“Everyone alive?” Garrett asked, forcing the words out. “Talk to me.”

Nina groaned in reply, while Finn’s breathing came ragged and through wheezes. Thick beads of sweat had formed on his face, and they were trickling down to pool at his neck.

I nodded, though I knew he couldn't see me. I was staring at the monster I'd slain, or rather, the creature I finished off, and remembered that dark red aura. My weapon had barely scratched it. If it hadn't been already gravely wounded by Edwin's party, things would have gone very differently and all five of us would be dead.

“We nearly died,” Eryn said, voice shaking. “But...we didn't.”

Something in her voice called to me, and I straightened.

“No, we didn't. We are all alive, and if we are going to stay that way, we need to get out of this place.”

I turned my back on the carcass and hurried over to Eryn, grabbing her by the shoulder and giving her a mild shake.

“Eryn? Hey, you good? Are you with me?”

She gasped and blinked twice as if coming to, then nodded hurriedly.

“Yes, I'm sorry. I—uhh, I'm good.”

“Great. Now talk to me. I know how to hit things, but you are our medic. What do we do now? We got wounded. Talk to us.”

“Triage,” she said, control returning to her green eyes as she pushed past me, rushing over to Nina and dropped to her knees. “Can you move your arms and legs?”

“Portal pissed bug's stuck in my back!” Nina yelled but she didn’t try to get up.

“Arms. Legs. Can you move them?”

“Yes! Now get the fucking bug out of me!”

“In a second,” Eryn said and stood, rushing over to Finn next and pulling bandages from one of her pouches. “You'll be fine! I need to stop Finn's bleeding first.”

“Yes, sure! Let me bleed out here, will you? Just because I shot your boyfriend a wink!”

As Eryn worked on Finn's arm, I helped a wincing Garrett get to his feet and pretended I didn’t hear what Nina had just said. It wasn’t the time or place.

He tried to reach for his dropped shield, but grimaced in pain and pulled his arm back.

“God damn it, my shoulder's busted.”

“Don't worry,” I said, grabbing his shield. “We're safe for now.”

As long as no more monsters come up through the tunnels, that is.

“Here.”

I put the battered shield around his neck and pulled his hand through the hoop. It wouldn't do much in a fair fight with... anything, but it might buy him a second or two.

“Thanks.” He hoisted his spear as I knelt by Nina. “We'd be dead if not for you. The way you attacked that spider. In all my years as a guard and as a scavenger, I've never seen anyone fight that idiotically.”

“Hah, yeah, tell me about it,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood even just a little bit. “We all fought and won. Together.” I touched the mandibles sticking from Nina's back. “Eryn, should I pull them out?”

“Wait for me. I'm nearly done here. Don't do anything yet, or you might hurt her more than she already is.”

I patted Nina on the head.

“You heard the lady, Nina. You'll be fine. Just hold on a little bit longer.”

“Easy for you to say,” she hissed and spat a wad of blood. “If I live, I'm going to ride someone. So very hard. Just to make it clear and all.”

I couldn't help but chuckle, and she did so, too. I stood and walked over to stare down at the monster I'd killed. Named Woodweaver. A variant type of monster. One I’d never even heard about before.

That was too fucking close to my liking, and God is it ugly.

“What do we do about your ugly ass,” I muttered.

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting from down in the tunnels died down. My heart thumped in my throat, and I had a hard time breathing. What about the Woodweaver once the others joined up with us? Would they just take it?

“Think they won, or—” Garrett asked.

“Where'd that damn spider go? Find it for rift's sake!” Edwin's voice echoed from down the tunnel.

“I think that's your answer,” I said, staring at the spider.

I licked my lips and turned to meet Garrett's gaze, but never even needed to ask the question as he nodded.

“We'd be dead without you, Ash. Spoil's all yours. No one will tell a soul. Isn't that right?” he added, raising his voice.

No one said anything.

I quickly met the others' gazes. Finn gave a curt nod. Eryn ripped a monster part out of Nina's back and tossed it to the ground, but did meet my eyes for the briefest of moments. She didn’t mind either from what I could see.

“We're full and you're not,” she said, taking out a green paste and packing it into Nina’s wound. “Go for it. Better one of our own gets it.”

“They will definitely take it if I don't right now,” I said, listening to the approaching footfalls.

We'd agreed on the scavenging rules, but one superseded it. Adventurers looted first. Always. But the others didn't know it was a variant.

I saw Nina exchanging a glance with Finn.

“Claim what?” she said, forcing the words out and winking at me. “I didn't see shit.”

A big grin split my face and I knelt, swiping it into my spatial storage.

It didn't fit.

The footsteps were even closer now and I could make out that some of them were jogging.

“Garrett!” Edwin's voice was just around the corner. “Are you guys alive?”

I desperately dragged out every monster from my spatial inventory, the seven carcasses piling up around me in a massacred heap.

“We're alive,” Garrett yelled. “But monsters are attacking below!”

Once more I grabbed the spider.

Please, please, please! Fit in there, you big bastard!

