"That might have been a little foolish." Gene lands at my side in her lycan form. I agree with her. We needed to know for sure what happened when either one of us died, but we could have gone about it differently. And it is probably too soon to experiment with what happens when both of us die.

"That was a terrible execution," I agree with Gene. "And all for the sake of a new king."

"You know Bones would have given you the boss slot. He will give you all the slots and agree to anything you say. Of course, you know that. You are probably already scheming for this to be a net positive."

"The dungeon is due for an upgrade. I sensed it through my connection with Bones. He didn't know how to upgrade outside of the core?"

"Not buying it. This was just another ego duel." I check myself to see if Gene's words have merit.

"Do I have an ego problem?"

"Yes, but not in the way it should be." Gene paces around while she sends out her energy readings. Usually, I can't sense her perception. Right now, she isn't bothering with hiding her search. Gene's body is tense, her brows are furrowed, and her breathing is irregular. "They're all gone." Her voice is quiet and subdued. Before I can talk, Gene has us in her shadow realm. I continue to watch my friend as she paces in her realm.

"I am not trying to put the dungeon at risk." I summon a couple of chairs, pull a light snack from Gloom's pocket, and offer Gene some. She takes the food offer but refuses the chair, so I use the extra as a leg rest. "It's the opposite, actually. You said it yourself, when real power comes we will be in danger. We are trying to get ready for that time."

"I know. That is why you have these early morning training sessions. As you might have noticed, I even participated in today's training. Why did you two have to take it so far? Now, you are the only thing stopping me from losing everyone again. If you were to die now, we could lose everything."

The weight of Gene's words is nothing new. I've felt the burden of life for some time now. I'm the last band that holds this delicate dungeon together. One would think that I would feel strong with all of this power I hold. It's the exact opposite. I'm scared of what I mean to Gene, her people, Bones, Nette, Fury, the Anvileers, and anyone else who joins us. How am I to act... do I hide, run, horde power, or just try to live? I don't know, and every time I make a decision, I question myself. Gene is right. If I choose wrong, we will lose everything.

Our golden princess comes blazing through the training grounds as if on cue. Seeing the light, cleric Gene's body freezes. Shadow mana pools around her. Her timid eyes are sharp as daggers, and her breathing heightens. Lana searches the training ground and then walks through our temporary huts. We follow her into the empty glass dome. Inside, it's a mess of heaping piles of earth and stone. Our renovations left unfinished.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Shit. Shit. Shit," Lana mutters to herself. "Hello?" She shouts. Then again, louder as she rushes back outside. She returns to the training ground only to find herself still alone.

"Are you not going to reach out to her?" I ask Gene.

"While we are so exposed?"

"You don't trust her?"

"She did not bind herself to the dungeon." It's true she didn't, and it's easier to trust people bound to you, but is that really trust?

"She promised to keep us safe and protect us with her life. She's no less committed than Cru."

"And where is the goblin now? Probably running back to his people to expose our weaknesses."

"Gene. Listen to yourself speak. This isn't you."

"This is me. This is who I am. I am scared. Tired. My trust reserves are empty, yet we keep on trusting more and more. We are shaking hands with death and giving it a welcome place at our home. It is only a matter of time before it collects. I can not keep pretending that everything is fine. I can not act like I am not terrified every day of ending up alone. I miss my people so much. Looking at the kids… it brings me so much happiness and sorrow. I see the faces of my friends. I see the sadness in their children's eyes because they know they are alone. In my heart, I know I will fail them, too."

Gene's words are a landslide. They are too honest, brutal, and raw. They are real. Her words are the doubts I try to bury. They are the reasons for my restless nights. I see Gene's despair, and I am crushed with her.

"I'm scared, too." I try to quiet my doubts and apprehension and speak honestly. "I've felt like running several times. I'm actually positive my presence here is more dangerous to the people than it is good. Above all, I'm angry for you and your people. You're right. This isn't right. This isn't fair. You and the kids shouldn't have to trust so many strangers for your survival. Some of them were even enemies, and I'm sad that we have to trust more and more. We are a rope being pulled far too tightly. So what do you do? What do we do?"

That's not all I want to say. The word that haunts my recycles haunts my thoughts more and more. Is there more I need to be doing? Is there some impending doom none of us are aware of? Whose voice is that? Am I being watched? If so, then by whom. And I am still confused about my fight with death mana. Is there another power pulling the strings? Just the typical passive thoughts one gets when trying to sleep or avoid sleep. I've been calling it meditation. However, this isn't the time for my words or even thoughts. I'm only trying to support Gene, but I don't know how.

"I do not know," Gene says in a subdued voice. "What can we do?"

Live.

The word sends a chill down my spine. Gene's fur turns pale, which I know is not a thing, but she looks awfully ghostly, like tremors of her past self still lingering. Did I send the word through my bond? I was thinking about it a second ago. I didn't say it, right? That wasn't my voice. I keep an eye on Gene and another on the princess we've followed back to the gate. The lycan still hasn't moved or said anything in response. Her eyes are swollen. I walk closer to her but stop when I hear the gate slamming. I turn my head to see Lana running up the wall and jumping down the other side. Beyond the gates, I see an army of demons. Shit.