Will skidded to a stop again and pressed his back against the wall of the tunnel before throwing a rock to the side of the queen. Its head jerked to the side and its tongue flicked out and Will, as quiet as he could, caught his breath. He bent down and picked up another rock and threw it to the other side of the tunnel it spun again with more vigor. He was making it mad, which he loved but at the same time, he needed to keep his head in the game. As much as he wanted to unload everything he had on the snake, he knew that all it would accomplish is give away his position… not that he could hold it for long.

A few of the queen's spawn made their way around her and didn’t have the disadvantage of being blind. Will waited till they were close enough and quickly dispatched two of them with the sabre and resumed the fleeing part of the hunt. It was exhausting, both mentally and physically. He bent as he ran and scooped up another rock and spun momentarily to throw it behind him. He was aiming to make more noise but it hit the snake in the nose and it jerked violently, squishing one of the smaller snakes. Maybe more considering he couldn’t see its entire length but it didn’t take long for the snake to go after him again.

He probably shouldn’t have laughed. No really. That was dumb of him but it was meant to be a distraction and he’d managed to kill another Silver Crest. He wasn’t sure how many were left, most likely a lot in total and he wondered if the others were retreating through side passages in a fighting retreat, but he couldn’t imagine there were many left after him. At least not many were willing to try to pass their mother or whatever the queen was. He wasn’t even sure if it was a female.

Suddenly Will saw the end of the tunnel in front of him and ran out into the wide open cavern at the center of the labyrinth. It was the same passage the snake had originally come out of… He turned and sprinted to the side of the cavern and threw his back up against the wall. Taking a moment to grab another fistful of loose gravel before the snake charged into the cavern.

Will looked around the cavern, the distant corners were dark but his headlamp illuminated a lot of it. He didn’t see any sign of the others. Only a lot of dead snakes were mulched by the queen as she turned and what looked like the crushed remains of a human sitting near the entrance of a nearby side passage. His legs were bent backwards and he was covered in blood but Will couldn’t see any obvious fatal wounds. He would see if the man was alive, though he suspected the young man had succumbed to internal injuries or blood loss.

Suddenly Will saw a light coming from the passage they’d first run down, closest to the entrance. A second later the queen must have heard them moving because she also coiled and twisted to face in the same general direction. It opened its mouth and rasped before slithering in that direction. A small head appeared in the passage and Will could make out yellow hair. Silvia turned towards his light and waved at him and Will suddenly realized he was illuminating her, not the snake!

“It’s right there!” Will yelled and looked to the side, bringing the headlamp to bear on the snake. In the faint light from the passage he saw Silvia disappear deeper into the passage but directly ahead of him he saw the snake turn and drop to slither as fast as it could, “It’s coming after me, get ready to run!”

Will looked around and made a beeline for the young man laying there. A dumb idea appeared in his mind. He rounded the corner and spared the kid a glance but almost stopped when an eye shifted to look at him, “It’s coming! Don’t move! Come here you big fucker! I’m going to make a fucking belt out of your ass! THAT KID’S ALIVE! KEEP GOING! I’LL GET HIM!”

Will wasn’t sure how yet but he didn’t want them going back into the cavern to try to rescue the kid but at the same time he didn’t want them not knowing in case he ended up becoming lunch. Will felt the queen behind him through his Skill, getting closer. He saw a familiar passage up ahead and following Red’s lead grabbed the side of the wall and swung himself in. Coming to a stop right behind her remains.

He turned around and saw that the snake had come to a stop and coiled around itself to look into the passage and once again he couldn’t press deeper. At least not easily. It flicked its tongue inside and Will flicked the sabre at it, slicing off one of the prongs of its forked tip. It retracted it quickly and before it was all the way in his mouth, it opened its mouth to rasp angrily at him.

*Bang**Bang*

Will tried for a third but realized he’d never reloaded the 50 cal after going for its eyes. He holstered it and went for his double action but its cries of pain had shifted and it closed its mouth but he could see that it had done some damage. Blood dripped from its mouth.

