The crew had been traveling and fighting beasts for quite some time, now making their way towards another mountain. But they hit a snag. An invisible wall blocked their path, and touching it triggered a system notification:

  **Clear the dungeon in the area before proceeding onto the next area Dungeon 0/1**

  "Lets search the area and see if we can find the dungeons before nightfall." Tomas said. "We can split up in groups and have Cat set up camp with the kids while watching the all of our young animals and pups."

  "Ok we will do the best we can, wont we boy's?" Cat asked looking at Victor and Rieley.

  "Yes." they groaned.

  "But are you sure this is a good idea?" Victor asked trying to get out of setting the camp.

  "Yes kid, we have been at this for a while I think we can handle being in small groups." Tomas replied.

  "Ok." Victor sighed. "Stuck at stupid camp again."

  "I will head west and take Osia, George and Rick with me. Ann, Hunter and Anthony take the south. David, can you scout the wall and head east?"

  “Not a problem,” David said with a smirk. After a quick kiss from Cat he transformed into a bird and took flight.

  "Stay with mom Murder cat." Christine ordered as she followed suit, transforming and taking flight after her father. “Two sets of eyes are better than one!” Christine shouted as she soared.

  "Ok little one, try and keep up." David replied.

  “Hey quick question before you go Tomas, what do you want me to do with the big chicken.” Cat asked.

  "Oh you can let her loose and she will stay nearby as long as the pups are around." Tomas replied. "She likes to hide in bushes and watch from afar kind of like a mother hen."

  "Ok never saw that coming." Cat said.

  "Yeah she doesn't interact with them, but for whatever reason she thinks that she is mother goose." Tomas said.

  "What is her name again?" Cat asked.

  "Uh, we never gave her a name we just call her overlord I guess." Rick replied.

  "Interesting well I guess it is time to set up camp than. Good luck." Cat replied as the rest of the groups headed off.

  “Do we have to?” Victor protested, standing there petting his cat.

  “I will help!” Riley said with excitement.

  “Yes, Victor, we should get food ready for the others while they’re out looking for this dungeon we need to complete,” Cat explained, knowing well that food always motivated Victor.

  “Alright, but we’re not eating more soup,” Victor declared with a serious tone. “I have had it up to here with soup.”

  “Well, I have one better,” Cat replied, gesturing to the berries around them. “We can have soup and a berry pie!” she suggested, knowing that sweets were his favorite food group.

  “Okay, but can I help this time?” Victor asked, clearly trying to get out of setting up camp.

  “Sure can, after we set up camp,” Cat said with a big smile, seeing right through his ploy.

  “Oh, alright,” Victor conceded, finally giving in and beginning to pull the camping equipment out of the cart.

  The two druids, David and Christy, soared high above the trees, scanning for the dungeon until they spotted something interesting down below: a massive tree standing tall above the forest, covered in golden leaves.

  “Come, little one, let's check this tree out,” David shouted, already descending towards the ground.

  “Okay, but if this tree is nothing special, can we try and destroy it or something?” Christine said, knowing full well the answer would be no unless there was some beast inside that wouldn’t come out.

  “No, but maybe we can find a beast nearby to battle in the meantime to get your aggression out,” David said, knowing Chrisy was bored and wanted to do something rather than just flying around looking for the dungeon.

  “I’d like that,” Christy agreed.

  They flew around the tree a few times, making sure there was nothing around that would jump out at them while they inspected it. Once they were satisfied, seeing nothing in the immediate area, the two of them landed near the golden tree. David inspected the tree before proceeding.

