“I’m beginning to wish we had never found these damn ruins!” Abby hissed as Bert leaped over her shoulder.

His shield slammed into the security drone before it could fade into its ghostly form. The microsecond of hesitation that caused left it impaled on a long spear of sky-metal flung up from the Waystation. Before he could respond to her, a scream came from outside.

Bert dashed off again.

The Waystation was like a kicked ant hill. The crew was constantly moving as they tried to defend their guests from creatures that could literally pass through the walls. Even the Waystation itself was struggling with over fifty of the strange creatures attacking at the same time.

Fortunately, they went down quickly once you actually managed to catch them in their fleshy form.

Without that, Bert knew they would have no hope.

The battle raged for only twenty minutes, but they lost people even in that short time.

Three of their guests had been killed in their beds, and another four died fighting or fleeing.

Among their own people, they were lucky. The orcs took a couple of injuries; it would have been worse, but they managed to fall back to the farm carriages, where the plants came to their rescue. Gavin lost an arm defending a couple of Explorers, which Bert was able to regrow.

He left the Dwarf to recover in the capable and very appreciative care of the two Explorer’s Guild members. Bert couldn’t help but smile as the two women cooed over the beaming Dwarf.

“Nae bother, lassies!” Bert heard him say with faux humility as he closed the door, “Couldnae allow anything to happen to such a beautiful pair, aye?”

By the time the sun came up, the funeral plans had been made, and the bodies were stored in the basement of the silo. He met up with Bell to decide what to do about the missing Delvers.

“They’re dead,” Bell said simply. “There is no chance they survived the night.”

“Most likely,” Bert agreed.

“We’re gonna have to go look anyway, aren’t we?” Bell sighed.

“Pretty much.” Bert drained his teacup, quickly refilling it. “We were fine last night, almost got our buts kicked, but we managed. I don’t know how long we can last here, though.”

“Figures,” Bell sighed. “No one got any experience from them, by the way.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they are real creatures,” Bert explained what his Analyze skill had told him.

“Summons?” Bell asked. “That sucks.”

“And I’d bet the summoner is down in those ruins.”

“Unless it is the ruins?” Bell asked.

“Could be,” Bert acknowledged. “Either way…”

“Someone has to go look,” Bell agreed. “Find a way to stop it.”

They watched each other quietly for a while, but it was Bert who was the first to say it.

“We can’t both go.” There, it was said. They both knew it. Someone strong had to stay here, someone who could get the Waystation to safety if something happened down there.

It was almost like those stories from back on earth. The ones where both parents never traveled on the same plane… just in case. He never thought to be in the situation himself.

“I’ll stay,” Bell said quietly. “I can cover the entire place with Multi-Bells. It will let you take the most people with you.”

“Okay, But the orcs stay here as well,” He sighed. “And Gavin.”

Neither of them mentioned Tim. The little Gnork was like a child and would stay here no matter what.

“Really?” Bell said coldly. “Anyone else you want to leave here?”

“I'm thinking it should be me, Bud, Wendy, and Scruff,” Bud admitted. “Maybe Lily, if she can stay hidden.”

Bell stared at him.

“Why?” She asked through clenched teeth.

“Other than you, we are the strongest fighters. Any of us gets separated from the others… I reckon we can fight our way out solo.” Bert went on, “Lily can hide indefinitely. That leaves you, Slothy, Gavin, and the Orcs as our backup team.” Bert explained. “If it gets too bad, we can camp in place and hold until you come and get us.”

“Oh,” Bell said, slightly mollified. “How long do we wait?”

“You don’t,” Bert smiled. “We aren’t back by this time tomorrow; you come looking.”

Mandy joined the group as they started to move towards the gate.

“This is it?” She asked. “Four people?”

“Five,” Bert amended.

“Yeah, fine. I’ll come.” She huffed.

“He wasn’t talking about you,” A voice said from apparently nowhere.

Mandy yelped, and Bert tried to hide his smile.

“I’ll come anyway,” Mandy insisted. “And we will need at least another five. Maybe ten?”

“No,” Bert said. “No one else.”

“You aren’t even going to look for them, are you?” Mandy accused. “This is just pantomime!”

“We’ll look,” Bert said. “Numbers didn’t help the last team, did it?”

Mandy ground her teeth.

“I’ll come with you as far as the entrance, at least.” She spat the words as an accusation. “To make sure you go in.”

“Fine,” Bert said. He nodded to the others.

Wendy whistled, six black shapes scuttling out of the Waystation's shadows and forming around her. She was already in her bone suit.

Scruff held out a hand, and vines erupted from the ground, wrapping her in a shifting armor that sprouted flowers on her shoulders. Bud and Bert simply summoned their weapons and armor before a last nod had them moving again.

They exited the gates, seeing the bumps that marked the rooves of the ruins a little ahead.

“Tides!” Bert called, and they slowly began to cycle their man tides, a soft glow permeating them all. They jogged through the forest, Bud’s arrows occasionally taking out a threat.

In under a minute, they arrived at the entrance. Wendy waved the Pretties in, and they waited.

“Clear!” She called.

Bert jumped down, hearing the others do the same as they dropped into the gloomy shadows below.

