Lenna shook me awake at what felt like minutes after I fell back to sleep. Packing didn’t take long with my inventory crystal. I tossed everything that Lenna handed to me inside the seemingly magical space. Creeping through the dark jungle hadn’t been hard, but it had been slow with Hammy. Somehow, he had nothing that helped him with seeing in the dark. He promised he’d work on it. Each of his steps sounded heavy, and somehow he found every twig or leaf on the path. I caught Lenna rolling her eyes at his response that he’d train.

Dawn broke over the treetops, lighting up the dungeon before us.

This wasn’t what I thought a dungeon would look like.

A large stone wall stood randomly in the middle of the jungle. Moss and vines grew up it, leaving the archway free, but nothing crossed the wall. Even above it, a haze covered the shadowy area. A reddish-orange stone blocked the interior of the archway, stopping us from heading inside.

We’d been standing here longer than I liked, but we didn’t want to be late. If we missed the opening, Lenna said we’d need to wait until tomorrow. In the back of my mind, Noseen’s advice weighed on me.

As sunlight slowly touched the reddish stone, it glowed then rippled before dissolving, revealing a small fenced courtyard. The smell of flowers rushed out from the archway, sweet and floral. It tickled a memory at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t remember from where.

Before I could move, Lenna stepped through the archway with Dengu. I hurried after her, leaving Hammy to catch up. As soon as I crossed the threshold, a notification popped up.

[Welcome to the waiting area for the Dungeon of the Four Temples. Parties of three or more are required. You have entered with three other beings. Would you like to create a party consisting of the four of you?]

Behind the notification, a strange growing bamboo fence enclosed us with no openings, and we couldn’t move any farther. The notification sat in my vision, pulsing a light yellow color ever so slightly.

“I assume we want to create a party…” I said, reading what I needed to do. “It says the three of you can join me.”

Lenna frowned before responding. “Yes. I wasn’t sure who’d get the option.” She glanced between Dengu, Hammy, and I, practically counting out loud. “It says our party is four?”

“Yes,” I responded as I accepted the notification.

[You have created a party. The Dungeon of the Four Temples welcomes you. Please enter the courtyard.]

The green fence vanished, revealing an even larger courtyard with a fountain in the center. A flat area rested at the top of the fountain, where a statue normally sat. Tan stone pavers covered the ground with weeds popping up between the bricks. The archway behind us had vanished when I hadn’t been looking. Now, in each direction a path led off from the courtyard, with enormous ferns blocking the view of anything other than those paths and the courtyard we were in. In each direction, the only visible thing in the distance was the very top of a pyramid beyond the ferns. One sat at the end of each path. Except immediately near the fountain, the air felt stiff, and nothing moved. Each fern surrounding the courtyard appeared frozen in place.

“This is amazing!” Hammy’s voice came from behind me and I smirked at him over my shoulder.

Lenna didn’t look impressed, just confused as she glanced around.

“You okay?” I whispered.

She nodded, but the look stayed on her face. “I was told Dengu wouldn’t count as a member of our party.” Each word came out unsure.

“They might not have known.” I shrugged. “Either way, we’re a party of four. That changes nothing, right?”

Her mouth opened then it closed in a thin line. “It might.” She let out a huff. “The difficulty might be higher.”

This time I chuckled. “I’m not worried.” The idea of a challenge excited me.

Lenna stared at me, but said nothing.

The dungeon might be more difficult than the green woman had expected, but I didn’t mind. I planned to level as much as possible. At the moment, all of my experience was banked, but as soon as we completed the dungeon, I’d level.

[You have four choices before you. The paths of Claw and Teeth, Scales and Hide, Spikes and Tails, and Wings and Feathers. Once you have completed the four temples, the final trial will unlock.]

“Did you guys get the info on the paths?” I asked, realizing I was just standing there staring at the information instead of my surroundings. Yet, I felt nothing from around us, my senses responded like we stood in an empty room.

Hammy jerked his thumb toward the far path. “Yeah, I vote for Claw and Teeth,” he said, with a grin. “Better get it out of the way first. It’s probably the worst.” The crystals running up the back of his armor still sparkled with full light. “I want to be at full power for it.”

“All four need to be done, the order doesn’t matter,” added Lenna. “This will take several days with appropriate downtime for rest.” She studied the fountain in front of us. Dengu lapped at the water cascading down the stone. A light mist rose from the bright blue liquid, as the trickling sound filled the area. The water’s movement was the exception to the stillness everywhere else, almost highlighting the sense of anticipation.

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I wasn’t sure I agreed with Hammy, given one of the choices involved wings. Each fight of mine with a winged creature in the jungle had been particularly difficult. Plus, Lenna had a point. Who knew how many days we’d be in here? Still, it wasn’t worth an argument. None of us seemed to know much more than the names of the challenges, so it wasn’t like we were making an informed decision.

“Sounds good to me.” I turned toward each pathway, trying to figure out which was which. At the edges of each path, the stone pavers formed strange symbols. I used Insight on one.

[The Path of Scales and Hide.]

The symbol sat off to our right and looked like overlapping triangles, which given the name must represent scales. On our left, the pavers formed thin pointy lines radiating from a circle at the tip.

[The Path of Spikes and Tails.]

My gaze crossed over the fountain, and I triggered Insight.

[Fountain of the Jungle, Incomplete.]