  [Golden Phoenix (Legendary)]

  Named after the golden-colored leaves it produces, the Golden Phoenix is a legendary tree whose leaves are highly sought after for their potent alchemical properties. These leaves are the primary ingredient in the legendary potion known as the Living Phoenix. The tree is well-known to be a powerful source of life-giving energy, but it is also fragile and must be treated with respect. Reincarnation: The leaves of the Golden Phoenix are well-known to make the potion known as the Living Phoenix, which is used to reincarnate the user if they die shortly after drinking it. This potion is a one-of-a-kind artifact, a testament to the fact that even death can be overcome with a bit of magic and a touch of defiance. Fragile Nature: Taking too many leaves too fast can hurt the tree and make it begin to fade. The tree can only produce so many leaves at a time, and a user must be patient and respectful of its power.

  **Recipe unlocked: [Living Phoenix (Legendary)]**

  [Living Phoenix (Legendary)]

  This is a one-of-a-kind potion, a shimmering, golden liquid that seems to pulse with a life of its own. It is made from the leaves of the legendary Golden Phoenix tree and is a true testament to the fact that even death can be overcome. Reincarnation: If you drink this potion, you will be reincarnated if you die within the next hour. The potion will bring you back to life with all your stats restored to full health, and you will be returned to the location where you died. Mana Cost: It costs 150 mana to drink this potion, but its power is well worth the cost.

  After reading this, David turned to look at Christy, but she wasn't there. “Uh, little one, where did you go?” David asked while looking around the forest.

  “Right here, Dad,” Christy said while sitting up in the tree, now filling her bags with leaves.

  “Stop it! Get down here and stop pulling the leaves!” David commanded.

  “Why? Am I going to turn into a tree?” Christine said in a semi-joking tone.

  Just then, a large, nine-tailed beast came running through the forest, looking for its next meal. It stood on four legs with the head of an eagle and the front two feet were bird-like claws. The back half resembled more of a lion. At the end of each tail, a serpent-like head was attached, flying around behind it. The beast stopped in the forest and raised its head to listen; it could hear voices not far from its location. The large beast’s head then turned in the direction from which it heard these voices and proceeded towards it.

  “Little one?” David said in his stern dad voice, knowing that she would get the hint.

  “Okay, Dad, if you insist.” She closed her bag and started to turn to get down when all of a sudden, a beast lunged from behind David. “Look out!” Christy shouted while transforming into a bird.

  David spun, his body already erupting into the hulking mass of an owlbear, but the beast was faster than his magic. It hit him like a falling boulder. The transformation stalled as he was slammed into the earth, the impact driving the air from his chest. Under the weight of those heavy claws, David could only stare up, pinned and breathless.

  Not far from there, Hunter, Ann, and Anthony were walking through the forest until they came upon a cave entrance hidden beneath some vines.

  “Maybe we should look in there,” Anthony said with his sly, creepy hag voice.

  “Uh, okay,” Hunter agreed, shrugging his shoulders.

  “You know, if there are any spiders in there, I’m not going in,” Ann said as she stared down into the darkness with a blank face.

  “Oh, it will be fine,” Anthony continued, stepping into the cave.

  Hunter followed behind Anthony, and Ann followed suit with her sword drawn.

  Ann lit her sword, giving off a faint bit of white light that reached out around thirty feet around them. They continued down into the cave until they came to a split in the road, one going right and the other left.

  “Which way do you want to go?” Ann asked.

  “Eh?” Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulders once more.

  “I say we go left,” Anthony replied, pointing his dagger to the left.

  Both Ann and Hunter nodded and followed Anthony deeper into the cave until they stopped once they heard a skittering moving across the cave floor in front of them. Once the noise went away, they continued down the tunnel until they came to a large opening that entered into a much larger cavern.

  Each of them moved in slowly, entering the cavern, trying not to attract any unwanted attention from the beasts that resided in these caves. Once Ann was the last one into the cavern, only a few steps in, a creature the size of a limo jumped down to attack Ann. Though with Ann’s keen hearing, she heard it move and quickly jumped to the side just in time as a large black creature dropped down into the space where Ann was standing, revealing a Giant Centipede-like creature.

