Rothar Gathered Seises and all the volunteers who oversaw gathering more materials from the Dragolisk. Once everyone was at the entrance, Seises went over and woke Artemis. Artemis looked groggily around once he saw Seises, he knew what time it was and jumped to his feet. Seises nodded at him and without saying a word gestured for him to follow her.

At the top of the cliff leading from the cave they looked around for the scraves. It was an overcast night, so shadows of flying creatures were non-existent. Artemis looked around the sky and the piles of corpses for them. Seeing none, Artemis led the group into the forest. The group made it to the clearing where the scraves nested, Artemis noticed it was loud. So much so that Artemis thought the scraves were fighting over fresh kills or worse. Most of the inmates knew to avoid this forest that's why they risked coming this way.

The clouds pass for just a moment letting the moonlight shine through. It was then that Artemis and Seises could see why it was so loud. In the middle of the clearing were two figures. They were tied to posts a few feet up from the ground. The eggs had all hatched. Artemis noticed a few corpses strewn around the field being picked apart by some of the newly hatched scraves. There were adult scraves in the treetops watching. Some of the hatchlings were jumping at the men tied to the posts biting at their feet as they screamed for help. Looking closer Artemis recognized the men tied to the posts, it was Lotharn and Rivnear. Artemis smiled a little at this. He knew they hadn’t been able to produce any of the items the mob from earlier wanted. He would lose no sleep over it.

Seises motioned towards the men as if to suggest they should rescue them. Artemis just kept smiling like he didn’t notice her. He was enjoying this after all. Seises nudged him, bringing him back to the group. Again, she motioned towards the men saying we should rescue them. Artemis kept smiling and shook his head no. He pointed around the clearing to spots where others were watching. If they made a move to save them the others would make sure it was the last thing they did. Artemis pointed deeper into the wood, suggesting they go further afield to get to the Dragolisk. Seises nodded hesitantly in agreement, she still wanted to save those men. Artemis was already on the move with the others in tow, so she picked up the pace to re-join them.

The group made it to the Dragolisk corpse without further incidents. As the group looked over the cliff to the corpse, they noticed it had two dark bodies moving around on it chattering back and forth to each other. Occasionally they would nip at each other as if they were fighting over the remains. They were rantoru, giant rodents that were known for being extremely vicious. Most of the time they stuck to the back side of the island eating anything that the scraves didn't. On occasion they made their way onto the island and towards the city. It would take an entire regiment of guards to take them down and sometimes there would only be one or two guards left.

Seises looked at Artemis, nudged him in the shoulder, and motioned for them to head back. Seeing the fear on Seises face Artemis nodded in agreement. She led them back in front of the city as quickly and as quietly as possible. She didn’t say anything not even after they were back in the cave. Suntiana approached them to see what had happened and Seises just pushed past her.

“What happened?” Suntiana asked, looking at Artemis for answers.

“Well there is good news and bad news. Bad news first, rantoru found the corpse so we had to leave without getting anything else to make weapons with,” Artemis explained. “The good news, well for us anyway, is that Lotharn and Rivnear won't be a problem anymore.”

Artemis didn't even try to hide his smile. His eyes looked as though he was enjoying the thought of what was happening to them. His toothy grin grew larger. Suntiana had a thought about Artemis and this being his true nature. She wondered if he was more dangerous than he looked. Even on this island where the horrible happened no one would openly show they were happy about someone else's suffering like this. At least not if they wanted to be part of this group. Suntiana, in that moment felt a fear so deep and so cold it paralyzed her. She listened in terror as Artemis explained what had happened to them. Suntiana put her hand up to stop him from continuing, she walked away looking queasy and mortified. Artemis didn’t understand her, after what they had tried to do this was a fitting end for them. He followed Suntiana until she met up with Rothar and the others.

Suntiana told Rothar and the others to gather any tools not being used by the shifts for digging. She told them to get them over to Artemis’s station he was going to have to repurpose as many as he could into weapons. She didn’t look at Artemis when giving him his assignment. She walked away and asked Sumal for a report on the second tunnel.

