“Still no hermits.” Belle said to me as I asked her a few Panarena hours later. I let out a sigh, and began fishing for another card. It was now our third game of Go-Fish, and I was beginning to wish one of us had voted for War instead after the second game. During that time, we had gotten two more messages, one from Jannie and the other from Angelfire, reporting that they had won more keys. Now there were only two left, it seemed.

“Hahh...” I sighed as I picked up the card; it was the six of shamrocks. Not what I wanted.

“Got any empresses?” Belle asked, turning to Peaches.

“Oh, foo. Here.” the guild leader of Dreamers Fables said, passing her two.

“Yippee!” Belle declared. The cards were practically the same size as she was in pixie-form, but she hadn't shifted to human size on account of the fact that they were, as all cards are, super light. “La-na! Have any sixes?”

“Gyeck!” I choked, and with a resigned look handed her the one I had just gotten.

“Tee-hee!” she said, and placed it in her deck. “Any fives?”

“Go fish!” I quickly said.

“Drat!”

“I wonder if we should just call the score now and try that new bridge variant...” Peaches mused as she gazed at her cards.

“I don't think the youngster here would get the hang of that well enough for us.” Belle said with a shrug.

“I can play any card game!”

“Ho-ho?” Peaches grinned. “Whaddaya say, girly? Wanna give Bubbling Cauldron a try?”

“Can we even do that with three people?” Belle wondered with a faint smile.

“Hmm... I can pull out my little gremlin; he likes card games, and that'll leave you two for a team!” Peaches said, snapping her fingers and clapping her hands three times. The gremlin appeared; he was greenish-brown or brownish-green in color, and had bright green eyes. A simple wraparound for the waist was his only garment.

“Master, master! Are we playing cards, master?!” he quickly said.

“Yes, Bubs, we're playing cards!” Peaches announced. “Bubbling Cauldron!”

“Oooh, hoo-hoo-hoo! You're a cruel one, master!” Bubs the Gremlin chuckled as he sat down with us while Peaches collected the cards and began shuffling them for a different game.

“Hahh... well, hun, you asked for it. I guess I'd better get serious, too!” Sky Belle remarked, switching to her human size and hastily donning one of the outfits she kept for it.

It was at that exact moment that I put the pieces together on what she had wanted to ask me earlier.

Uh-oh. If we find what we're looking for down here... I don't have my normal clothes or armor... snap. Snap snap snap. Dang it. Snap. Oh boy...

“Hmm? What are you looking shocked about? We bathe together all the time here, right?” Belle asked me.

“Ahh... n-nothing,” I said, returning my attention to the pile of cards I was being dealt.

“You gals are all close, huh? That's fine for younger folks, I guess--but not so much for us older hens!” Peaches said to us.

“Hm? Peaches, you're an adult-adult?” I softly wondered.

“Yep yep!” she winked back. “Mid-fifties; heh, funny, I didn't feel old until my daughter told me she was expecting a few months ago.”

“Aw, congrats!” Belle smiled.

“Thankees!” she grinned back.

“What brought you here to Panarena?” I asked her.

“Hmm! Well, I was always pretty spry and I love being outdoors, but lately I've had some health issues that keep me inside. When I heard about this thing, it seemed like a joke at first. I mean, how can a technological and virtual system be completely faithful to reality?” she remarked with a wry smile.

“I guess some people still think so; hmm, maybe a lot.” Belle nodded.

“Yep yep! But I signed on for it anyway; the beta-test, that is. Just to see. And boy was I surprised! I used to forget to log out to actually live, but I have an in-game alarm now that keeps me on track. And of course the emergency detection system!” she told us.

“Hm? Oh!” I snapped my fingers in remembrance. The Dream Machine is hooked in to the house-system so that it can detect emergency situations such as gas leaks, fires, flooding, and so forth. It's a life-saving system for people who live alone; I'd seen several posts on the forums from users who had already been saved by it over the past few months all expressing their gratitude to the designers for their thoughtfulness.

“It's funny how game-designers are more thoughtful about our well-being than critics pretend,” Belle shrugged.

“I can agree with that!” Peaches nodded.

“Oh definitely.” I said.

