The original Sunkiss team found themselves eating lunch at the eating area in the middle of the guild hall. Top of their mealtime agenda was Bula, the new green skinned team member sitting with Grud on the mezzanine floor.

“I honestly didn't know he wanted a new team member.”

Confessed a troubled Keegan.

“She's a fricken orc man.”

Complained Josh loudly.

“Quiet, everyone can hear you.”

“No, they can't, it so noisy in here with everyone talking, you couldn't hear a goblin choir sing.”

“I didn't know orcs could be mages.”

Piped in Macie determined to get her say.

“What do you think William?”

Asked Keegan

“I never knew the guild master had a sister.”

“Yeah, try telling the guild master to take her off the team now. We're stuck with her man, how is that going to work?”

Josh moaned as he banged his head against the table. No one responded to his theatrics, there were already used to him. They just sat there in contemplation, mindlessly nibbling at their lunches, and sipping on their drinks until they realised the topic of their earlier conversation stood there watching them as if she waited for them to do something. After an uncomfortable moment, Keegan took the lead and offered her seat next to him.

“Hi Bula. Would you like to sit here?”

She nodded and sat down. Now that she sat closer, they could better appreciate her orc physiology. She looked like a power lifter, someone typically swinging a sword. Her large canine tusks hadn’t appeared yet, which meant she still hadn’t reached maturity. She wore clothing like any other adventurer.

“What is your mage speciality?”

Asked Macie, curious about her skills. Probably a good question since they needed to work together.

“I specialise in earth and water.”

Her clear speech caught them off guard.

“Huh, you can speak.”

Commented Josh in his typically thoughtless nonsense to which Bula wisely didn’t reply.

“Are you attack, or defence orientated?”

“Both.”

“What type of defence skills can you perform?”

“Earth wall, and earth collapse.”

“Have you been involved in combat before?”

Keegan asked a reasonable question since they didn’t know anything about her history, blindly trusting her ability to coordinate.

“Yes, I have delved before.”

“Have you worked with a team before?”

“No.”

Keegan wondered if Bula’s short responses related to her nerves or whether she didn’t like talking too much. If that was a good thing or not, remained to be seen.

“Well, we’re going to leave here first thing tomorrow morning. We have too little time to learn how to work together so I recommend that we decide on a strategy…”

“No, don’t recommend. Tell us what you want. Either you know how we work, or you don’t.”

Macie admonished him.

“Yeah, sorry. A bad habit I’m learning to change. William takes point and attracts any damage; Josh and I will closely flank William’s rear while taking advantage of his protection in case we encounter any ranged attacks. Bula and Macie will follow. The idea is for us to stop any attacks, quickly retaliate while Macie and Bula cover us with ranged attacks.”

“When are we leaving?”

“We leave tomorrow morning. But before we go pack and get ready, I want us to do at least one training session to get a feel for our team synergy. At least before we could make total fools of ourselves in front of the Red Backs.”

“Argh, you had to go and remind me.”

Complained Josh once again. It seemed not everyone looked forward to performing in front of the best adventuring team in the region. Keegan arranged the training facilities in the next-door sparring hall without much fuss. It seemed few people were using at the time and besides, the guild master would give them approval if they really needed to go that way.

The sparring hall dimensions fitted the guild hall next door exactly with the exception that there was no mezzanine floor in the sparring hall but there was a surrounding amphitheatre allowing a good crowd of people to watch events. The firm dirt ground of the hall allowed for most physical activities but sparring participants needed to be wary of their footing because the ground could be slippery at times.

And at that moment the newly remade Sunkiss team found themselves arrayed in front of a row of test dummies lined up against one side of the hall. Keegan purposely selected this formation they intended to use in the new dungeon. With everyone standing at the ready in formation, Keegan addressed the team.

“Macie, I want you to start first and fire at each of the five dummies in front of us.”

Macie nocked an arrow from her quiver, drew her bow and launched the arrow at the first target and then continued with the rest. Keegan watched carefully, noting the path of each flight.