  The creature facing Ann, Hunter, and Anthony had two large pincers, slightly larger than an adult human male's arms, with a small green substance dripping from them. Both Hunter and Anthony spun around, immediately getting into a fighting position, ready for battle.

  Not far from there, four figures—Tomas, Osia, Rick, and George—came upon a large hole in the ground. George lit his fist on fire using his ability and stuck his hand down into the hole to get a better look. Not much was visible besides a deep, vine-lined hole leading into darkness.

  “Do we continue through the forest, or do we drop into this hole?” Tomas asked.

  “All I can see down there is a bunch of vines and the ground beneath. Kind of reminds me of Osia down there. Dark and empty inside,” Rick said with a smile, teasing her.

  “Let's do it,” Tomas said in a joking manner, trying to liven up the group.

  “Yeah, I can’t fly. So, good luck!” Osia said, looking down into the pit.

  “Oh, come on, you turned into an ooze when we fought against the large Crab beast. Just use that ability and drop into the hole with us,” Rick said with a grin.

  “Yeah, and if you could use that fancy shadow ability to bring more of us through than just you, then that would make life so much easier,” Osia shot back at Rick, punching him lightly in the arm.

  “Hey, I will get that ability someday. Just you wait, oh almighty Queen of the Hags,” Rick said, getting down on both knees and bowing dramatically to Osia.

  With a good push from Tomas, both Rick and Osia fell into the pit. Osia turned into an ooze and went splat, while Rick flew into the shadows.

  “See, that's all they needed was a little push,” Tomas said with a smile. “Bones stay here and if I need you I will call.” Bones sat down and whimpered and Tomas began walking on air in circles down into the hole, singing “Do do dew, do dew,” repeating it over and over with his arms out in front of him as he marched down.

  George shook his head and jumped down into the hole. He landed right next to Osia as she transformed back into her human form and began picking debris out of her hair. Rick walked out of the shadows as Tomas finally got down to the cave floor. Summoning a green ball of flames into her hand, Osia was just about ready to give Tomas a good burn until, just then, out of the darkness, vines shot out from every which way and began wrapping around each member of the group. “We just had to come down here,” Osia said, trying to get in the last word as she struggled to get free from the vines.

  While on the hunt, Scott came across a large bear, bigger than your average polar bear, with various rock spikes protruding from its back. Scanning it, he identified it as an [Earth stone Grizzly (level 35)]. Various grunts and moans were heard along with loud crunching noises. Once Eve and Scott snuck around to see what the large beast was eating, they observed large rocks being broken down and consumed as the beast paid no attention to them. Whispering into Eve’s ear, Scott said, “I want you to listen to the beast’s mouth eating those rocks, and when you are ready, take the shot.” Moments passed, and it looked like Eve was gathering the courage to shoot until finally she took the shot.

  The arrow flew high above the bear, hitting one of its spikes, chipping a small piece off the top, and then the spike repaired itself almost instantly. The bear looked up and began sniffing high into the air. That's when Scott noticed it didn't have any eyes, but a large, spikey face covered in thick, hard stone; even its neck had small rocks protecting it. Not soon after, the beast went back to eating its rocks.

  “Wow, this beast is dense,” Scott whispered underneath his breath. “Either this monster isn't scared of us, or it just doesn't know we are here.” An idea popped into Scott’s head, and he whispered to Eve to stay put as he moved around to the other side of the beast.

  “Hello there!” Scott said out loud, trying to get its attention. The beast lifted its head and out of nowhere, spoke.

  “Do you mind?” The Earth stone Grizzly asked as it sat down onto its hind end with a big sounding boom shaking the ground beneath their feet. “Do you mind tossing me that rock next to you? Unless you are going to eat it?” the bear continued.

  Puzzled, Scott picked up the rock and tossed it over to the bear. “Uh, you talked!” Scott said in surprise as he stared intently at the bear.

  “You do know it’s rude to stare at someone while they are eating,” the bear said, annoyed that Scott couldn't take his eyes off of him.

