“Finally,” Dillo said as the door came to a stop, dust falling softly from above. “Good work, Fiin.”

“Thank you,” Fiin replied, though Rowan could tell from her tone that she had not forgiven Dillo for his earlier actions that easily.

Raising his shield, Dillo pressed forward into the tunnel, the rest of the Frost Blades falling into formation behind him as Rowan took up the rear.

The passageway was long, and few sconces sat on the walls, which gave the tunnel a dimly lit and eerie sensation that made Rowan’s skin crawl. It reminded him of the sewers back in Taureen, where the only illumination was the moonlight that shone through from the occasional grate or manhole above, while untold horrors lurked in the fetid waters below.

There were no fetid waters here, but the feeling was the same, and it was with sweaty palms that Rowan clutched the hilt of his sword, ready for whatever it was that awaited them at the end of this tunnel.

“Silence from here on,” Dillo called softly from the front. “The final room should be close, and we don’t want to alert the boss. You all know your roles, play them well and let’s all go home in one piece today.”

Rowan watched as those in front of him whispered their understanding, gripping their weapons as they tightened their formation. Before them lay a powerful enemy, and one that they could not underestimate. Kanna had made it quite clear what role he was to play in this fight: none. He was to stand as far from the battle as possible, and do his absolute best not to interfere with the Frost Blades' fight. If it looked like they were losing, he was to turn tail and run without hesitation, for the creature at the end of the dungeon’s second floor was not something he could deal with on his own.

Through the sewer-like tunnel they crept, the number of crystal sconces growing fewer as they grew nearer to the end. Several of the remaining sconces bore signs of damage, large gashes that resembled claw marks carved into the walls, leaving torn metal and broken crystals in their wake.

Holding up a hand, Dillo motioned for the party to come to a halt, which they immediately did, Rowan nearly walking face-first into Fiin’s back as she went still. Pointing at Rowan, Dillo indicated for him to stay, an order he was more than happy to follow. The sense of danger that he had been feeling had been growing stronger with each step they took, and he was not sure if he had the confidence to go on. Whatever it was that lay at the end of the tunnel, it was not something he was prepared to deal with. Not yet.

His face drawn, Rowan watched as the Frost Blades set off once more, headed for the far end of the tunnel that had appeared in the distance. They never made it.

With a piercing scream, a six-limbed creature dropped from the roof of the tunnel, diving straight at Stenne, its toothy maw pulled back in a feral snarl as it targeted the Frost Blades' healer. Too late to react, Stenne went down, a howl of agony pulled from his lips as the creature bit into him, tearing a chunk of flesh from his shoulder and forcing him to the ground, its six limbs tearing at the unfortunate soul beneath.

Coming to Stenne’s rescue, the rest of the party swung their weapons, but at such close range, it was difficult for them to swing without hitting each other. As a result, only Fiin and Dillo’s strikes did anything, the creature hissing as Dillo’s sword bit into one of its limbs, and Fiin’s arcane bolt slamming into its back.

His axe useless in close quarters, Patri abandoned the weapon, opting instead to bullrush the thing attacking his healer. Recognizing his cousin’s plan, Jora assisted, moving out of the way to give the pair a place to land.

Rather than allow itself to be dislodged, the creature instead jumped straight up, abandoning its attack on Stenne as it leapt to the ceiling of the tunnel, clinging to the stone like a depraved spider.

Finally getting a good look at the creature, Rowan immediately wished he hadn’t. The creature’s face was devoid of flesh, a skeletal humanoid maw that dripped with Stenne’s blood, staining the white bone crimson. Its body was segmented like an insect’s, with six limbs that jutted from odd angles, multi-jointed like a spider’s. Long and spindly, the legs tapered to a blade-like point, each leg covered in black sinew that seemed to bulge and flex as it shuddered jerkily from side-to-side, observing the prey below.