“I think you'll be fine both left and right flanks, but you may need to swap with Bula at critical times. I noticed that with your firing now you can easily lower the trajectory of your arrows to deal with shorter range enemies, but only on the flank you occupy. The moment you fire across our flanks you can only deal with long-range targets because you must fire upwards”

“That could become a serious restriction for me if the cave roof is too low.”

“Yeah, there's not much we can do about that unless you find an opportunity to fire between us. I think it's better to keep that strategy for when we find ourselves in large cave.”

Keegan learned his lesson from the last time Sunkiss entered a dungeon where Macie scraped his head with an arrow. Macie's tendency to aim skew when under pressure meant she would perform better when limited to specific actions in battle. There wasn't enough time to correct Macie's firing issues, something they could focus on when they returned, hopefully all in one piece.

“Okay, Bula you're next. I want you to imagine enemies have infiltrated our left side flank. You can see that the vanguard is occupied and only you can stop them. What will you do? Show me.”

Bula didn't hesitate. She simply looked to the left of the team and with a rumble, a rough earthen block about half her height tall, three people wide and half a person deep, shot up from under the ground. It happened within a second catching us all off guard. Just as well be practised beforehand otherwise it could potentially cause a major distraction to us.

Josh whistled in surprise.

“That's amazing!”

“Goodness, I wasn't expecting that.”

Exclaimed Macie.

“What's your range?”

Asked William.

“About twenty paces.”

Looking at that solid brown wall Macie created, Keegan realised there was another strategy she could better implement.

“Bula, that's an excellent skill. I'm going to change your role a little. How easily can you remove that wall?”

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“No problem.”

She said, giving us orc like smile. And with a slower rumble, the wall disappeared.

“With your skill Bula, we can complement Macie’s limitation with firing arrows in tight places like dungeon tunnels. All we need you to do is to create a wall, creating a natural bottleneck ahead of us. That will allow the vanguard to control a vital pinch point, while preventing ranged attacks against us. How high can you make that wall and how many times can you do that?”

“If you wanted quickly, I could raise it two men high. I can only do it five times then I need a short rest to recover my ethereal energy.”

That seemed good enough for Keegan, pleasing him no end.

“How about you give it a go? Let's see how it looks.”

Two flanking walls, approximately double his height, rose up just between them and the test dummies. The team inspected the walls to get a better feeling for their defensive capability.

“These are good defensive walls. William, from what you heard about those beasts in the new dungeon, do you think they could penetrate this wall?”

“From what I heard they were fast, not heavy, more like a large dog running on four legs. They might be able to jump, but in a confined space like a tunnel with this wall, I doubt they could even penetrate a wall half this thick.”

“Bula, could you make this will thinner in future?”

She nodded in agreement. Macie provided an improved strategy for the walls.

“How about, Bula makes the walls angled towards the enemies like a funnel. That would still force them to slow down but at the same time offer us the widest firing angle. You then Josh could easily stand on both sides of the wall while William acts as a funnel stopper.”

Keegan liked those suggestions, he felt they had a better chance with that option. It left only one scenario where Bula and Macie could be exposed to long-range attacks, like what happened when Aryan died. Open caves left them exposed. Keegan and Josh could hide behind William, but Bula and Macie needed some cover. Bula could create a wall using her own skill at the cost of her ethereal points. Macie didn’t have that option.

They practised combinations of various formations, but soon ran short of time. As Keegan said before, they had little time.

“Okay, I don’t believe there is any purpose for us to practice more. The rest we will learn as we go in the dungeon. Get a good sleep, we leave first thing tomorrow at the second bell. I’ll get you all here at the guild.”

““What are you going to do?”

Asked a sly Josh, realising I intended doing something else.

“Bula and Macie need protection. I'm going to make myself useful and get them something.”

William left the sparring hall under the questioning gazes of his fellow team members.

Later, the guild master looked just as surprised when William knocked on his office door. He was sitting with Melody while they played some board game between them. At first Keegan felt as if he imposed on their private time, but the guild master quickly dispelled any concern.