“All-righty; let's get down to the rules!”

“Gyee-hee-heehee!!” the gremlin cackled, and so began our game of Bubbling Cauldron. By the time we got through the first round, I still wasn't sure I understood, but I felt like I had gotten a decent handle on it -- which surprised Belle, anyway. Apparently there were five rounds in the whole game.

Four more, huh? Let's see how it goes!

***

“And... Cauldron!” Peaches said triumphantly.

“Hahh... beat.” Belle sighed.

“Oh well,” I shrugged, grinning.

“Nyee-hee-hee!” Peaches chuckled. “Oop! There's a ding! That's Jannie; she and her group are on their way back now.”

“That just leaves Angelfire and the other team,” I said.

“That should be them now,” Belle remarked as we received another message. “Huh?!”

“Hmm?” Peaches looked up, and read the message for herself. “Hmm... 'Get ready; coming in hot, couldn't shake it'... dare I ask what?” she mused as she got up and got ready.

“They had Myanihia, even; she should've been able to one-shot whatever it is...” I said as I got up as well. “Unless...” I suddenly recalled with a horrified smile.

“Unless what?” Belle asked, now back in her pixie form.

“What kind of prankster GM put a freaking world boss in the middle of a cavern-goat herd?!?” I heard Angelfire's voice cry out angrily.

“Ahh--!!” Belle exclaimed as she caught on.

“Doesn't work on world-bosses, huh?” Peaches commented.

“N-nope,” I sighed.

“Angel!! What the--?!” Jannie's voice came.

“Stand fast! It's got the key!” Wildeye shouted. “Jannie, up here with Maryn and me! Tyman, Ariana, gather the others and tackle the sides! Anhe, you and Derwydd attack from the rear -- Healina, with us!”

“Gotcha!”

“On it!”

“Okay!”

“Coming!” the others replied.

“Hahh, better go help them.” Peaches smiled. “Belle, you go help Wildeye's group; I'll circle around to help Anhe and Der; Lana... if you must get into trouble, do it carefully!” she told me with a smirk, and the two of them hurried off.

“Hrrmm.” I frowned, but followed at a cautious pace anyway. I had no desire to be one-shot by a world boss in child form after not dying once all this time in-game.

“What the -- oh, hello! Fancy seeing you here!” Jannie quipped as Sky Belle and Peaches joined the fight.

“Hi-ho, Derrio!” Peaches said as she reached the group on the other side.

“Leader!” he exclaimed with a grin. “Good timing, your roots are stronger than mine!”

“That's because you went too far into werebear!” she jokingly chided him, unleashing her roots at once.

The world boss in question was a large and grizzled albino bear with rocky spikes coming out of its limbs and spine; red eyes, ferocious teeth, and a blood-chilling roar made up the rest of it. It seemed like a pure-damage boss, but it seemed to have heavy defenses or resilience as well.

“Reflect?” Wildeye wondered as he jumped back a pace.

“It's totally random!” Angelfire said.

“It really is,” Maryn agreed.

“That's a damn pain!” Tyman growled.

“You're telling me??” Angelfire quipped. “You don't have DoTs to worry about like I do!”

“Yo! I'mma duel you after this and we're gonna check those DoTs!” he quickly retorted.

“You got it, buster!” she smiled back.

“Now this is video-gaming.” I quietly smiled to myself.

Lysandra and Angelfire, from opposite sides, drove their blades into the bear's sides. It lowered its head in a grunt of pain, but there was no noticeable drop in health. But it allowed me to see a different colored stone on the back of the bear's head, just near the neck. I suddenly realized that the rocky-spikes on its spine were different in shape than the ones elsewhere on its body, and that the specific one I had just noticed was glowing. The bear resumed its frenzied assault-slash-defense a moment later.

“Angel! Sandra! Do it again!” I called out. The two of them curiously obliged me; the same thing happened, and the same stone glowed. “Maryn, kneel!” I shouted.

“Huh? Sure!” she returned, kneeling down at once as I broke into Shadow Speed, using her as a springboard to launch myself into the air and use that combo-skill on the glowing stone. It shattered, and the bear howled in pain as five-percent of its health went down at once. I landed on its back, still at a run, and scurried off to jump into Anhe's arms.

