command during the match, but I’ll let you know if I notice anything.”

She glanced over to where George disappeared, then back at me for a moment, “And George is going to be doing… what exactly?”

“Hunting in thick foliage isn’t that different from stalking between stalagmites,” I shot her a quick smile. ”Don’t worry, he’ll show up when he’s needed. He won’t be around during an actual match, so just consider him a random variable for now.”

“Right, if you say so,” Calliope replied. I guess she was expecting me to reveal exactly what my fuzzy buddy was going to do, especially after how thorough I was in my notes, but even I liked to keep a few things close to my chest. Calliope walked to the edge of the clearing, and turned to address everyone. “Alright everyone, time to form up. Let's show the boss lady how much we’ve improved.”

“Please don’t call me that,” I said, with a frown, but either no one heard me, or they chose to ignore me. They formed up, revenants in a loose formation up front, and the sirens behind. I stayed right at the back, so I could observe. As everyone moved forward the pets stalked around the edge of the path. Although they weren’t the best in this jungle-like environment, they still had heightened senses, so they’d have a better chance of detecting ambushes.

It didn’t take long for our little squad to make it to the first clearing, where a formation of anthophilans, led by Bea, was waiting for us. I frowned, it was pretty brazen to engage our group head on, and not engage in hit and run tactics like usual. I glanced over at Calliope and Rembrant, both of which were keeping one eye on the foliage, and the other on Bea.

This impromptu standoff lasted a few seconds, before Bea signaled her team, causing the entire squad to shoot forward at the same time. The five split up, gained altitude, bypassing most of the squad, before diving towards my location. Attempting a decapitation strike was usually a good move, depriving the opposing team of a boss was worth the cost of a squad or two.

If we had been intercepted by the Pekeketua I might have actually believed this was an actual attempt on my life, but throwing a squad of skirmishers directly into the front of a well-organized group reeked of desperation, or a distraction. One of the Anthophilans was caught by revenants, harpooned by the spear master then cut apart before the bee girl even hit the ground. The second was intercepted by shore birds, delayed for only a few seconds but in a situation like this it was long enough to take her out of the fight. The final two bee girls were brought down through a combination of ranged fire and magic from the sirens. That just left Bea.

She managed to get within a few feet of me before she realized something was wrong. To her credit, she managed to avoid my counter-attack. I don’t know who was more surprised, Bea or the Pekeketua George had intercepted. Not only had George wrapped the poor frog up, he’d then used them as an impromptu flail, attempting to catch Bea mid-flight with a surprise attack from the treeline. The girl dipped lower, just barely avoiding George’s attack, only to catch the shaft of my glaive in the face. After that her momentum did the rest, and she tumbled to the ground and rolled into the base of a nearby tree, before laying still.

Satisfied that Bea was out of the fight, I turned back to the front, only to find the entire squad looking at me. “Did you know she was going to do that?” Calliope asked, wide-eyed.

“Sort of? I knew they’d try something. This entire floor excels at ambushes, and I recommended they try taking out high-value targets.” I ran my hand down the shaft of my glaive, to where Bea had smashed into it. “I didn’t expect Bea to confront us directly. It was effective at drawing everyone’s attention, but she could have achieved better results by ambushing with both squads, quick strike out of the jungle.”

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While I was talking, George emerged from the jungle, dragging the remaining two Pekeketua behind him. He wandered over, dropped the cocoons at my feet, then pressed his face into my leg, purring. I reached down with one arm to give him a pet, while using the other to spear the poor frogs and put them out of their misery. “No need to go back in there, George,” I whispered to the arachnid, “You got the ones I was concerned with.”

The large spider ‘Harrumphed’ then started wandering towards the front of the group. I almost laughed when I saw most of the team split up, giving George a wide berth, but I managed to keep it in. “Alright, that’s one and a half teams dealt with. That still leaves a squad of anthophilans and the alraune to deal with. Don’t let your guard down.” The revenants immediately straightened up, and turned toward the front, preparing for any threat, while the sirens once again spread out loosely behind them. I made a mental note to remind everyone to remain on guard at all times, but was satisfied with everyone’s performance otherwise.

With the initial ambush, and half of the enemy forces, out of our way, we progressed slightly faster. It only took us about a minute to get to the bridge, and the remaining two Pekeketua. The big brawlers tried their best to slow us down, but against five sword masters even they couldn’t last more than a minute. Rembrandt took down one by himself. His sword literally cut one of their shields in two, before impaling the frog.

I honestly expected the remaining squads to make a stand together and was more than a little surprised when they didn’t either support the Pekeketua, or pull them back. Another thing I’d have to mention when we were done, or at least so I thought.

It turned out the Pekeketua had probably sacrificed themselves to give the other two squads time to rendezvous with Chelsea. As soon as we entered the final clearing the chimera gave me a dirty look. She was probably upset that the ambush she and Bea planned didn’t go as planned.

“Do we have a plan, boss?” Calliope asked over her shoulder. She and the sirens were already squaring up against the alraune spread around the outside of the clearing, while Rembrandt and his revenants were lining up against the anthophilans.

I shrugged. “Stick to the tactics I suggested in my notes. I only hope you can finish up before I get roasted to death by Chelsea’s fire breath.”

The girl half turned towards me, “That’s not very reassuring,” she said.

“It’s the best I’ve got. I’m good at planning, and dealing with, ambushes but in a straight-up fight? Chelsea’s more than a match for me.”

“Wonderful,” she mumbled in reply, before turning back towards our opponents.

It was, of course, George that kicked everything off. While everyone was still in stand-off mode he rushed across the clearing and smashed into the front of the anthophilan line. The girl barely got her shield up before George pounced, driving her to the ground, then continued past her towards Chelsea. The girl only had a moment of respite, before one of the reverents fell upon her and finished the job.

With nearly everyone engaged I merely stepped through the carnage and up to the area where Chelsea and George were brawling. The spider was big, over four feet across, but he was no match for a chimera in a one on one fight. Thankfully he was quick, dancing around her feet, barely avoiding her fire breath.

While Chelsea was distracted I stepped close and thrust my glaive at her side. She danced to the side, avoiding my attack, while still concentrating on George. The girl was used to fighting with a party full of adventurers, so I couldn’t imagine she’d have trouble keeping track of just the two of us. Even so, I pushed forward. George and I kept bouncing her attention back and forth, occupying her as best we could, until my luck ran out.

Chelsea and George were duking it out, so I stepped in to take another swipe, when she turned much faster than I expected. I brought my glaive up to block her claws, only for her to catch my feet with her prehensile tail. It only knocked me off balance for a moment, but that was enough. Her claws sunk straight into my left side, and didn’t stop until they emerged from my right. I only felt pain for a split second, then my consciousness was kicked from the dungeon and I found myself back in my actual body.

After a few seconds Bella cracked the canopy on my bed, a wide smile on her face. “So, how’d it go?”