Mason was tired of getting blown up. And buried alive. And swallowed whole. He pushed at the floor and rose to his knees, blinking at what seemed to be a glowing blue and white mist. He still couldn't hear anything.

"Blake," he vaguely heard himself mutter, then felt his heart rate rising. "Becky! Streak?"

He swept his eyes over everything, looking for the others, but also for text that told him their enemy was dead, or the challenge was finished. But he saw neither. He was about to activate Shared Pain blindly when Streak came padding through the mist.

Mason let out a breath and hugged the creature's blood-matted fur.

"Where are the others?"

The wolf turned, and as Mason followed the pain in his body started catching up. He'd definitely broken a shoulder and possibly something in his ass when he hit the wall. Probably his tail bone. His entire front felt like...well, like he'd been blown up, which was a disturbingly familiar feeling.

But in the grand scheme of Mason's official list of mortal injuries, he'd gotten off pretty easy.

"That you, Mason?"

Blake's voice. One more sigh of relief as Mason found the group clustered together.

"I'm here," he said. "Everyone OK?"

Annie and Becky were on the ground with their eyes closed, their clothes torn and smeared with blood. For a moment Mason froze as he looked at his lover maybe badly injured, maybe dead. Either way he didn't want to accept it, to face it. But he knew he had to.

He forced his feet forward until he dropped down by Becky's side and activated Ranger's Mark. She was alive.

"Rosa's vials," he said, reaching for Becky's pack. "She said there was healing potions. I gave Becky some." He knew his own was utterly destroyed and didn't bother checking, but maybe hers was still...

All he found was spilled liquid and broken glass.

"Fuck. What actually happened to them?"

"Not sure, exactly," Blake said. "I think they were too close when it...exploded. But it's not over, Mason. Somehow the engineer lived. We need to find him and finish this."

"Go," Mason said. "I'm staying with her.”

Mason wasn't a doctor but Hunter's Mark helped a lot. He gently lifted Becky to check for injuries, finding a whole host of different minor issues from frozen skin to burn marks. He was getting slightly less worried when he didn't find anything obviously serious, thinking she must have just hit her...

He found the obvious dent in the back of her skull. The blood already smearing the back of her hair.

"Oh Christ," he said, heart racing again. "Calypsa!" he shouted as Blake took what seemed to be his last construct and started searching. "Where the hell are you?"

"I'm here, druid," she said, emerging from the mist with a limp. Her dark hair was matted against her face, her skin pale, her armor torn. He looked her up and down but she seemed like she'd be alright.

"Can you heal them? Becky first."

The nymph frowned and hovered a hand over the women, then glanced around the hall and sneered.

"This foul place. It...makes things difficult. And your mate is close to death. The other I can save easily."

Mason blinked. "Do whatever you can. Buy her time. I'll take her back to Nassau."

Calypsa met Mason's eyes. She had never shown any kind of softness, nor did she show any now. Instead she quirked her head like an animal on the hunt, leaning closer.

"It will cost me, druid. So there will be a price."

"I saved your trees," Mason growled. "I've given you many 'gifts'. I'm a druid of the great forest, and I'm ordering you. Heal her. Now."

"I serve Gaia, no other," Calypsa said without emotion. "You have forsaken my mistress for Cerebus, and you have been rewarded for your efforts. You waste precious time. To do what you ask will cost me, and so it will cost you. Agree, or I will not pay."

Mason could have strangled her. He was about to ask what the cost was but he knew it didn't make any difference.

"I agree. Do it."

Calypsa winced as her eyes flared green. Again she held her hand over Becky, but this time the blue mist began to fade, the stone floor cracked as plant-life pierced the surface. Becky groaned as her eyes fluttered, and Mason smiled and put a hand on her forehead.

Annie sighed and rolled over, then blinked and sat up. She looked at Mason and Becky, inspecting her surroundings with an almost cold calculation. Then she summoned her axe, stood and walked after Blake without a word.

"You're welcome," Mason muttered, relaxing slightly as he saw a little color returning to Becky's face.

"It's done," said the nymph, sagging slightly. "But there is still bleeding inside her. Take her to your healers quickly."

