Chapter Twenty

 

Stern went still when he looked around the dungeon. Tall trees towered over the group, and light underbrush dotted the area. “Open dungeon,” Stern said.

 

“Which means what?” Michael asked, looking uncertain.

 

“That the mobs will be scattered all over. It’ll be easier for them to group up on us while coming from all directions,” Trish said tightly. “No funneling here.”

 

“Find the wall?” Cyra asked.

 

“What wall? We’re outside,” Vulk said.

 

“Open dungeons have an invisible barrier that stops you from moving outside the prescribed area,” Stern answered him. “My father always advised finding the edge and following it around.”

 

“The limited visibility is going to hinder my ability to help,” Michael said anxiously.

 

“You’ll have to cast in close combat,” Trish said.

 

“Cammie, take my crossbow,” Stern said as he unhooked it from his armor. “I’ll use my daggers to help guard.”

 

“Suboptimal, but probably for the best,” Trish sighed. “Vulk, Stern, and myself will be the outer guard. Cyra, Cammie, and Michael will stay inside our triangle.”

 

Stern upgraded Pawly. “You’re our outermost defender,” he told the tiger-sized Maine Coon. “And our pathfinder.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “That way first.”

 

“What in the Goddess’ name?” Michael choked out, seeing Pawly.

 

“My perks,” Stern said. “Trish, you’re technically our lead as the bulwark.”

 

“Pawly, you ready?” Trish asked.

 

Pawly meowed and moved the way Stern had indicated.

 

“Double arm’s length on the outside,” Trish told Vulk. “Pivot around trees as needed.”

 

“I have Life Sense running,” Cyra said.

 

Stern kept glancing up, wondering if the mobs would come down from the trees.

 

The path was far from straight as they maneuvered around trees and bushes. Pawly walked with slow, deliberate strides, making sure to give them time to follow her.

 

“Does this mean an attrition dungeon?” Michael asked, his fear rising slowly.

 

“Possibly,” Stern said. “Could be there’s a boss wandering around out here instead, though. If it’s a boss, then killing it will summon the stone. The plus side of open dungeons is that you don’t have to kill everything to get out if there’s a boss.”

 

“Keep the chatter down,” Trish said softly. “We don’t know what’s out there and we don’t want to be surprised.”

 

Stern was glad there was no wind, as it meant they wouldn’t have their scent carried to the monsters. On the other hand, it meant Pawly couldn’t sniff out the mobs, either.

 

Michael was growing increasingly anxious as they walked, and his hands started to shake. Stern started worrying about the mage breaking on them during the run.

 

Stern felt it a second before Cyra started to call out. He spun to find a wolf charging him, teeth bared and ready to bite him. Stern threw his right-hand dagger as he turned, presenting a narrower target, as his left hand gripped his other dagger tightly.

 

“Wolf!” Cyra called out when she saw what had triggered her Life Sense.

 

The dagger grazed the wolf’s muzzle, making it twist its head to the side. That saved Stern from being bitten, as it didn’t get its head back around before Stern closed the distance and stabbed it.

 

The wolf let out a whine of pain as it bounced off Stern, ripping itself off the dagger and stumbling away. The moment it separated, two crossbow bolts hit it in the chest, one sinking deeply. A beam of dark energy slammed into it and the wolf whimpered as it stumbled, dropping to the ground and struggling to rise. Vulk was there in the next instant, his axes carving into the mob, tearing bloody wounds.

 

“Nothing,” Cyra said, though the rest of the crew was feeling her Life Sense at work.

 

“Need to get my dagger,” Stern said.

 

“Wolves?” Trish hissed. “This is going to get ugly.”

 

“Why?” Michael asked, feeling confident now. “Combined, we can take them.”

 

“Because they’re pack animals,” Vulk grunted as he wiped his axes on the dead wolf.

 

“This must have been a loner to set the tone for the dungeon,” Cammie said as she looked around the quiet forest.

 

“If we don’t get too loud, we should only pull one pack at a time,” Trish said as Stern retrieved his dagger. “Hopefully...”

 

“If there’s a boss, that might not hold up,” Stern said. “Of course, if this is an attrition dungeon, we’re going to find a lot of packs.”

