The guttural round rolled easily off Cara’s tongue. “Grak novor trak novak, grak novor trak nakar!” She nodded to Gramok for him to start. “Kol norkil darna sak, kol norkil darna kol!”

Almost in tune. Now for the third voice! She beckoned to Ted, and he shook his head.

Her heart sank. “Nak kada trak balta, nak kada trak koval!”

Finishing up the round, she sighed. There wasn’t any point going a second time around, not without Ted.

She took a deep breath, but all she got was more stale air. She glanced around at the wide-open cave they were in. At least it didn’t press in like the tunnels, but it’d feel a lot nicer with some trees down here, maybe a few bushes, maybe even a flower or two.

Gramok finished his part and shrugged. “He does know how to have fun, right?”

“I don’t sing.”

Why was Ted scowling?

He didn’t get to scowl! Her leg jittered, clapping loudly against the stone floor. “I’m not sure he does.”

He scoffed. “I know how to have fun.”

Heat rose in her chest. “Spellcrafting isn’t fun!”

“Sure it is!”

“Argh!”

Gramok held up his hands and shrugged. “You can drag a coward to battle, but you can’t force him to bravery.”

A rock shattered in the distance, the sound echoing through the cave.

Cara scanned for threats. “Up there! Something’s skulking in that tunnel entrance above.”

“Where?” Gramok squinted. “I can’t see for shit past the light.”

“Ted!” No response. She swallowed and hissed a little louder. “Ted!”

“Yeah?” He looked up. “Is something there?”

Cara bit her lip. Where would they be without her? Probably dead in a bush somewhere. Come on, Identify!

Goblin

Level: 6

HP: 215/215

Stamina: 285/285

MP: 125/125

Status: Sneaking

“Goblin, level 6. How cute, it’s trying to sneak.” Tingling energy spread through her and she grinned. “You light it up, I’ll take them out?”

Ted frowned. “What if it’s friendly?”

“It’s a goblin.”

“And every goblin’s evil?”

“It’s a goblin, not Timmy the Goblin. People get names, monsters don’t.”

He blinked, his face dulled, and he let out a sigh. “Right. That… that actually makes perfect sense. On three?”

“On three!”

Gramok rested his hand on his sword and glanced around. “I’ll just keep watch. Feel free to use me as cover.”

“Thanks.” She smiled up at him. “Only coming up to the middle of your chest might be an asset for once.”

He theatrically bowed. “Happy to oblige, m’lady. Now, if you don’t mind, they’re probably waiting for their pals to get into ambush positions.”

Ted nodded and began casting. “One. Two. Three.”

She drew her bow and nocked an arrow.

“Enmir!” A glowing orb shot into the air. Its silvery light illuminated the small green goblin, clad in haphazard armor.

Cara drew her bow and aimed at the intersection of two leather strands, right in the middle of its chest.

She loosed the arrow. The goblin scrambled, desperately dodging right, but it was too late. The arrow struck true.

188 piercing damage dealt!

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Damn, not quite enough. She drew and lined up a second.

An arrow hissed past her head, then another, both from behind. “Ambush!”

Ted ducked behind Gramok, clutching his side and self-casting. “Minir!”

A tug pulled at her heart, but she ignored it. The best way she could protect him now was dropping the goblin as quickly as possible.

She loosed her arrow. Another direct hit, this time sending the goblin tumbling down. She dropped to a crouch and spun around, searching for the goblins behind her.

Cara’s heart raced as more arrows clinked off Gramok’s plate armor, keeping Ted safe, at least for now.

She was the party’s eyes, she had to find the enemy fast.

There! “Concealed tunnel entrance, twenty feet up, three goblins!”

Force smashed into her shoulder, an arrow deflecting off her new armor. Pain flared, much less than it should have been.

Another jolt. Another arrow glanced off her chest.

Barely any damage from either. Thanks, Jeremy.

Adrenaline roared and instinct flowed. Cara activated Rapid Shot and focused in on the gaps in her target’s armor cobbled together from leather and metal scraps.

Nock, draw, aim, loose. Nock, draw, aim, loose.

The first arrow glanced off. The second did not, embedding straight into the goblin’s heart.

Another one down.

Two more arrows glanced off her armor, barely doing anything. The poor goblins didn’t stand a chance.

Ted stepped forward, fire swirling around his hands. “Enkir!”

The firebolt briefly illuminated the cave as it flew to the target, incinerating it in a single hit.

One goblin left. Cara lined up the easy shot.

Agony ripped through her back. Screaming filled her ears. Her screaming.

Her back burned, mind-shattering pain searing out from the arrow still stuck in her back.

