We came to a stop. Eodyne stood with her arms crossed and glared at the doorway.

"Well, at least we can confirm we're on the top floor," I offered.

"Annoying. If I turned around, I could have found sanctuary," Eodyne growled.

"We don't know that for sure. This isn't normal; the safe zone might not work as usual," Sereza countered.

"Let's get going. Whether it works or not, we can't stay."

The stairway down was made of marbled stone just like the rest, but the walls sported the same creepy flesh-covering as the rooms in the temple. I kept my senses out, and Eodyne even maintained a wind barrier.

When we came to a stop halfway through, the stairs evened out into a relatively small room, just large enough for us to all fit if we moved closer together.

"As far as safe zones go, this sucks," I complained. I adjusted my spear and paused for half a second to get enough breathing room. "Zero reason for a dungeon to create something so small."

"Easier to defend," Sereza countered.

"Most safe zones should be safe, no? The only time I have been in a dungeon, and the safe zone didn't work was back in Edolus."

"That one doesn't count. The blood plague infected the monsters, and the dungeon was overloaded with the remnants of rift energy," Eodyne said.

"What?" Sereza asked. "Blood plague? And why is a rift affecting a dungeon? Cyrus, what did you do?"

I stuck out my tongue, and we cut the banter as we exited the stairwell and went back into the dungeon proper. The second floor looked relatively the same, but there was an immediately noticeable difference between it and the first floor.

Rello and Orlun guarded the front, slowly marching through the hallway. They came to a stop around the first doorway, blocked off by a long curtain sheet. The white silk dipped to the floor and spilled out onto the tile.

"Anything?" Orlun asked.

I shook my head.

They opened it together and braced themselves, but the curtain revealed a wall of grey rubber about a foot deep.

The lack of a room was off-putting, but we moved on and repeated the process with the same result. Eventually, we made a turn, and that's when I stopped.

It was brief, barely a flicker, but I caught something from further ahead with my mana sense.

"Eodyne, I felt something, but it felt very faint."

She nodded, and we proceeded to the end of the hall, where we turned a corner and found another curtained archway.

Orlun used his sword to move it aside, but as he did, we stopped, and he held up a hand. With a sudden swing, he sliced the curtain near the top, and the fabric collapsed to the floor, where it began to slip backward.

What?

It fell off the edge and into what looked like a massive pit.

The expected hallway was gone, and in its place was an extended cavern, with floating islands of tile illuminated in soft golden light.

Again, I felt the flicker of mana, but it disappeared too fast for me to get a lock on its type.

"This doesn't feel right," I said while peeking through Orlun's legs.

From my position, there looked to be nine islands in total. Two for each direction and one larger island in the middle, they shared an equal distance apart, long enough that you'd need a running jump to make it across.

"If Celanae or Igas was here, we could bridge it without problems. Does anyone think they'll have trouble jumping the gaps?" Eodyne asked. Aleena raised her hand, as did Rello. "Alright, Cyrus, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Which direction are we going first?"

"Do you sense anything?"

I shook my head. "No. I felt the blip again, but it disappeared further in."

"Annoying, but we'll make do."

Orlun made the first leap as he activated his movement skill and charged through the air. He landed on the first island and shot to his feet, reading to jump back.

After a few test stomps, he waved his hand, and Aleena stepped up next. Eodyne controlled the wind around her and I felt a strong gust generate around her legs. When she jumped, she seemed to glide through the air until she reached the island and landed with a stumble.

The island didn't move, but Orlun jumped over to the next one.

Next was Rello and Eodyne, who helped shuttle them to the center island.

As Sereza stepped up, I felt the blip, this time closer. I grabbed her arm, and she froze. Together we waited, but the mana had already faded.

"I don't like this. It feels like we're being stalked," I muttered.

"No different than usual then?" Sereza joked.

"Nah. I think we're good. But be prepared."

"Right. I don't think I can survive fighting a space monster."

She jumped high, and I watched her body burst apart, transforming into a cloud of green smoke that bent toward the first island. As she neared the island, she regained her form and landed cleanly on both feet.

