Sometime during the night I stirred, my waking view the vulnerability of Axel’s sleeping face. I found myself unable to look elsewhere.
Everything faded away except Axel laying there. With the curl of his lashes upon lightly golden skin, the sleekness of his cheekbones, his expression one of complete content passivity, I was forced to wonder if he were actually a life-size porcelain doll. He seemed so fragile asleep. That complete relaxation, his utter defenselessness… like he could shatter at any moment.
And I knew he could.
He’d stabilised recently, and it was audacious but I was sure it was because of me, though I still saw the grief every now and then. Had to witness that brokenness.
So these moments of unguarded ease as reality no longer sunk him down…
It made me want to protect that delicate expression, protect him, even though it was a pointless desire since he didn’t need me to. If he would even want me to was the more poignant question. Regardless, whether or not I loved him, I wanted that softness that existed in his dreams to be something he could always return to.
For him to not hurt, even if it was just in his sleep.
I let his breath lull me back to my own dreams, though I wasn’t sure there was much difference.
“Wakey, wakey, lovebirds,” came Tam's voice outside our tent.
What a thing to be awakened by.
With a groan, I pulled away from Axel, my arms having curled around him during the night. Of course, neither of us had said anything about this magnetic draw we had to each other when we slept. Whether it was me wrapped around him or vice versa, when we awoke, we went our separate ways.
I was too embarrassed to say anything, because when we went to bed all we’d been holding was hands. As far as I knew, this was abnormal for the both of us. I obviously didn't make it a habit to sleep with others, and my only other experiences had me waking up on practically the other side of the bed, ready to leave ASAP.
I think Axel didn’t mention it because he was afraid of me denying him the comfort. He knew I had boundaries, but I guess I was still forming them, figuring them out. Beyond waking up red-faced each time, I wasn't sure how I felt about the subconscious spooning or cuddling for that matter either. Did I like it? There was nothing sexual about it, nothing expectant. It wasn't leading toward anything.
Maybe I just wasn't comfortable with thinking about what it meant.
And so we simply didn’t talk about it.
That was a very healthy approach, no doubt.
Starting off this relationship well.
“I can feel Adrien about to roost. He'll be here in twenty at the speed he's travelling,” Tam explained, having tagged him with [Track], talking through the tent door.
“We'll be out in a sec,” I answered back. “Start packing down everything.”
I didn’t want Adrien to know just how prepared we’d been. The more we could keep from him, the better. That was if he wasn’t watching us. I’d made assumptions about his abilities, but there had to be some sort of limit. He couldn’t be all powerful. The man had been in the same Dungeon for two weeks. Yes, that would’ve granted him a lot of XP, but with the way that Adrien was only whittling the beasts off, it had to make for less than fun entertainment the more he did it; a case of dwindling returns.
I pulled my balaclava back on and exited, followed shortly by Axel (who’d never been much of a morning person.) Barely alive, he helped me deconstruct our tent and put the pieces back into our inventories. He let out a yawn, and I caught myself thinking the way his eyes squeezed closed was endearing. Snatching my thoughts from whatever that meant, I focused entirely on the tent after that, and with everyone working in tandem, soon we’d packed the entire camp away.
Just in the knick of time too.
Tam coughed loudly, covering her mouth with a fist, announcing Adrien’s return.
The brunet’s voice sprang through the tunnels. “Fantastic, you made it through the night. Not to say I had my doubts, but…” Through the scarf and hood, he gave a falsely apologetic smile. “I hope you’re all rested and ready. So long as you follow my plan, we should be done in the hour.”
“And your plan is what?” I asked, genuinely curious.
His gaze, familiar but foreign, whipped toward me. “Nice try, self-proclaimed mouthpiece. You’ll know only what I tell you.”
Shrugging, I said, “If that’s what you want. I’m usually the team’s voice of reason, so don’t blame me for what happens when I can’t guide them.”
Adrien continued to stare. “I just so happen to have a lovely solution to this communication issue.” He turned to the rest of the party. “Your hands, give me your hands.”
Anxiously, I reached forward, joined with the others.
He grazed his gloved hand over ours, muttering under his breath, the hissing of an ability buzzing again and again. As his touch came into contact with my hand, a spark zapped in my head, followed by a brief moment of static. Everyone had cautious and alarmed expressions on their faces, presumably having felt something very similar. What had he just done?
Testing, testing. One, two, three, came Adrien’s voice directly into my mind.
Fucking telepathy. He could use telepathy.
Of course.