“Nice job!” she said to me with a smile.

“Phew!” I sighed in relief.

“The stones... on its back, when they glow.” Myanihia then said.

“'Aight! We got it now! Thanks, Lans!” Tyman cheered.

The fight resumed, Maryn and Jannie keeping the world boss focused on them while Myanihia, Lysandra, Angelfire, and Ariana took turns using their ultimate skills on the boss' spinal-spikes when they started glowing. After several more minutes we wore it down to zero, and then it went up in pixels, leaving behind the key and several rare crafting materials, along with a few elite weapons.

“Ha-ha, wouldn't you know it dropped a set of bagh nakh?” Wildeye grinned as he held them aloft.

“I like these just fine, boss.” Tyman shrugged as he held up his own.

“Same here; I'll keep them for a guildie, then. This staff is something else, though,” he remarked.

“I'll take that!” Peaches declared at once, and it was handed off to her.

“Short-swords, a mace... a halberd? Ohh, I know who'll want this,” Wildeye grinned, sending the rest of the items to Ariana for safe-keeping.

“Hm, 'Halberd of Thundering Flame'... oh definitely.” Ariana nodded back at once.

“That has Lizzy written all over it.” I quipped, and we laughed.

“Hmm... the short-swords would make a good alternate for Lana in certain situations... but the mace... if any of you just want to have it as a trophy or an auction item, go ahead,” Ariana said as she took it out of inventory to hold it aloft.

“Sure!” Jannie said, and Ari tossed it to her. “Now, let's figure out who's getting what material here and carry on!” she then said, and after we had divvied out the crafting materials we resumed our trek down the passageway.

We opened the door without incident, as Peaches had hoped, and continued along the somehow darker passage. I mean, it was dark all around us, generally, but it did seem as if our lights were literally being squelched now. I felt a shiver run down my back as we got further in, and Ari, who was holding my hand, stopped for a moment to pick me up before continuing on.

“It's almost too dark.” I softly whispered.

“Mm.” she nodded in agreement.

“So aside from that bear thing, all the other fights went pretty well?” Belle asked.

“Pretty well!” Jannie replied. “We had a rough start with that Deeps Siren Queen; poor Wild!” she smirked, and he let out a sigh.

“Fortunately I was able to vindicate myself on the next boss; that Murk Kraken.” he said.

“Eek!!” Tabitha squealed. “You said you wouldn't bring that one up again, ever!!” she all but shouted at him, softly punching his shoulder repeatedly.

“I believe it was Jannie and the other girls who said that, not me!” Wildeye quickly returned. “I never verbally agreed myself!”

“Well you should! Uughhh, that was so humiliating...” Tabitha sighed, her expression clearly distraught and embarrassed.

What's she riled up about? Wait, “Kraken”... so--ohh... tentacles. D-don't tell me it did *that* thing? O-oy... poor Tabitha, I mused internally, coming to my own conclusion as to what happened.

“But we rescued you in the end!” Anhe remarked cheerfully.

“A-Anhe... I guess that's true, though,” Tabitha grinned wryly.

Yep. It did the thing.

“And then of course the stupid thing had to go out and die in deeper water after Lysandra gave it a finishing blow,” Snow Dancer sighed. “So Healina had to swim out for the key, and nearly got eaten by another Murk Kraken before we could run off with it.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Fun times.” Heali shrugged.

“We had a comparatively benign experience, at least until we ran into that bear.” Derwydd remarked. “Myanihia took care of things easily enough once we actually found what we were looking for.”

“I bet.” Jannie grinned.

“The Shadow Troll Thug... and the, Deeps Serpent... they were easy. Just, normal mobs. Then, unluckily, we found that one.” Myanihia said.

“We didn't even realize that damn thing was a world boss until she went and poked it. And then of course its health wasn't even tickled by that combo thing.” Tyman told us.

“You think it's just a bear... until it's not.” Angelfire sighed. “At least Derwydd could slow it down a pace so we could keep ahead of it.”

“I thought for sure we'd have to go all the way back for it,” Ariana remarked, “But it followed us all the way... that's a world boss for you, I guess.”

