Klax looked up in surprise as Ethan glided down beside him, his host’s head twitching rapidly as it settled down to accompany the sagging wolfman.

“Hey,” Ethan said. “I guess we can both take first watch.”

Klax sighed again.

“If that is what you desire, Archon.”

“You talk to me like I’m a king, Klax,” Ethan chuckled. “But really, you’re the leader here. I might be the prophesied hero of your people destined to save your world, but I’d still say you’ve got a harder job than I do.”

Klax smiled—but it was a thin, hollow gesture. He looked to his two companions to see if they were sleeping before replying.

“The truth is,” he said. “This was never something I was any good at.”

“Bullshit!” Ethan almost roared. “You’re a natural. It takes guts for a guy to intervene in a squabble like that and come out in one piece.”

“No, I mean that this was never the path I would have chosen,” Klax replied. “I was a monk in my old life, Ethan. Back when the world was simpler, and humans and hybrids could live shoulder to shoulder. Back when we weren’t seen as the enemy. Do you know that in the times of Archons past, there were actually hybrids who fought alongside the Greycloaks against the monsters of Argwyll?”

“I—I guess I didn’t. But to be fair, I get all my history from you guys…”

Klax looked up at the spume-filled ceiling above them—polyps hanging there just like those that had popped above only an hour or so ago to reveal their grisly living payload.

“I wish I could show you what this world once was,” he said. “I’m a Lycae, Ethan. We were never bred for leading or for giving orders. In actual fact, it’s quite the opposite. We are a species characterized by our loyalty and fierce adherence to our masters. It’s often called our best trait. Without a master, it is said that a Lycae can never truly live up to their potential. A dog without a leader can only ever walk alone.”

He looked down at his firm, dirt-caked paws, making a fist and then extending his pads.

“I know what it is to feel truly, absolutely alone in this world. I took a solemn vow long ago to try and ensure none of my cousins ever feel that way again. It is that vow that has made me who I am… and it is that vow that makes me less than I should be.”

“We can only be what we’re supposed to be, right?” Ethan said, remembering the statement as something Sys had told him way back before he’d even clawed his way out into this strange new world.

Klax nodded impressively. “You have heard that before?”

“Kaedmon's Law."

“Indeed, Ethan. One of the most unbreakable, which no one may ever deviate from. To do so… well… you end up like me, trying to wrangle together people who might never be able to get along no matter what I do.”

“Yeah…” Ethan replied with a little nonchalant stretch of his wings. “Thing is: that’s horseshit.”

Klax whirled on him.

“…What?”

“That Law,” Ethan explained. “It sucks so hard that nobody should ever follow it. I mean, come on—if we were nothing more than what we were made to be, I’d still be sitting in my one-bedroom apartment covered in Dorito shavings and binging tasteful hentai.”

“Hen… tai?”

“Besides the point. What I mean is—fuck, Klax, look at what you’ve managed to do. You, a dude who’s supposedly meant to just obey without question. You’ve brought a whole team of hybrids together in the name of kicking ass and fucking up the Lightborn himself. And you’ve been doing it all this time… waiting for me to arrive so that it’s all worth it. C’mon Klax, if that’s not what leaders are made of, I don’t know what is.”

Klax said nothing for a moment, returning his gaze instead to his two companions on opposite sides of the chamber.

“Y’know what Fauna told me earlier?” Ethan asked. “She said that the Sanctum was just a place before you came along. You made it a home. A place where nobody has a master.”

“Heh,” the old wolf finally grinned, showing all his serrated fangs in the process. “Ethan, you are certainly not the Archon we expected.”

Ouch…

“But I think you are exactly what we need right now,” Klax finished. “Thank you for your words.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Uh… don’t mention it. Seriously. I’d hate to get the reputation of being a mystic type or some advice column writer.”

Klax nodded with another little smile as he saw Ethan’s eyes begin to close over.

“Go on and rest,” he told him. “I’ve got things covered here.”

“Cheers… dogman…”

The Lycae’s face briefly turned serious before Ethan drifted off properly—the exhaustion of the entire dungeon so far finally taking its toll.

“It is curious, though,” he said. “You speak as one who knows my mind. You know my thoughts as though they are your own. I wonder, Ethan, when you lived as a human… did you also know what it meant to be alone?”

The Lycae’s question would unfortunately go unanswered, as when he then turned to look upon his Archon, he found the Demon Hat fast asleep atop its fine feathered host.

----------------------------------------

As Ethan dreamt, he felt the winds of Argwyll against his beak.

He was flying with his brothers and sisters in the clear, crisp summer sky. For miles on end, they saw nothing but baby blue hues and wispy clouds they broke through together, flying in unison towards—he wasn’t sure what. Below, stretches of forest disappeared and gave way to grey mountains and ashen deserts, snowy tundras and ancient temples hidden in the depths of dark, festering swamps. Around him, his family glided with absolute control, each one maintaining their flight formation like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Synergy. That was the trick. They knew each other just as much as they knew themselves. Each individual raven was an extension of the other one—and no one bird existed without the family. Each one was willing to live—and die—for the other.