Oh, neat. Wren smiled, her face lighting up.
I am fuckin’ hating this, said Tam.
Gigi nodded. This will be useful, indeed.
Bit too intimate for my taste.
The last comment was very Axel. I turned to him, his expression unreadable. Standing before me, his wide awake eyes caught my gaze, and he smiled. I didn’t have to hear his thoughts to know what that look meant. It was the same as how he’d smiled at me last night before falling asleep. I swallowed back a strange lump in my throat. How often did he think it? How much of his mind did I occupy?
Feeling unusually warm, I was glad when Adrien shook his head to continue his explanation.
“For clarity sake, I’m not reading anyone’s minds. The ability merely scans your thoughts and only broadcasts what you would actually say to another had you been in the same location. It’s very useful in that way. Especially since all communication devices don’t appear to work in here.”
Well, there went the walkie talkies Jye had taken from Bunnings. I’d been intending on keeping in contact with the others with them if Adrien split us up. I guess we could make use of Adrien’s telepathy if we didn’t make it obvious what we were saying. We had enough of a backlog of personal knowledge to be able to communicate without being completely transparent. Though it seemed like Adrien’s ability was more like those olden times switchboard operations, where he could pick and choose whose conversations were connected.
Adrien’s cool gaze fell onto Jye, and it was then I’d realised they hadn’t said anything with our mental connection. The giant avoided eye contact, shifting to the edge of our group. Ah. They were worried about their glitch since most instances of communication tied to the system with Jye tended to bug out or not work as intended. There was no way I could let Adrien think of Jye as a risk.
Hoping it looked casual, I stepped forward to guard Jye in my shadow.
“Where to, general?” I asked, the bite in my tone much sharper than I’d intended.
Follow me.
As we walked through the snowy biome, snacking on the type of single serve packs of food kids had for school lunches, I couldn’t help but have a grudging respect toward Adrien. He clearly had committed the entire landscape to memory. There wasn’t a single misstep in his stride, his direction and lead confident and strong. I certainly didn’t cut the same figure as the party leader for my team.
To each of us, via telepathy, he’d only explained our separate parts of his plan.
Obviously, I hadn’t been privy to what he’d said to anyone else, but I saw several grim expressions flitter over their faces. Axel’s was especially feral. I didn’t doubt my own wasn’t the most welcoming either.
I’d be going with Adrien and Gigi to the beasts’ nest. He didn’t elaborate on what the others would be doing. Though I could extrapolate based on what I knew about Adrien. He was clearly a tactician, a strategist. He wouldn’t expect the others to take on the fifty creatures head on. Nor would he be happy to let us steal all the credit for eradicating them. Not to mention, he’d spent last night preparing.
It was fairly obvious.
Adrien had built a trap.
If Gigi, he, and I were headed to the nest, Axel and the others were going to trigger the trap to capture the horde and eliminate those that survived the initial damage. I was confident on that until I remembered Gigi’s four beast niches. With the horde and the younglings and guardians covered, it left one unaccounted for: the scout. Cursing myself again, I lamented not asking more about its role in the beasts’ hierarchy, but by name alone I was assuming it performed the function of alerting the horde and the nest to danger. That meant that Adrien needed it dealt with too. I cast my mind back to his breakdown of our party composition.
The question was who he’d be sending after the scout.
I was drilling holes into his back as we trailed after him, wracking my mind to try and narrow it down when it finally occurred to me.
Of course.
He’d be using fire against fire.
Satisfied with my conclusion, I glanced at the others to take stock of their current attitude. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Rather, they appeared more irritated than before. Even Tam had a pissed bend to her brow. Had Adrien insulted them all in their telepathic conversations? He’d been polite, though brusque and demanding, toward me, so I found it difficult to imagine that was the case. However, our discussion had been completely one-sided. There’d been no point drawing it out by engaging more than I needed to. Plus he just rubbed me the wrong way.
Given that the sorcerer was leading us, I couldn’t exactly ask the party what had caused the shift in behaviour. And I was certain Adrien would notice if I whipped out a notebook and pens. I just had to hope that this annoyance wouldn’t influence the rest of their actions.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let my thoughts redirect to Adrien’s plan.
There was one thing that didn’t make any sense to me.
He hadn’t taken a hostage. It was a very odd choice, uncharacteristically unwary of him. How could he ensure that we’d go through with his plan? Typically in this type of situation, to bargain with those forced to work with you, you needed to hold a blade to a captive’s throat. But Adrien hadn’t mentioned anything like that. If I were him, I’d have chosen a party member with minimal battle impact and the least likely to rebel.