Their weapons raised, the Frost Blades awaited the bone-spider’s next move, Stenne’s pale face staring wanly from the middle of the formation. It was clear to Rowan that the bone-spider had taken them by surprise, and it was only due to their training and familiarity with each other that they had prevented it from slaying their healer. Now the two sides faced off, both having drawn blood, and neither willing to back down.

Pressing himself against the wall, Rowan did his best to appear invisible. If it had not been obvious before, it was obvious to him now that he was a mere onlooker in this fight. Kanna was right. The level of skill and decision-making displayed by both sides in just the first short exchange was far above his level, and all he could do was pray that the thing at the end of the tunnel did not notice that some far easier prey had wandered into its den and now sat just out of reach.

“Blast it,” Dillo ordered coldly, his voice echoing back through the tunnel to Rowan. Raising her hands, Fiin obliged, a bolt of blue energy shooting from her ring at the nightmare above.

With a hiss, the thing let go of the ceiling, falling towards the party as it went on the offensive once more. Overhead, the spell hit stone, producing fragments which fell alongside the bone-spider, two limbs slashing at Jaro and another two at Patri, forcing them back as it aimed its remaining limbs at Dillo.

Rather than shrink back, Dillo moved forward, bashing the falling aberration with his shield as its two limbs soared just wide of his exposed flanks. Not expecting its prey to fight back, the bone-spider landed awkwardly, scrambling to get its six limbs underneath it to continue the fight.

Seeing the opening their leader had prepared, the rest of the party leapt forward, Jaro and Patri’s axes chopping down at the off-balance creature while Fiin prepared another spell behind.

Jaro’s axe connected, and one limb went flying, a stream of black ichor jetting from the severed leg, but Patri’s strike was deflected, merely scratching the obsidian skin of the limb he had been aiming for.

Lifting his axe for another strike, Patri was unprepared for the creature to launch itself at him, jaws open wide as five limbs trailed behind it, and only Dillo’s timely interception saved him from having his throat ripped out.

“It’s an Aracocytus!” Fiin shouted from the back, still looking for a clear shot at their foe. “Aim for the base of the skull, where it meets the carapace!”

There was no response from the rest of the party, but it was obvious they had listened, for both Dillo and Jaro’s next strikes were aimed at the spot that Fiin had described. Unfortunately, the Aracocytus was not willing to let them hit it without a fight. Its powerful legs lurched, carrying it from side to side, back and forth, and even up the walls as it avoided the Frost Blades' attacks, all the while launching vicious strikes of its own at the party below.

Another strike landed, severing half of a limb as Patri’s axe claimed its first true blow of the fight. Reacting immediately, the Aracocytus skittered up the wall, its jaws opening wide as it unleashed a terrible scream.

Even from so far away, Rowan was forced to clutch at his ears, his face twisted in pain as the reverberations washed over him. The sound was agony, and he felt as if something in his ear ruptured, warm blood spilling from the side of his head.

Up ahead, the Frost Blades had fared no better, having received the brunt of the aural attack. Patri slumped against the wall, his axe barely remaining within his grip as his eyes took on an unfocused look, and neither Jaro nor Dillo were in a state to defend him, both having stumbled backwards away from the source of the scream.

Jaw unhinging, the bone-spider launched itself at the defenseless Patri, ripping the flesh from his chest as if the armour covering it was no more than decoration. Rearing for another strike, the Aracocytus made to finish the job, this time aiming for the boy’s exposed throat.

Just before it could reach him, a small barrier appeared in front of Patri’s neck, absorbing the brunt of the blow as the blood-stained mandibles of the monster skittered off and slammed into the wall beside him.

Confused, Rowan looked for the source of the barrier, only to watch in horror as Fiin fell, her mana clearly spent in the aftermath of the spell she had just cast.

The remaining Frost Blades did not hesitate, Jaro’s axe and Dillo’s sword forcing the nightmarish creature away from Patri, as Stenne moved to heal the heavily wounded axeman.