“Oh for sure.” Winnie nodded.

“Still... that was a minor one, for sure, or we'd never have beaten it with so small a party.” Wildeye remarked. “The thing with the spikes really helped, also!” he looked over at me with a smile and a thumbs-up.

“We come down here to help rescue Lana and she ends up rescuing us!” Tabitha giggled.

“Ah-heh,” I laughed back. “Y-you'll be paying it back when we get to our goal!” I added.

“True!” she agreed.

“And if it fails somehow, we'll just adopt you.” Jannie quipped.

“Ahh--” I returned uncertainly.

“Not a chance! She's mine!” Angelfire chimed in.

“Ehh--?!”

“I'm outta this one, Lans.” Tyman told me.

“Hahh...”

“She's my partner!” Ariana said defensively. “Even if she did get de-aged...” she added with a smirk.

“Ohh, true...” Jannie nodded. “Did you register that in-game yet?” she asked us.

“Huh?”

“Eh?” the two of us returned.

“I mean, they have the Bands of Unity, so that probably counts for them already...” Wildeye remarked.

“Oh right! From that Garth incident.” Jannie nodded. “What happened to him, anyway?”

“Garth?” Wildeye raised an eyebrow. “Humphrey and the other members of †SOVEREIGN† have kept an eye out for him, but no one on this side of Panarena has seen him since that scuffle.”

“No one on this side, huh?” Winnie frowned.

“I say that because I have a couple friends on the Onyxus side who've reported sightings of him. I can't confirm it because I'm only a Deputy GM, and my father would likely tell me to forget it at this point because Garth's father Gallancleeve is on report and unable to do anything, but my bet is that Garth either recreated his character or became a renegade.” Wildeye told us.

“Hmm.” I remarked, shaking my head.

“Oh, Lizzy just logged in!” Healina reported to us. “Hmm... she says she'll hurry over with Fyu.”

“Ehh... I guess as long as she's just blazing by we won't have to deal with a horde if she catches up.” I noted. “Oh, right, the halberd. She'll want that.”

“Oh def.” Heali grinned.

“In the meantime, we're coming up on the next door. Looks like this key here,” Tabitha said, pulling out one of the ones her group had found and using it on the door. It unlocked, and we continued along the now ominous passage, the darkness increasing around us.

“There's definitely something down here.” Angelfire said as she looked around. I turned on Shadow Vision out of foreboding. It wasn't as good as it was usually, considering that I had nearly maxed it out and now it was at half-effectiveness, but I would still be able to see certain traps and hidden monsters.

“I don't see anything... Myanihia?”

“Nothing. Not even, a tripwire, or a dart-wall.” she said.

“Something's giving me the creeps.” Lysandra remarked with disgust.

“You feel that too?” Tyman asked her. “Da hell is in this tunnel?”

“Wait, Lana,” Ariana halted, and I looked at her.

“Hmm?”

“Didn't you remark the last time you upgraded Shadow Vision that it still wouldn't let you see a certain type of monster?” she asked me.

“Uhh... maybe I did... oh, I did!” I recalled.

“You're also, at that upgrade?” Myanihia wondered.

“Yep!” I nodded back, checking my skills. “Blehh... I know, I know... just show me the--here it is. So the one kind of monster my Shadow Vision can't spot are the--Elusive... Deeps... Crawlers...” I read with a sudden feeling of horror.

“Shield Wall Formation!” Jannie called to us at once, and in a moment, Healina, Ari, myself, Peaches, and Belle were surrounded by the others, who armed themselves at once. “Maryn, Lysandra, Winnie: rearguard. Anhe, Angelfire, Tyman, Wild: sideguard. Derwydd, up with me and Tabby at the lead. Those in the middle, stay in the middle. Myanihia, get into the shadows and keep alert.” she ordered, and we hurried into formation. “Let's keep going, but cautiously.”

“I'll send a note to Lizzy.” Healina said.

“Good.” our team leader for the night nodded back. Myanihia then vanished to softly pad along the now-eerier corridor like a cat as we followed her at a steady pace.