“Go on, do it again,” Will mouthed off to it, with a plan forming. He dropped the saber and pulled out his 50 again and started to reload, “I’m right here. Don’t go anywhere.”

He finished reloading and holstered it before pulling the carbine off his back, “Come on, yell at me again!”

*Bang*

He shot it in the eye socket and it recoiled but he couldn’t tell if it really did much more damage, its eyelids were hanging down, covering the openings. He just wanted it to open its mouth again so he could shoot it repeatedly in the throat. With luck, it’d choke on its own blood. But that wasn’t destined to happen. And Will heard a distant yell, followed by more…

“Oh, no…” the snake turned in the tight space and looked back towards the cavern, “I hope the plan works.”

And he hoped it didn’t collapse the tunnel.

“Make some more noise! Alvin, yell anything you want! You can sing a song if you want to! Just get the boss’ attention!” Herald yelled a bit further down the passage to the cave with all but Silvia and Will. Will was an unknown to him at that moment but he could still feel the general direction of the boss from the man’s Skill. No one else had used it, so at least they knew he was alive. So was one of the other group’s people if they heard him correctly.

As for Silvia, she was at the entrance to the cavern. Out of all of them, she was by far the fastest, something Will had failed to realize. But she was a [Rogue], it wasn’t all stealth. Sometimes it was speed that was called for and her class provided a few Skills to help her traverse short distances extremely quickly.

“Here she comes!” Silvia yelled out from ahead, just barely audible over the others yelling but she also opened the shade on a lantern to signal them.

“Go!” Herald yelled and the humans ran for the trap and carefully and quickly followed Will’s path around it before bolting down the tunnel, still screaming like banshees. Herald was a [War Priest] he studied battle strategy and his skills were often better suited for leading large groups. He had skills to imbue a firing line’s moral to rise, area of effect spells like his [Disorienting Flash] which if done right and his side warned could get the enemy shooting each other just as much as his side. Especially if someone pointed across the field and yelled ‘traitor’ at the right moment. What he didn’t have were speed Skills that worked on a single person, despite trying to convince Alvin that he was casting [Battle Cry] to get them to move faster when they tried their ‘scare tactics’. It did work as a placebo effect and the normally docile, whinny human would charge because he thought there was a Skill involved.

As a result of his lack of Skills, Silvia caught up by the time he reached the drawn out stepping stones and hopped across right after him.

“Still coming?” He asked when she slowed.

“I ah… I’m not sure. Yup!” She spun in a torrent of dust from the speed and left Herald behind. He shone his light spell down the tunnel and saw the great snake coming. Herald got a distance and looked back at it. It was slowing.

“Come! We’re all right here! You’ve come so far, just a little further!,” He yelled and cast a [Heat Ray] at the snake. It didn’t do any damage but it shivered as the heat hit it and reared up.

*BAWHOOOM!*

Will’s head shot up and looked towards the tunnel, hoping that wasn’t the sound of him getting sealed in. He looked down at his ward and shook his head. At least it sounded impressive, he hoped that was enough for the damn Queen to die-

Primary Class leveled! Prodigious Gunslinger Level 7

Utility Skill Learned: [Lesser Endurance]-Passive

Dexterity +3

Perception +2

Focus +1

Vitality +1

Primary Class leveled! Prodigious Gunslinger Level 8

Primary Class leveled! Prodigious Gunslinger Level 9

Utility Skill Learned: [Dual Wield]-Knowledge based

Dexterity +3

Perception +2

Focus +1

Vitality +1

Secondary Class leveled! Vigilant Bounty Hunter Level 7

Utility Skill Unlocked: [Basic Negotiation]- Knowledge based

Dexterity +3

Perception +2

Strength +2

Vitality +2

Attribute gained: Grand Hunt!+

Description: You’ve fought a creature far beyond yourself! One few ever even see and you took it down! (Completed before level 20, values doubled)