===========

The entrance was just as described. A glorified closet or pantry with empty shelves, dust, and a few broken crates.

“We go slow, we go careful, and if it looks dangerous, we kill it on sight,” Bert said to the others. “We clear each and every place we come to and make sure we have a safe path out.”

Moving out of the entrance, they found the strange hallways Sonny had mentioned. Flat floors with the walls and roof being a smooth half circle. Everything was white stone, smooth and unmarred by seams or cracks. It looked shaped rather than built. Bert would think it was carved if not for the fact he had seen no white stone like this anywhere in the valley.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

No sounds came from the darkness ahead of them.

“Want some light orbs?” Lily whispered.

“Yeah, but keep them above and a bit behind us, okay?” Bert asked.

A low, pale light sprung up behind the group, rising until it illuminated the passage ahead. It had a strange quality to it, an off-white light with hints of purple and blue. It flickered slightly as if it came from a torch.

Bert was puzzled by it, holding up his hand and seeing how it looked in the strange light. He noticed the others were doing the same.

“Lily?” He asked.

“They are will o’ the wisp lights,” Lily said. “Their light can only be seen by the ones I choose to see it.”

“So we have light no one else can see?” Scruff asked.

“Yes,” Lily sounded pleased with herself. “It affects non-fae badly; they get all dazed and sleepy, but it has no effect on Fae.”

“Hah!” Scruff grinned. “This fae stuff is crazy.”

“Let’s go,” Bert said, “We have a lot of searching to do.”

He wasn’t wrong. They moved slowly, checking each room and passage they came to. Once it was cleared, Scruff planted vines to cover the openings, keeping a single clear path back to the exit.

They came across what appeared to be houses, storage, and even small offices. It was underwhelming in the extreme. Especially since they didn’t encounter a single enemy.

After almost two hours, they came to a set of stairs leading down. It was in the center of a large structure, complete with railings and a spiral of stairs that led down below. The place looked more ornate than the other buildings, but whatever it had been had collapsed above this floor, leaving scattered rubble and fallen walls.

Descending carefully, they found the stairs blocked with rubble, a single small gap still open, spattered with blood.

They had found where Sonny had crawled out.

Bert immediately led them back to the entrance, sending a Pretty up a vine with a note letting Mandy know the first floor was cleared.

That done, and with confirmation the area behind them had stayed clear, Bert and the team started to clear the blockage.

He noticed Wendy and Scruff whispering to each other urgently.

“What?” He asked.

“I want to plant some seeds,” Scruff said. “They can start to grow through the walls and stuff.”

“And bring it down on our heads!” Wendy huffed.

“Will they?” Bert asked Scruff.

“No,” Scruff said, holding out a small handful of seeds for him to see. “I want to plant them up there,” She pointed to the ceiling. “And they can make us a new exit while we search.”

“Okay,” Bert said, “But hurry, please.”

Scruff grinned, dropping the seeds onto a vine that uncurled from her shoulder. The vine shot off, slamming into a gap in the corner.

“Done!” She said happily. “Give my babies a couple of hours, and we will have this entire room and a new exit.”

The last of the rubble cleared, sucked into his storage, and the team moved down to the second level.

A large oval room greeted them, even larger than the one above. Tunnel openings in the wall here and there were yawning mouths of darkness. A number of dead animals and creatures lay here and there, but only one corpse. It was one of the tanks; Bert could see the man’s shield broken in two, the strange grey creature that killed him still there, his sword buried in its chest like its horns were buried in his chest.

Bert pulled the animal clear before taking the corpse of the man into his storage.

“Spring Healed Goat, modified.” Bert shook his head. “It doesn’t say what by.”

The goat itself looked much like earth goats, except for much larger back legs and horns. Changing his prosthetic hand into a hatchet, he peeled back the skin, seeing smooth polished metal and stone covering the skull and spine.

The back legs were also modified, with metallic-looking muscles and reinforced joints. Strange runes on the base of each hoof as well. He didn’t recognize them.

“What the hell are these things?” Wendy asked from where she was carving apart another animal corpse. It looked like a piece of fallen stone, white and grey like the walls around them, but she had flipped it over, revealing soft, slimy-looking pale green flesh. “I just get Punt Toad - modified when I analyze them.” She carved it open, the pale flesh parting easily to her sharp bone claws. With a grunt, she pulled out a chunk of rune-covered metal and glass.

“It’s strange,” Bert said, “This almost looks like they were turned into cyborgs.”

“Right?” Wendy agreed.

“Whatever it is, I don’t like it much,” Wendy said, kicking the carcass away from her.

“Something in the tunnel to the right,” Bud said, drawing a loosing a glowing arrow as he spoke. Bert watched the arrow thunk into a mass of dark muscle.

“Behind me!” He called, leaping forward as he began to cycle the mana tides at a much higher speed.

He had barely landed and braced before the creature charged.

Bert let out an audible grunt as the flat head slammed into his shield. Two vicious horns waved over the top as he chuckled. Sometimes, it paid to be short. The animal’s hooves sparked, and the pressure against him doubled. He braced his shield with his prosthetic, cycling the tides faster as he slid back across the floor.