She gave the go-ahead, and I inhaled and bolted. As I neared the edge, I kicked off and sailed through the air. I leaned forward rolled across the tiles. My knees slid on the marble, and a hand grabbed me by the back of my hoodie and hauled me back.

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I blinked and realized that I was dangerously close to the edge. Through the connection, my familiars expressed their discomfort.

"Sorry, sorry. Shouldn't have rolled."

Áine landed on my shoulder and tugged at a strand of hair. I leaned my head and gently bopped her with my cheek, and she sat down on my shoulder while spinning my hair around her hand.

Alright, message received. No more stunts.

Sereza huffed. "Got a death wish?"

"Not particularly, but my history says otherwise."

"Cyrus," Eodyne shouted. "Just tank the impact. Áine can repair you."

I sighed and stood up but stopped when the blip appeared. Twisting to the left, I felt it move, and I continued to spin, trying to follow it.

"Cyrus?"

I ignored the question and traced the blip over to the far-right edge of the island and looked down. The blip disappeared, but I caught something more before it faded.

It felt cold and hard to grasp. Just as I thought I recognized it, the dungeon absorbed the mana, and I clawed at the air.

"Annoying, but whatever it is went down there. Be extra careful making jumps," I called out.

"Let's gather at the center first," Eodyne responded.

Sereza patted my shoulder and leaped up, clearing the second island and the last, leaving me the last one left.

I centered myself and kicked off, repeating the same maneuver. This time I stuck the landing, and bent my knees rather than rolled forward.

Sereza flashed a thumbs-up, and I paused in case the foreign mana returned.

It didn't, so I cleared the last jump and landed on the central island, joining the others.

As I stood up, I closed my eyes, but again, there were no signs of the mana blip.

"We're good. I can't sense anything."

"Okay. We need to pick a direction."

I opened my eyes and scanned the cavern. We were dead center. The walls were black marble, and the ambient light was dim--fitting for the dark abyss below.

The abyss itself looks like it went on for forever.

Two entrances, the north and the east entrance, had curtains covering their doorway. The west had its entrance open, the long hallway lit up with blue-flame torches.

Eodyne extended her arm, and I felt mana swirl into her hands as she pulled back, forming her signature bow. The arrow condensed into a compact azure bolt that whistled as she released.

The arrow zipped through the cavern and crashed into the ceiling above the north doorway. The mana exploded, and the silk sheet caught fire, turning to ash within seconds, revealing a hallway lit with white-flame torches.

Eodyne repeated her actions for the last hallway, revealing the green-flame torches behind it.

As she lowered her hands, a stormy expression clouded her face.

"Whatcha thinking?" I asked.

"Dungeons can be tricky. Those torches could signify elemental differences or the type of rooms to expect. It's a guessing game, and we don't have the luxury of information," she responded.

She spun around and observed each hallway, even going so far as to shoot an arrow down them. There wasn't a single reaction, not even from the torches, as she purposely sent an arrow into the wall of the white-flame hallway.

Nothing. We gained nothing.

By now, we had stood around the central island for over a dozen minutes. We had to make a choice, so I closed my eyes and tried to see if my senses would tell me anything, but after a minute straight, I gave up and reopened them.

Out of all the hallways, the white-flame looked the least eerie.

"That one," I said, pointing to the north exit. "If we have to choose, I vote for that one."

"Reasoning?"

"White sounds better than green. Green makes me think poison, and while Sereza could survive that, we wouldn't."

Eodyne looked everyone in the eye and rolled her neck. "Fine. It's as good a reasoning as any."

She boosted Rello first, and as they entered the tunnel, they stopped near the entrance, giving it appropriate time for a trap to activate.

But thirty seconds passed, and they relaxed.

Next was Orlun, who cleared the way himself. Eodyne came back to help Aleena, but as soon as they touched the other side, a rumbling shook the entire room, and I crouched down, grabbing onto Sereza's jacket.

We braced ourselves as the island began to rumble.

"Cyrus! Sereza!" Eodyne shouted through the cacophony of noise.

I tried to stand up, but then the island began to spin away from the tunnel, forcing us to scramble toward the other side.