I paused walking toward the path across from us as the notification popped up. The statue on top was missing; that much I had caught before I used Insight, but now the message confirmed that something was up with it. A glance behind us showed me the pathway’s symbol looked like a feather. Basically, a line with other lines pointing off of it.

[The Path of Wings and Feathers.]

Hammy marched around the fountain, but waited for us to catch up before he crossed the entrance. “Are you guys coming?” He smiled, looking rather carefree considering we were in a dungeon. “Let’s rock this joint!”

The glowing blue water and the mist drew my attention back to the fountain. I stared at it again, putting more energy into using the Insight skill.

[You have gained additional insight into Insight. Insight - II: You can study different creatures, objects, or crystals, learning basic information.]

[Fountain of the Jungle, Incomplete. These waters glow with a magical energy.]

I smirked at the level up, it’d worked just like Noseen and Lenna had said. Use it as much as possible, using intention. The second notification was an unexpected one. I leaned closer to dip my finger into the liquid. At the bottom of the fountain, the stone glowed and energy rose from the water.

[Water Crystal, providing healing energy.]

I hummed under my breath, causing the stone to light up. Bingo. “Hey Lenna, the bottom is lined with a healing crystal,” I said, motioning to the bottom of the fountain.

She darted to the fountain, pulling the crystal out from under her shirt. “I can’t believe they didn’t tell me about this,” she grumbled. She dunked the crystal into the glowing waters, letting it rest beneath the surface.

Dengu squawked twice at Leena.

“This is amazing,” she said. “It helped heal the last of the injuries from yesterday's fight.” She shook her head in amazement. “We should camp out here each night if we can.”

The dinosaur took another drink from the fountain.

After rolling my sleeve up, I reached down deep into the water to touch one of the blue crystals. A soothing energy rushed up my arm. Temptation rushed through me, and I jerked back. If I could remove one of the crystals without something bad happening, I should. While I didn’t want to lose our ability to heal during our time in the dungeon, after that I’d give it a shot. The crystals formed the bottom of the fountain in a continuous sheet, and breaking that wouldn’t be good. My arm vibrated as I pulled it back out of the water, shaking the excess off.

Hammy fidgeted near the pathway in front of him and I walked in his direction to get a look at the last symbol. Three slashes made of pavers singled the last pathway.

[The Path of Claw and Teeth.]

“Yes, let’s get moving,” said Lenna. She gazed at the fountain, but pulled the crystal out of the water. It glowed faintly, though not as much as Hammy’s crystals on his spines. She moved to stand next to me as she hid the crystal under her shirt. “We don’t want to be here for too many days, our supplies will only last so long.” She pulled her bow off her shoulder. “Dengu, let’s go.”

The dinosaur made an unfamiliar noise, almost like a bird chirping before darting around Hammy, taking the lead. His feet crossed on top of the symbol in the pathway.

[You have chosen the Path of Claw and Teeth.]

It glowed a deep red under Dengu’s feet. The dinosaur leaned down and sniffed it, but quickly turned to face the trail.

Suddenly, the ferns surrounding the path came alive. A breeze blew through the leaves, making them twist and turn. In the far distance, the sound of birds singing rose, and the trees trembled.

This time, Dengu and I both sniffed at the breeze. Dirt, leaves, and something acidic floated on the breeze. The smell wasn’t bad, just different.

Before I could say anything, Dengu took off down the path, and I rushed to keep up, passing Hammy. Lenna took up the rear and Hammy stayed between us.

“I’ll scout ahead with Dengu,” I said over my shoulder. The two of us were the quietest, though Lenna ranked right up there. The problem was Hammy. While he was quiet compared to a normal person, with the rest of us in the party he was too loud.

The stone pavers trailed off, with larger and larger gaps between them, though not completely disappearing. Ferns growing on either side crept closer, but didn’t block the view farther down the path. A wall of plants formed as I stuck close to Dengu. He glanced over his shoulder a few times at me, but didn’t move faster than my pace.

The path curved off to the right, and after the curve tall jungle trees appeared on either side of the skinny trail. My prey sense went wild, and I slowed down. The feeling of being in a room vanished.

Dengu immediately followed my lead, his footsteps slowing as he stared between the trees.

My eyes snapped to one side as a large stone jutted out of the trees, like someone had placed a large tablet. Deep grooves formed the same symbol that had highlighted the opening.

[The Path of Claw and Teeth.]

The hair rose on the back of my neck and I stopped before we crossed the path in front of the stone. The last time we’d crossed the symbol, the environment had come alive. Something had to happen when we did so here as well. Beyond the stone, the path continued as just dirt. It twisted toward the left and plants blocked my vision.

Sounds of Hammy catching up came from behind. A glance over my shoulder confirmed it, along with Lenna right behind him, her bow out and ready to go.

“This must be the first trial,” she whispered. “Each should have three before a bigger fight.”

I nodded and waited until everyone else nodded in confirmation, before stepping past the stone. Creeping ahead, my knife rested in one hand and I kept my body relaxed. Creatures moved in the jungle on either side, but nothing reacted to our presence. Branches from the tall trees stretched overhead, but a small gap highlighted the path forward in sunlight. Strangely, nothing dangled from the branches. No vines, or moss.

The dinosaur padded next to me, his body tense and head lowered slightly like a cat ready to pounce.

The bushes rustled as soon as I turned the corner, and it began.