“William. I wasn't expecting you, I thought you would be neck deep in preparations by now.”

“We were just practising a few quick runs in the sparring hall, trying to better understand each other.

“I see. What do you you think of Bula?”

“I think she is fantastic. Not a great talker though.”

“Excellent, obviously you have seen her at work. As for her talking, wait till she gets to know you are a bit better, then you will battle to shut her off.”

He said that with a laugh having Bula better than all of them.

“She is part of the reason why I am here.”

“I see. What can I help you with?”

“When we attempted our previous dungeon delve, you gave me a protective shield.”

“That's right. I'm assuming you want something similar for this delve?”

“No. Not a shield, two skill rings with earth skills.”

Grud was curious to know why William selected that item and not the shield.

“Because Macie doesn't have protective cover in open combat, especially when we operate in large caverns or open ground.”

“Why then two rings, wouldn't one be enough?”

Asked Melody.

“I also want one for Bula. I know she has the Earth skill and can protect herself. But every time she uses ethereal energy, she can't protect us.”

“I see. I can't give you two earth skill rings but I can give you one ring holding extra ethereal energy. Will that work for you?”

William gave it some thought. He hadn't planned on walking out there without at least one earth skill ring, but he couldn't be choosy given the circumstances.

“I'll take it.”

The guild master opened a desk draw and handed William ring from it.

“I hope this helps you.”

William didn't hang around to give them reason to ask too many questions or take the ring back. He politely excused himself and made to leave when Grud's voice stopped him.

“I haven't forgotten that you already have a ring from the previous time. It would look very questionable if you had three rings now, would it?”

“Guild master, no rule states I can't push my luck.”

And then he left.

Grud smiled at Melody.

“They grow up so fast, don't they? Your move by the way.”

Early the next morning before the second morning bell when roosters still considered whether to call or not, Bula paid attention to her new team members with interest. Humans could behave so idiotic at times. Growing up with Grud as an older brother prepared her for many of human’s idiosyncrasies. Already, in the brief time she knew the Sunkiss team, she needed to hold her tongue and not voice her opinion as she so dearly wanted to.

Grud recommended that Bula become an adventurer and join a human team for experience. Bula’s exceptional skill control would eventually become well known, and in human society, what wasn’t known often turned into irrational fear. By interacting with humans, Bula became known to them and less of a threat.

The Sunkiss team readied themselves for departure. Each one of them rode a horse courtesy of the guild. Renting a horse could be an expensive business, especially since most horse rental companies didn't like renting out to adventurers for obvious reasons. The nature of adventuring meant beasts ate horses as quickly as they would the humans that rode them. Too often, adventurers never returned to pay the fines associated with missing horses, forcing the guild to set up an insurance fund of sorts to encourage equine businesses to support adventurers.

The trip promised to take about four hours of fast travel by horseback. The Red Backs, already prepared, patiently waited for Sunkiss.

“Are you done yet? Want to powder your noses perhaps?”

Asked an annoyed Valence. Keegan got the distinct impression that Valence’s annoyance had more to do with Aryan’s death than their unfortunate timing. Why that man decided to take on the babysitting role puzzled Keegan no ends. If he didn’t like him, why not just say no, and pass the whole thing on to someone else more willing. Keegan didn’t deny the fact that having a top-notch team looking after them gave no ends of confidence to their success. However, something about Valence’s attitude warned Keegan that the dungeon subjugation quest wouldn’t be as simple as dealing with beasts, and the guild master knew that.

“Stop daydreaming. We’re leaving, catch up with us.”

Valence shouted as the Red Backs rode off into the metaphorical sunrise while the Sunkiss team struggled to keep up, the latter obviously far more proficient at horse riding. What everyone failed to notice were the two female fans curiously watching the situation from the window of the guild master’s office.

“Alright everyone. This is what we have been waiting for, a chance to redeem ourselves. Bula, welcome to Sunkiss, and we hope we can benefit from what you have to teach us and the same with us.”