“There's another reason Shadow Vision won't pick them up anyway.” Wildeye said quietly. “My father said they're more of a prank, a system mechanic that you just have to avoid or somehow repel.”

“He didn't tell you how?!” Jannie softly hissed back.

“Of course not! He's a responsible Game Moderator who told me that I should figure things out on my own--unlike a certain missing egomaniac,” Wildeye quickly replied.

“Have to give him that one...” Angelfire grinned.

“We'll figure it out of things come to--” I started, and then checked my skills again. Shadow Sharing, despite most of my other skills being halved or nearly nixed, was still fairly effective. I grinned. “Shadow Sharing!” I intoned, and we all slipped into the shadows with Myanihia, who looked back and gave me a subtle nod.

“Perfect!!” Jannie almost squealed with delight. “Let's hurry and hope they can't hear or smell us!”

“No! Stay steady, or the skill won't hold!” I quickly told her.

“Ah--!! Cancel that,” she amended.

“Steady on, Jans. We'll get through this.” Wildeye smiled at her.

We continued on our steady pace, obfuscated by the shadows (I hoped) as we moved deeper into the Untold Deeps. By the time we got to the next door, Lizzy reported that she had made it to the main entrance south of Harmonia City, and that she and Fyu would do their best not to get caught or one-shot when Healina told her what was going on.

“Knowing Fyu, they'll probably get here by the time we get to the next door.” I softly noted.

“Oh definitely.” Heali agreed.

“We should have brought our pet too, boss,” Tyman said with a hint of regret.

“Next time for sure!” Wildeye nodded.

“What do you guys have?” Ari wondered.

“We got ourselves a sabercat! Big ol' varmit Wild and some of the others did a quest for up in Ragnarheim! His name -- naw, wait, it ain't a him it's a her... anyway, her name's Freya,” Tyman told us.

“Nice!” I exclaimed.

“For sure!” he nodded.

“We should find a quest to get a pet or two ourselves,” Tabitha said to Jannie.

“Right?” the other girl agreed.

After that little exchange we kept quiet again, softly making our way towards the next door. Just as I had thought, Lizzy reached us as soon as we got there, both she and Fyu looking winded. Myanihia quickly got near them to wrap them in the shadows with us, while Peaches used the next key to get us through the door in front of us.

“Oh, there you are!” the Nordian halberdier remarked as we came into her field of vision.

“Masters, you need not waste your moments here in stealth; my senses can find what yours cannot. We shall not be caught unawares by these Deeps Crawlers.” Fyu announced to us confidently.

“Are you sure?” Jannie asked him.

“There is nothing Fyu Dongtian cannot sense in this world by scent or by hearing,” the dog-beast replied. I nodded to Jannie.

“We can trust him on that count.” I added.

“All right, we'll try it that way. Go ahead and drop us out of stealth.” she said, and we did so at once, then proceeded down the passage once more. Lizzy hopped off of Fyu, and Ariana placed me on him instead while I gave Lizzy a sour look.

“What?!” she asked me as we walked along.

“If you hadn't made me this gear I'd be hollering at you.” I decided to say.

“Ho-ho? Why's that?” she cheekily grinned back.

“You know why. Sneak.” I retorted, and she giggled furiously.

“Deal with it!” she patted my head.

“Hahh.” I sighed as Belle and Peaches came to sit with me. “Is there anything around?” I asked Fyu as I gave him a scritching behind the ears.

“There are several; but they slumber. Do not raise your voices, masters, and we shall make it past them.” he reported in a low voice.

“Yikes.” Tabitha gulped quietly.

“You know what these things look like?” Winnie asked.

“Most certainly I do, for I fought them long ago; but I believe certain of the masters would ask me to not tell them.” he replied with the ghost of a grin.

“D-d-d--definitely.” Healina said.

“Fair.” the reply came.

At that little exchange, I was suddenly reminded yet again of how complex this game could be. To characters like Fyu and Dracuoatlax, Panarena had always been, and they themselves had existed in this world for countless years and ages. The designers really had created another world here; true, its main purpose was that of entertainment, but it was entertainment so sophisticated that it could be hard to get over the fact it was, essentially, a game. I wondered what Wildeye, apparently a GM's son, thought about it all.

