I balked in horror, pulling as far back as I could without losing grip on my perch. Involuntarily, my tongue slipped from my mouth in a defiant hiss. It, too, was horrified.

“Do you think that we could sell this thing?” the male-who-was-not-repentant made a few noises, holding onto my shed scale-flesh as he walked. Distracted as I had been, I hadn’t noticed that he picked it up to take it with him.

I wasn’t sure what to think about that.

I just knew that he hadn’t earned the right to touch something that glowed with the Great Core’s power.

And yet, his clumsy, giant fingers ran along my shed scale-flesh. They pressed along its length, and I could almost imagine those same disgusting, offering-less fingers running down my own scale-flesh. I would have gagged, if I actually could - but my stomach was entirely empty, as it nearly always was.

I decided to do it anyway, in order to properly display my disgust.

“Are you okay, little guy?” the female-who-was-not-Needle hissed awkwardly. “Did all those little flames that you ate upset your stomach?” She reached out to touch my head-scales again and, for once, I decided to let her. I needed the comfort, I could only guess, after seeing the horror show that the Great Core’s glory was being subjected to.

Her fingers scratched along my surface, rubbing against my scale-flesh in little whorls and digs, tracing the edges of the Great Core’s likeness that laid upon it. Normally, I would have displayed my fangs at that; she had yet to earn the right to be so near. Yet, right now it was...nice.

Soothing.

Not in the way that the Great Core’s light soothed me. It didn’t make me feel like all was right with the world. It didn’t make me feel that everything would be okay. It didn’t make me feel anything near that.

It made me feel just a little safer, though. Just a bit.

I leaned into the pressure, pushing against it. The female Coreless made a few more noises, but I didn’t bother to listen, basking in the sensation. Like that, we traveled further through the caverns that had been claimed and shaped by the lesser Core, pressing deeper into the Dungeon. Every so often, I spotted a Flame-Wisp clinging to the ceiling, casting curling shadows against the cavern walls. Despite that, I received no offerings of their corpses.

[Illusion Spark] would remain as it was, for the moment. Perhaps later, I would manage to catch them.

In the midst of our travels, my focus kept being pulled back to the glow of the Great Core. I knew that it being moved didn’t actually matter; I had moved it myself in my previous life. When the Great Core saved me from death, it was as if it had never been moved. So, in a way, it was like it was still where I had left it.

Still, having something so blessed by the Great Core touched and handled in such a way rankled. It sent a spike of irritation through me, a tinge of near-fury that spilled across my scale-flesh. Only the soothing comfort of the scratches upon my head-scales and the nostalgic, wonderful glow of the Great Core’s power kept me restrained.

I supposed it was better than one of the lesser Core’s minions stumbling upon it.

Just barely.

Another gout of flame released from my scale-flesh as it began to overheat, the action having become almost second nature over time. I did make sure to direct it away from the fingers that were still scratching away at my head-scales, though. Every so often, I heard faint clicks and clacks emanating from the many small-tunnels and wall-cracks that surrounded us. A fair few dribbled fire-water in slow little droplets, leaving me reluctant to explore the source of the noise. [Illusion Spark] gave me some resistance to heat, but not nearly enough to risk drowning in fire-water.

Or, rather, burning in it before I could even hope to drown.

We followed the winding tunnels of the Dungeon, hugging the left walls with each fork in the path. Close as we were, the scent-taste of the Core’s power flooded my tongue, making it difficult to detect the exact direction to go. With that in mind, I simply stayed where I was, allowing the Coreless to pull me along. I did have the faint idea that they had no idea where they were going, but it wasn’t strong enough for me to leave them behind and forge my own path.

It wasn’t because I was afraid to go alone.

We passed another fork, again sticking to the left. This time, the tunnel opened up into a new cavern. A wave of heat spilled from within, pressing against me and forcing my eyes to narrow. Another tiny gout of flame shot from my scale-flesh as my reservoirs overflowed.