 

Michael’s confidence fled and now, he was even more frightened than before. “Oh…”

 

“Same plan?” Stern asked Trish.

 

“Best one we have for now. Using the wall to guard our backs isn’t a bad idea.”

 

“‘Use the terrain when you can,’” Stern agreed, quoting his father.

 

Pawly huffed, watching the wolf sink into the forest floor.

 

“Next time, maybe it’ll be on your side,” Stern told her.

 

A soft yowl was Pawly’s reply as she started forward again.

 

“Form up. Let’s go,” Trish said.

 

Michael swallowed hard, but made sure he was inside the rough triangle of guardians.

 

~*~*~

 

They had to deal with another lone wolf before they found the wall. Cyra’s Life Sense let Pawly know that a wolf was lying in wait, and she struck first. It lunged at her, but only caught the illusion. Her tentacles raked its muzzle, making it whine and cower. Crossbow bolts, magic, daggers, and even one of Vulk’s axes— thrown— hit it, ending its life.

 

That display got Michael to start feeling a little bit more confident. Stern had them stop long enough to dig a small pit, as he wasn’t sure they would know when they made it around, otherwise. With that done, Pawly led them along the left-hand wall.

 

Lone wolves attacked them as they made the long loop. None of them took any damage, as they had plenty of warning before the beasts could get to the group. Michael was smiling and joking with the others as they worked. Eventually, they made it back around to the pit Stern had dug.

 

“Big area,” Stern said, looking up at the sun.

 

“About two miles,” Vulk nodded.

 

“This is going to take a while, then, but we’ve done well so far,” Trish said. “Now, the harder part: being away from the wall.”

 

Michael’s confidence drained. “Away from the wall?”

 

“Yes,” Trish said. “We have to start spiraling inward.”

 

“Trish, what if we let Pawly trek in a hundred yards or so, and then we pace her from the wall?” Stern asked.

 

Trish looked thoughtful for a moment. “Pawly, you want to do that?”

 

Pawly yawned and walked into the woods.

 

“She does,” Stern said.

 

“Okay,” Trish said. “Pawly, you’ll need to keep an eye on us.”

 

“You’ll be harder for us to spot than the other way around,” Cyra added.

 

Pawly vanished into the undergrowth.

 

“How long do we give her?” Cammie asked.

 

“Good question. This might not work,” Stern sighed, as even he had lost sight of Pawly. He let out a soft whistle and waited.

 

Pawly padded back out of the forest a dozen feet to the left.

 

“We can’t track you,” Stern told her.

 

“We do it the hard way,” Trish said. “Okay, we’ll know which direction the wall is in if combat begins, at least. If need be, we can do a fighting retreat to the wall.”

 

Michael swallowed, his worry climbing. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yes,” Trish said bluntly. “You were fine a bit ago.”

 

“He had a wall then,” Stern said. “I think it’s the fact that he could be ambushed from any side.”

 

Michael looked away, not refuting Stern.

 

“Look, Mike,” Trish said, “we’ll keep you as safe as we can, like Cyra, but you need to be ready to help out and not cower.”

 

Michael nodded, not meeting her eyes.

 

“Let’s go,” Trish said.

 

It wasn’t too long before they all felt the next attack coming at them. This time, it was a trio of wolves. Trish, Vulk, and Pawly all intercepted the attackers, and Stern called out targets for the others to focus on. They killed the one on Vulk, then Trish, before ending with Pawly’s.

 

“Go home,” Stern said once the third wolf fell.

 

“But if she leaves, we’ll be missing her,” Michael stammered. “We can salve her, surely?”

 

“She’ll be healed when she comes back,” Cyra said soothingly.

 

Stern resummoned Pawly and gave her the increases again. “See?”

 

Michael swallowed. “Oh... right. Sorry.”

 

Trish exchanged a look with the others, Micahel was helping out with his magic, but he was only inches from panicking. She cleared her throat, “Mike, look. We managed it. You’ve been safe this entire time. No problems.”

 

Michael nodded meekly. “Right. Sorry.”

