"Everyone up!"

Paris clapped her hands together as she roused everyone from their sleep. She had taken the last watch of the night, and woke the others just as the sun was rising.

Bazel felt like a boneless piece of flesh, barely able to move with how sore his whole body was. The stretching exercises Paris put him through the previous evening were nothing short of torture. Although, he did gain a point of Agility during the session, so it wasn't all bad.

He slowly got up and stumbled over to the cooler to retrieve a couple cans of magic brew. He drank both cans quickly and gently stretched his sore muscles.

Once everyone was ready, they set off and began walking up the trail. Their destination was visible at points – a part of the mountain with caves. They could see harpies flying around the area of the nest from a distance. They looked like small black specks zipping back and forth.

"It's called an eyrie," Paris pointed up at the craggy peak, "the harpy nest, I mean."

"Have you dealt with these creatures before, Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

"I've had to fight them in the past." She said.

"What can we expect?" Bazel asked.

"A lot of what happened back in town," she mimicked dropping something from her hand, "they'll fly around and try to drop things on you, or dive bomb you and attack with their talons."

"In that case," Samara stopped and looked back at everyone, "make sure you guys stay close to me so I can shield you."

"Okay."

"Very well."

The last couple miles of the trek up the mountain trail were the worst. At some point, the trail went from being a graded path to a route meant for climbing. The "trail" was marked by colored flags tied to rocks, but it could only be traversed by using hands and feet to climb up the increasingly vertical slope. It never got to the point of being a wall, but it came close.

Everyone had a hard time climbing the trail, everyone except Paris that is. Bazel watched in amazement as the woman hopped around on rocks and jumped half her height to reach some ledges. She didn't seem to fear falling, and she was the only one of them that didn't even break a sweat during the climb.

Seriously, why doesn't she sweat!?

Bazel struggled the most during the last leg of their journey. Not only were his arms and legs still sore from Paris' training the previous day, but it was his first time having to climb like that. He remained acutely aware that if he fell, he could easily roll half way back down the mountain before being able to stop.

One wrong move could kill him.

As he climbed, Bazel found himself being jealous of Paris. He was sweating profusely, and it was causing problems. The cool air carried by the wind hit his wet skin and made him cold. His sweaty hands kept slipping whenever he grabbed onto a hold, nearly causing him to lose his balance a few times. Progress slowed even more since Bazel had to constantly wipe his hands on his clothes to dry them before moving forward.

He soon fell into a rhythm however – left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot. Every time he moved one of his limbs, he looked to make sure he had a place to move to. He would then reach out or step and test the area. Only once he was satisfied it was safe would he finish the movement.

"We're almost there." Samara called out.

She had to raise her voice to be heard above the wind, which was now whipping against the mountainside. It seemed the higher they got, the worse the wind became.

Bazel looked ahead and was happy to see she was right. The trail leveled out only a few dozen feet further, and he would be able to rest. His excitement helped him move a bit faster, though he still exercised caution.

Just as Samara was about to reach the top, they were attacked.

The horrid screeching noise was heard first. A combination of a bird's screech and a screaming woman echoed against the rocks. A Harpy dove out of the sky and struck Samara with its talons. Samara didn't look like she was too badly hurt from the attack – if at all – but she nearly lost her grip.

Bazel heard another screech near himself, and flattened his whole body to the ground. The talons hit his back, but the body armor and his trench coat kept him from being hurt.

"Keep moving!" Samara called back.

Bazel got back up to his hands and feet, then kept working his way up the rocky slope. He listened for the incoming harpies, and stopped to lay flat whenever he heard the screeching getting too close.

"Bazel!" Risken shouted, "Rocks!

Bazel looked up and saw the rock hitting the ground near where Samara was, dropped by one of the harpies overhead. Both Risken and Bazel had to scramble to the side to avoid it as it rolled down the trail.