Come to think of it, that's why he was poking around in Garth's initial alliance, because his father or some other GM trusted him enough and made him a deputy. Huh. I almost never see him offline, either... I wonder what his story is, where he lives, if there's a real-life reason he spends almost several real days at a time logged in here, I wondered to myself. These are generally the sort of questions gamers tend to avoid. But after a few months, it was becoming more of a second reality for us, and we were getting more comfortable with knowing each other.

Well. Mostly. Only a handful of people actually knew me, as opposed to those who knew Lana. That made me start wondering, as Derwydd-Thomas and Lizzy-Ellie had kind of asked me at times: did I really have a separate identity from Lana? I softly frowned, shaking the question away. Lana was Lana, and I was myself. This was a fantasy, and real life was real life. I wasn't deluded about that at all.

“I hear... something.” Myanihia suddenly said.

“I hear something as well, masters,” Fyu added.

“What is it?” Jannie asked.

“Goblins, maybe.” the assassin replied.

“Indeed, I smell the vile stench of goblin,” the dog-beast said. “And it is coming from the left passage ahead.”

“Oh, look at that, the passage splits.” Derwydd.

“Hmm...” Wildeye frowned, looking over at Jannie, who raised her hand for us to halt.

“Tabby, hand me the keys.” she said, and Tabitha handed the other keys over to her. Jannie then nodded to Myanihia, who went with her to look at the doors further ahead down the two passages. When they had looked the second one over they returned to us, the blonde girl shaking her head.

“Identical?” Wildeye asked her.

“Perfectly identical. I'd bet the key only works for one or only works once.” she said.

“Knowing this game, I'd agree.” Lysandra said.

“Lysandra; the caverns... of Inhe, remember?” Myanihia asked her twin.

“Hmm... kind of... the passage split and then met up again. Fair bet it won't do that here, though.” the other replied.

“True. There's no way, to know, really. Unless, the guide-book can tell us.”

“Hmm...” Peaches mused, opening the book she had reclaimed from Derwydd and perusing its pages. “Oh, goodie, a riddle: 'You might be right if you go right, and you might get left on going left; but will you be left for going right, or will you be right for going left? You could definitely be right for going left, and you could surely be left for going right; but in the end if you're right, you've gone the right way, and if you've been left, you've gone awry; pick one, fear none--do and do or die!'... hoo brr-rother!”

“I have a funny feeling that's nearly all nonsense,” Wildeye grinned in bemusement.

“Ya think?” Lizzy quipped.

“I-is it saying that it does not really matter which way we go, so long as we go on confidently?” Anhe wondered.

“There's a good thought.” Maryn said in agreement.

“And if we hang back out of doubt...”

“The Crawlers.” Ari and I nodded to each other.

“I believe you are correct, masters.” Fyu said to us. “Choose one, then, and let us thwart this trap.”

“One more bet I'd make is that whichever door we pick is going to try to shut fast when we open it.” Peaches said to us.

“Lovely.” Jannie sighed. “Who's got the highest Strength?”

“Hmm...” Tabitha pondered, checking her stats.

“I'd say Sandra.” Winnie said.

“Maybe.” the werewolf girl replied. “I'm not as mixed with my stats and skills the way Derwydd is, so in werewolf form I probably outclass him in strength,” she said.

“W-werewolf...” Maryn softly gulped.

“Sorry, Maryn,” Lysandra returned with a sheepish smile. “I get a twenty-five percent boost to all stats in that form, though.”

“I-I'll figure something out.” the other said nervously.

“Oh, goodness.” Belle smiled.

“Pick a door. I know we have all night, but we don't have all night.” Peaches then said.

“Fyu said the goblins are to the left.” Jannie said. “In favor of going left?” she asked, and the majority of us raised our hands.

“That settles that,” Wildeye remarked.

“Let's get to that door, then; Lysandra, you can have this key for it,” Jannie said, handing the werewolf-girl the key in question.

“Got it.” she nodded back. We made our way to the door; Lysandra unlocked it, and pulled it open. Fortunately for us, we had overestimated any sneaky door mechanics, and we all got through without incident -- though it did rapidly close once we had all gotten through.