“We have been able to excavate a good amount of the tunnel we’re two surfaces over from where we were. It should only be a couple of days to get through to the sea if we keep working at this pace,” Sumal answered.

Suntiana nodded in approval. This was real good news for her, this meant pushing ahead instead of sitting on their hands for months. Artemis, tired of being ignored, left the group having received his assignment and set to work.

“What happened? You were so close earlier today,” Xix asked.

“Let’s just say I saw a side of him I didn’t know was there when they got back and I’m not sure I can leave him alone with others from our group.” Suntiana said. “Keep an eye on him, he might be more dangerous than we thought.”

Xix, visibly confused by this, nodded hesitantly as she knew better than to question Suntiana when she was angry like this. Seises took Xix aside and explained everything to her. Xix was more confused now than in the beginning. She thought those two being gone was good for everyone. Xix assured herself Suntiana would come around, she was just shocked and would see that Artemis had not done anything wrong in not saving those two. With that she went back to her post they had more dirt to get out of the cave before sunup.

Rothar, having overheard Suntiana telling Xix to watch Artemis, and having eavesdropped on Xix’s conversation, looked at Artemis with contempt. If Suntiana didn’t like him then neither would the group. Rothar finally saw a way to get rid of Artemis. Rothar would make sure to tell everyone about this. He would make Artemis the outcast just like a Wolfite should be. He smiled a little at the thought of this. Now he would have Suntiana to himself. He started gathering up the excess equipment with everyone else.

Artemis sat down at his station and over the next couple days began to take apart the equipment. He started with the shovels, he figured he could turn the shovel heads into small shields to offer some form of protection. He would turn the handles and picks into daggers making them wouldn’t be easy though. As Artemis worked, he noticed how those dropping off the tools were staying farther and farther away from him. He didn’t think much of it as he was lost in thought of how to apologize to Suntiana, though he wasn’t quite sure what he was apologizing for. He just knew she was upset and quiet ever since.

The tunnel to the sea was finally finished and digging had resumed. Xix and her team had a straight path to the sea making disposal easy. As the crews continued digging down the noises got louder. Tyrnal was now spending most of his time going between one dig site and the other, seeing if one area was louder than the other. To his dismay he found there was no difference, this meant wherever these creatures were, they covered a large area. He knew he would have to come up with a new plan to make it safe for the others to get into the building if these creatures were on the fifteenth floor.

Tyrnals fears were coming true the closer they got to the fifteenth floor the louder the groans got. He decided it was time to bring Suntiana down here and talk about how to get in safely. Suntiana noticed, as she descended into the dig site, that it was quiet, no mysterious sounds and no digging.

“What is going on? Did something happen that I should know about?” Suntiana asked. Her tone implied that she was not impressed that work had stopped.

Tyrnal explained the situation to her and his theory about the fifteenth floor.

“We need a plan Suntiana, if we go in there blindly there's no knowing how many of us might get hurt or worse. Even if we have weapons, I don’t feel asking a bunch of us to go in there is the right choice. We need to consider an alternative, maybe we give up on getting in there.” Tyrnal said knowing how popular that suggestion would be.

“Absolutely not, we’re getting in there. It could be a haven for our people. A few of us getting hurt to protect others is not ideal I agree but if we ask only for volunteers, we should be okay,” Suntiana rebutted.

Tyrnal was shocked by this statement. Suntiana had never once before suggested letting members of the group get hurt. Just what was going on with her he wondered. They went back and forth on this topic getting more and more heated as it went on till, they were shouting at each other. It was then that Suntiana heard it, the awful groaning sound that got louder and louder as if it was getting closer. She stopped mid-sentence, what the hell was that she wondered. She looked at Tyrnal and frowned, she knew asking anyone to go in there would mean losses for the group.

“Okay we only use volunteers, and we come up with a distraction to keep whatever is down there away. The question now is how we get in there.” Suntiana said this with a look of concern on her face. She knew this wouldn’t go over well with the group.