Samara and Paris were both at the top now. Paris stood to the side with her bow, occasionally sniping a harpy. With them providing a little cover, both Bazel and Risken crawled to the top as fast as they could.

Bazel felt extremely exhausted already and wanted nothing more than to flop onto the ground and take a nap. Unfortunately, many more harpies were circling overhead and looking for chances to attack.

The flat area of ground where everyone was standing wasn't very wide, and it was flanked by large rock outcroppings. Further up was one of the caves – a tunnel large enough for the harpies to fly through.

Samara took the lead and put her shield up as she moved to protect from any attacks coming from the tunnel. Risken got right behind her and held his sword just in case. Bazel brought up the rear and took the Xanadu out of his inventory. Paris stood to the side, not interfering with them.

"Prepare to fight, Master Bazel!" Risken slapped Bazel arm, "I shall sing the [Song of Hermes]!"

Bazel nodded and pointed at the closest harpy flying overhead. He used [Drain Strength] and watched as the red light swirled through the air towards him.

Risken held his sword up, "The winged beasts circled round their heads, the skies filled with screams of ire! Bazel fought them in a draconian rage, billowing smoke and fire! [Song of Hermes]!"

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As soon as Risken finished the poem, the Xanadu made a "cha-chunk" sound to indicate it was ready to fire. Samara began walking forward and the others followed. Bazel walked backwards to cover their rear.

Risken tapped on Bazel's shoulder, "To the left!"

Bazel turned in that direction and saw two harpies diving towards them. He pulled the trigger and took both of them down with a single shot.

Samara blocked another diving harpy, then hit its wing causing it to tumble to the ground right next to them. Risken ran it through with his sword before it could get up again.

More harpies were coming in at the rear of the formation. Bazel aimed and waited for his gun to load, as soon as he heard the sound, he pulled the trigger and blasted three more of the creature's out of the sky.

Like that, they continued to slowly move towards the cave while taking out any harpy that dared to attack them. Once they made it to the tunnel entrance however, the harpies began to attack even more.

Three of them dove towards Bazel, he shot the Xanadu, but only hit two of them. The third one flew to one side right before he pulled the trigger, then continued its attack.

Are they learning?

The harpy that evaded Bazel's attack slammed into him and grabbed his arm with her talons. She started beating her wings in long, powerful strokes to pull him away from the cave entrance. Another harpy dove down and grabbed his other arm. Together, they started dragging him away.

"Master Bazel!"

Risken broke formation to help get the harpies off his friend. He swung his sword, trying to hit the wings of the creature's without accidentally hitting Bazel.

"Ack!" Samara cried out.

Bazel looked back and saw the harpies had managed to tear her shield out of her grasp. Two of the monsters were attacking her, and she couldn't get enough room to swing her mace at them. They pinned her to the ground.

The harpies didn't have arms like a normal human, but wings in their place. However, there were large claws halfway down the wings they could use to swipe at things. They were using those claws to attack Samara as they stood on top of her.

Paris was nowhere to be seen. Bazel couldn't remember seeing her walk away from the formation, but she wasn't there anymore.

Yet another harpy flew up by Bazel, but this one targeted Risken. It grabbed him and wrestled the cutlass from his hand. Another couple harpies came down and pinned both Bazel and Risken to the ground.

With the harpies standing on Bazel's back and legs, he could barely move. He still struggled against them hoping he could get free, but he didn't get very far. He could see Risken and Samara struggling as well, but everyone stayed pinned under the talons of the creature's.

Bazel wondered why they were just holding them down and not trying to kill them. He thought for sure that they would murder the humans given a chance, and he fought them with that thought in mind. But these harpies didn't seem to want to cause injury to anyone.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the harpies began to speak.

"Strong humans!" One screeched.

"Yes!" Another agreed.

"Will make good mates!"

Wait. Did she say mates!?