The click-clacking in the walls was louder than before; even the Coreless began to hear it, muttering towards each other and pointing at the small-tunnels that lined the walls.

As I couldn’t understand it anyway, I focused my attention somewhere else, scanning the cavern for other dangers. Flame-Wisps floated in the air, lower to the ground than I had seen them in awhile. A few had drifted near towering stone-spikes; I had to fight down the urge to try to reach them. Later, maybe.

Rather than the smooth and glossy black that covered the rest of the Dungeon so far, the ground of the cavern was capped with sections of overturned and melted earth; pulverized and overheated stone that looked as if it had been spilled over itself again and again - only to cool to solidity for a brief moment before melting again.

I didn’t know what had caused the change, but anything that could create heat like that was something I would prefer to avoid. It could be anything that had done it, with the Dungeon’s power affecting the area as it did. Fire-water, flames, bad-things. Anything.

The steady click-clack from within the walls, still growing louder by the moment, pushed me towards one particular answer. Even worse, I was beginning to hear the sound underneath us, as well.

[Illusion Spark] activated as I subconsciously turned towards beating back the heat. Another gout of flame licked from my scale-flesh, melding with the already-overheated air.

The Coreless, too, were restless. The heat pressed against the ore-flesh that was their second skin; the mana-light tried to beat it back, but only so much could be done. They panted and slumped, energy draining from their bodies by the moment, each heavy breath a sign of their dwindling strength.

Of all of the Coreless, the female-who-was-not-Needle was managing against the heat with the greatest ease. I realized that my use of [Illusion Spark] was absorbing some of the extra heat from around her - particularly near her head-level, where I was perched - and cooling her off fairly well.

A Flame Wisp flashed, releasing a burst of flame that drew my eye. For a moment, I could see another tunnel behind it, carved from the upper reaches of the cavern’s boundaries. The Coreless saw it too, erupting into a series of jabbers.

“Did you see that tunnel?” Needle made a noise, causing the others to respond in kind.

“I saw it. It could be a way out. Dungeon Cores tend to rest at the depths of their Dungeons, so any tunnels that ascend might lead us away. It’d be good to get out of the heat; we never planned on doing more than checking out the Dungeon, and it shows.” The largest male responded, rubbing his chin in thought.

Needle nodded, reaching into the skin-mouths that she carried and assembling another strange needle-fang. This one was similar to the one she used to bring us across the fire-water; a needle-fang that carried giant and sturdy threads in its wake. She aimed her needle-spitter. A moment later, the needle-fang buried itself in the stone ceiling just inside of the tunnel, the mana-glow of its surface hidden away within the rock.

She tugged on it a few times, checking its grip, before handing its length over to the second male, the-one-who-was-not-repentant. He, too, pulled at it to check its sturdiness. Then, he placed one foot against the wall and began to pull himself upwards, walking slowly up its surface.

The click-clacking increased as we waited, little bits of fluid drip-dropping from the Coreless’ brows.

Needle went next, ascending with an ease that I had begun to expect of her. Meanwhile, we waited. Click-clack.

The stones were beginning to vibrate, slightly, as if a thousand legs were marching as one. As if the earth was quaking in fear.

Click-clack.

Finally, we began to ascend. The female-that-was-not-Needle carried me up, grunting slightly as she went. The sounds grew louder.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of movement; one of the many small-tunnels that dotted the cavern released a bad-thing.

It was small, smaller than even I.

That hardly mattered when another came, and another, and another.

Another.

A few moments later, larger ones began to pull free from the ground. They ripped through the upturned earth of the cavern’s floor, melting it as they went, their mandibles dripping molten stone.

“It’s a Flame Formican colony! Erik, hurry up and climb!”

We hadn’t yet made it all the way up, yet the remaining Coreless below us began to ascend.

The thread strained and stretched, bearing the increased weight with extreme difficulty. I turned my head towards the ground again. A mass of bad-things had gathered below the climbing Coreless; even worse, a few - the smallest individuals of the group - had begun to climb.

They were catching up.

Fast.