Back in the cave Suntiana gathered everyone to explain the situation and to ask for volunteers. After hearing what was going on and what unknown monsters might be waiting for them most stepped away and went back to their spots. Artemis stepped forward saying he would go in with the group. After seeing that Artemis had stepped forward more people left the group and went back to their spots. Most looked at Artemis like he was going to get everyone killed. Xix was surprised by this. Did others know what had happened on the surface, more importantly how did they know. Xix nudged Seises and motioned towards the ones leaving. Seises noticed as well; she was less surprised then Xix about this. Both Xix and Seises agreed to go and stood next to Artemis. Seeing these two step up, more of the group agreed to go. Quade tried to stand up, but Lyna sat him back down. Instead, she stood up and looked at the other Bearites that had sat down grunted at them and shook her head. Some of them stood back up and joined the group. They all stood around Lyna and far away from Artemis.

Seises looked around the group so far fifteen of them in total were going in. Most seemed to be avoiding Artemis, if the group wasn’t all together this could pose a real problem if there was to be a fight.

“The fuck did Artemis do to you all. He made the cloths you’re all wearing and the tools you’re all using. So, fill us in,” Seises asked the group.

Most of them looked down at their feet, unwilling to answer the question. Others looked at her with shock, as if she should know why. Suntiana, after hearing this question, looked around the group, noticing how those looking down looked afraid and those looking up were all staring in Artemis’s direction with contempt.

“It would seem that someone,” Suntiana began. Shooting Xix a look of anger and disapproval, “has been talking about what happened when Artemis and the others were on the surface.”

Suntiana sighed. “If anyone has anything to say now is the time, rather than later when you might be fighting togeth…”

“Freak!”

“Monster!”

“How could you do that!”

Everyone in the group started talking over each other. Screaming obscenities, and insults at Artemis. Suntiana looked around the group shocked at what she was hearing. She had never seen this group treat anyone like this. True she had issues with what she presumed Artemis’s nature was when it came to how he would resolve situations with others. This mob was completely out of hand. She looked at Artemis who was just standing there taking it, his ears occasionally folding backwards as if he was in pain. He never made a move, nor did he growl or bare his fangs against them. It seemed like being on the run in the world before this prison had hardened him to this kind of thing.

“Okay everyone let's calm down. I want everyone to tell me, one at a time mind you, exactly what you have heard. I think something might have been blown out of proportion,” Suntiana said in a calm and serene tone. One that was meant to sooth the group. “How about we start with you.”

Suntiana pointed at one of the bearites with their head down. She looked up at Artemis and started to speak.

“You know what he fuckin’ did. We don’t need to…” She began, but after seeing the glare coming from Sunitana she continued. “I heard from some of the people around here that he can’t be trusted. I mean he abandoned you and Xix to save his own hide on the surface. Then When he was supposed to be protecting the people out looking for more salvage, he took the time to tie up and torture those he left you with earlier in the day. On top of that he tried to leave some behind as a distraction for the rantoru.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Yeah! That’s right he’s not one of us anyway!” Came screaming from members of the crowd.

Suntiana just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Who has been spreading these rumours around?”

“I heard it from multiple people. Everyone is saying Xix and Seises were talking about it. Neither of them could believe how he was really,” someone from the crowd answered.

This wasn’t an answer to her question she wanted to hear. She looked at Xix and Seises. They were confused, they had been in a quiet part of the cave and had made sure that no one who would pay any mind was around when they were talking about it. Both adamantly denied these claims and expressed their concerns about someone having overheard their conversation.

Suntiana decided it was time for her to just tell the story and figure out who was at fault later. After listening to what Suntiana had to say the group grew loud with chatter. Most looked angry, some still looked at Artemis with the same contempt they had started with.

“Of course, you would say that Suntiana, you were hanging all over him! You never looked at any of us like that. You’re obviously just covering for him,” a gruff voice from the crowd said.

Well that did it, Suntiana was furious now. Whoever had done this had now divided the group and challenged her leadership. She looked around wanting to see who had said that. Everyone else was doing the same. Rothar began to rethink what he had started. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, he only wanted Artemis to take the blame but now Suntiana was in the firing line. He needed to do something quick.