The passage ahead of us widened into a larger cavern before diminishing in size again on the other side; and in that larger cavern was indeed a wild horde of goblins, including an elite shaman.

“Yo! Isn't that what Lans needs to finish off?” Tyman pointed when he saw it.

“Possibly,” Jannie agreed. “So we may definitely on track for the goblin emperor's lair.”

“He's practically surrounded.” Lizzy said as she looked over the scene.

“Masters, we should create a diversion so that my master may get up to yon fiend and dispatch him handily.” Fyu suggested to us.

“I vote for that plan.” Winnie agreed. “It's simple.”

“Chances are the shaman will just sit there and try to buff and heal his companions, so I agree.” Wildeye nodded.

“Okay. We'll do it that way.” Jannie said. “Myanihia, that combo will take him down without question, yes?”

“It will; but, Lana, would not get him.” the Snow Elf replied.

“If Lana starts the same combo a half-second after you?” the other asked, and Myanihia thought for a moment.

“I... do not know,” she said in an intrigued tone. “But, Jannie, you've given me, a theory, to test, the next time I try a world boss. For now... Lana, you can see it. You will know when to strike.” she said to me, and I nodded back.

“I'll definitely try.” I said.

“Come here.” she said, kneeling down. I went over to place my arms around her neck, and she hoisted me up in a piggyback carry. “At your word.” she said to Jannie, who nodded and turned back to the others.

“Heali, with Maryn; Peaches, with me; the rest of you fill out the ranks. We'll divide that mass of goblins while Myanihia and Lana go after the shaman. You two, stealth up and head out three seconds after we engage them.” she ordered. The two of us nodded back, and I looked over at Ari, who was taking part in Jannie's team. She smiled at me, and I nodded to her. “Go!!” Jannie called out, and they attacked while Myanihia and I vanished into the shadows.

Three seconds after we heard the clash of steel, Myanihia took off like a dart for the shaman's position. He was indeed stationary, only turning to heal or buff up his allies. When we were five paces from him, Myanihia came to a halt and set me down. She nodded at me, starting the combo. I initiated it a second after her; she struck first, the deadly skill erasing the shaman's health. I just managed to get a finishing blow in before it went up in pixels, and at that exact moment I felt just slightly different. The rest of the goblins, dismayed at the fall of their leader, began scattering and clambering into holes around the area. Soon there were none left, and we had won.

“Whew! Nice of them to run off,” Lizzy sighed in relief.

“Oh, I almost forgot, Lizzy!” Ariana said, handing her the Halberd of Thundering Flame.

“Sa-weeet!!” she exclaimed with glee.

“How'd we do?” Jannie asked.

“I got the kill-shot, somehow,” I replied.

“Yay!”

“Nice!”

“Phew,” were some of the reactions I got.

“And the skill reduction is down to thirty-five percent,” I noted, looking over the effect again.

“Oh nice! So when we get to the goblin-emperor you might be almost normal!” Angelfire smiled.

“That'd be nice,” I nodded.

“Let's hurry and find that second shaman, then; I bet finishing them all off will at least lift the curse on the skills, if not the stats.” Ariana smiled.

“Oh, that makes sense,” I realized.

We got back into a defensible formation then, and resumed our journey through the passage. After exiting the cavern, we found that the other passage joined up with the one we had taken, and shortly after finding that out we came across the next door.

“Hmm? Oh, we got another key from that shaman for this one,” Peaches mused as she looked through her inventory. “Sneaky devs,” she smirked as she tried the new key, and the door opened to let us on our way.

“They do that.” Winnie shrugged.

“Any signs of danger ahead, Fyu?” Anhe asked.

“Nothing but the foul odor of goblins ahead, and they are no threat to us, masters.” he replied.

“Then we'll definitely be ready for them -- onward!” Jannie said, holding her hand aloft as if it held a banner, and onward we went.

There was a sudden nagging feeling that came to the back of my mind at that moment, but I brushed it aside, caught up in the small victory we had won and the fact that I was slowly getting back to normal. Healina summoned up a floating light to guide us, and Peaches put up one for the rear as we continued on into the dark.