As his golden hand was healing Naragash’s wounds, a gangly body crashed onto Joe’s back. Four sets of wicked claws, fingers and feet, dug into the protective pelt. Thankfully, [Steadfast] kept him on his feet, and the wolf-headed hood saved him from the gnashing teeth that were trying to bite into his skull.

The waves of undead had become almost non-stop as the two teams reached the base of the ziggurat.

“Son of a bitch!” Joe shouted as he felt more taloned hands grabbing at his legs. Even flaring his sure-footing skill, he was having difficulty staying upright as more of the ghouls piled onto him. Beside him, he heard Tezeno cry out in alarm as well.

There was no time for half-measures. Joe had been circumspect with his most potent spell against the undead due to its gory nature, but he could feel the dirge wights trying to drag him out of the formation.

Joe clamped his mouth closed tight and cast [Dispel Rot] through his grappled shins. Feral screams followed the feeling of gore splattering across his legs as the clawed hands burst apart. He sent the [Glorious Gauntlet] smashing into the back of the wight that had gotten through Tez’s shielding and was trying to eat his face. The sacred damage allowed the force fist to punch deep into the creature’s torso, severing its spine. He followed up by dual casting [Dispel Rot] on the heads of a pair of ghouls, spraying gray brains across everyone in a ten-foot radius.

“That’s gross, Joe!” Kenda shouted. “Keep it up!”

He did. Summoning a second hand, Joe grabbed and dragged ghouls up into the air, away from his teammates. Before dropping the undead, he demolished the flesh held by the gauntlet with [Dispel Rot]. The wight’s bodies were dry and leathery, but they had dense, wiry muscles that made them too heavy for one amber hand alone. But with two, Joe could lift over 250 pounds, more than enough to extract a ghoul, as long as it did not have a grip on someone. If it was hanging on, a pair of sacred-infused punches were typically enough to get it to let go.

Your skill [Glorious Gauntlet] has increased to rank 30.

The rare spell was amazing. With [Helping Hand] and [Forceful Fist], Joe had to actively work the magical digit just like he would his own hand. He had spent many nights practicing with the earlier versions, getting used to functioning with three hands instead of just two. With [Glorious Gauntlet], he could effortlessly use four hands, even in the chaos of combat. The radiant constructs responded to his wishes instinctively, as if they had been part of his body since birth.

When everyone was free from the overbearing onslaught of dead predators, he sent the pair of glowing hands crashing into a cluster of approaching ghouls.

Your skill [Versatile Weapon Expertise] has increased to rank 28.

He let the powerful combined strike shatter through the twisted bones and withered hides before returning to his usual duties. Even then, he found the gauntlets to be a faster way to touch his allies than teleporting to them.

When the assaulting surge finally ended, the group quickly took a moment to catch their breath. Naragash handed out potions from her paired-dimensional bag. Puqmup had the bag’s twin back at the Guildhouse, and as soon as there was room, the gnome dropped in more resource potions to replace the ones everyone was gulping down.

“That was awful,” Tezeno groaned, wiping the entrails off his shield. “I got a whole mouthful of zombie guts. Can’t thank you enough, Joe. Blehck.”

“While the visceral explosions may not be for the weak of heart, one cannot argue with their effectiveness, young healer. Well done,” the necromancer praised as he replenished his cohort of skeletons from the fallen wights. “I am undoubtedly going to get a wand of that spell of yours. Popping my undead like festering boils would not be my go-to option in a real fight, but I can already see some hilarious uses for it at other times.”

“Oh great,” Reven groused. “Just what we need. More ways Broon can be a pain in the ass.” The fire warrior was wiping his face and hands with a towel that never grew soiled. “And whose bright idea was it to leave Bomber-Girl behind? If we had Tay, we could have blown up whole lines of them, not just Joe’s one at a time.”

“Myllo knows what we’re facing,” Naragash hissed, tapping a jeweled earring. “If we get cut off, Taylyn will open a hole for us. I care more about us having a backdoor than I am about making yer life easy, Rev.”

Before the axeman could quip back, Greymuck exploded into a tirade of swearing. The trollkin began kicking the feral corpse he had been examining.

“I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT!” he growled, punctuating each word with a solid kick. “We fought these fucks already .”

“Yeah!” Naragash retorted. “What’s yer point?”

“No, you don’t get it. It’s not that we already fought Dirge Wights. We fought this specific bastard already. And that one,” he stated, pointing to a body beside Mortalius. His gaze swept across the bodies Broon had not yet converted to skeletons. “And that one. I killed that guy in the back in the clearing with the fallen tree, and here he is again.”