“Enough, if you have an issue with me that’s fine,” Artemis said. “Don’t think for a second that Suntiana’s judgement is compromised though, she hasn’t spoken to me since it happened. She’s been thinking about how to handle this. While also thinking about the best interest of the group. She wouldn’t speak to me since she found out and I’m sure she had many things she wanted to say. I showed behaviour that doesn’t fit in with the way this group runs but I have been on my own as long as I can remember. So, these group dynamics are lost on me. I accept whatever you as a group decide but whatever is decided, know Suntiana has been working for the betterment of this group. Even though right now none of you deserve her kindness.”

Artemis sat down in the centre of the group and waited for their hushed chatter to stop and for them to come to a decision. Suntiana looked at Artemis and her expression changed ever so slightly. She was relieved, he still did what was right for the group and tried to make everyone come together. Rother hid his annoyance at this. He wanted to be the one to defend Suntiana and take the praise. He had to do something quickly.

“He’s a divisive force in our group,” Rothar Started, “some don’t trust him after hearing what he did. Whether it’s completely true or not. I’m sure some parts of it are true! Should we let someone like that stay in our group? He had you turning on Suntiana, she has done nothing but look out for all of us. He…”

Suntiana threw her arm up and with one motion stopped everyone from speaking.

“Enough!” Suntiana bellowed. “This is not getting us anywhere. This division didn’t happen because of Artemis, it happened because someone started to undermine my authority and the trust I had earned with this group. That person needs to be punished. So, who was it? I will be more lenient if you show yourself.”

They all began to discuss who had told them this. Some were saying they heard it from members who had been picking up the tools to be turned into weapons, others said they didn’t hear it till the next day and they heard it from the disposal team. The chain went off in all directions. Suntiana began to wonder if she would ever figure out who had done this.

Someone from the group stood up and threw their arms up in frustration. “Who cares who it was, what matters is that some of us clearly don’t think you’re fit to lead.”

Instantly this person regretted what they had said. Suntiana was furious, eyes narrowed, lips pursed, her feathers ruffled, and she clicked her talons on the floor. She looked around the group.

“Does anyone else feel this way?” She asked in a stern and unaccepting tone. “If you do, please come forward and bring the instigator of this whole mess with you. I’ll wait.”

Rothar knew this was getting out of hand, he had to do something to correct this.

“Everyone calm down. This is a stressful situation, why don’t we all cool down a bit. Let’s not say things we can’t take back,” he pleaded with the group. “The only reason some of you don’t think she’s fit to lead is because of these rumours. I’m sure the one who started the rumours about Artemis didn’t want to divide the whole group like this.”

“Exactly, I’m sure there was some good reason for it,” Artemis said sarcastically and smugly at the same time. “I’m sure it wasn’t for some petty reason.”

Artemis looked Rothar right in the eyes as he said this. Artemis had realized from Rothar’s little outburst that he was the one who had started this. Artemis had no idea why, but he suspected it had something to do with how Suntiana. He looked at Rothar and smiled a little bit. To the group it looked like a kindhearted attempt to make peace, but to Rothar it was anything but. He knew Artemis knew and that was dangerous for him. Rothar thought about what he had heard about Artemis’s actions to those who slighted the group and realized he could be next on his list.

“Oh Shit!” Rothar thought. “How the fuck do I get out of this?”

He weighed his options, Artemis or Suntiana, who was he more afraid of. He knew Suntiana had mercy in her and didn’t know the same about Artemis. He would take his chances with Suntiana.

“It was me!” Rothar blurted out. “I’m the one who did it.”

Suntiana was stunned by this confession. Of all the people to betray her she never expected Rothar to be the one. Her feathers were standing completely on end now. She wanted to rip him apart in front of everyone but that wouldn’t fix the situation. Everyone was looking from Rothar to Suntiana waiting to see how she would handle this. Those who had been speaking out about rebelling shrunk back down into the crowd. Suntiana knew they were waiting to see how this would play out.

