Chapter Twenty-one

 

Stern grunted as he hoisted Michael onto his shoulders and bag. Vulk watched him, curious, but not interrupting. Stern hooked one of Michael’s arms and legs, holding them with his right arm.

 

“Let’s go,” Stern grunted.

 

Trish frowned at the caster. She’d been so hopeful that he’d fit in with them, but Michael had shown his lack of ability to deal with being a Walker. Shaking her head, she followed Pawly into the woods, closer to the center.

 

“Are you okay?” Cyra asked Stern.

 

“He weighs more than I thought,” Stern grunted as he kept walking.

 

“Why do you carry him like that?” Cammie asked.

 

“Field carry,” Stern grunted. “Mom taught me.”

 

“It’s easier on him. That I can see,” Vulk snorted.

 

“For wounded normally,” Stern managed to grit out.

 

Vulk nodded slowly. “Oh. That makes sense.”

 

They traveled for a while, and Stern was feeling the burn of carrying not just his pack, but Michael, too. Trish came to a sudden stop, forcing them all to stop. Stern grunted and let go of Michael’s arm and leg, pushing himself fully upright and dropping the man off his back. Michael gasped, then grunted when he hit the ground, curling into an even tighter ball.

 

“Is that a wagon?” Cyra asked, staring at what Trish was looking at.

 

“Old and overgrown, but yeah,” Cammie said.

 

A deep growl came from up ahead, and they all felt the life rushing their way. Pawly came bolting toward them and, behind her, a massive wolf followed. Standing as tall as the dwarves, the thing towered over the other wolves they’d fought.

 

Trish braced for the creature, and Vulk went a pace behind her. Stern rushed up to flank Trish to her left. Pawly darted to the left and, a second later, there were the distinctive twangs of the crossbows firing.

 

The wolf had turned to follow Pawly when two bolts hit it. One of them seemed to graze off its shoulder, but the other one sank into its hindquarter just in front of its hip. The wolf yipped and went sprawling.

 

Pawly came to a sudden stop and rushed back at the wolf, but it was back on its feet before Pawly got there. Tentacles lashed down, scoring only minor cuts through its thick fur. The wolf lunged, snapping at where Pawly’s image was.

 

“We have to pack it,” Stern said.

 

Trish grunted and started forward. “Just let me grab it.”

 

Another bolt flew and they discovered a major problem with Pawly’s perk— Pawly let out a yowl, suddenly visible as a crossbow bolt sunk deep into her side.

 

“Shit! Sorry!” Cammie yelled.

 

That hit gave the wolf the target it’d been looking for, and it lunged again. Pawly swatted at it, but she was clearly hurt. The two beasts came together, clawing, biting, and growling at each other.

 

Stern’s heart raced— he wanted to rush to help Pawly or dismiss her, but he didn’t do either. Trish sprinted forward suddenly, closing the gap while the wolf rolled with Pawly. Stern raced after her with Vulk beside him.

 

“Dismiss her!” Trish shouted, pulling her hammer back as she was almost in range.

 

“Go home!” Stern shouted.

 

Pawly faded away and the wolf hit the ground, the supporting weight underneath it gone. Before it could figure out what had happened, Trish’s hammer came down. The wolf rolled at the same moment and, instead of crushing its skull, the blow hit the canine on the shoulder.

 

The wolf let out another pained yip it tried to get away from them, dodging and ducking the next two strikes from Trish. As it went, it howled a deep tone that locked Trish’s muscles. It suddenly darted at her, but Stern and Vulk swung around Trish, both attacking the monster.

 

Vulk’s axe carved a deep gouge that sprayed blood, and Stern’s dagger punched into the soft spot just behind its foreleg. Before Stern could pull his dagger back, the wolf spun in a frenzy, knocking Stern’s hand away. Its back legs kicked Vulk— who had stepped in again— and staggered the dwarf back, taking another deep cut on its flank in return.