Oh.
Right.
It was me.
I was collateral.
He was holding me metaphorically hostage by forcing me to go along with him and Gigi, especially since he was aware that I had no specific role in the party. In all actuality, I had no use to him at the nest. It gave further credit to the idea that one of his abilities was connected to listening in on us. Obviously, Adrien had heard how much I’d been defending him, as well as the other’s insults about me being too trusting. Jesus. He truly thought me someone who wouldn’t fight back; someone useless.
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A spark of irritation buzzed through me as the subject of my ire paused and squinted into the distance.
“Ah, this is where we part ways. I trust you are all aware what would happen should you not fulfil my directions.” Very cool. He was definitely threatening my life.
The hiss of several abilities sounded.
Movement speed increased.
There was a countdown attached; a limited-time buff.
I frowned, glancing at Adrien. He smiled emptily. “Can’t have any of you dragging me down. Come. Say your goodbyes and let’s be off.” With that, he turned away, taking a few steps as if to give us some privacy. Yeah, right. I didn’t believe it for a moment.
I knew I couldn’t say anything to give away our intentions since no doubt he’d be listening in.
And yet, this was a charged moment. It might very well be the last time we saw each other.
We could all die here, separated.
The thought was like the floor disappearing under my feet.
So sudden, so easy.
The never-gone tightening of my chest flared, an incoming panic attack on the edge of my mental periphery. My throat closed. The torrent of inexplicable emotions began to eclipse my thoughts, raw animal instinct overriding logic. I took a deep, shaky breath, closing my eyes.
No.
Not now.
I couldn’t.
Air scratched into my lungs as I counted the pattern, thinking of my happy place in between the numbers of inhales and exhales. As I did so, I realised the flashes of memory had changed, what was dear to me was different, altered.
I inhaled.
It was Tam’s guilty and defensive expression upon catching her sneaking a piece of chocolate at night when I’d gotten up for a glass of water. It was Wren’s delight after giving her my etch-a-sketch from my apartment, her grin huge as she drew everything she could. It was Gigi’s fifth gentle but firm correction of the same error in the way I held my glaive. It was Jye’s cheers as they lapped me for the second time during a morning jog. It was Axel, his hand in mine as he smiled, the warmth of him, the frangipani of our shared scent.
The breath settled in my chest, a calmness loosening my limbs.
I exhaled.
Opening my eyes, I met the waiting gaze of my party.
Oh.
They'd closed the gap between us and were right in front of me.
The first time I’d nearly died I’d decided I’d protect them.
It was time to do what I could.
The dread of potentially sending all of us to our death did not fade, but my desire to encourage the others stymied my fear, the beat of my heart relaxing. I knew I couldn’t be there with them. And that they didn’t need me, not really, but I needed them to be okay.
Swallowing back my anxiousness, I attempted a smile, hoping the muffled panic attack had gone by unnoticed. As I breathed, I allowed the moment to gain clarity in what my own plan was, what I wanted to do.
I wanted to raise morale for the party, transform whatever had frustrated them into productive energy.
“We can do this,” I said, finding it the most reassuring and unassuming comment. I reached out and laid a hand on Axel’s shoulder, my grip tighter, tenser, than I’d intended. “Don’t do anything too crazy, yeah?”
He grinned, eyes sparking, his hand coming up to rest over mine. It was clear he was taking my words as a challenge. “Worry about yourself, idiot.” His tone made “idiot” sound much softer than it ever had. Along with his touch, it alleviated some of the anxiety clenching my stomach.
To Jye and Wren, I said, “Be careful, and take care of each other.” The two of them nodded. They would've done so without my having asked.
I met Tam’s gaze and glanced at Adrien in the corner of my eye. Her focus flickered over for a second, astute, observational; critical.
And then I shook my head, almost imperceptibly.
I said, “Thank you.”
Her eyes narrowed to thin slits and then she barked out a laugh. “Don’t die, sunshine. I’ll miss that blind trust.”
She’d known what I’d meant. But I guess it was up to her if she would take it to heart. I hoped she would. She'd changed recently. I didn't know why and maybe she'd never tell me, but I was betting everything on her.
Adrien started running. It was the sprint of an athlete, an Olympian. He’d boosted his own movement speed too, obviously. If Gigi and I didn’t shoot off after him, we’d lose him. But I was sure he’d have thought of a contingency against that. The man was an onion, layer after layer of schemes.
