Mason led the others back down the icy ramps, feeling sweat form on his brow. The sounds of the gnolls re-grouping bombarded his senses, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked again.

Becky shrieked behind him, and Mason spun ready to summon his Claws until he saw her sliding straight towards him. He braced himself and caught her, feet already changing to grip the ice like he wore some kind of climbing spikes. Becky grinned and went a little pink in his arms.

"I slipped on the ramp."

"Don't worry," he whispered. "Just keep moving."

Gnolls were emerging now from above them, following them down the ramps but obviously wary. Mason was glad for that. He didn't see much they could do except maim or kill the things if they attacked again.

Phuong could disable a few. But after that? They couldn't just waste all of Becky's mana. Especially since they had no idea what was in that tunnel...

"Almost there," Mason said, trying to watch his surroundings and the others as he moved.

Then he saw a dozen gnolls waiting at the bottom of the ramp.

"Shit."

Appealing to the tree again didn't seem likely to work. Could he talk to the gnolls? He'd never really tried. But when he'd saved Haley the flying wizard at the end had been plenty chatty before things kicked off.

"We're trying to save the great tree," Mason called, holding his hands out to stop the others. "I'm a druid, and I've helped others. We're not here to fight. We only killed the others because they..."

"It is forbidden," growled a huge, scarred gnoll at the bottom of the ramp, his voice guttural but clear. "You have broken sacred law. Your lives are forfeit."

Right. Sacred gnoll law. Should have expected that.

Blake might have been able to wiggle his way out, but Mason didn't really think winning theological debates with gnolls was part of his skill set. He stuck to his strengths.

"Well. We're going down that tunnel." Mason summoned his Claws. "And I'm going to kill anything that gets in my way. Decide now if the lives of your people are worth nothing."

The gnoll bared its teeth.

"We will not fail the Great Tree again. Take them."

The gnolls were getting closer behind them now. They stood on a wide platform with ramps leading up and down, and nowhere to go except to leap the fifteen or so feet to the bottom, where of course they'd be mobbed.

"I can hold them off," Rebecca whispered. "I'll jump down, distract them. Then y'all make for the hole, and I'll follow."

A perfectly sensible plan, if risky for Rebecca. He met her eyes and hesitated, knowing he only did because it was her, and that when she met his eyes she knew that just as well as he did. She gave his hand a squeeze, clearly not angry at the knowledge.

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"I can do it."

He winced, but couldn’t think of a better idea.

"Alright."

Before he could add details that probably didn't matter anyway, Becky turned and slipped off the platform, hanging before dropping and rolling smoothly to her feet. The gnolls growled and most went to circle her, a few still coming up the ramp.

As he saw a good ten of the creatures move for Rebecca, he lost a little pity. "Fuck dropping. We go through. With me, Phuong?"

"I'm with you, Patron."

They charged together.

* * *

Rebecca practically pissed herself when she hit the ground. She'd had to go now for a good fifteen minutes, which was maybe just mostly nerves, but also not completely. Dungeon rule #2, she decided, always pee before you go in.

She stood and lifted her disc, watching damn near three quarters of the gnolls on the bottom move to circle her. It was the plan, of course, and apparently working beautifully. But it was also terrifying.

"I can do this," she repeated, hoping they didn't have any tricks she didn't know about. Then she activated her Arcane Shield and went forward. "What we waiting for? Ya'll afraid of a girl?"

Warnings flashed as the creatures tested her defenses. Some clawed at the translucent barrier, others just tried to push their shoulders through. Rebecca preferred the former.

She channeled Kinetic Blast and zapped the closest gnoll from his feet, then shrunk her shield to its closest, personal form. She wasn't protecting anyone but herself, after all. And that made things a hell of a lot easier.

The gnolls snarled and moved in as the shield 'collapsed'. They were so big and tall she couldn't see much, and she hoped Mason shouted when they'd reached the tunnel. Meanwhile, she put on a good show for the gnolls.

As they tried to kill her she leapt back and forth swinging her disc or kicking them back, but didn't really give it much effort. She could attack all she liked with her shield up, but the more she did the more it drained her energy. And she was just here to hold them off for as long as possible.

Considering she was basically invincible while her resources held, it was actually kind of boring. She heard fighting back towards the ramp, and focused on that.

The familiar sizzle of Phuong's sword; the terrifying growl of Mason. She tried not to think about that.

Was it kind of sexy in a 'your man is a werewolf' kind of way? Sure. But she'd also seen him pulling living creatures apart with his bare hands and a smile. She watched him lick the blood off his lips and was pretty sure he didn't realize he'd done it.

And that was before he started...changing.

Now he was getting bigger in battle. Angrier. Colder. He was growing fur, scales, God knew what. She mostly tried not to think about it. She knew some of it was just responsibility for everyone.

Some of it was from getting used to getting hurt, getting used to killing. She knew it was just how things were. But she was afraid of how he might change. How they'd all change. She hardly recognized herself already. What would it be like in a year?

"Becky! Can you get to the tunnel!"

Rebecca blinked back to reality, seeing a very charged Arcane Shield, and a clogged up path to her escape.

"Sorry, boys," she said, channeling her mana into the release portion of the power. "You might want to run."

They didn't run.

Rebecca grunted with effort, taking all that pent up energy and throwing it with whatever new muscle she'd gained that flexed her 'arcane' strength. Her personal shield exploded outward, charged with all the violent efforts of her attackers.

The creatures next to her blasted away, tossed several feet to slam into walls and shatter some of the ice. The gnolls a little further back just toppled. Becky leapt straight past them, and sprinted towards the tunnel.

A few gnolls still stood in her way, and she was ready to charge right past them too before she saw arrows and fiery missiles streaking at their backs. The creatures howled and spun or ran away, and Becky jumped straight into Mason's arms.

He threw the others down first, then practically crushed Becky with an arm around her waist before leaping into the dark.

No matter her concerns, she felt safe in his arms. She trusted him, and just held on.