We made our way into the mountains at a brisk walk to give Ember and Drel’gethed the time they needed to properly scout the area ahead of us. Even with their Delver abilities, it took time to canvas a wide area and ensure there weren’t any spies or traps laid out.

I toyed with Gracorvus as we walked. By sending it a pulse of mana I could array the slabs into a few different shapes. The first was the traditional targe shape, but with a seven-point honeycomb pattern, rather than rounded edges. I could also send it into a line, two slabs wide, along my arm, and ending with one slab at the point. The corner of the hexagonal plate pointed forward, so it could be used for punching.

“The edge is a bit blunt at the tip,” said Varrin, watching me work. “But still more effective than using your fist. It’s good for striking at joints.”

I nodded, then returned the shield to its rounded form, and activated the hover function. The shield detached from the armguard and locked in place in the air. It stood stock still, even as we continued to walk away from it. I was able to guide it back to me using mana, then dismissed it into its home formation, which sent the slabs zipping back into the hexagonal slots along my forearm in stacks of two. The whole series of transitions took five mana.

“Send it back to its targe shape,” said Lito, who had paused to let us catch up to him.

I activated the rounded honeycomb formation, and the Guardian inspected it.

“I don’t like the edges,” he said.

“Sorry that it doesn’t suit your sense of style,” I said.

“He’s got a point,” said Varrin. “Show him why, Guardian Lito.” I looked between the two of them, though Varrin was giving Lito a wry smile. The gold Delver didn’t seem very pleased with the expression and furrowed his brow at the shield.

“Shields have rounded edges to help keep the enemy from hooking it with their weapon.”

He pulled his hammer from his waist and sat the head of it over the lip of the targe. The haft slid down into the triangular groove where two of the plates connected, with the hammerhead tucked behind the shield.

“If an enemy gets your shield hooked like this, they can tug their weapon to pull it aside or possibly even strip you of it. Then they can attack with an offhand weapon or their ally can hit you while your block is down.”

“Try and strip it,” said Varrin.

The three of us stopped, and Lito yanked on his hammer. The seam between the two slabs split, letting the hammerhead pass between them, before immediately snapping shut behind it.

“Damn,” said Lito. “That’s useful. With that, not only is the shape not a liability, it’s an advantage.”

“I see,” I said. “But, pretend that I don’t understand and explain that bit to me.”

Varrin rolled his eyes.

“An enemy will see that shape,” said Lito, “and assume the same thing I just did. When they go to strip the shield, they’ll be putting their whole weight into pulling against it.”

“So when the weapon doesn’t find purchase,” said Varrin, “they’ll be off balance since they didn’t meet the resistance they were expecting.”

“And while they’re recovering, I activate my trap card,” I said. “Sounds useful.”

The two warriors passed a glance between them, obviously to nonverbally communicate to each other their desire to possess half the humor that I did. They both had a touch of the ‘wet blanket’ demeanor, so it was an understandable feeling for them to harbor.

Our journey toward The Calvani Caverns went unimpeded for the first few hours until Drel’Gethed emerged from the scrubby mountain trees ahead of us. We gathered up to hear what he had to report.

“There is much mana venting ahead,” he said. “Monsters have gathered. The enemy has scouts surrounding the area. It is difficult to pass unnoticed.”

“How serious is the mana venting?” asked Lito.

“It is potent. The levels that precede an eruption.”

Varrin’s father, Ealdric, stepped closer.

“We’ve heard of no mana vents of that density in Ravvenblaq,” he said. “We have Sages that run the lands, and Sorcerers who monitor any unusual mana signatures. We might miss a small vent, but not one large enough to lead to a catastrophe. Nola? Have you heard anything?”

“There are no reports of dangerous mana monsters in this area,” his wife replied. “Much less a fiend.”

“Perhaps it is recent,” said Drel. “Something that has not yet been seen.”