  “Uh, sorry, I guess. I just haven’t ever met a bear that talked before,” Scott said, questioning his own sanity.

  “Yeah, I see that,” the bear replied while picking up another piece of rock with its large, stony claws and shoving it in its mouth.

  “But how can you see me? When you have no eyes to see,” Scott asked, looking over its body, trying to see if it had eyes somewhere else, maybe hidden where his eyes couldn’t see.

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  “I can see tremors in the earth that tell me when something is nearby. It’s called tremor sense, something my kind has the ability to use, though I see you’re new to this place and haven’t seen a being such as I,” the bear explained.

  “So you’re telling me there are more like you?” Scott asked, trying to get a better understanding of the beast in front of him.

  “There was, or shall I say there used to be. The dragons used to hunt us as a game they used to play until there was only me left. At that point, I dug down deep into the ground and slept for a while until I no longer heard those wretched wings flapping over the land,” the bear said with a bit of residual anger in his voice.

  “I can attest to that,” Amarwrath said. A voice that had been quiet finally spoke up after a long rest. “We hunted them as the young dragons were to come of age. The one to kill an Earth stone Grizzly would be given the title as ‘Slayer’ since the bears were hard to find and almost impossible to kill,” Amarwrath continued.

  “Isn't that kind of cruel to do to an animal? I mean, I guess it's ironic that you got your payback when the giants came and destroyed your kind,” Scott said plainly, a touch of accusation in his thought.

  “Well, these beasts were created by my son Marwok just for the hunt. So no, I don’t think it’s cruel when it is our custom to do that. Either way, one would be created after each hunt and thrown back into the population. Though it seems that the younglings still hunted them long after we were locked up,” Amarwrath said, defending the dragon's customs.

  “That's cold, even coming from you, Amarwrath,” Scott stated, trying to get Amarwrath to see the error of his ways.

  Amarwrath didn't say another word, and Scott continued to talk to the bear some more. “So, do you have a name?”

  “No, I do not. But if I had a name you could call me, what was it you two-legged beings called me again? Oh yeah, Bear! You can call me Bear,” Bear said with a big, rocky grin on his eyeless face.

  “You would get along well with my buddy David. Well, Bear, I will leave you to your food and continue hunting,” Scott said, walking over to Eve. She had been quietly listening to the entire conversation of growls and snarls and had a puzzled look on her face.

  “Oh, by the way, you can find what you're looking for if you bring me the hearts of those Hellboars nearby,” Bear grumbled with a large mouthful of broken rock. “They are quite tasty. They seem to spot me and run away every time I come near. But if you bring me their hearts, I will assist you with your problem,” Bear continued, offering a proposition.

  “What problem would that be….” Scott began to ask, but was cut off.

  “And you call me the one that is cold,” Amarwrath shot back, a hint of irony in his mental voice. Scott ignored the dragon in his head and continued.

  “Her blindness of course.” Bear said. “Also, what was your name again?”

  “How did you know she was blind?” Scott asked, "Never mind must be a sense or something you have. My name is Scott Armidais Wheaton, and yes we can help you with the Hellboars. I have some unfinished business with those things anyways. ” Continuing on, Scott didn't say another word. He just felt bad that he tried to hunt a species that was nearly extinct for just more levels. The two of them snuck back off into the forest, looking for the Hellboars.

  Multiple snake heads came flying in over the large creature, striking down at David. Though he had no intent on dying here now, he transformed into a bird since that was his smallest and fastest form and flew off. As each head came flying once again, David dodged back and forth.

  “This must be a chimera. I wonder why they always have an odd amount of heads on the tails. That always baffled me,” David thought as he flew away.

  Once he was far enough away, he landed in a clearing and transformed into his owlbear form once again. He then turned heel and went back for the chimera. It didn't take David long before he ran into the chimera, and they clashed again. This time, there was no surprise to pin David when he wasn't looking.