Mason winced, not sure how the hell he'd do that. They were trapped in this place as far as he could tell. Did he just need to finish the head engineer? Was there more to the 'dungeon' after that?

He was about to chase after Blake when he heard a goblin screech in pain and misery. Then text scrolled across Mason's vision.

[You have completed the Engineering Guild mortal challenge, and cleared the dungeon. Group experience awarded (moderate).]

[You have earned enough experience for level nineteen. Please select a new power, and a power to upgrade to tier 2.]

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Of course. Now he leveled. And when he saw the option of a new power he knew he could take some kind of healing druid spell to help Becky. But the same feeling of waste tickled his intuition—the knowledge that he could just learn new spells without throwing away an unbelievably precious system granted powers.

Did he take it anyway? Becky seemed saved, and he just had to get her to Nassau to recover. But what about the next time? How long before Mason could actually learn these spells, either from druids or nymphs or great tree avatars. And how long would it take to teach?

He felt his teeth grind as another system prompt flared, informing him he could leave the dungeon instantly if he accepted.

“Just a God damn minute,” he said, staring at the list of powers. He went back to the new list from Feral Druid, the icons obvious from their green marks with little claws. There was all sorts of interesting things before and he at least needed a look before he chose.

As before, many were tempting. The ability to shapeshift more, faster, with more totality and control. Natural weaponry. Closer affinity to beasts of all kinds. Then he noticed a power had a kind of tab or dash or something, and when he focused on it he saw a note that said: ‘Requirement: Fang Brother’, which was the power he’d taken last.

It was called ‘Strength of the Pack’, and said it permitted the ‘sharing’ of innates and passives (to an even lesser extent), not just between Mason and his bound animals, but with others.

He didn’t hesitate for a moment, choosing Strength of the Pack, trying and failing to upgrade it instantly to tier 2 (apparently you couldn’t do it with brand new powers, so he picked Endless Quiver next in a hurry).

Then he lifted Becky into his arms and focused on her as he activated Strength of the Pack. It made him select ‘himself’ or ‘other’, which temporarily confused him, but he picked himself and felt an energy link between him and the girl in his arms.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, then took the prompt out of the dungeon.

* * *

Mason winced as he opened his eyes just outside the Engineering Hall. He'd hoped it at least would take him to the entrance of the mountain. He looked at Becky and clenched his teeth.

She didn’t look any different. She hadn’t gained a slight look of tattooed arms or green fingernails or something like Streak with Fang Brothers. He hoped his regenerative powers were helping her, but he couldn’t be sure, and had to assume they weren’t.

Now he had to actually figure out how to get to Nassau. It couldn't be good for her to be jarred and run at full speed across the forest, but what else could he do?

"What's wrong?" Calypsa said beside him, still limping on her spear, and looking slightly annoyed. "Go. Save your mate. Or we've both paid the earth for nothing."

"I need something to carry her with," Mason said. "I can't just run her in my arms for a full day. Damnit I should have waited for Blake, why isn’t he out? He could maybe build something."

Calypsa sighed. "You can Wyrdwalk, Druid. Though your sapling is so young...it will be hard to find. And your mate is...unsuitable. It will be dangerous."

"Do you see any Great Trees around?" Mason rolled his eyes around the cavern in emphasis. Calypsa just stared.

"You walk to the Great Trees, Druid. But you can enter the Wyrd from any ancient, natural place. This mountain will do fine."

Mason looked at his Wyrdwalk power, then at the stone wall beside him. "Explain 'unsuitable'. And 'hard to find' and 'dangerous'. Do it quickly."

"The Wyrd is the ancient pathways of the gods—the spaces between dream and reality. It existed before the magic of your mate, and does not look fondly on it. You will hear the songs of the great trees there, and you must find the one you wish."

Mason would have asked for better details about...well, all of that. But at this point in the game he expected that was about as good as it would get. "Can you come with me and help?" he asked. "You know the great tree songs."

Calypsa shook her head. "I am too weak now. I might be unable to leave. Trapped forever with the fae."

Mason didn't know what that meant, but the terror in Calypsa's eyes was explanation enough. He took a breath and activated Wyrdwalking, then turned to the mountain wall.

