The large flower petals proved surprisingly comfortable. Avery set up her bed a short ways away from the group, behind a small rock. After all, surveillance was much more effective when you couldn’t be seen.

It had been a few hours since everyone else had gone to sleep, but the way Beck had looked at the core in Elijah’s bag was stuck in Avery’s mind. On top of that, she wasn’t so convinced the area they were in was that safe. It would be foolish to sleep now, in a den of predators.

Droplets of watery blue mananite pooled in her palms before raising into a wispy orb above her palm. It blinked out, turning invisible. Avery’s body went limp, as if asleep, and she raised the eye just above the rock to get a view over the remaining members of her group.

By minimizing the distance the eye moved from her body and focusing its senses toward one area, she could stretch her mananite reserves incredibly far. Every once in a while, she would expand the eye’s senses and check the entrances to their cavern to make sure no monsters or other adventurers entered.

The night passed quietly, the occasional bangs or shouts echoing through the rocky tunnels. Elijah stirred with each noise, but didn’t wake. The hit from the frog must have really taken it out of him; Avery knew from her many attempts to kill him in his sleep how easy it was to wake him.

Despite the slow manannite drain, Avery was beginning to run low. She did one more check around the cavern, preparing to give it up for the night and get some rest for herself. It didn’t look like anything was going to happen.

Beck twitched. Avery paused, moments from canceling the spell, and turned it to watch the infuriating woman. One of Beck’s eyes slowly opened, darting around, before the other followed and she pushed herself up carefully.

The woman packed her bedroll up with practiced silence and made her way toward Elijah. Avery prepared to drop the spell and grab her handbow, but Beck didn’t draw a blade or make any other threatening moves toward the assassin.

She raised her hands, and the flap of Elijah’s pouch slowly unbuckled itself. Avery would have cocked an eyebrow were she in her own body as it opened and the strange core that they’d found inside the frog floated out from within it. Elijah snorted and rolled over, mumbling in his sleep. Beck froze for a few moments.

The orb set down in Beck’s hands, and she quickly tucked it into her pocket. She glanced around one more time, then crept toward the part of the cave that they’d entered from. Avery let the spell drop, not letting her body shift as she heard Beck’s muted footfalls passing right in front of her.

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She waited a few seconds, then rose to her feet, as silent as a wraith. Avery didn’t laugh at much, but it was difficult not to scoff at how inept Beck was. If Elijah hadn’t been out cold, he probably would have cut her throat the moment she’d messed with his pouch.

Avery trailed after Beck, easily tracking her steps through the tunnels until she was certain they’d put enough distance between themselves and the camp to avoid waking either of the men up. Beck was retracing their steps, heading out of the dungeon.

She increased her pace and caught up to Beck as the other woman turned a corner.

“Going somewhere?” Avery asked.

Beck screamed, leaping a foot into the air and spinning to face her. The woman’s face was as white as a sheet.

“Jane? Wh-what are you doing here?” Beck stammered.

“I heard you leave and I was wondering where you were heading,” Avery replied. “I thought you might be going to the bathroom, so I followed in case something attacked you while you were distracted.”

“Oh - I’m heading back to camp to report that frog,” Beck said quickly. “It was far too strong for this area of the dungeon. It shouldn’t have been there, and Goldwing needs to know that I - we took care of it. I was going to be back by the time you all woke up, anyway.”

“I see,” Avery said. “You wouldn’t mind if I accompanied you then, would you? For safety.”

“There’s no need for that,” Beck said dismissively, growing more confident. “You can just stay here. I’ll be back right quick.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” Avery said. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“Just go back,” Beck said with a sigh. “What if something attacks while we’re gone? Also, we’re going to be passing through more red zones. You’re just a support class, Avery. It isn’t safe for you to be wandering around like this. If we got attacked, I’m not sure if I could protect you.”

“I see,” Avery said. Her expression didn’t flicker. “I suppose that’s that, then. Have a safe trip back.”

“You too,” Beck said with a shrug. She turned and set back off toward the entrance of the dungeon. Avery drew a dagger from her belt and, masking the sound of her steps with decades of experience, slipped up behind the mage.

Beck didn’t even have a chance to cry out as the dagger slit across her throat. Crimson blood flooded from the wound and Beck let out a gasping gargle, her hands shooting up to her throat.

She turned, but whatever last words she had died with her before they could slip through her lips. Beck collapsed in a pool of her own blood, the life leaving her eyes as it soaked the ground around her.

Avery carefully stepped over the woman’s body and reached inside the bag where she’d seen Beck hide the core. She pulled it out and tucked it away in her own pouch before wiping her blade off on Beck’s shirt.

She paused, then dug through Beck’s bags, taking out all the gold the woman had as well as two healing potions and the map. She pocketed everything, then slipped back into the darkness of the dungeon to return to the rest of her group.