Suntiana tried calming herself, to regain her composure. Her feathers slowly started going down, and she stopped tapping her talons on the ground. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at Artemis. He was clearly shocked by what had happened, but he didn’t look all that surprised.

“Okay,” Suntiana sighed. “You’ve been with me for years helping people in this group. Honestly, I think I should let Artemis kill you right now for what you’ve done to him and this group. I wonder why though, but the why doesn’t matter. What’s done is done and I will leave your fate in Artemis’s hands. Whatever he decides will be your punishment. I will stand by whatever he says. I do mean whatever he says.”

This shocked Rothar, as once again all eyes were on Artemis. How was Artemis going to handle this? This was Rothars worst nightmare, out of the pan and into the fire. He had wanted to avoid Artemis making the decisions. Rothar thought he was done for. At least everyone would see his true colours making Rothars actions the right ones.

Artemis didn’t know what to say Rothar was loyal, obviously stupid for trying this, and Artemis knew he respected Suntiana. Artemis thought long and hard, there were three options that stood out to him.

One, death a little extreme but still a good option it would make the point he wasn’t to be messed with but would make Rothar a martyr and further divide the group; two have him exiled from the group, this could be a problem if he decided to join another group that would hurt them but that could be advantageous for Artemis too; or three change his position in the group, make him wish he was dead by making him suffer an even worse humiliation . Artemis knew which one he wanted to do but it wasn’t what was best for everyone. To keep the whole group together he knew there was only one option.

Artemis cleared his throat, “I have decided the best punishment for this act, as stupid as it was, is to make him a direct subordinate of Quade. Quade needs a chance to learn new skills and to give him the best chance he needs someone to work with. I also think his position as Suntianas right handman should be taken from him.”

The cave was filled with laughter, some doubled over. Even those who had sided with Artemis were not expecting this answer. Those who had expected Artemis to react violently looked shocked. Suntiana had completely lost her composure. She was holding her sides; she was laughing so hard. No one was more surprised than Quade, he didn’t know how to react. He just looked up at Lyna for directions. Lyna was laughing but still managed to look shocked. She looked at Quade and nodded and gave him a little push forward.

“O..O..Okay,” Quade Stammered, “w… w… we have lots to do. No one else around here knows how to cook so you’re in for a tough day!”

This made the group laugh even harder. Quade was about as threatening as a mouse in a trap, and he knew it too. Rothar, who didn’t think this was funny at all, looked to Suntiana hoping she wasn’t seriously going to go through with this. Suntiana changed her expression just long enough to make Rothar realize this was happening.

Rothar grumbled all the way over to the cooking pot and sat down. He was disgraced and worse of all Artemis looked like the hero for not kicking him out or worse. Rothar, angry with himself, figured death would have been preferable. Quade walked over to Rothar and handed him a spoon and sat him down in front of the soup and told him to stir.

Artemis stood up and was about to suggest they get back to seeing who would go into the building when he was crushed in a literal Bearhug. Lyna had come over and picked him up. She wasn’t alone either; all the others who had now re-joined the group were around him patting him on the back. Artemis just smiled at Suntiana, who was still laughing, she nodded as if to say thank you.

As if that was his queue, Tyrnal took control of the meeting. He got everyone quieted down and asked for more volunteers. No one else stepped forward. Including Suntiana and Tyrnal there were only seventeen people willing to go in. It would have to do. He took note of who volunteered and thanked them. Tyrnal asked Artemis, Suntiana, Seises and Xix to stick around so they could come up with a plan and asked everyone else to return to their other assignments.

Suntiana stopped Tyrnal briefly so she could appoint him as her new right hand. Then she motioned for him to continue. Flustered and surprised, Tyrnal dropped his pile of papers. He quickly bent down to pick them up but only made a bigger mess, this garnered a chuckle from the group. Once Tyrnal was composed and had his papers all in order he began. Tyrnal suggested once they were closer to the fifteenth floor they should use one dig team as a distraction, keeping them out of the building while the others broke in using the other tunnel. He suggested the one down closer to the coast be used as the actual entry point. He also suggested they make a second connection to the sea from there in case they needed to escape quickly from whatever was in there and remove all footings to climb up as well. Tyrnal knew this would mitigate some of the danger to the group but it still left them wide open if things were to go sideways.