+4 Vitality

+4 Endurance

+2 Strength

+2 Dexterity

+4 Intelligence

+2 Focus

+2 Perception

+2 Luck

“Guess that means it’s over,” Will said and ignored the headache as best he could before looking down at the kid, “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to get tonics… I’ll be back”

Will closed the windows without reading them, they weren’t important at the moment. He got up and ran for the entrance not far down he met the end of the giant snake and he had to say. The queen had been laid low. Queen got her fucking head blown up. For a moment he worried that he’d have to stop to use [Analyze] in case it didn’t all go but when he got to the front end of the queen he saw a pile of rocks from the ceiling and bits and pieces of dead snake filling a trench going across the tunnel. Queen got her fucking head blown off… and at a glance, there wasn’t anything left of the trap either.

Will climbed up the rocks and popped his head through the gap at the top. He looked around and immediately spotted both groups of adventurers.

“Where’s my saddlebag?” he asked.

“Good to see you too,” Silvia said but when he looked at her she was smiling.

“No seriously, I need tonics. That kid’s half dead,” Will said and Mary gasped.

“You meant it. Johnnie’s alive?” Jack said and didn’t wait for an answer. Will spotted his saddlebag on the man’s back and Jack, along with Harry, started scrambling up the side.

Will helped him over the top and the man slid and hopped his way down the other side, completely ignoring the snake carcass.

“Jack, you don’t have a light,” Harry said as Will helped him up. He took off the headlamp and handed it to the man, who quickly ran after.

“I’ll give it back, promise!” Harry said without stopping. Mary was right on his heels.

“There’s tonics in my bag, use them if you need to! And an antidote!” Will called after them.

“Just giving your stuff away now? If that’s the case… I’ll take my dollar back but still want the map and I’m thinking that Herald might take one of those wands,” Silvia said and surprisingly added, “Ooh, and Alvin seemed to like that sabre.”

“Sabre goes to the group anyway but as for the tonics, they can use them. Costs more than money not to,” Will said and looked down below, “Herald not coming to look at the snake?”

“He’s not feeling too good- he’s fine. He will be at least... He was very close to it when it went and it knocked the wind out of him… and snapped his leg,” Silvia looked down below, “Alvin’s with him and we have healing tonics, so as soon as a [Doctor] makes sure the bones are in the right place he’ll be back on his feet. He might have to take it easy for a week but he’ll be fine.”

“He can’t use his light thing?” Will asked.

“[Mend Minor Wounds] only works on flesh, not bones,” Silvia informed him and Will shrugged. It’d been an idea.

“Hey! Do you need help down here?!”

Will looked out and saw a group of lights traveling down the tunnel.

“More adventurers?” Will asked.

“Probably.”

“How many groups came with you?” Will asked.

“With us? Five but we set out on foot, there’s more that were waiting on the boat,” Silvia giggled and shook her head, “Saw it on the way here. They won’t be making it… What?”

“I was at Vicksby that day,” Will informed her. He didn’t find it that funny.

“Oh, sorry,” Silvia said and patted his arm, “Are you just going to lay on a pile of rubble or are we going to start collecting snake scales? Probably should at least make sure the vultures don’t try to grab anything.”

“Vultures?” Will asked and nodded when she stared at the approaching adventurers. A total of ten of them. Though one cluster all had matching hoods, so Will guessed it was actually two groups.

“We’ve got two wounded adventurers to get to a [Doctor] and at least one body to get out,” Silvia yelled down at them and after bobbed her head, “Five percent if you help with that and help collect everything.”

“Five? We’ll help ya get the wounded and dead out but I’ll be 25 if you want us helpin’ pick up the loot... Each,” One of them yelled up but they were already making their way to the pile.