With one final look, the party went our separate ways: Gigi and me following after Adrien; Axel, Wren, and Jye going after the horde; and Tam tracking down the scout.
All things said and done, it was a very good plan.
It was nice of Adrien to have put it into action for us.
With the sorcerer’s speed buff, we’d managed to clear quite a distance when the brunet dug his heel into the snow, coming to a stop before us. Gigi and I slowed behind him. The weather had been kind today, with the skies clear apart from the odd snowflake fall every now and then. Our running had clouds of breath fogging our faces as we waited for Adrien to explain.
The nest is up ahead. No speaking; their hearing is impeccable.
We’d scaled a bit of a snowy hill to get where we were, and now we were gazing down on the creatures’ home turf. There was a divot in the trough of the hill, with a car-sized tunnel that looked to travel directly vertically, all this formed from a combination of ice and snow.
Nodding, I thought, How many are inside?
So long as the your party deals with the rest, there should be about ten within. Adrien scanned the glacial valley below us. We don’t need to worry about the infants. They are harmless. It is those that protect them we will focus on. There were three in the nest last time I checked.
Gigi’s gaze met mine, and xe nodded slightly. It appeared the Linnikian’s bestiary knowledge of the creature’s habits matched Adrien’s explanation. At the very least, the sorcerer wasn’t lying to trip us up. He did want our help, even if he had to forcefully wrangle us to get what he needed. Adrien had been honest before. He really did just need more bodies on the ground.
Axel, Wren, and Jye are in position. We’re waiting on confirmation from Tam.
Why are we waiting? I asked.
The nest and the creatures must be destroyed within a certain time frame of each other. If they are not, all of them will respawn.
Something was telling me this was based on experience. So he’d almost wiped out them before but hadn’t managed a complete elimination. That had to smart. It gave me a little bit of a grim satisfaction. Admittedly, getting pleasure out of someone’s failure wasn’t supposed to feel this good, but I’d take what I could get since the background radiation of my mind was consumed by concern for the others. It had been easier believing in them and their safety when they were in eyesight. Even when we’d left Wren alone in the Dungeon Challenge, I’d known she was secure in that room by herself. I trusted they could defend themselves and stand on their own, but it did nothing to quell my unease.
Lee, some encouragement for Tam would be appreciated, Adrien said.
He wanted to remind her that my life was in danger. What a shithead.
Can you hear me? I asked, testing the connection.
Not because I especially want to, sunshine.
I rolled my eyes. Adrien needs results.
Easy for you to say. This fucker is slippery. I’m tracking it, but it's fast and agile. Now stop breathin’ down my neck, I need my full brain free to focus.
I trust you with this, I added.
She didn’t respond further. That tracked with who Tam was, really.
My thanks, Adrien said with a polite, almost mocking nod.
Not bothering to respond, I turned my attention to Gigi who was still staring at the entry to the nest. On any normal occasion, I would’ve asked xem what they were thinking, but since Adrien had put a ban on speaking and wasn’t extending the telepathy to private conversations, the best I could do was raise an eyebrow. Xe pointed at the entrance and then flicked three counts of five at me with xir hands.
Fifteen?
Understanding dawned on me, the absence of system warnings from ability usage like a gaping hole in my chest. I was half a soldier without Axel’s trait. Dourly, I copied xem and proc’d [Locate] to double check Gigi’s information, and as the radar spread, the blue silhouettes that appeared below the surface of the ground matched xir count.
Gigi says there’s fifteen down in the nest.
Oh, some eggs hatched then. The guardians will be on higher alert than usual. Adrien’s expression flickered. This should be even easier. Gigi, what are your abilities, again?
I didn’t hear the vanguard’s response, but xe had no reason to refuse to answer. I assumed Gigi filled them in because Adrien’s brow furrowed in thought, his lips pursing. The Linnikian gave a curt nod before summoning the aegis Axel had made xem.
Man, it fucking sucked not being able to hear conversations people were having. Is this what being deaf was like?
And you, what can you do? Adrien asked.
Self-survival stuff.
It was an answer I’d thought of on the trek here, assuming this question would arise sooner or later. That he hadn’t asked me yet gave further credence to how little worth he thought I had. He’d definitely already checked with the others.
Back in the cave, he’d shown that he could glean a certain amount of information from us, either from some skill or another. The assertions had been accurate though vague about our roles in the party. As I’d thought about it more, I realised that it meant he couldn’t discern exact details. Him double checking with Gigi had further reinforced this. Had he known more, he would’ve used it to intimidate us back in the cave.