 

The wolf tried to run off, but it was more a stumble, as two of its legs had been injured. Trish shook off the stun and advanced with Stern and Vulk as they closed on it. Twin bolts sunk into its side as Cammie and Cyra fired again. A black beam of power slammed into it a second later, causing the wolf to falter again. The fight ended quickly with the three in melee finishing it off.

 

Stern was about to comment when he felt a pulse of life coming their way and spun to face it. “Five!” was all he managed to say before the five wolf pups came rushing in, splitting for each of them.

 

Spread out as they were, the crew wasn’t going to be able to do what they had done before, especially with Pawly gone. Trish and Vulk had no trouble with theirs— the wolves were a quarter the size of the boss they’d killed. Stern took a bite to his right arm, but that let him gut the one that came for him.

 

There was a feminine scream of pain from Cyra when she was bitten. She kicked the wolf and it backed up a step and stood there, dazed. Yanking her dagger free, she grabbed it by the muzzle and stabbed it in the throat repeatedly.

 

Cammie gritted her teeth, refusing to cry out as she attacked her own wolf a dozen times, its teeth sunken into her knee. She felt hot warmth surging down her leg, along with the crunch of bone, and knew it was bad.

 

Michael was a tight ball crying, pleading to not be bitten.

 

“Cyra, heal Cammie!” Trish yelled.

 

Cyra blinked against the pain in her arm and did as Trish commanded. Cammie exhaled in relief as the pain ebbed enough that she could think.

 

“Thanks,” Cammie said as she dropped to the ground and fumbled for her salve.

 

“Salve up!” Trish snapped. She saw the orb by the decrepit wagon and pointed at it. “We have our way out!”

 

Those words got Michael’s head to jerk up. When he saw the orb, he let out a cry and staggered to his feet, rushing for the orb.

 

Stern glared at the mage as he yanked his salve out to heal his bite. “Useless...”

 

Michael shied away from Stern and, as soon as he was past him, he started running for the exit again. Michael never saw Trish swing her arm out directly into his path. The dull thunk of his body hitting Trish’s shield was loud to the others as Michael fell unconscious to the floor of the forest.

 

“There might be more or a trap up there,” Trish explained, seeing the others looking at her.

 

“Agreed,” Vulk snorted.

 

Stern finished salving his arm and looked back at Cyra and Cammie. When he saw where Cammie was applying salve, he grimaced. “That might have crippled her...” he muttered.

 

“Which is why I had Cyra heal her. I’m hoping that it’s enough to make sure her leg is saved.”

 

Cyra knelt next to Cammie and helped her finish salving the injured knee. “Does it still hurt?”

 

“Yeah,” Cammie said. “I hope it’s not broken.”

 

“That would be bad,” Cyra said as she put her salve away. “Only one way to find out.”

 

Taking Cyra’s hand, Cammie got to her feet and gently put her weight onto her injured leg. After a second, she took a step and exhaled. “Okay. It’s a bit stiff, but I can use it.”

 

“Thank the Goddess,” Vulk sighed.

 

Stern summoned Pawly back, adding her perks in the next instant. “Welcome back.”

 

Pawly chuffed, then looked at the pups and hissed at them.

 

“Yeah, they came during the howl,” Stern told her, “but you gave us the opening we needed. Are you okay?”

 

Pawly chuffed, headbutting his gut.

 

“Form up,” Trish said. “Stern, can you grab him?” She motioned toward Michael, who was still out cold.

 

Stern grunted, but Vulk snorted and grabbed the downed man, plunking Michael onto his shoulder. “I got him, Stern.”

 

“Okay,” Trish said. “Pawly, go ahead.”

 

Pawly chuffed, but moved to Cammie, who looked away. With another chuff, Pawly pushed her head into Cammie’s chest. Cammie swallowed, then used one arm to hug the big cat.

 

“Sorry...”

 

Pawly chuffed again, pulled back, and licked Cammie’s face from chin to hairline.