“Are you sure?” Earcellwen asked in an expectant voice.

“Sweet-cheeks, if there is one thing I know, it’s who I killed.” the trollkin stated. “Trust me, I put an arrow through that bastard’s brain. Broon even raised it. So it ain’t a regen thing.”

“I’m on your side, Gray,” RC continued. “There was a wight with a very distinctive muzzle in the stream fight, which I could have sworn I just saw again a minute ago. There have been other twins, but I thought it was just a coincidence.”

Mortalius gestured to the group. While Joe had learned most of the cleric’s combat signs, this gesture was unknown. Whatever it meant, his teammates were not happy to see it. Naragash and Broon scowled deeply. Graymuck reached up to pinch the bridge of his long pointed nose.

“No,” Reven barked. “The last time you used [Psychometry], you nearly melted your brain. We can’t afford to have you turn into another screaming, drooling mess, Morty.”

“I’m with Reven,” Broon agreed. “As much as I’d like this mystery solved, you do tend to have truly horrendous reactions to that spell, Mort.”

“Um,” Lexaroth interrupted. “Not to disagree with you guys, but I know [Mind Shield]. That would give him a pretty solid mental defense.”

“Joe has an aura that gives resistance to psychic damage, too,” Kendall supplied.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“No. Horrible idea. Truly terrible …,” the hunter began before being cut off by the Hellion’s icy commander.

“You know skill-shit better than anybody, Ken,” the towering cambion grumbled. “Make the call.”

“[Psychometry] is reading the psychic imprint on objects or creatures,” she began, focusing her eyes on the middle distance. “The backlash is almost always psychic damage. Morty has a massive Spirit. [Mind Shield] would at least double his defense, and Joe could cut the damage further …” The skill-savant looked up to meet the tall woman’s eyes. “It would have to be some epic-level horror to get past all that, Nara. Joe’s and RC’s quest is only Rare. It could upgrade once we get inside, but my gut says it should be ok,”

“Alright. Do it, Mort. But quick. I want to get into the pyramid before we get hit again.” The tall woman made a series of sharp tactical gestures, causing the teams to form a perimeter around Joe, Lexaroth, Mortalius, and the corpse. Joe engaged his [Spirit of the Pack] before finding his customary place beside Tezeno.

Mortalius knelt and laid his hand on the motionless body. His eyes rolled into his head as he looked up toward the sky, leaving only the bloodshot whites behind. A second later, blackness filled the orbs, and Morty’s mouth began to soundlessly mutter unheard words. The fomori’s large head lolled from side to side. Joe started to worry, but when he looked around, he saw the Hellions, and Kendell seemed to be at ease.

With a shudder, Morty ended the spell. He scrubbed a hand over his face before giving a thumbs-up sign and then signed something to the warlock.

Lex and the cleric exchanged a glance. The warlock drew a breath and stated, “Morty is thinking it would be faster for me to translate his thoughts than to sign it out.” The warlock cleared his throat and continued. “Muck and Ears are right. We are fighting the copies of the same creatures over and over again. They are coming from inside the ziggurat. There is something in there. It’s a weird-looking loom inside a large blue hall. The thing is weaving out some endless tapestry. Whenever it finishes an image of a ghoul, the creature pulls itself out of the cloth. Morty got the impression it was weaving the same tapestry over and over, and that is why we have copies of the same creatures roaming around.”

“And potentially an endless supply of enemies,” the cambion snarled. “Ok, I’m going to message Myllo. We need both teams inside, looking for that loom. When we find it, we’ll set a gate anchor and bring the magic team in to figure out how to shut it down.”

“Or just Taylyn,” Greymuck added.

“Right, Or Tay. Either way, locating it is step one. Lex, use an illusion to show us the room,” Naragash ordered.

The warlock held his hand palm up, conjuring an image of the room in miniature. It was hard to tell the size at first until Lex added a wight. The chamber had to be at least 30 feet wide and probably twice as long. It was dark blue on the floor and lower halves of the walls. The upper walls were light blue. Either Lexaroth didn’t know what the ceiling looked like, or he simply skipped displaying it. The loom took up a significant portion of the space. It was about twelve feet wide and tall and about eight feet deep. The thread seemed to come out of midair, and the tapestry faded away into nothingness a dozen feet from the back of the apparatus.

“We ain't likely to mistake that thing,” the troll huffed.

“Good,” the cambion barked. “Now move. I want us inside in two minutes. Rev, go!”