“I’ll give you 10 each and not a single percent more,” Silvia said as one of the nimbler adventurers scaled the pile quickly. He shone his light over the top and illuminated the snake, “Ten percent of a Grand Crested Silver Constrictor. Head might be hard to collect but we’ll see what’s left.”

Silvia grinned ear to ear as the man’s jaw dropped. Will wondered if his [Identify] worked on chunks but didn’t bother trying it out himself. He’d had enough of the fuckers.

“Ten percent is almost there, fifteen,” the man mumbled but didn’t sound like such a shrewd negotiator at the moment.

“Ten and I tell you where you can buy a map of the dungeon. I know the only man in town with a copy and he’s going to be making copies. Five dollars each. It’s how we found this place,” Silvia sweetened the deal. He saw what she did, new Skill or not. She just offered what the man would have gotten anyway. Information that didn't cost her a dime… and made Will money if they accepted, “Not sure how many he’s going to be making. First come, first served.”

“Take the deal, boss. Be a lot more money to be made if we had a map,” one of his fellows said.

“We’ll take it!” a member of the other group announced.

“Fine, 10 and the man with the map. We’ll get our 10 here but you better come through with the other or I’m claiming 25,” the man in the hood said.

“Sure thing. See this man here. William Tempest, a local [Bounty Hunter], he’s the man,” Silvia grinned and winked at Will before hopping down the other side to the remains of the queen.

“I’ll be making a few copies hopefully in the next couple of days. I’ll hang a sign in front of my place when they’re available,” Will said, “It’s right across the street from the Saloon, you can’t miss it.”

“Sounds good, I’m sure we’ll be at the saloon at some point,” the man said more courteously to Will.

Will waited for him to get over then climbed down to join Silvia for a moment as more adventurers followed. His solo dungeon dive had turned into a squad and a half but he wasn’t going to complain. He handed Silvia the sabre as he passed her and she looked at him curiously.

“You’ve got the sheathe,” he explained and she jumped and dug it out of her pouch, officially putting the thing away. Will kind of liked it but was more interested in if he could recreate it.

“Where’s the other wounded?” A big man that was actually wearing armor asked. It was an old cuirass but he also had a pair of shotguns slung over his back. Will tried to identify him but even with his math putting him at level 15, he didn’t get anything. He could see without skills that the decorative etching on the armor was at least in part an enchantment and wondered if he’d gotten it in a dungeon.

“I’ll show ya, come on,” Will said and he led a small group into the main cavern and the man made a strange noise at the sight. Will had to admit, he got a bit of joy looking at the sheer mess of it all.

Will squinted at the light when he finally left the dungeon. The sun was just setting and Will had opted to go out with the wounded and let the professionals deal with the looting. He was still guaranteed his cut by Herald, even if he didn’t help gut every single snake.

Both halflings agreed that he’d done enough but Will thought Herald was saving him though. They expected it to go all night and potentially into the next morning so the adventurers were making camp and on the menu…. Snake. Will was glad for the break, if he’d had anything in his stomach he would have puked when the first ones went onto a small heat plate they’d pulled out. He still felt bad about leaving Silvia and Alvin down there but he was sure they’d be alright.

One of the Groups had a small group of camp followers, noncombat classes, that were watching the wagons outside the dungeon. So with the help of the wagons they quickly made their way back to town, with a young boy riding ahead to inform Doc to be ready for two injured people, one seriously.

By the time they made the bridge, they had a welcome wagon ready to go for them.

“Everybody stand back, let them through!” Sheriff Teddy announced and the Doc ran up behind the wagon.

“Doc, the other one!” Will yelled and pointed to the one with Johnnie. Doc gave a wave and ran around behind the other wagon before getting helped up by one of the campers. Will looked down at Herald, “Sorry, he needs it more.”

“I’ll be fine. Jus- Does no one here know how to fill a pothole?” Herald asked. Will snorted softly, he could imagine bouncing around in a wagon bed with a broken leg wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“Sorry, it’s not a wealthy town,” Will said.

“It is now,” Herald said with a smile.