 

Cammie coughed and spluttered, wiping at her face. “Gak!”

 

“She forgives you,” Stern snickered.

 

“She does,” Cyra giggled and patted Pawly’s back. “Thank you, Pawly.”

 

“That’s an issue we’ll have to work on,” Trish said. “It’s the first time it happened, so it might happen again. Glad Pawly is forgiving about it.”

 

Pawly chuffed again, walking away from the still-sputtering dwarf. She meowed as she passed the others, heading for the wagon.

 

When they got there, they found the scooped-out den the wolves had been using. Bones littered the area, humanoid enough to be one of the non-monster races. There were pieces of old broken cargo littering the area, as well.

 

Trish frowned at the scene. “This is unusual...”

 

“For this far down in tier, it is,” Stern agreed.

 

Vulk went to the orb and threw Michael onto it. The moment Michael touched it, he vanished. “There. That’s better.”

 

“Why is this unusual?” Cyra asked.

 

“Something like this screams treasure,” Stern said. “Cammie, take a look for us?”

 

Cammie nodded and stepped forward slowly, staring at the wolf den.

 

The others stood on guard, looking into the woods.

 

Cammie grumbled and moved onto the wagon after a handful of minutes. It took another ten minutes until she exhaled in excitement. “I found something!”

 

“Is it safe?” Trish called back, not looking away from the forest.

 

“Checking,” Cammie called back.

 

After another couple of minutes, there was a thunk, and everyone looked back to see a small iron chest on the ground. Cammie leapt down to land beside it.

 

“It was in a compartment under the driver’s bench,” Cammie said. “I didn’t see any traps there. Give me a minute to work on the lock.”

 

“Take your time,” Trish said. “Everyone, back to watching.”

 

The other three turned back around to keep an eye on the woods.

 

Time seemed to crawl by before Cammie laughed. “Got it. Oh, nice.”

 

The others pulled back to look into the chest with her.

 

A padded interior held three vials of a light red fluid with white sparkles suspended in it. Besides those, there was a small pouch that clinked metallically when Cammie picked it up.

 

“Healing potions and some coins,” Stern said. “Damned good haul, especially for a tin dungeon.”

 

“Cammie, how’s your knee?” Trish asked.

 

“Not healed all the way, but a day or two—”

 

“Drink a potion,” Trish said. “You had a joint injured. Let’s not mess with it. We’d take you to the sisters, which would cost us, but that potion will fix any problem that might linger, saving us the money.”

 

“Wait,” Stern said. “I’d rather pay for it and save the potion for when it can save us in a dungeon.”

 

Trish hesitated, then nodded. “That’s a good point, but a joint injury isn’t cheap.”

 

“It’s cheaper than one of these potions,” Stern countered.

 

“I might be able to heal it tomorrow, too,” Cyra said.

 

“Valid,” Trish nodded. “Cammie?”

 

“I can wait.”

 

“Okay. We should split the potions between us though.”

 

“Cyra, Vulk, and you,” Stern told Trish. “You two are likely the ones who’ll need it the most,” Stern said, looking between Vulk and Trish. “Cyra carrying the last works, since she’s our healer.”

 

“Agreed,” Vulk said.

 

“Okay,” Trish nodded.

 

“I agree, too,” Cammie added.

 

“How much is in the bag?” Stern asked Cammie.

 

Cammie opened the coin pouch and looked inside. “Maybe a few large copper? It’s all in small copper.”

 

“A bonus is a bonus,” Trish said. “Okay, let’s go get our perks and loot.”

 

Cammie tossed the bag at Stern, who caught it. “There you go, Boss.”

 

Stern grunted as he caught it and pushed it into his hip pouch. “Boss?”

 

“You are the crew leader,” Cyra giggled.

 

“They have you there,” Trish laughed.

 

Vulk snorted. “I’m not calling him Boss.”

 

“Please don’t,” Stern sighed.