  When they clashed, David slammed his shoulder into the chimera just underneath its head and shoved it back a good couple of feet. Not only did he push the chimera, but he managed to land a good clawed gash into its chest.

  From behind the chimera, Christy flew down and transformed into a mongoose in mid-air, biting into one of the snake heads, killing it instantly. Seeing this, David had to keep the focus on himself to keep Christy safe as she dealt with the tails. David roared when the chimera turned its head to look back at Christy, he got two more good claw attacks before he had to dodge back.

  Dodging left, then right, then jumping then left once more, and now jumping back into the air, Christy grabbed another head as multiple heads tried to pin her down. “That's two down, seven more to go,” Christy thought as she let go, dropped to the ground, and began the dance revolution of her life.

  Once Christy got down to two serpent heads left, she was bitten a few times and tossed to the side. This enraged David, and he transformed once more into a large serpent himself, growing larger until he was the size of a massive Leviathan. This form made the chimera step back in awe and begin to high-tail, or shall one say low-tail, it out of there since most of its heads were now dead, dragging on the ground.

  “No, you don’t,” David roared, moving towards the chimera. He chased it down, and with one good strike, the chimera fell dead onto the ground. The bite had been so powerful that the chimera's head popped off, and David devoured the beast where it lay, not leaving one piece behind.

  Not soon after, David returned to where Christine lay nearly lifeless on the ground. He transformed back into his Trollkin form to apply healing, and after a while, a sigh of relief could be seen. David's healing started to show as the wounds visibly began to heal in real-time. “You’re okay little one, I am here.”

  Not far from there, three humanoids were in a battle of their own. Hunter ran back and forth, throwing his disc at the centipede, keeping it at bay, as Ann moved in and attacked its legs with her elongated great sword that was now glowing with a strange blue energy. With one slice of her blade, ten legs fell to the ground. Anthony would use the shadows and appear above it, dropping in to stab a few times before he would have to move back into the shadow to keep the beast confused. One more good throw from Hunter hit the beast's left pincer, finally blowing it off.

  While the centipede was in great pain, and the battle was thought to be soon over, the beast stood up, revealing small spikes. Hunter began moving as those same spikes began shooting out from its belly, covered in green poison—the same poison that covered the pincers. Hunter ran and dove away, and once the beast was done, a blue glowing sword was seen coming through its chest. The beast was now squirming all over the place as the sword continued to move up through its body until its head was cut in half.

  Ann flipped into the air and landed in a crouched position between Hunter and the now partially split beast's body, ready to attack again if it had any more tricks up its many sleeves. Panting and seeing the beast was not moving, Ann backed away slowly until she stood next to Hunter.

  Then, out of the shadows, Anthony appeared, saying, “Well, well, well, seems like you're a great fighter after all.”

  “That was crazy!” Hunter said, still looking at the Centipede's large, dead carcass.

  “Uh huh,” Ann replied, still processing the fight.

  “Let's grab some samples and be on our way,” Anthony said slyly as he approached the dead Centipede.

  “Uh huh,” Ann replied once more, still in shock from what had just occurred.

  Many vines came flying out of the darkness as George went full-on flame mode, covering his body in flames, attacking each one as it came near. Osia used her flames as well, burning herself free from some vines with Sir Pugglesworth yipping hiding in the make sift harness on the top of her bag as she dropped to the ground. Melding into the shadows, Rick dropped through the vines and back out of another shadow to cut Tomas free.

  “See, we should have kept moving. Uh, you guys and your dark holes,” Osia sighed while throwing flames into the darkness.

  Each of them moved deeper as more vines came from every side of the cave, now hitting a movable green bubble that surrounded them all, thanks to Osia. “See, let this be a lesson to you guys, always use protection when going into these things. You never know what you're going to get,” Osia said.

  “That’s what she said,” both Tomas and Rick said simultaneously.