After a few more feet, he had it again.

Arrows were sprouting from the shoulders of the beast to no apparent effect.

“When I say,” Bud said, calmly dropping to a crouch and pulling a new arrow. “Dodge aside.”

Bert drew mana, charging his shield in preparation. As soon as Bud called out, Bert blasted the mana of two full surge tides out of his shield.

The creature screamed, rearing back as Bert rolled aside. Bud fired, and a crack of thunder boomed through the room.

A thump, and it was over. The creature lay on the floor, missing its entire head.

It twitched, and vines pulled it apart.

“Just to be sure,” Scruff shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Bert said, wiping a spray of blood and gore from his face. “Mind letting me move first next time?”

“Sorry,” She said, abashed.

Bert Analyzed one of the bigger chunks left.

Brute Goat

Modified

Crossbreed

A hybrid between the Brute Ox and Spring Healed Goat. Heavily modified.

“Well, this sucks,” Wendy said, holding up a piece of horn. It gleamed with metal and runework. “I’m used to being the overpowered one.”

“On the other hand, I did level from that kill,” Bud said smugly.

“Really?” Wendy’s eyes gleamed.

============

The tunnels on this level were different. Round, with raised walkways on either side. A series of openings from above and the sides gave away what they were even if the lingering smell didn’t.

“How bad did this sewer stink if they still smell?” Wendy asked as they made their way through yet another endless tunnel, their feet clicking against the brickwork.

“Let’s hope we never find out,” Bert said, with feeling. He kept a wary eye on the pipes lining the tunnel's top. More than once, some strange stick-bug-like creature had dropped from there, camouflaged as one of the pipes until after it moved.

“My question is,” Bud said ominously, “Where are all the enemies?”

There was a collective groan as sounds emerged from the end of the tunnel.

“Why?” Bert sighed. “Why did you have to say that?”

“Levels,” Bud shrugged his bow off his shoulder.

The group picked up the pace, running for the end of the tunnel so they could create a choke point.

They only just made it, with a teeming mass pouring into the far side of the room just as Bert took his place in the entrance.

He enlarged his shield, using it to block the end of the sewer tunnel as his team got ready.

“Look up,” Lily whispered in his ear.

Bert did, seeing the Spring Healed Goats running across the ceiling.

That was just bullshit!

“Goats on the ceiling, be careful!” Bert called.

Wendy laughed from behind him.

“What?” Bert asked.

“I’m gonna make a kebab!” She grinned as her Pretties chittered excitedly next to her.

“Ready!” He called, and they all nodded.

“Let’s do this,” Bert said, summoning his pot onto his head as he dropped the mana shield, hacking his way forward a step into the room.

He was flooded with enemies almost immediately. Mana blasts through his shield kept the pressure from overwhelming him as he swung his axe-shaped prosthetic through the first attackers to reach him. A dull thud on his helm let him know the goats had arrived.

Arrows poured over his head, glowing with mana and death. Goats rained down as Bud cleared them from the entrance.

“Clear!” He called.

A blur next to him and the Pretties arrived, their scythe arms swinging as they harvested the enemies. Changing his hand into a sword, Bert began a measured advance.

Vines coated with razor-like metal thorns reached around the edges of the entrance, tearing and slashing at anything that tried to flank him. Slowly, they pushed forward, him and the Pretties holding the front line until they had over half the circular room cleared.

A loud boom from his left and a section of the wall beside them crumbled and fell, more enemies swarming through the hole.

“I got it!” Scruff called, her vine-wrapped form struggling for a moment to stem the tide. Scruff snarled; the flowers on her shoulders swiveled and sent sprays of acid against the creatures while her vines dug into the floor, anchoring her in place.

“You okay?” Bert called, worried.

Scruff turned, her eyes shining with a bright green light.

“I. Got. It.” More vines erupted from her back, darting and slashing over her shoulders as she lifted from her feet. With a wild laugh, she dove through the gap. Blood and the screams of dying animals fountained from what looked like a blender of green vines.

“Okay,” Bert said. “You got it.”

“My turn!” Wendy growled, throwing herself into the fray. Her bone and flesh armor blurred as clawed hands ripped into the enemy.

Bert fought his way forward as the pressure eased, able to use both the shield and his sword as weapons, sending mana blasts through his shield as he felled enemies left and right.

Watching Wendy was like watching a dancer. She didn’t move so much as flow from one place to the other. Her clawed hands sent blood fountaining wherever she moved.

Another five minutes, and it was over.

Level Up!

+1 to all main stats!

“Weird,” Bert said. “I got a point in all three main stats instead of just one.”

“That’s so unfair!” Scruff huffed, coming out of the hole in the wall, red blood vanishing as the greedy vines absorbed it all.

“Maybe it is different after level thirty?” Wendy asked, panting. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, her skin pink with a faint flush.

“By the way, there’s a hidden room back there and stairs,” Scruff said. “I blocked it off with vines.”

“I think we need to go this way,” Bert said, peering into the next room.

“Why?” Wendy asked.

“There's a big hole in the wall,” Bert said. “And someone just waved at me.”