 

“Probably find them in small groups now,” Vulk grunted. “We have to be ready.”

 

“Let me salve that arm, first,” Stern said, pulling a tin from his hip pouch. “It might be a small bite, but it’s best to stop it from becoming a problem.”

 

“I think I’m going to get bitten more,” Vulk grunted.

 

“We have plenty of salve and, if it’s a problem in combat, I have you,” Cyra told him.

 

Vulk gave her a nod, his lips almost forming a smile. “Thank you.”

 

“Okay,” Trish said when Stern put the salve away, “let’s keep moving forward. Slow and steady.”

 

~*~*~

 

Stern wiped away the blood from his face, panting as he looked at the others. “This is not going well.”

 

“Not at all,” Trish agreed. “Cyra, you okay?”

 

“Fine,” Cyra grunted, “but I only have one heal left.”

 

“I think we’re almost done,” Stern said. “Vulk, need some help?”

 

“Please,” Vulk hissed. “I can’t reach that spot.”

 

“I got him,” Cammie said, letting the crossbow fall on its sling. “Turn around for me, Brother.”

 

Michael huddled on the ground, shivering with wild eyes as he looked around.

 

Stern exhaled slowly. He was having to work to keep Michael’s emotions from overriding his, but his friend’s steady emotions helped. “Pawly?”

 

Pawly limped over to him, letting out a soft yowl.

 

“Go home. I’ll bring you back in a moment.”

 

Michael looked away as Pawly faded. “We’re going to die.”

 

“Shut it!” Trish growled. “No one is dying on my watch.”

 

“When it was just three or four, we managed it better,” Cammie said as she sat down and started filling the second magazine for the crossbow. “Six is too many for us to handle easily.”

 

“We’ll make it,” Trish said. “There can’t be many left now.”

 

“It’s a much larger area than I thought it would be at the start,” Stern said, resummoning Pawly and adding her upgrades as soon as she reappeared. “Pawly, what do you think? Are there a lot more left?”

 

Pawly sat and looked at him, then the others, before looking toward the woods. She patted the ground once.

 

“Just one more group?” Stern asked.

 

Pawly chuffed, then sneezed.

 

Stern went cold at the emotions he felt from Pawly. “Shit.”

 

“What?” Trish asked.

 

“Boss.”

 

“She’s sure?”

 

Pawly chuffed again.

 

“Have you seen it?” Stern asked.

 

Pawly let out a soft meow.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Just it?” Trish asked.

 

Pawly sneezed.

 

“She’s not positive,” Stern clarified.

 

Vulk flexed his shoulder as Cammie put the salve away. “Okay. We can step out once it’s dead, right? We don’t have to kill everything.”

 

“True,” Stern nodded. “Trish?”

 

“Is it by itself, Pawly?” Trish asked.

 

Pawly meowed at her.

 

“Yeah,” Stern said. “I’ll add that it might have a howl or something to pull any nearby wolves to it.”

 

“We’ve killed everything close to us,” Vulk said.

 

“True,” Trish nodded. “Pawly, can you drag it toward us?”

 

Pawly shook her head.

 

“Okay, we’re going to it, then,” Trish said, rotating her arms to loosen them.

 

Michael whimpered, hunching further into his huddle.

 

“Do we leave him or try to drag him with?” Vulk asked. “I say leave him.”

 

“We can’t leave him,” Cyra said.

 

“Leave him until the boss is dead, then get him,” he clarified.

 

“Oh...” Cyra said, “I see. Sorry.”

 

“I wouldn’t leave him trapped in here,” Vulk said. “Even the worst person doesn’t deserve that.”

 

“He does have a point. It might be better to leave him here until the boss is dead, then drag him to the exit,” Cammie said.

 

“If another wolf wanders this way, though...” Trish countered.

 

“The boss will be a pressing threat. Can we do everything we need to and try to guard him at the same time?” Vulk asked.

 

“He helped with the last pack,” Cyra pointed out. “He’s not completely lost.”

 

“I’ll carry him,” Stern said. “It’ll be easy enough to put him next to Cyra when we get close.”

 

Trish sighed. “Okay. Let’s go.”