“If that’s true, then the vent is growing quite fast,” said Ealdric. “The winds here travel in a northeasterly direction. We’ll need to send word to evacuate the lands between the mountains and Lake Hollow.”

“Myria,” said Lito. “Can you report that with the slate?”

The dark-skinned Dancer pulled out the slate and began weaving mana into its surface. She frowned as she tried this for over a minute.

“I can’t,” she said. “The vent must be interfering.”

“Yeah, that’s not good,” said Lito. “If it’s dense enough to disrupt a slate, it’s a significant hazard.”

“This is a matter that needs immediate attention,” said Ealdric. “One of us will need to descend from the mountains and issue a report.”

“Perhaps one of the baby platinums?” said Nola, eyeing my group. “They’ll be of the least use if we find trouble.”

“And the least capable of defending themselves,” said Lito, “if they encounter a hostile on their way back down.”

“I’ll take it,” said Myria. “I have the best bond with this slate anyway. I’ll run down, send the report when I get clear of the interference, then run back up.”

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

“Very well,” said Nola. “You are dismissed.”

Myria gave a polite bow to the Thundralke, but I thought I caught her eye twitch when she did so.

“Be careful,” said Lito.

“When have I ever taken risks?” Myria said, flashing him a smile.

“Uh-huh,” said Lito.

“See you soon.” Myria turned and sprang into the air, caught the edge of a boulder with her foot, then launched herself down and away out of sight.

“What type of mana vent is it?” Lito asked.

“It is Divine,” said Drel. “It tastes of… judgment.”

“Divine?” said Ealdric. “I didn’t know mana vents came in that flavor.”

He looked around to the others, who all seemed to agree with the sentiment.

“What shall we do, then?” said Nola. “We can certainly breach through a venting area. Even if it is as dense as you say, extra-delve monsters are little threat to us.”

“If there’s a fiend it might prove a minor challenge,” said Ealdric.

“Regardless,” said Nola, “we can bully our way through.”

“That gambit risks our reveal,” said Drel. “The scouts may see and report.”

“Then kill the scouts,” said Nola. “If you’ve seen them, then they are within striking distance.”

“I have not seen them with my eyes,” said Drel. “Only felt them through my threads.”

“We wouldn’t want them to run, love,” said Ealdric. “We want to surprise them, so they’ve no chance of escape. If we’re busying ourselves with monsters and fiends it gives them time to flee.”

“Then what is your recommendation?” said Nola.

“We might walk,” said Drel. “Between the Layers.”

Discomfort rippled through the group, save for the members of the Xor’Drel tribe, including myself. That was only because I had no idea what was going on, not out of any stoic bravery or experience that I possessed.

“I thought calling the Eye was difficult,” said Ealdric.

“It is not done lightly,” said Drel. “It is not done in the wilds. It is not done alone. This use is not light, as we are doing it out of need. We aid in Sam’lia’s holy quest.”

“This is a holy quest?” said Ealdric.

“Yep!” said Xim. “A holy quest of vengeance.”

“Oh,” said the Thundralke, looking uncomfortable.

“We are in the wilds,” continued Drel, “but we are a dozen gathered, and of greater strength than most. With humility and obedience, we may travel for a time to reach our goal.”

“To be clear,” I said, bringing eleven pairs of eyes bearing down on me, “you’re talking about, what? Traveling to the Third Layer for a stroll, then popping back out topside when we get to where we want to be?”

Drel’gethed’s form fluttered.

“Yes.”

“So, show of hands. How many of us here have been there before?” I asked.

Drel, Xim, and Xorna raised their hand, all three members of the Third Layer. No one else did.

“Could we go around the mana vent?” I said. “I’m perfectly willing to take a peek at my new homeland, but is that an overcomplication?”

“The vent expands as far as we have searched,” said Drel. “A fissure along the mountain range. The Caverns may be within.”

“And they have scouts all along the range?” I asked.

“I do not know. There are a few ahead. They have high positions. They likely see much.”