Áine clutched onto my shirt, and I held out a hand to stabilize her. "Sereza, we've got to jump!"

She opened her mouth, but the island jerked to a halt, sending us both to our knees.

Damnit!

Pushing to my feet, I dragged Sereza with me in time to feel a rush of mana from the hallway behind the others.

"Eodyne, incoming!"

She turned around, but a jet of air forced them back. Aleena grasped for something to hold onto, but a second gust pushed her off the edge, and she started to fall.

Eodyne grunted and jumped down, slamming her palm against Aleena's back, who screamed as she rocketed upward. Her arms cushioned the impact, but she hit the roof and landed inside the tunnel, where Orlun grabbed her, and Rello summoned a spike to use as a brace.

Eodyne landed on the first island out and then leaped again.

She was coming, but as I shuffled closer to the edge, my foot slipped, and I slammed my elbows onto the tile. When I looked down, I saw that my leg had fallen through.

Sereza grabbed onto my shoulders and hauled me up, but the section of tiles around her cracked and came apart, jostling her to the side.

I gritted my teeth and reached a hand up for Eodyne, rushing at us, but a chill ran down my spine as the wind whispered in my ear.

"Stop!" I roared.

Eodyne came to a halt just as a blue fireball zipped across the cavern. It exploded against the far wall with a flash of light.

Sereza tugged on my arm. "Cyrus, push yourself out!"

My leg twisted, and something jagged tore a line through my calf. Ignoring the pain, I pulled my leg out of the hole and joined Sereza on the last section of uncracked tile.

Eodyne tried to move forward, but mana flared to life, and a barrage of fireballs zipped through the air. She activated her skills, and a wall of wind intercepted five of the six projectiles while the sixth veered across the barrier and exploded at Sereza's feet.

She held on, and I sucked in the sharp mana with my hand, letting it rush into my core. The flames spread, but the explosion never came as I forced the mana down.

Crack! Crack!

The island titlted nearly ninety degrees, and someone screamed as we started to fall. I forced my hand into the hole my leg had created and struggled to hold on.

Fuck...

My other hand wrapped around Sereza's waist as she dangled below me.

"Sereza!" I called out, unable to look down as another flash of light assaulted me.

"Here! I'm activating my skill!" she replied.

Another rush of mana came from the blue-flame tunnel, and I dug my claw into her shoulder.

"Don't! Too dangerous!"

I shut my eyes as the flashes continued.

Sereza grunted. "Eodyne? Some help?"

She didn't respond, but I felt her mana signature swerve to the left.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

My claws dug into the tile, but I continued to fall as the island finally broke free from the pillar holding it up.

Fuck!

I used the last of my strength to push with my boots and kick-off, trying to launch myself up. Sereza dug her claws into my side, piercing my jacket as I did.

The fall made me look up, and the sense of danger rose to an icepick digging into the back of my neck.

"Eodyne!"

She appeared like a bolt of lightning, her form sparking as she reached a hand down.

My fingers grazed hers, and she caught my index, but a blue fireball smashed into her side, knocking her away.

Her eyes were saucer plates as the force knocked her to the left.

"Master!" Sturmrorex roared.

He slipped from Eodyne's shoulder and snaked around my arm, his scales squeezing tight.

A chunk of island clipped my shoulder and knocked the breath out of my lungs.

"Sereza. Skill!"

I expected her body to burst apart, but as we continued to slip further into the abyss, I looked down and found the felkin smiling with blood dripping down her chin.

"Nope," she grinned.

A chuckle nearly escaped my throat, but the blip appeared behind her. My foot lashed out, nearly smacking into her knee. She pulled back and revealed a black tentacle attached to her hip.

More tentacles continued to sprout until the blip pulsed with ice-like mana.

A fifth tentacle squeezed my arms together, constricting Sturmrorex into my chest, and I heard a familiar voice whisper words into my ear.

"This is going to hurt."

A black hoodie and mask covered his head, but I could recognize the golden locks peeking out from anywhere.

Swirling eyes reminiscent of the void met mine as we sank deep into the abyss.