Risken groaned, "I sure hope they are not saying what I think they are saying…"

"Uhh," Bazel craned his neck to look at the nearest harpy, "You got the wrong guys, ladies! We're actually really weak!"

"Self-deprecation?" Risken said, "Good thinking, Master Bazel!"

"I'm not even a man!" Samara shouted.

"No more words!" One harpy screamed.

The harpies began dragging them further into the tunnel. Everyone struggled against them, but with two or three of the monsters handling each person, they didn't have much success.

They were dragged down the tunnel, turned into another tunnel and stopped. The light was so dim here, Bazel couldn't even see the walls. The harpies that were holding onto Bazel wrenched his arm hard, making him cry out in pain.

While he was focusing on the pain in his arm, the harpy pushed him and he fell backwards. Instead of hitting the ground, he felt his foot slip on the edge of a pit and he tumbled down into the hole. He hit some rocks on his way down, driving the breath from his lungs and scraping him up in the process.

Bazel hit the ground at the bottom of the pit and squirmed in pain while trying to catch his breath. He was only slightly aware of Risken and Samara landing on the ground beside him. After a few moments, Samara spoke.

"What the hell!" She sat up, "Are they really going to save us for breeding stock!?"

"I am quite horrified to know it is even possible," Risken said, "helping those creatures reproduce is not how I imagined my first time."

"Risken?" Bazel reached out and tugged on his shirt, "Can you heal me, please?"

"Oh, certainly!" Risken helped Bazel sit up, "Lady Samara, you should come close so you may be healed as well."

"Right." Samara stood up and walked over to them.

Risken put his hands on their shoulders and began to make up a poem.

"Captured by the foul and monstrous fiends, the three friends were brought to ruins, sitting in a lightness pit, and left to lick their wounds. [Soothing Song]."

Bazel instantly felt better, as if he hadn't even been hurt in the first place. He was still tired though, so he flopped back onto the ground and closed his eyes.

"So how do we get out of here?" He asked.

Samara took a small bag from her inventory and pulled out a coin that she handed to Bazel. It was a teleport token.

"Oh yeah!" He turned the blue metal coin in his hand, "I forgot about these!"

"Well have to leave our weapons behind," Samara shrugged, "but at least we can leave."

"What about Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

"Ugh," Samara shook her head, "I have no idea where she went. She teleported away during the battle."

"Why would she do that?" Bazel asked.

"I'm not sure," Samara frowned, "But her and I are going to have a talk about it when I find her."

Bazel gripped the teleport token in his hand and tried to activate it. Nothing happened. He frowned at the token and tried it again. Still, nothing.

"Hey Samara," Bazel held the token up, "It's not working."

"Neither is mine." Risken said.

Samara concentrated on her own token for a few seconds before growling.

"Damn!" Samara threw the token on the ground, "We could really use Paris' help right now. Where is she!?"

■■■

A blond woman in a green tracksuit appeared inside an office, teleported there without warning. Many of the people in the Dungeon would recognize her as Paris, the head of Aethertech's training department, but she was actually a goddess; the goddess of victory, Nike, to be precise.

Not many people could force a goddess to teleport against her will, but the man sitting behind the large mohagany desk was one of them. He was a mountain of muscle with a youthful face and a perpetual smile – and the master of the Dungeon.

"Boss?" Nike looked around, "Why did you teleport me?"

The muscled man nodded, "Sorry about that. I was with the holy knight and the prince myself when I got the message."

"What message?" Nike tilted her head.

The man summoned his interface and turned it around so she could see.

"It seems the divines want all the directors to attend a party." He said with a smile.

"It's clearly some sort of trap." Nike crossed her arms.

The man shrugged, "Maybe. But I never turn down a party. So, get ready to go. Your siblings should already be preparing."

"Fine," Nike shook her head and started to walk out, "I just hope the kids will be okay on their own."

She knew that Bazel, Samara and Risken could probably deal with the harpies on their own, but she was still a bit worried.