“If we assume no more scouts,” said Ealdric, “how much time do we lose by going around the line of sight of those you saw?”

“To be safe. To avoid detection if we fight through the vent. We will require the rest of daylight.”

“Then we’d be traveling into enemy territory amid night,” said Ealdric. “With no intelligence.”

“With a prepared enemy,” Lito pointed out. “If they have scouts, they’re expecting something.”

“That only makes sense,” said Nola. “They stirred up trouble and now run to ground and dug in.”

“The Cavern wasn’t much of a secret, either,” said Lito. “If we do what you suggest, Drel, will that give us the element of surprise?”

“We will appear where no one was,” Drel’gethed said. “With none seeing us come.”

“But will we be able to see what we’re walking into?”

“Not in a meaningful way,” said Drel.

“So we either stumble into a fortified enemy position at night,” said Ealdric, “after fighting through a horde of mana monsters and potentially a fiend or two. Or we walk right up to the Cavern and appear out of thin air with no knowledge of who or what we’ll find?”

“We don’t have to travel at night,” said Lito. “We could move around the boundary of the vent, camp out, then move again come sunrise.”

“Wasting an entire day in the process,” said Nola. “We have them in our sights. I say we do as Drel suggests.”

Ealdric grimaced at his wife’s words but didn’t contradict her.

“How safe is this… layer walking, Drel?” he asked.

“If you are attentive, and follow instruction, it is not dangerous. No more than a walk across a bridge.”

“There are a wide variety of bridges,” said Lito. “With varying degrees of danger.”

Xim spoke up.

“I’d say it’s like a stable, but narrow bridge across a tall ravine with deadly spikes at the bottom, without any wind or other stuff to push you off. If you walk straight across, no problem. But if you walk to either side, big problem.”

“Good analogy, dear,” said Xorna. She patted Xim on the head with a demonically-armored hand. “But I would have added that there are whispering voices encouraging you to jump, as well. Nothing to worry about if you ignore them.”

“Is it… like that everywhere in the Third layer?” I asked.

“Not really,” said Xim. “The less populated an area is, the more responsive it is to your personality. With twelve people it should be stable, but not if you wander off alone.”

“So just don’t wander off?”

“Pretty much.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

Lito fidgeted with his cigarette case but resisted pulling one out to smoke.

“I don’t like going in blind,” he said. “Even if getting there is easy, we could find ourselves in an ambush.”

“Come now, Lito,” said Nola. “Unless an entire team of high level Delvers has defected and is plotting rebellion against the Kingdom, we’ve enough ability here to handle any problems. Besides, we’ll be the ones doing the ambushing.”

“I do find it unlikely we’d meet that level of resistance,” added Ealdric.

“But we don’t know for certain,” said Lito.

“I’ll grant you that,” said Ealdric. “But if I waited until I was certain before making any aggressive moves in my life, I wouldn’t have gotten nearly so far as I have.”

Ashe let out a chuckle, and I looked to find the tanker triplet leaning back against a boulder, golden armor gleaming in the midday sun.

“You’re arguing for caution with platinum Delvers, Lito,” she said. “Your efforts are in vain.”

“You don’t have to accompany us, Guardian,” said Nola. “Let the Ravvenblaqs and the Xor’Drels handle the matter. Your party can remain behind, to call for aid if we do not return by nightfall tomorrow.”

“But I still wanna go,” said Ashe, bumping up from her rock. “What about you, Cole?”

“I’m staying out of this,” her brother replied. “If you go, I’ll go, but I’m not picking any sides.”

Ember dropped down from above us with a flutter. I had no idea where she’d come from.

“We stick together,” the archer triplet said.

“What about Myria?” said Lito.

“I’ll leave her a rune,” said Cole. “She knows to look for one. It’s how she’d come find us if we moved on normally anyway. She can be the one to call for aid if none of us return.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Nola. “Let’s get on with this layer-walking. It sounds very exciting.”