The twelve guilders swarmed up the vine-covered stairs until they reached the first plateau. There was an opening there that led into darkness. Lex scanned it for magic while Hah’roo and Greymuck checked for mundane traps. When it was deemed safe, the party slipped into the ziggurat.

Just passing through the doorway sent a creepy shiver crawling across Joe’s skin. He was not the only one. A bunch of the group showed signs of severe discomfort. Joe looked over everyone’s statuses and noted about half of the team had the [Dread] condition. Joe had major fear resistance from his [Undaunted] trait, so for him, the oppression effect was just a passing shudder. He activated [Spirit of the Pack] again at the same time Mortalius spread another terror-dispelling aura over the group.

“I’m tempted to rework the teams,” Naragash stated. “Wild Order is a bit green. On the other hand, you work well together. What’d you say, do you want more firepower or keep yer team as is?”

“I think our team has a subtlety the Hellions lack,” Hah’roo asserted. “In a direct confrontation, your team is clearly stronger. Yet, slipping through these dark halls, our group will be able to avoid many conflicts you will have to fight through. With a potentially endless enemy, stealth may prove to be as valuable as brawn.”

“Fair,” Nara grunted. She reached up and pulled a jeweled earring from her pale blue lobe and placed it in Kendell’s hand. “Alright, here. That will keep you in contact with Myllo. Puq will drop a replacement for me in the bag. Speaking of which, make sure you stock up. Joe, you should load up on mana pots before we split.”

Joe did. As did Hah’roo. The others took mostly healing and stamina potions. The six of them stepped to the side to talk before leaving the Hellions.

“I think we should have our eyes up front,” Hah’roo began. “Yuk, will you range ahead.”

They all turned to look at the ragged young man, who in turn turned his concealing cowled head in Joe’s direction.

Yuk is attempting to form a [Parasitic Connection]. Accept / Decline?

Joe forged the bond and heard Yuk asking him to be his translator.

“Hey, Yuk says he can scout or be our switchboard,” Joe stated until he realized ‘switchboard’ did not translate into Illuminarian common. “He can connect us telepathically. He says it takes a lot of focus for him to hold the bond, so he can only do one or the other. Not both.”

“I say telepathic bond,” Kenda suggested. “Hah’roo, your [Questing Breath] and RC’s perception should be plenty for us to avoid ambushes. With Joe’s [Mana Surge], you could keep the breath spell up and scouting ahead of us for at least fifteen minutes before we’d have to rest for a minute and recharge.”

“Ok, Earcellwen with me up front,” the wind-dancer continued. “She needs to be able to fall back quickly if we encounter the ghouls.”

A whispered voice in Joe’s head responded. Joe spoke the words for the odd vermin specialist. “Yuk says he’ll cover her.”

A moment later, Joe heard the thoughts of the others join Yuk. In many ways, it was not unlike hearing his friends speak out loud. Yuk layered the thoughts in such a way it was easy to distinguish who was who. Each had their own feel to them. Hah’roo’s mental voice was just as billowy as she was speaking aloud. Tezeno’s thoughts felt heavy and solid. Kendell’s were quick and warm. Earcellwen’s were both swift and serene at the same time. Yuk’s telepathic voice still had some echoes, but nothing nearly as broken as his spoken words.

Joe was surprised to find the others thinking his thoughts sounded like they had a slightly bestial feel about them. It was as if his mental voice was backed by deep-chested rumbling.

“Ticks,” Hah’roo sighed. “Really, Yuk?”

“Sorry,” the swarm boy apologized.

“No worries. This is a great asset, even if its nature is freaking me out a little.” The windborne ranger patted the cloaked man’s shoulder. “We ready?”

“No charms?’ Joe asked.

“I’m wearing a couple now, but given your current skillset, Joe, you’d burn through everything but my very best ones faster than I could weave them. I can make you one if you think you need it, but this is not a good place for us to wait.”

“Nah. I’ll be fine then. Nara loaded me up with potions. Let’s go.”

The Hellions were ready as well. Together, they moved further into the pyramid. The unlit corridor was twelve feet wide and equally as tall. In the faint light given off by Joe’s glowing hand, they could see the walls were adorned in a twisting pattern that looked to Joe like Celtic knotwork.

In a few minutes, the teams reached a T intersection. Naragash gestured her team to the left and met the eyes of Hah’roo and Kendell. She gave them each a stern nod before the group split in two.

With two rangers in the lead, Wild Order turned right. Into the darkness, they crept deeper and deeper into the fortress of the Erlking.