This time it swiped straight into my storage, filling eight out of the ten slots.

Edwin appeared just around the corner, his tower shield held firmly in his hand, and fire blazing along the blade of his sword. He stopped at the entrance to the tunnel and looked around. Once he saw us all moving, he wiggled his sword. The fire went out and he sheathed his weapon. Blood ran down his right greaves, and his chest plate would need some serious hammering, yet he moved as if everything was just fine.

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“What the hell happened here?”

“We did what we were supposed to,” I said, swiping in a Blightpede and a Branch Walker, for good measure. No way was I leaving anything behind. “Like we said we would.”

“But,” he said and slowed, eyes taking in the twelve dead monsters spread around the platform. “How?”

I shrugged and shouldered my axe.

“Was pretty easy, Commander.”

The silver-haired healer rushed past Edwin, almost knocking him over.

“Easy, huh? Seems you got more guts and strength than brains if you think this is what easy really looks like.”

The healer knelt by Finn and ripped the bandage off.

“Here. Hold your hand like—no, not like that. Align the bone. A little bit more to the—yeah. There. Now hold it.”

Benedict came limping out of the tunnel as the healer took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, tapping his staff against the ground and waving his hand across Finn's.

“What's the situation?” Edwin asked Garrett as a golden glow appeared and Finn grunted, jaw clamped shut.

“Marcus' group retreated from their branch and towards the entrance. Unknown number or makeup of monsters followed after them.”

“Three bells!” Edwin slammed his shield on the wooden floor. “Benedict,” Edwin said, turning to glare at the wizard.

“Where's the spider?” the wizard asked, ignoring the commander. “I swear we nearly had it. Also, why are you not dead?”

I cleared my throat, but before I could say anything, Garrett spoke up.

“Damn thing sprinted straight through. Knocked me out of the way and ran up this tunnel. It was limping, I think. Maybe that's why it didn't kill us?” He pointed his spear into the second left tunnel and made a jabbing motion.

“Frigid frostbite!” Benedict hissed and limped up to the opening and stared inside. “Edwin, it might be inval—”

“Not a chance. I've had enough of your ideas for one day. No, scratch that. Forever.” Edwin helped Nina on her side. “We're going to have a serious chat about your role in my party when we get back.”

“But—”

Edwin held up his hand and just stared at the wizard.

“No buts. This was my fault and I take responsibility. But we're class blessed lucky that everyone’s still alive. And I’m going to make sure that it stays that way. I'm not even sure I should have people on my team who keep testing me like you do, driving me to make the wrong decisions just for glory or chance at greatness.”

“Fine.” Benedict turned away from the commander. He started stroking his beard and stared off into the tunnel, mumbling to himself.

“Keep your hand still for a week at least,” the healer said to Finn, and then hurried over to check Nina's back. “The magic needs time to settle and regrow it. Strain it too soon and you'll never regain full use.”

“Yes, healer. Thank you,” Finn said.

Edwin walked to the floor's stairs. Benedict, their archer, and their melee fighter, a lanky man in leather armor and hood who had yet to say a word, gathered around him.

“She good to go?”

“Yes, commander. She'll be fine,” Alex said, as he gently turned Nina.

“I'm nearly exhausted, so I can’t really heal you for now. Your wounds may be painful, but they are not life-threatening, alright? I’ll make sure you don’t bleed out and we can go.”

Nina's eyes were tight with pain, but she nodded.

“I'll buy you a beer later to make up for it. If you'll let me.”

Looks like she already found someone to mount.

“Make it three,” Nina said, and the healer replied with a smile.

He chuckled and made his way over to his party, nodding at Edwin.

“Alright ladies and gents, form up. Step one, we clear our way to the portal, then we'll find the other parties. Garrett, follow close this time. And Rowan—” He looked at the melee fighter. “Anything comes from behind, you step in and take care of it. Take Isaac if need be.”

The leather-clad fighter nodded and patted their archer on his broad back.

“Let's get the hell out of here.”

A while later,I pushed Garrett along and he stumbled into the portal, blood dripping from his shield arm. His spear waved madly, nearly taking Finn's eye out as I threw him out of the dungeon.

Finn clutched his bandaged hand to his chest, face pale and drawn. The silver-haired healer had done what he could. Healing magic was powerful, but it wasn't something that could make damage just go away with the wave of a hand. It could help close wounds, stop bleeding, mend broken bone and even reattach limbs, but the fatigue and pain remained along with the trauma.

Next, Nina limped past, supported by Eryn who threw me a worried glance.

Behind me, an adventurer screamed in pain, and I turned, axe ready.

As soon as we had started our retreat, monsters had rushed from all three tunnels, and Edwin had been fighting to hold them back ever since. If we had been further up, we'd all be dead. That was a fact. Fortunately, we made it down to the second level and the two other adventuring parties returned, monsters pressing them from all sides. Together with the third scavenging group, we'd retreated down to the portal, where Marcus' group had fled, leaving three ring beetles to stand in our way.

My axe had claimed one and Rasek's scavenger group took care of the two others.