Keegan gave his pep talk outside the dungeon and bowed to Bula. Witching all of that were the Red Backs idyllically lazing around the entrance having earlier cleared the area of any predatory beasts. Within an hour, the support team of forty adventurers would arrive to secure the dungeon entrance and clean up the dungeon of any leftover beasts. Dungeons didn’t typically consist of only one internal pathway. Some could follow convoluted routes with many offshoot paths needing investigation and clearing. The guild took dungeon clearing seriously, especially the initial clearance.

“Finally!”

The Red Backs’ leader rolled his eyes in irritation at the lackadaisical attitude of Sunkiss.

“What’s with that man?”

Asked Macie, finally fed up with Valence’s prima donna attitude.

“Ignore him. He’s got an issue with me. Don’t worry about it, we have more important things to deal with now.”

Keegan said as they all stared into the dark depths of the dungeon entrance.

“Okay guys, ready your lights.”

Another lesson learned from their previous quest, was the need for copious lighting. Luckily the guild provided copious volumes of those small items at cheap prices, aware of their importance to adventurers. A new dungeon didn’t have time to grow bioluminescent moss meaning everything would be dark. Unlike Aryan’s skill that included a light function, Bula didn’t have any such skills, so we prepared. Each of us lit up like the sun as we activated our lights.

“What the heck are you guys doing? Just how many of those things are you using?”

They already ignored the man’s interjections.

Keegan chuckled to himself. Those beasts might be good at night vision and seeing in total darkness, but Sunkiss made it near impossible for even a shadow to exist near them.

“Let’s see how bright light changes their perception of things. We’ll go in first.”

Sunkiss entered the dungeon as their namesake. Full of light.

“Uhm, Keegan? Can we tone down the lights a little, we can hardly see the dungeon ourselves?”

Macie squinted at Keegan, proving her point.

“Sorry, I guess I overdid it a little. Let’s keep the lights facing outwards as best we can and not blind ourselves.”

The first beasts arrived hardly after a few paces into the dungeon. True to their description, they turned out to be four legged beasts with sharp claws and fangs. William managed to kill the first lonely beast that foolishly tried to attack his shield. Josh voiced his disapproval.

“That’s something of an anti-climax. I expected more somehow.”

“Keep your wits about you team. We haven’t encountered large numbers of these beasts yet. How are you doing Bula?”

“I’m fine.”

Short as ever Keegan mused.

Further down, a rapid session of attacks from a group of the beasts needed Bula to implement her wall strategy for the first time. They worked wonderfully, preventing the quick beasts from gaining on their strengths. Instead, William blocked their entry through the bottleneck and either Josh or Keegan dispatched them if they tried to pass over William’s shield. It worked so well, that Keegan wondered if their luck would run out. He started doubting his decisions when they entered the first large cave. For the first time, Keegan considered how far behind them the Red Backs were, in case they needed help.

“Hey Keegan.”

Called William, aware of Keegan’s distraction.

“We have this. What do you want us to do?”

“Right. I need you to keep your formation. Bula, do have that ring I gave you?”

She nodded.

“Good. These creatures do not seem to be using ranged attacks yet, but if we need it, use the ring to supplement your energy.”

The guild master’s ethereal ring allowed Bula to use earthen wall more than her natural ability could. That allowed her to create a dual set of earth wall shields for her and Macie to find cover should the need arise.

“Keegan, I’ve never seen a cave this large before.”

The cave’s vast interior seemed far larger than anything the group experienced before, not that they entered enough that they could compare them.

“Yeah, this cave doesn’t fit the profile of a new dungeon. Nothing this large should exist until a few years after its development.”

He noted. Then he realised with a start that his gut feeling of fear returned. As if on cue, the silence of the cave broke with a cacophony of sounds from all directions.

Keegan thought William and Josh were trying to say something, but he couldn’t hear them above the infernal racket. He indicated for them to come closer.

“Keegan…something wrong…need to leave.”

Keegan nodded. Then it hit him like a bucket of icy water. The dungeon was about to break.