Returning to the ceiling, the Aracocytus hissed, clearly considering its next move. It had lost another leg to Dillo’s sword just now, and its three remaining limbs were clearly shuddering under the exertion of keeping it on the ceiling. But the bloodlust in its nature would not allow it to retreat, and the blood dripping from its jaws made it obvious that this fight was not over yet.

It was Rowan who was the first to sense it, seeing the bone-spider’s plan before it could take action. Two members of the Frost Blades were down, and one was currently surrounded by the remaining three. That left the other exposed, and the Aracocytus was not about to pass up a free kill.

It was not altruism that spurred Rowan to action, nor was it heroism. Only pure practicality forced his legs to move, pumping as he sprinted down the tunnel towards the motionless Fiin, desperately hoping he would be in time.

Although the monster was injured now, there was no guarantee it would stay that way after devouring Fiin. Rowan had heard tales in the past of monsters that recovered after drinking human blood, or feasting on human flesh, told around small fires in the back alleys and dumps of Taureen.

He did not know if the creature in front of him was one such monster, but he did know one thing. If it was allowed to recover while the Frost Blades were down two members, none of them would leave this tunnel alive.

Legs clicking against the tunnel ceiling, the Aracocytus sped towards Fiin, both Dillo and Jaro realizing the situation far too late. Fifty feet away, Rowan watched with horror as it leapt towards the fallen girl, its remaining limbs encircling her like a cage as it landed, its bony maw unhinging once more as it prepared to taste her flesh.

Realizing that he would not reach her in time, Rowan did the only thing that came to mind: he cast the Ball of Light spell they had spent the past month mastering in Professor Typh’s class. Unlike in class, Rowan did not seek to merely cast the spell. Instead, he gathered as much mana as he could, forcing it inside his ring and into the spell formation, struggling to contain the vast amount of magical energy.

With a flash of light, Rowan succeeded, a bright ball of violet light appearing in the air in front of him, far brighter than any he had ever cast before. Slightly dizzy from the exertion, Rowan forced himself to stay conscious, maintaining the spell as he thrust it towards the bone-spider in front of him.

The spell did nothing spectacular. The Aracocytus did not rear up, its flesh didn’t melt from its limbs, nor did it scream in pain as the light seared the foul life from its bony visage. No, the only response Rowan’s flare earned from the nightmarish creature was a quick look, its head snapping sideways to observe the phenomenon before turning back to its prey, the defenseless girl beneath its feet.

That moment was all the other Frost Blades needed. An axe buried itself deeply in the back of the Aracocytus’ neck, Jaro’s face contorted in rage at the thing that dared to hurt Fiin. Dillo’s sword was swift to follow, severing another leg, and even Stenne attacked, a spell of blinding light chipping splinters of bone from the thing’s skull.

With a shudder, the Aracocytus lurched to the side, swaying briefly before collapsing, apparently dead. Neither Jaro nor Dillo were willing to accept this at face value though, and both brought their weapons down several more times upon the heap of leg and bone that was all that remained of their foe, Jaro with quite a bit more force than Rowan had seen him use before.

The fight over, Rowan trotted forward to rendezvous with the others, glancing at the still grinning face of the deceased Aracocytus as Stenne tended to Fiin and Patri.

“A climber?” Stenne was the first to speak, both Dillo and Jaro still silent in the wake of the fight.

Dillo had a grim look on his face as he considered Stenne’s words. “Seems like it. The boss of this floor was supposed to be a thimp brute, not this thing. It must have made its way up from below somehow.”

“If the academy knew...” Jaro’s voice was low, and Rowan felt a chill as he heard it. The boy was covered in black ichor, and practically quivering with rage. He was clearly aware of just how close they had come to dying, and had turned his helplessness into anger.

“The academy has no reason to cull us,” Stenne spoke once more. “Nor do they need to test us. This was just an accident, nothing more.”

“We’ll report this to the academy when we get back,” Dillo affirmed, helping Stenne up as he finished tending to Patri’s wounds. The boy was pale from the loss of blood, but he had regained consciousness, and he smiled as he beheld the still corpse of the creature that had inflicted the wounds he now bore.