The stone seemed to open to his eyes, bending outward like a dark tunnel. He heard music, and laughter, and the call of some animal he couldn't recognize.

"Hang on," he whispered to Rebecca, then stepped into the dark.

* * *

[Title gained: Wyrd Pioneer. You are the first player to enter the feylands. +2 to will.]

The tunnel changed from dark to light in an instant. Suddenly Mason stood under the canopy of a thick forest, light and shadow dancing with unnatural speed and extremity. Everything around him looked blurred, fuzzy, too large or too small and altogether unreal. He could still hear faint laughter in the trees, the calls of exotic animals, the sound of harsh winds through the leaves.

He walked forward, readying to cast Speak with Nature before he began to hear competing songs in the distance. Every step seemed to take him a hundred paces, and soon he was in a clearing with endless paths all around him, all calling.

"It is not welcome," hissed a voice from the trees. "Take it back."

Mason somehow understood that he could only move on the paths—that whatever was speaking, whatever inhabited the woods here was a native of this place, and could go in places he couldn't. Or at least shouldn't.

He decided the best option was ignore it and keep listening. What the hell did the great tree sapling in Nassau sound like? He hadn't heard it 'sing' before. About the same moment he decided this was insane and that he had no chance at all, he heard a soft voice that sent a shiver up his spine.

That was it. That was home.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did. He closed his eyes and tried using Wayfinder, which looked utterly confusing and probably useless. He quickly gave up and just listened, trying to block out all the extra sounds that didn't matter.

But more and more voices spoke from the trees, whispering and hissing and telling Mason to leave this place. He clenched his teeth trying and failing to hear. Then another familiar voice sang words he understood—this one stronger, more feminine, more urgent.

"Come to me, Champion," whispered the great tree of the north. "Learn my magic, stay with me and love me, and be at peace."

Mason ignored that, too. It was hard.

Other great trees took up the call, some asking for his help, some for a visit, others just calling to him because they were curious. He listened until he heard the weak voice of his settlement's tree, shouting as if for its parent.

He picked the path with his eyes closed, running and feeling the many dangerous eyes all watching, waiting. Would he be leading them to the settlement? Would they somehow look to harm him, and the others? He had no idea, but couldn't do a damn thing to stop it anyway.

He finally opened his eyes not far from Nassau. He could sense the woods, sense his home, and a feeling of relief flooded over him. Whether it was because he was the patron or maybe because he had the Blessing of Echtra, he wasn't sure. But he'd made it.

"A man in the ancient paths? But you...you aren't fae. Are you a druid? Could it be?"

Mason turned to see an old woman wrapped in camouflaged cloths, her hair and face covered in a scarf. She pulled it down and smiled, her eyes moist as she stared. Unlike the rest of this place, Mason could see her clearly.

"Whoever you are, I have to go," he said, adjusting Becky in her arms. "I don't have time for this."

"Please!" The old woman looked like she wanted to come forward but couldn't, or didn't dare. "I'm lost," she said, her voice on the edge of breaking. "My people need me, and I've been gone too long. I know I'm close, but I'm afraid to take another step. Can you lead me to a great tree?"

Mason practically growled. It didn't seem to be a difficult request. She seemed like some old, harmless woman, but if she was in this place there wasn't much chance of that. His natural distrust flared and for all he knew he'd be helping some unnatural creature escape to the world.

"Please, druid," the old woman wiped at her eyes. "I won't survive here much longer." She pulled down her scarf to reveal pointed ears. "I'm an Oracle. Of the Veraden tribes. The elves of the West. I mean you no harm."

Mason considered asking if she could heal Becky, but he was close now to Alex and Rosa and the infirmary. Anyway, he didn't trust her with Becky. He stood there warring with himself for several long moments, then let out a breath, and stepped to the old woman.

"I promise you,” he said, “if you’re trying to trick or hurt me, you’re going to regret it." Then he pulled the old woman the few more steps towards his settlement.

She gasped in terror but he ignored her, feeling the familiar warmth and surroundings of the temple of Gaia as he took the final step, and vanished into a new tunnel towards Nassau. He only hoped he wasn't too late.