  In an instant, both Tomas and Rick were thrown out of the bubble into the darkness. More vines continued flying relentlessly, forcing both Tomas and Rick to fight for their lives. “We're sorry, oh great one. Let us in!” Rick cried.

  “Yeah, what he said,” Tomas grunted, swinging his sword to stop another vine.

  Looking over at Tomas, Osia stared daggers into his eyes, showing him she wasn't pleased with his comment.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Tomas said, gritting his teeth.

  Seconds later, both of them were sucked back into the Coven’s shield ability she had activated. They continued down the cave until they finally found what they were looking for. Inside this large open cavern, lying atop a large rock, a monstrous plant-like head that resembled a massive, overgrown Venus flytrap lay with roots convulsing down into the rocks below. Just above the beast’s large maw hung what looked like a glowing fruit that resembled a plum.

  “I believe that the glowing fruit above is the heart. I’m sure it’s used as bait for lesser beasts to be attracted to its fruit, believing it found food until the mouth snaps up and captures the lesser beasts as dinner,” Tomas explained, pointing to its heart.

  The vines in the cavern were a lot larger and slower than the ones they had seen prior inside the cave entrance. Each vine continued hitting the shield until finally Osia’s ability began to shift and fade.

  “Uh guys, we need to think fast. I’m about to lose the shield,” Osia said in a panicked voice. she reached behind her and touched Sir Pugglesworth who was barking constantly and with a spell she unsummoned the pup until they were out of the thick of things.

  “I will use my spectral chains first, trying to stop as many vines as possible. But if it doesn't have a soul, then we are just going to have to raw dog it, and one of us needs to get to the heart and kill it as fast as possible. George, you go for the heart if chains work, and Rick protects Osia from any incoming vines. If the chains don’t work……” Tomas said, being interrupted as the shield finally faded.

  The group dodged to different sides as two large vines broke the shield and slammed into the ground where the crew had been standing.

  “Plan A!” Tomas shouted as he began casting his spectral chains. Light faded blue spectral chains came out of the ground, reaching out for five of the largest vines. Each chain hit its target, and for a second, Tomas felt like he had a hold of them until the next second, the chains shot right through the vines and continued up. “Uh guys, Plan B, Plan B!” Tomas shouted, his voice laced with urgency.

  “What was plan B?” Osia yelled.

  “I believe plan B is to kill the beast by any means necessary." George replied, dodging and attacking.

  “Ugh so there isn't a plan B.” Osia cried, shooting multiple fireballs.

  The vines continued flying relentlessly, with the crew continuing to dodge back and forth while landing a few hits here and there. Tomas continued to cut as many as he could using his great sword, while George continued using his flaming limbs to attack any vines he could, causing some damage. But the vines regenerated too fast. Rick protected Osia as best as he could until finally two large vines came up out of the ground and wrapped around Osia and Tomas. George was able to dodge out of the way while Rick jumped into the shadows as another large vine came out of the ground beneath him.

  Six vines now attacked George as he was tiring from all the movement from dodging to the point his stamina was getting low. With one final push, George ran in to attack the heart while he could see Osia was now passed out due to being crushed, and blood was dripping onto the ground below her, only to be stopped and pushed back by more vines.

  Tomas was still struggling to get free until finally he got the idea to use his sword’s ability, Blood Reign. After noticing Osia's blood, he began casting. Blood began to rise from the ground, forming small crystals. Each crystal turned and was thrust forward towards the heart. In an instant, multiple small vines shot up, creating a barrier to block the blood crystals, but one managed to get through in time, cutting the side of it. All of the large vines around the beast started to flail all around, slamming Tomas and George, knocking them both out amidst the chaos, until finally all of the vines dropped to the ground, revealing a dark elf holding a heart in his hands.