“We won then?” Patri asked cheerfully, looking from face to face for an acknowledgement of the fact.

“We did,” Jaro responded after a moment, turning to look at his cousin. “Although it was a close thing. If the porter hadn’t distracted it for a moment, we’d have lost Fiin.”

Hearing this, Patri grinned, leaning around Jaro to get a good look at Rowan. “Good job, man!” Patri called out, flashing him a thumbs up.

Despite himself, Rowan couldn’t help but smile back. Although the situation had been tense, it was true that he had managed to make a difference, no matter how small in a fight that should have been beyond his level. The fact filled him with pride, and it was with some difficulty that he forced himself not to smile like an idiot. Both Dillo and Jaro still wore dark looks, and Fiin was only just now returning to wakefulness, under the gentle ministrations of Stenne. Now was not the time for such displays.

After Fiin and Patri had climbed to their feet, the party voted on how to continue. Jaro wanted to leave, lest anything even more dangerous had made the chamber ahead its home, but Fiin and Dillo were adamant that they complete the dungeon, though Rowan suspected the two’s motives could not be more different.

“An Aracocytus is not a normal monster. The presence of one in the second floor of a Brass-ranked dungeon requires investigation,” Fiin argued.

“The boss room lies ahead. Our loot should remain within,” said Dillo.

Unable to argue against his boss and his crush, Jaro had withdrawn his objection, opting instead to sulk quietly next to Stenne as the Frost Blades prepared to advance.

The final chamber of the second floor was indeed just ahead, a mere hundred feet from where the Aracocytus had ambushed them. A circular room, the walls were decorated with a frieze that ran the length of the chamber, depicting various scenes of animals being worshipped by men and beast alike. A chest lay at the far end of the room, beside an abandoned throne. It was what was in front of the throne, however, that caught their eyes as they entered.

An enormous thimp, half his skull and a large portion of his chest missing, lay dead on the floor of the room. Blood stained the floor and pillars, and even the ceiling for fifteen feet from where he lay, and gouges criss-crossed the stone in every direction. In his right hand, two familiar looking black limbs were clutched—the price the Aracocytus had paid to defeat this king among thimps.

“Well, there’s the boss,” Stenne observed clinically, earning him an icy glare from Dillo.

“Fiin, you go investigate,” Dillo ordered. “The rest of you, search for treasure and any way out of this room. We need to know where the Aracocytus came from. Porter, you process the thimp when Fiin’s done.”

Splitting up, the party set to their tasks, Patri accompanying Stenne, and Jaro accompanying Fiin. For his part, Rowan swept the room for hidden loot. Although he could not match Fiin in finding magically hidden goods, he doubted any student in Faebrook could match his ability to find treasure hidden the old-fashioned way.

Unfortunately for Rowan, the thimps seemed to believe in hiding treasure through the use of the arcane, and all he found were a pair of engraved silver spoons, both of which he tossed in the sack without a second thought.

It was Stenne that discovered the passageway to the depths below, a crevice in the stone behind the throne. Stairs were hewn in the rock, leading downwards into darkness, and the sense of foreboding that Rowan had felt earlier returned in force upon gazing into the inky blackness below.

“Push the throne against the hole,” Dillo ordered, both Jaro and Patri assisting in blocking up the crevice with the thimp king’s oversized chair. Even Fiin did not protest, her close brush with death too fresh for any thoughts of heroism, much to Rowan’s delight.

Twenty long minutes later, they left, Rowan’s sack bulging with the loot from the boss room. The corpse of the Aracocytus was collected by Jaro, forced to carry it by the others in retaliation for the mess he made of it.

For his part, Rowan did his best not to look at it, though the leering and far too human skull flopped lifelessly over Jaro’s shoulder made that difficult. At last, after what seemed like an eternity behind the dead monstrosity, Rowan emerged from the darkness back into the sunlight, the morning having drawn to a close in the time they had been in the dungeon.