It never crossed his mind that those scarecrows would know how to use tactics in their mindless one-dimensional attacks. But Zach should have expected it. Something like the last wave should have something else from the rest, and perhaps this was better than facing the prosaic boss-class monster.

He jumped up and reached Savreen. There was no time to explain as he grabbed her by the waist. She was a bit repulsed by the suddenness but relented as she knew the tree was starting to fall. Gravity took over and pushed against the heavy weight of the tree, hastening the process of the base snapping from the trunk. The branch slowly turned to a decline and Zach made a run for it. He sprinted like it was a race, and leaped right at the edge of the tree branch. The momentum carried him forward, enough to cover the distance to another giant tree. His dagger stabbed right through the bark as his whole body slammed against it.

His defense stat negated that thud and Zach was quick to find the closest tree branch. Savreen removed herself from Zach’s back as the duo witnessed the splendor sight of a giant tree smashing against the dirt ground. A large quake shook the ground, the tree, and anything within the vicinity. Their hairs fluttered by the one-time gust as he saw the tumbling did something good for them. The scarecrows on the other side were smashed against the trunk as their intelligence could only go so far.

“They’re coming,” Savreen alerted. They climbed, giving chase. While others were chomping down the tree. There was no use of a saw or anything sharp as these scarecrows just bit through the tough bark, and with their numbers, he could say those weak jaws made out of straw were pretty effective.

Zach fought off against a few while figuring out a plan. Fighting on the ground was a blatant suicide as he was not equipped nor powerful enough to go full psycho at these scarecrows. He had to make a plan, and the only thing he could think of was going back to the cave. It was the safest if he minus the threat that came within the tunnel.

Yet, the simplest solution evaded his mind, and it was a bit late for him to realize it. “Fire,” he said. From the first day till now, it seemed he could not part with the element of fire. It was destructive as well as effective no matter the enemy he faced unless they were made out of rocks or creatures beyond the depth of the sea. But here, fire was the key.

“Hey,” Zach called. He met her eyes. “You know how to make a fire?”

The thought crossed her mind, and Savreen couldn’t believe how foolish she had been. It was the simplest answer, and yet the fear and anxiousness of this strange world clogged her mind from fully functioning. She glowered at herself as her hand rummaged inside the pouch hanging on her leather belt. She took out something and showed it to Zach.

He smiled. The lass came prepared. She had a flint nestled inside her pouch, and it was time to make fire. The leaves could be used as well as the bark, but he had something else in mind for tinder. Something much easier to catch on fire.

Zach dropped himself off the edge and landed right on top of a tree branch. Right in front of his eyes was a climbing scarecrow, and by chance, both of them stared at each other. It had no eyes, yet its action seemed like it did. Zach grabbed it by the neck and was quick to give the ending blow. Its life force shattered, and Zach was back up again. He threw the scarecrow in front of Savreen with a grin. What could be better for tinder than a scarecrow made out of straw?

Savreen caught the knife that was casually thrown at her, and she was quick to make it spark. A few more attempts and fire came alive. The bright orange flame brightened the dark forest.

Zach fanned the flame and it grew bigger. He kicked it off the edge of the tree branch as the duo watched from above as the burning scarecrow fell on top of the horde of scarecrows.

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Soon the flame spread like wildfire and the scarecrows were quick to learn, dispersing like ants. It was as if they had abandoned their sole purpose of existing, to search and destroy. Zach frowned. It did not go as he expected as he thought the single-mindedness of the scarecrows wouldn’t care about a flame. But he was wrong. Whatever intelligence bestowed upon them, they at least recognized the danger brought by the flame.

They left their burning mates alone until all the flames faded. Then they converged once more, encircling the tree at an angle, and rather than climbing it, all of them resorted to biting through the bark, learning from their mistake.

The sign of them learning annoyed Zach. For some reason, this last wave was never going to be easy. “They’re not climbing,” Savreen said. She was getting nervous over the changes in these golem-like creature behaviors.

“You think there’s a witch nearby?” she asked. Her voice was close to trembling.

“A witch?” a word he had never expected to hear. He would have laughed at her if they were back in Brittania, but here it might not be that far-fetched. Yet Zach scrapped that possibility as they were in a dungeon of all places, and the wave notification was enough of a sign that it was premeditated by the dungeon’s owner. Well, perhaps she might be right though as there was no fact saying that the dungeon owner couldn’t be a witch.

Zach shrugged. He told her it was impossible and just reasoned with her that the dungeon was responsible.

“You mean a dungeon is alive?” she questioned. Her eyes quivered with her imagination running wild. If that was true, then she was inside the belly of the beast with escape all but impossible.

“Relax,” Zach said. He could see the restlessness in her eyes and the constant fidgeting. Zach was expecting more from a Mirdouin, but he guessed no one was prepared for a strange world like this.

“The meaning of alive for a dungeon is a different one than us,” Zach said. He spewed nonsense, considering it was not a confirmed fact. He just played it off, following his previous life knowledge which had a high possibility of being wrong, but who could say?

Zach grabbed Savreen by the waist again and leaped to another tree.

The one before fell, and the sequence repeated with the one they were standing right now. He decided to flee and kept on jumping from one tree to another. They fled as these scarecrows were no longer climbing to meet their death. They were cornering them more smartly, and Zach had to find another method.

Before long, they reached a dead end. Something that Zach did not expect as he thought a dungeon would expand more than this. It was the end of the valley with a high cliff that easily towered over the giant trees as well as blotting the sky.

“What now?” Savreen asked. Her eyes glancing the unseen peak. She no longer mind being held in such an intimate way with a stranger of all people, but she could see Zach was an upright young man. The frown on Zach's made her question what could she bring into this problem they were facing.

She was a Mirdouin, people of the desert, and to boot, she was also a treasure seeker. Well, a newbie. But she had her small successes. Unlike the quiet tombs she roamed, this dungeon was a whole lot more dangerous than dead people in a sarcophagus.

Savreen looked up, and down. Wherever her eyes could land, searching for an escape path where none could be seen. But that was where her expertise lies. Her keen eyes scanned the cliff, burning precious seconds as the enemies were getting close.

Then a gleam could not escape her eyes. “There!” she pointed. Zach followed. He strained his eyes, and yet he could not see what she was pointing.

“What?” he asked.

“Can you bring me there?” Savreen asked.

“You want to climb this ridiculous cliff?” Zach was confident in climbing the cliff. But he worried what if this was the border of the dungeon, and climbing it would be a path he should not take.

“Not the cliff, but there,” Savreen repeated. “I see something, and it might be our escape.”

“A bit vague, don’t you think?” Zach questioned.

“Trust me,” Savreen said. Their eyes locked together. They were so close as if they could feel their breaths touching each other lips.

“The word ‘trust’ alone is something fragile,” Zach said. “I need more than that, Miss Mirdouin.”

She hesitated. But she said it. “I’m a treasure seeker. I know my ins and outs of ruin, and I know a hidden path when I see one.”

“Treasure seeker?” Zach asked. “Don’t you mean, a grave robber?”

She glared. Slightly bit offended by the degrading terms. But now wasn’t the time to argue. “Are you going to follow my words or not?”

Zach pondered for a second. Then he lightly smiled.

“Well, a gamble it is then.”