  While hidden inside the shadows, Rick watched the vines create a shield. At that moment, he walked out of the shadow and into the vine shield to cut the heart using his daggers. With one good, hard swing, he finished off the vine beast and killed it, but not without taking some damage. Three small vines shot up, trying to stop him, piercing his sides and back like sharp blades. Rick's body fell not shortly after as the beast's vines opened up and fell to the ground.

  With Rick's body still intact, his legs were paralyzed by the vines, making his lower body stop functioning. But his upper body continued to move. Reaching for his bag, Rick pulled out a health potion and began to drink. All of the wounds on his body began healing, and the muscles in his body were being replenished. Though his legs didn't move. “Fuck me,” Rick grumbled as he gritted his teeth.

  Using his upper body to crawl like he practiced so many times in the army, Rick managed to crawl out from underneath the vines and find George. He then popped the top to the health potion and, using his other hand, forced George’s mouth open and poured it down his throat. A few minutes later, George came too.

  “What happened?” George asked, holding his aching head.

  “I’ll tell you after you give healing potions to the others,” Rick said, knowing that time was a huge factor in saving the rest of the crew.

  Getting up, George stumbled a bit until he finally reached Osia. Pulling out a healing potion from his bag that they got from David’s personal stash, George popped the cork and put the potion into Osia’s mouth. Once the potion was emptied, and Osia was now stable, George stumbled over to Tomas, pulled out another potion, and gave it to Tomas.

  Thirty-odd minutes later, Tomas woke up, asking the same question. But both Rick and George stared at Osia, still lying there, not moving besides a small movement in her chest indicating she was still breathing.

  “The beast was too strong for us, and now I’m paralyzed from the waist down. George is regenerating slowly, while Osia is still unconscious and breathing,” Rick reported while leaning back onto one of the large vines to prop himself up.

  “Okay, once she wakes up, we need to get the both of you to Cat,” Tomas said, groaning as he, too, was in pain.

  After half the day went by, Osia finally woke up. “I guess it takes more than a vine creature to kill us,” Osia said jokingly, her voice weak.

  “Finally, you’re awake, I thought you wouldn’t make it,” Rick said with a serious look on his face.

  Trying to get up, Osia moved her head to lift her body up, but with a thud, her head hit the ground, and her body did not follow. “Uh guys, I can’t move my body,” Osia said with tears welling in her eyes.

  “Ah, I guess you’re worse off than myself,” Rick laughed, a dark humor in his voice. “We are just a bunch of dead weight.”

  “If I could move my hand right now, I would slap you,” Osia said.

  “Yeah, well if I could move my legs, I would kick you,” Rick said, still laughing, finding grim amusement in their predicament.

  “Okay, you two sit tight while George and I grab some wood to make some makeshift stretchers to transport the both of you back,” Tomas said. “Can you still use your daggers?” Tomas asked Rick.

  “Yeah, I can manage, but hurry up so we can get the hell out of here,” Rick said in a serious tone.

  "We will be back in a jiffy." Tomas replied running off into a tunnel with George they hurried off .

  “Are you still there?” Osia asked Rick, since all she could see was darkness.

  “Yeah, unfortunately,” Rick grumbled.

  Some time had passed while Rick would give health potions to Osia before he would drink one of his own, drinking them back to back every hour. Osia started to feel a tingling in her body and could move a few fingers making progress and Rick was able to wiggle a few toes. But the healing potions they had were weak and only helped out a little.

  They heard what sounded like footsteps coming their way. “Hey guys, welcome back,” Rick said with a smile. But there was no answer in return. “Guys? Not funny? Are you going to answer me?” Rick asked, now worried. The footsteps continued getting closer, and no other noise could be heard.

  “What’s going on, Rick?” Osia asked.

  Just then, a large beast came into sight as Rick held out his daggers in front of them. With a large head and big fangs covered in scales, a Lizard-like creature was seen walking slowly towards them.