Suntiana, lost in thought, stopped listening at this point. She was wondering if there was anything else they could do to help protect the group to make it safer for those who were staying in the cave. Then it dawned on her.

“We collapse the entrance into the cave from the tunnel we are using. That way the only way to go will be to the sea. We make a discrete foot hole up to the second tunnel above it and we make a cage from the remaining digging tools to keep things from coming up that way. We will still have an escape route, but it should, hopefully, stop anything else from getting up there,” Suntiana mused.

Not realizing she had said it out loud she was shaken when Tyrnal jumped for joy at this idea. Tyrnal made an amendment to the idea, rather than collapsing the tunnel they would make the cage door at the entrance to it. This still left them with an out but made it easier to get out if they were successful. He left immediately to check for materials and get others working. Suntiana just shrugged, he was enthusiastic at least.

Artemis went back to his corner and started converting some of the longer bones he still had into a cage door. He would need a lot more than what he had, another trip to the Dragolisk would be needed. He didn’t like the idea. Hopefully a team would still go with him. Artemis sighed, he didn’t want to bring this up right now but if they were to stay on Tyrnals schedule that had them all working hard and fast it had to be done.

“Suntiana,” Artemis began, “I think to make all the components Tyrnal wants we’re going to need to go back to the Dragolisk one more time. If it’s even still there.”

Suntiana looked at Artemis, she wanted to apologise for how things had gone. She wanted to say he didn’t deserve the treatment he got because of Rothar, but no words like this came to her. Instead, she said, “Fine, I’ll see what I can throw together.”

A group of volunteers to go with Artemis were gathered that very night. Artemis got them to the Dragolisk quickly and quietly. They noticed a familiar smell, the smell of cooking meat as they got closer to the cliff. Once there they noticed there was still a rantoru on the corpse picking over the remains. This Rontaru was different; it was larger than the others they had seen here previously. This had Rothar nervous, even with surprise on their side a rantoru would be hard to beat. The rantoru ripped at the hide of the Dragolisk. Rothar thought this was strange behaviour, Dragolisk’s skin is notoriously hard to cut through. Then they saw it, the rantoru secreted this slime that was breaking down the meat, it almost appeared to be cooking it. This was strange for rantoru most were just giant rodents but some, like all things on this island, were mutated.

Rothar wanted to suggest going back to the cave. He knew this wouldn’t go over well with the group. Instead, he suggested a small group start going down while a larger group tried to get the creature's attention and draw it towards the city. Xix and Seises agreed with him. The problem was Artemis was already on his way down the cliff. He had two daggers and a rope on him. Artemis was crazy, the group thought. Xix looked at Seises and Rothar and smiled. Xix grabbed a set of daggers, some rope and started down after Artemis. She thought this looked like it could be fun. Rothars eye went wide seeing this and he looked around the group, Seises was handing rocks to everyone.

Was this group entirely insane or was it just because Artemis was there Rothar wondered. Rothar stepped backwards closer to the forest. He figured it was better safe than sorry when this all went up in smoke. He heard this blood curdling sound and couldn’t help but look over the ledge.

Artemis had stabbed the rantoru in the side of the face. Crazy bastard Rothar thought. Not one to be out done, Xix leapt down and got it on the other side of its head, not as good a spot as Artemis had but still mostly in the cheek. Artemis pulled as hard as he could on the rope, he had attached to the dagger ripping it out of the rantorus face. As the dagger came out the same slimy liquid started to pour out of the wound, the rantoru cried out in pain as the flesh around the wound started to melt. Xix, realizing what Artemis had planned, and did the same on the other side. The rantoru started shaking its head, getting slime everywhere. Seises started throwing rocks at it and the rest of the group followed suit. The rantoru stood on its hind legs and looked up taking rock after rock to the face, as it stood there slim ran down its body leaving burning scars in its wake. It howled in pain and rage at those throwing rocks at it.