“It’s all… about… family…” Ethan murmured as he watched his host’s memories fade away into darkness. Even in this world, the good prophet Vin Diesel was right.

----------------------------------------

[Delve Notification]

[Safe Zone Time Remaining: 30 minutes]

Ethan woke to the team gathering up their things and stomping out the sputtering embers of their fire. Tara stood at one end of the platform that would lead them down to the final floor, and Fauna faced the opposite direction.

Guess nothing much has changed here…

Klax, however, was a different story. He was up and ready before anyone else, clearing away everyone’s bedrolls and distributing the final two vials of antidote to the two girls before leading the way forward.

“…What about you and the Archon?” Tara asked.

“Us?” Klax mumbled. “Oh, I think we’ll be fine. We’re men after all. We’re used to taking all the poison in the world and dealing with it.”

“That’s bullshit!”

The exclamation had come from both girls, and Klax and Ethan shared a good-humored laugh at seeing them unified in anger.

“Here!” Klax then shouted, tossing the Festering Quiver item towards Tara. “I know you’ll be wanting this. Don’t think I didn’t see you eyeing it up from your System Notification window.”

The Minxit huffed, saying nothing at first. Then she strapped on the quiver and nodded appreciatively as she checked one of its spider-slaying arrows.

“Not… bad,” she then mumbled.

Ethan then summoned up the stave they’d acquired and threw the loot towards Fauna. The girl caught it with a stumble and a stuttered question that couldn’t quite leave her lips.

“Told ya I’d get you a new staff.”

The Hopla blinked at the corroded, black stick in her hands, but when she wrapped her fingers around its shaft, she smiled warmly up at Ethan.

“You should transmogrify this, you know,” she told him. “Our victory was yours, really.”

“Nah,” he replied. “You’re the one who bravely set me on fire. And without Tara’s storm of arrows, I couldn’t have survived as long as I did to do some real damage.”

The girls looked at their comrades with suspicion, then finally shared a glance between themselves.

“Faun,” the Minxit said. “I think these two boys have been conspiring as we slept.”

“How very like them,” Fauna giggled.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Ethan put in, flexing his wings gallantly as the Safe Zone timer ticked down its final few seconds. “I’m gonna be taking over whatever big bad boss is down there. That’s my prize. Your great Archon will have no need for staves or arrows once he becomes the Lord of the Festering Den.”

“Is it too soon to get worried that the power is going to his head, Klax?” Tara asked.

“Worried? I say we want him to be as power-hungry as possible. Let the world tremble as its greatest monsters come under his control.”

Ethan smirked, feeling renewed confidence sweep over him.

“I’m wondering what the boss is gonna be…” he murmured. “My hope? Sexy spider goddess.”

His companions blinked at him.

“‘Spider-goddess?’”

“Y’know—half giant spider, half sexy lady. The good half—before you say anything.”

They didn’t really have anything to say about this revelation. The horrified faces of the hybrids told Ethan enough.

“Guess it can’t be helped,” Tara shrugged. “Our Archon’s a booby-bandit, through and through.”

“And proud!” Ethan exclaimed. “Think of the powers I would hold in my hands!”

“I don’t think that’s power you’re thinking of…”

Sorry to break up this perverse conversation, but...

[DELVE NOTIFICATION]

Safe Zone Time: Finished!

Beginning Third Floor Transition…

Transit—?

Before Ethan could finish that thought, the ground gave way beneath the party, sending them each hurtling into a dark abyss that drained all color from their faces.

“L-l-LUCATIA ILNUM!”

A blue bubble of energy enveloped the crew, halting their descent as instantly as it had begun.

“Hell yeah, Fauna!” Ethan shouted as they smashed together.

“It worked... I—I mean, yeah, it worked!”

The Hopla’s delight was met by a reserved sigh from Tara.

“…Pretty good, I guess.”

Their chatter was cut short when they hit the ground, all of them immediately drawing their weapons and surveying their surroundings with alert, ever-watchful eyes.

“Welcome to the third floor,” Klax growled, fists at the ready. “Occupant: one.”

“Where is it?” Tara hissed. “I don’t see—”

A sudden rumbling tore through the ground beneath their feet, sending cracks across the mushy organic floor, much paler than its grey counterpart above.

“Faun,” Klax stated. “We’re gonna need fire.”

The Hopla obeyed without question, summoning a red-orange flame that instantly lit up the chamber—and gave the party full sight of the spider eggs all lining the ceiling.

And one egg that was far bigger than the rest, right in front of them, had started to crack open slowly.

A low growl began to issue from its insides.

Four pairs of legs slithered out.

And four crimson, unblinking eyes glared down at them.

“Fauna,” Ethan murmured. “I think we’re gonna need more fire in here…”