As Rasek and his men filed out, the adventurers retreated down and formed up in a line around the portal, the healers and mages first, with their ranged adventurers next, and finally the melees.

Only one man remained on the ramp.

“Edwin!” Benedict shouted at the commander who was still fighting his way down, his tower shield holding the monsters at bay while his flame-wreathed sword cut them down. “You can't hold them on your own! Get back already!”

The wizard raised his hands and cast a spell, sending an icy wind blasting across the monster-filled wall. Dozens of Ring beetles started to freeze, their wings unable to let them fly back up, their claws slipping from the frozen wood, and they tumbled to the next level. Adventurers rushed in, slaying them with such precision that I didn't even care I wasn't getting any more loot. I just looked on in appreciation of their ability to kill and narrowed my eyes. That’s exactly who I wanted to become.

One day.

“Keep going!” Edwin yelled, stepping onto the floor, tower shield still braced. “I'll hold them and we can regroup outside!”

“Like hell you will!” Benedict leaned past the line of melee fighters, frost crackling around his staff and blasted an ice bolt through a Branch Walker. “Save the heroics for someone who'll believe them.”

I was the last scavenger inside, and stood staring up the tree. The walls were crawling with monsters. More than I'd ever seen in one place. It was as if we'd stepped on an ant hive, except the sound of claws scraping against wood was overwhelming.

Just what the hell had happened for all of them to get so riled up? Was it the Woodweaver’s death? Surely not.

“Fire walling!” another mage said, and a five-foot tall wall of flames burst upwards from the floor, not two feet in front of the commander who cursed and jerked backwards.

Alex, the healer, grabbed me by the front of my leather armour.

“Out. Now.” I nodded and stepped backwards until darkness closed around me, the view searing itself into my memory as the world twisted, stretched, and then snapped back into place.

The portal spat me out into the late afternoon sunlight, the morning mist long gone. Fourteen scavengers stood clustered together, a few steps away from the tree.

“Marcus, you're a portal-pissing coward!” Garrett shouted, straining against Rasek's grip on his good arm, holding him back from the one-eyed scavenger. “We could have all died in there because of your gutless retreat!”

“It was just a couple of ring beetles!” Marcus shouted back, chin up and hand resting on his sword's pommel. Blood matted his tunic from cuts on his neck, already scabbing over. His team huddled up behind him — all four sporting fresh wounds. “It's not like anyone died, right?”

“Because we killed them first,” Rasek spat. His iron-studded staff was planted into the dirt, a fresh dent near its crown end. “When we needed our portal clear, where were you? Running! Running like frightened children!”

“You didn't see our branch!” one of Marcus' people shouted, but another pulled them back, muttering something about how they should keep quiet.

“You think we had it better?” Nina hissed and struggled forward, held up by Eryn, face white with pain. “Look at us! We nearly died on the third level, and then we had to fight our way out.”

“Nobody asked you to fight!” Marcus stepped forward, jabbing a finger at Garrett. “You could have run past them, too! There was space! Leave them for the adventurers to deal with.”

My anger crashed over me like forge-quenched steel.

I pushed between them and grabbed Marcus by his tunic, lifting him off his feet. He might have been taller, but I'd spent years hammering metal and the strength in my arms was second to none among the non-classed.

“Put me—”

His words cut off as I shook him and the clearing went dead quiet.

“Listen carefully, Marcus,” I said, my voice low and steady despite the excitement and fear from earlier still washing through me. It was the kind of voice Pa used when I'd really messed up. “Your cowardice almost got my friends killed today. If that ever happens again…” I let the words hang.

“We couldn't—”

I shook him again.

“Pioneer justice is swift, Marcus. And we all know what happens to those who get others killed by cowardice! We are family and take care of one another! We don't run! We live and die together!”

Murmurs of assent rippled through Rasek's group despite our earlier disagreement.

Garrett spat on the ground.

Marcus' good eye darted between everyone’s faces, but he didn’t find any sympathy.

“We would have died,” he said, his voice smaller now. “There were so many--”

“Then you die protecting those people standing behind you.” I pulled him closer. “Because that's what we do. That's how we survive out here. Together. I don't even want to go home without my friends, Marcus. Think about that for a second.”

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

“What exactly is going on here?”

I turned my head to see Alex, the silver-bearded healer stomping towards us. The other adventurers spilled out of the portal behind him in a steady stream.

“Nothing to worry about,” Eryn said, stepping in front of him. “Just scavenger business.”

Alex's eyes narrowed, but before he could speak, I set Marcus down, made a show of brushing dust from his chest, and then smoothed his tunic.

“No harm done.” I patted his shoulder. “This time. But remember what I said. We’re all family, and family takes care of one another, right?”

Marcus opened his mouth, but Edwin's voice cut through the clearing.

“Pick up the pace, people!” He emerged last from the portal, shield scored with new marks. “We're heading back double time. Help those who can't run by themselves. Now move!”

I met Marcus' eye one last time, then turned to help Nina. We had a long walk ahead of us.

And a rare variant spider carcass as loot.