With its attention off him, Artemis threw one of the daggers at the creature's hind legs hitting it square in the thigh, quickly he ran around the beast trying to hit the other leg. He missed, and scrambled to catch the rope so as to not lose his dagger. Xix threw her dagger seeing Artemis miss and got it right in the rantorus knee. Artemis yanked on his rope as hard as he could, ripping it out, Xix did the same. The rantoru collapsed back onto its paws and the Dragolisk corpse started to shake, the head started to move, falling slowly towards the sea.

Artemis looked at Xix and his expression said everything. They started throwing their daggers at the rantorus face, pushing it down the body towards the head as it tried to escape from the barrage of blades. It shook its head violently, spraying more slime everywhere. Most was forming puddles under it as it walked backward, its face slowly melting as more of the slime dripped down from the wounds on its face. Xix and Artemis pushed the rantoru onto the Dragolisk s neck, they heard a loud crack. Xix relented the attack at this point thinking they had won. The rantoru leapt from the head back onto the body narrowly avoiding the plunge as the head slipped into the sea.

Seises and the other flung more and more rocks at it hoping to draw it attention again but the rantoru had zeroed in on Xix. It opened its mouth and let out a slim filled roar, making a trail of slime almost right up to Xix and Artemis. The slime was eating away at the Dragolisk and was covering a good portion of the corpse making it harder for Xix and Artemis to maneuverer around. The rantoru was furious, it stepped on slime and corpse alike, not caring about its feet. It charged towards Artemis and Xix slipping in the slime covering itself in it.

The air was filled with the smell of cooked meat and burnt fur, making the onlookers feel sick to their stomachs. Seises and Rothar looked at each other in complete horror. Seises wondered if they were about to watch their friends die.

Rothar was conflicted, he wanted Xix to survive but didn’t much care if Artemis did. He wanted him to fail in front of everyone. If he did maybe, just maybe Rothar thought. Suntiana would come back to him.

Artemis grabbed Xix and pulled her towards the cliff wall and out of the way of the charging rantoru. It was sliding on its raw and bloodied feet barely staying on top of the Dragolisk. Artemis got an idea, looked at Xix and shrugged. He really hoped this would work. Artemis took off running as fast as he could towards the rantoru and launched himself at it knocking it further off balance and it plummeted off the Dragolisk, followed by Artemis.

Xix ran as carefully and as quickly as she could over to the edge to see if she could see Artemis. As she grew closer to the edge of the stomach, she saw a dagger plunged into it. She grabbed it and started pulling on it. After a few moments a hand appeared from over the edge and Artemis pulled himself up onto the stomach.

“Remind me to never do that again,” Artemis said, a look of contemplation on his face.

Xix just stared at him and said, “promise, you crazy ass Wolfite.”

They got to work tearing the skin off and gathering some of the larger bones the team had previously left behind. They had to work quickly, there would be no going back in front of the city this time they would have to take this through the forest. Through the rest of the night they were able to get two ribs and a couple vertebrae from the tail. The more bones they tried to remove the more it sank towards the sea. Rothar figured they could probably get one more rib out before it collapsed into the sea. Those who were gathering the last rib were all tied to the cliff, and no one was to work alone. Once they had the final rib they watched as the Dragolisk collapsed into the sea and slowly disappeared.

Having gathered as much as they could, everyone headed back to the cave. Inside the cave everyone took a long-deserved break, as the sun had just started to rise and they had been working all night. Most could not sleep and recanted those who had not gone with the tail of Artemis and Xix’s fight with the rantoru.

Artemis on the other hand was fast asleep in his corner with the new collection of bones and hide. Suntiana looked at him and smiled, he was crazy and maybe more sadistic than she originally thought but he did have the group's best interest at heart with everything he did. She decided to let him sleep for a bit before asking him to construct the door so they could get their plan underway. She moved her attention to Xix and the group listening to her tell the story. She motioned for Xix to get some sleep.