  “Rick, what’s going…..” Osia asked again, but Rick managed to put one of his hands onto her mouth, muffling her voice. The beast stopped and looked around, sniffing into the air, and Rick did a low shhh into Osia’s ear. The lizard got their scent and began moving quickly towards them. Quickly sheathing his daggers, Rick rolled his body on top of Osia’s and activated his shadow walk ability to sink their bodies into the void just before the lizard got to their location.

  An hour later, Tomas and George were seen walking through the cave, dragging two makeshift stretchers behind them. Using his one hand to create light, George continued forward while Tomas walked next to him, dragging a slightly smaller version of a makeshift stretcher to place both Osia and Rick on.

  Once the two entered the cavern, they noticed both Rick and Osia were gone, and a large lizard lay in the exact location the two of them were last. The creature got up and rushed towards Tomas and George without any hesitation.

  With the lizard rushing towards them, a now large, blue-eyed undead wolf jumped in front of the two, blocking the lizard's path and began growling. The two clashed while George and Tomas set down their supplies to join in on the fight.

  The lizard went in for a bite, lunging at Bones. With Bones being smaller and more agile, he dodged to the left side and did a lunge of his own, moving much faster than the lizard. Getting a hold of its front right leg, Bones tore through its scales with his sharp, jagged teeth and pulled down with all of his might, slamming the lizard back onto the ground.

  Next, the lizard turned and continued for Bones, trying to take off his head in one swift bite, only to find a flaming foot kicking it in the face as George flipped through the air using a downward heel kick before landing behind Bones.

  Moving from the opposite side of the beast, Tomas moved in and plunged his sword into the lizard's side, aiming between the ribs to go for the lizard's heart. Before the blade went too deep, a large swinging tail knocked Tomas back a couple of feet, crashing into the cavern wall with a boom that shook the cavern while his blade flew off, clanking to the side.

  George moved in, bombarding the lizard's face with kicks and punches, aiming for the eyes like he was hitting a punching bag, similar to the times he would train back in his dojo. While Bones continued to gnaw on the lizard's leg, gnawing and pulling more every time the lizard's mouth would open to try and get a hold of George's limbs. But to no avail, the lizard missed each time.

  Finally realizing that it wasn't going to get its next meal from these three, the lizard began panicking by thrashing its body all over the place, trying to get free and run away. It tried to get loose from Bones by shaking its large injured leg and stomping it down a few times while snapping its teeth and hissing at George to hopefully scare them off.

  Getting his bearings, Tomas shook himself awake and stood up. He ran over and retrieved his sword to join back into the fight. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he plunged his blade back into the lizard's side, hitting the exact location he did before. Tomas then twisted his blade to maximize damage to the internal organs, hitting the lizard's lungs and stomach. Once he pulled his blade out, the lizard moved a bit more until it finally succumbed to its wounds.

  “Osia? Rick? Are you still here?” Tomas shouted, looking for any traces of them, walking around the dimly lit cavern.

  Finally crawling out of the shadows, Rick could be seen dragging Osia’s body out of the darkness. “We’re right here,” Rick grunted.

  “Were you hurt?” Tomas asked while moving over to their location to look them over.

  “We are good, thanks to the shadow that protected us,” Rick said. "What took you so long?"

  "Yeah, what took you so long?" Osia asked.

  "We got lost in the tunnels." Tomas laughed awkwardly.

  “That is the last time you will run off and leave us alone. Aren't you supposed to be an ex marine? Leave no man behind and all that?" Osia asked. "Plus having this bozo on top of me made me want to gag."

  "Sorry I didn't think it would be that long." Tomas replied.

  “Hey, if not for my shadow, we would have been Lizard food. So show a bit of gratitude, would you?” Rick retorted.

  “Gratitude? Ha, you should have gratitude for being in my presence,” Osia said, laughing faintly.

  “Yeah, she's alright,” Tomas said, looking them over and laughing at the two of them fighting like an old married couple.

  “Let’s get you guys back,” George stated, shaking his head while dragging the two makeshift stretchers over.