Shit.

98 piercing damage received!

Injury received (Punctured Lung)!

She coughed, inviting another swell of pain.

Kalkarka! She gasped for air that only half came and checked her health.

HP: 121/265

An inferno tumbled and twisted in her chest. Fight first, injury later.

Pushing through the pain, she drew, aimed, and loosed.

A hit. Not enough for a kill.

A noose of fire and agony pulled around her chest as she nocked another arrow.

Metal clanked as Gramok moved behind her, covering her back.

Cara grunted out a thanks. “I’ve got this one.” She could handle one badly armored goblin.

Teal energy hummed into existence around Ted’s hands. “I’ll get the other one.”

***

“I’ll get the other one,” Ted said, his heart in his throat as he cast the Armor spell.

Easier said than done. Whatever had fired that arrow had disappeared back into the tunnels.

Another arrow bounced off Gramok’s glimmering armor.

“Minir!” He touched Cara’s arm and a teal Armor effect shimmered around her. Better late than never, right?

His gut twisted as he looked at her back.

The arrow was short and fat. Not an arrow, no—a crossbow bolt.

The bastard had to be reloading, and there was no guarantee that it would reappear at the same tunnel entrance.

Cara fired another arrow, swiftly followed by a goblin’s scream, and a thud.

That left only one goblin, the one with the nasty crossbow. Ted’s chest tightened. Maybe it wouldn’t come back, maybe it had fled. “You okay, Cara?”

“Sneak attack,” she sputtered. “Punctured Lung, but not too much damage.” She winced and bent over. “Just don’t expect me to do much running for a while.”

Gramok shook his head and growled. “They’re beasts, and dungeon spawn at that. It’ll be back, and I think it was the leader of the pack. It’ll be tougher, harder to kill.”

Muscles stiffened throughout Ted’s body. “It’s got a crossbow. It’ll pop out, fire, and be back in cover before I can hit it with a spell. Unless…”

Force. Imbue. Stun. The aspects danced together into a spell. No loose ends, no feedback loops, no unstable connections.

Cara nocked an arrow and drew it back, but her face contorted with pain. She shuddered, and let the bowstring go lax. “I’m out of this one.”

“Stay here.”

“Wait.” She grabbed his arm. “You’re going to Imbue, right? Take this.”

He blinked. Her myrellium tipped arrow? “Thanks.”

“Don’t miss.”

“I won’t.” He put distance between them and pulled on his mana. A new spell template in the field and no Absorb? His jaw clenched. It’d be fine. He didn’t have the mana to spare.

He weaved the Imbue Stun spell and silently cast it. Mana rushed into the arrow, filling it with glowing power.

One chance, that’s all he’d get. Missing wasn’t an option.

Cara’s gaze darted from tunnel to tunnel. “I’ll call the shot. Be ready.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She tilted her head and paused. “I like sir better.”

He chuckled. “Yes, sir.” Now, where had that cowardly little runt gotten to?

Was Cara okay?

Ted looked from tunnel to tunnel, his bow half-drawn, his nerves coiled ready to shoot.

Her breaths were heavy, stilted. An injury like that would take a while to heal, even here. Mend might fix it, but that was locked away in those blasted wood elven ruins.

The partially drawn bowstring tugged at his arm. It could be back any moment. He had to be ready.

Maybe Gramok was wrong. Maybe it had some survival instincts. Dungeon spawn never used to come to the surface, either. Things were changing.

“Up there!”

He followed the line of her finger. A goblin, larger than the others, with armor that properly covered it, and a crossbow aimed right at him.

He activated Mind Over Body. Tingling speed rushed through him. He drew, smooth as silk, aimed, and unleashed the imbued arrow.

The goblin’s crossbow twitched and fired at the same moment.

56 piercing damage dealt! Stunned status effect inflicted!

19 piercing damage received!

A dull thud smacked against his shoulder. He fired again and again at the dazed goblin, faster than humanly possible.

Glancing blow! 19 piercing damage dealt!

Critical hit! 74 piercing damage dealt! Internal Bleeding injury inflicted!

Bows skill increased 5 → 6!

Glancing blow! 30 piercing damage dealt!

Critical hit! 103 piercing damage dealt!

1,113 XP received!

Level increased 7 → 8!

The goblin clattered back into the tunnel, just out of sight.

Ted exhaled and let out a shaky laugh. “We did it. We did it. Let’s heal up, then let’s get moving.”

Cara glared at him. “Forgetting something?”

He frowned. No?

She kept staring at him, almost like he had forgotten something.

The arrow! Right. “I’ll grab the climbing gear.”