Jane’s eyes drooped dangerously as he shuffled along the narrow corridor. His body, having gotten a hint of sleep after being transported to another world, running for his life, and killing monsters, was not happy with him and it was letting him know it. A small circle of light cast deep shadows as he moved his flashlight back and forth down the hall.

“Are you sure it was this way?” Jane looked at the ghoul.

“No, I’m not,” he replied, “and I still don’t think it’s a good idea to go looking for trouble, especially after you just got hired.”

“Relax,” Jane said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Illyana stalked through the narrow tunnels of the dungeon. Her long ears strained, listening for ghouls. She had decided to be methodical about her approach to finding the new exit from this floor. When she had left the stairs, she had taken the left-most passage into this floor. Then, every time she came to an intersection, she would take another left. Occasionally, she would have to take out a ghoul here or there, but there were never very many grouped together, and she was able to dispatch them with few issues. Then a sound reached her ears.

Gutteral scratches and moans echoed around a nearby corner. She peered around the corner into the hallway. Two ghouls snarled and growled at each other as they walked down the corridor away from her.

That’s odd, Illyana thought, I’ve never seen ghouls use a light or talk to each other for that matter. Are they variants? She wondered. After observing them for a minute, she turned and continued her search for the entrance.

Jane and Ross found the water long before they found the source. It pooled on the floor of the dungeon, spreading outward in all directions, and had grown a couple of inches deep by the time they had reached the hallway. A guttering orange light lit the corridor, reflecting off of wet corpses and broken pipes.

“What happened here?” Jane asked in shock.

“Adventurers happened.” The ghoul replied somberly. “They usually don’t come this deep, but judging by what happened here, it was one or two at the most.” he said, leaning down to examine the bodies. “Fairly recently, too. The dungeon hasn’t reclaimed them yet.”

“Adventurers? That’s great, isn’t it?” Jane asked the ghoul.

“Not completely.” The ghoul frowned. “I can’t come into contact with them.”

“Why not?” Jane asked with a frown.

“I would have to attack them,” the ghoul answered. “It’s the contract.”

“What do you mean.” Jane asked. “You didn’t attack me.”

“Thats because I was able to convince myself that you could be useful to the dungeon, but I already know that these adventurers have damaged it.” The ghoul said. “Maybe, if you are able to find them and bring them to your encampment, I can talk to them, and convince myself that they are more useful to the dungeon alive.”

“That sounds like a decent plan, but what I don’t get is why you have to attack them in the first place. My contract doesn’t mention fighting at all. Jane said with a serious look.

“That’s why death is so dangerous here. The dungeon brings us back to life, but different. The first time you die, you come back yourself, but undead. The second time you come back, the undead part of you is stronger. Your mind begins to slip away from you. Each time, you are a little less of yourself. And worse, they update your contract each time, making it more restrictive, and force you to agree to it as a condition of resurrection.”

“How many times have you died?” Jane asked.

“Twice.” The ghoul deadpanned. “And I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my sense of self on the next one.”

“Well, I better keep you alive then.” Jane joked. “I mean, you are the closest thing I have to a friend in this world.”

“Right. You’ll keep me alive.” The ghoul said with a wry smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Jane asked. “I’m assuming I’m not going to just wander around until I find them.”

“Unfortunately, that is exactly the plan.” The ghoul said. “I have to go valve off these pipes from downstairs. Can you find your way back to the encampment?”

“I think so,” Jane said uncertainly.

“Good,” the ghoul said. “And be careful. This,” He waved his hand at the broken piping. “has probably provoked a response from the dungeon.”

He then turned and strode off, quickly leaving Jane alone.

Jane turned on his heel and began making his way back to the encampment.

Illyan pondered the variants she had seen earlier as she walked. It had really looked to her like they were having a conversation with each other. And the one she had fought had seemed to study her, as well as the pipes she had destroyed before attacking. Were… Were they sapient? She wondered. They couldn’t be. Everybody knows that dungeon monsters aren’t even sentient. They’re like golems. They have to be. She thought with finality. But what if…

A sound caught her ear. Growling. Ghouls. As she drew closer to the end of the hallway she was in, the sound grew louder. A lot of ghouls. At the end of the hallway, she found a straight staircase leading down to the next floor. She laughed to herself. Right idea, wrong direction. Then, in the darkness, she saw a mass of humanoid outlines coming up the stairs. She turned and ran.

The lead ghoul on the staircase spotted her and howled as it broke into a sprint. The single running ghoul turned into three, then five, then a stampede as the horde of ghouls processed what the first one had said.

“Dinner.”

“Hunters’ Step” Illyana whispered as she sprinted away from the mass of ghouls. The surrounding tunnels went by in a blur as she raced down the corridors, taking turns alternating between making left and right turns, and being careful to not double back towards the ghouls. After putting distance between her and the ghouls, she found herself out of breath in a lonesome intersection. A soft red light embedded in the wall flickered steadily as she looked for a place to catch her breath.

Down one hallway, she noticed a gap in the piping. Behind her, she heard the ghouls in the distance. Without further thought, she squeezed herself between the pipes, coming out into a small room and face to face with a ghoul.

“Ky’leth!” She swore as she tore her dagger from its sheath. At least this one was unarmed.