There was nothing more threatening than having an enemy know your exact strengths and weaknesses.
Thus, that led me to believe Adrien’s intelligence gathering was more like a summary. He couldn’t access the exact information, just a cursory understanding of it. And so, based on that, he’d come to the conclusion I was pretty much useless. I mean, if you considered that I only had one ability, no traits, and a singular title, with no outstanding attributes, it was a fair (but depressing) overview of me. But that also meant he had no idea what any of the party could actually do—just a generalisation of it.
Elaborate, he demanded of me.
I can heal myself.
This was technically true. I could do that because of Wren. Adrien’s thoughts were written plainly on his face. He might as well have said, “How useless.” A sour expression wrinkled his features. Then a spark shone in his eyes.
Tam is in position. Come. Gigi, as I’ve explained.
The small vanguard jutted xir jaw in response, clutching xir shield to xemself. Coldly, Adrien’s focus fell on me. It was so odd seeing how similar his eyes were to Killian’s. You could’ve plucked both sets and swapped them and not noticed any difference. However, the expression would never fool anyone. Even after Carrie’s death, Killian had never seemed so empty.
Lee… Keep yourself alive.
He didn’t add, “Since that’s all that you’re good for,” but it definitely felt implied in his tone of thought. It low-key pissed me off. However, that meant he was falling for my lies, so I decided to let it slide off me. Something something glue sticking to you.
The ones guarding the young will not leave the nest without prompting, Adrien informed us, still only just breadcrumbing his plot to us. Then he smiled. Here we go, friends.
I gritted my teeth. Being addressed as Adrien’s friend set me on edge.
His focus wavered for a moment, and I recognised the look as him talking telepathically with another. Who was he giving commands to? The horde part of the group? Or Tam? He began to stalk forward, his movements quick and without any hesitation. There was a frenzied energy behind each step, as though he were vibrating with excitement.
Clearly something was going well.
Following after the brunet once again, we descended to the nest entrance, resting just on the precipice of entering proper. The distant hollow breathing of the beasts dimly bounced around the cylindrical opening. I didn’t need to use [Locate] again to know they were lying in wait.
~Dungeon Clear Available: Eradicate All Mordexi~
I blinked. A proximity trigger, huh? We hadn’t received the same announcement when in Nabu’s Dungeon. If we had, it would’ve been so much easier to know what was going on. Then again, Nabu was new to Dungeon creation (and that was a generous description). It was obvious Bia, if she was the Deity of this Dungeon, had much more practice under her belt.
I did briefly wonder about Nabu and our feedback. Had he patched the issues we’d mentioned? Could Deities push updates to the maps while in the Event, or did they have to wait until everything was offline after the culling? It would mean they could only improve their Dungeon designs each time they decimated a new sentient race. Though, I guess in the grand scheme of things, gods probably had the patience of… well, immortals. Thousands of years were likely nothing to them. Just as billions of lives were insignificant.
Timing is important here, Adrien announced, drawing my attention.
Axel’s thoughts were carried through to me, They’re about to hit the mark.
I could inhale shit with how my nose is up this fucker’s ass.
I am ready to deploy, Gigi added, jaw clenched.
Bull’s-eye, Axel said.
Adrien took a deep breath. He had to be triggering the trap. At least, that’s what I had to assume.
Not having Axel and his [Devoted] trait was beginning to unnerve me. I hadn’t realised how much I’d been relying on it. How much I’d been leaning on Axel’s presence. Even just knowing he was around helped. Without him, and without knowing exactly what was happening made anxiety coil tightly in my core.
Holy licking fuck, dude, commented Jye, unable to keep their thoughts to themself, clearly reacting to the situation unfolding. That answered the question about the giant’s ability to properly use telepathy.
But what the hell was going on where they were?
“Attack!” shouted Adrien, audibly and mentally, drawing a shortsword from his inventory.
Wait, wasn’t he a sorcerer?
It went completely against convention for a primarily magic user to wield a melee weapon like that. What was the man thinking? We’d had Gigi to help us begin finessing our combat skills while at the base, but Adrien couldn’t have even had the bare fundamentals in sword fighting, his trial of fire during the two weeks in here not worth anything beyond survival.
I watched in horror as he jumped down the vertical hole, landed with a thud, and then disappeared past the lip of the entrance, screaming all the while as he charged in.
The shock I felt was palpable, my heart stopping in my chest.
Had the Dungeon genuinely driven him insane?
How was this any sort of plan?