I retrieved my staff from my inventory, summoning it into my hand with a thought. I gripped it firmly as I backed away from the entrance being guarded by most of my defenders. I kept my gaze fixed on the opening that led up into the forest. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Steve joining me in my slow retreat. I glanced at him quickly and was strangely relieved to see him gripping his baton as tightly as I was my staff.

We’d just reached the lone skeleton guarding the way in from our camp when we heard someone coming down the stairs quickly. Brad burst into the room, face guard down and baton in hand. He slowed down when he saw the room was empty. “Where are they?” he asked, sounding confused.

Steve answered him as he went and got their riot shields from where they were leaning against the wall. “We heard something, but nothing’s come down yet.” He passed Brad his shield first before getting his own and settling it on his left arm.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Brad said, clearly baffled. “We’ve got the spotlights shining towards where the tunnel entrance should roughly be, and we just spotted a lot of movement out there. It’s difficult to make out any details with all the trees in the way, but it seemed like there were a lot of creatures.”

“Did you see Tim?” I asked urgently. The Void puppets were my main concern, and in particular the young man who had been taken over by the unnatural energy. The fact he had run away last night while the other puppets just kept pushing forward bothered me. Was it because he used to be human? Was there some kind of higher intelligence remaining within him? These were questions I had no way of finding the answers to, and they nagged at me. I was fairly confident this room’s guardians could handle a large number of simple infected animals, but I was much less sure about how they would hold up against the creatures that were powered by the sinister Void.

Brad shook his head. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything. With that much cover and at that distance, it’s impossible to tell if he’s around.” Noticing I was still dressed in just a white T-shirt and jeans, he frowned. “I thought you said you had some gear?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, ran out of time. Don’t worry. I’m going to stay well back, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

The eerie, piercing cry that all those brought back by the Void seemed to possess rang out again, cutting off anything Brad may have wanted to add. We all focused on the mouth of the tunnel at the other end of the room. As the call trailed off, we could hear the sound of something coming down the tunnel. A lot of somethings.

Here we go, I thought anxiously, palms sweaty and heart beating quickly.

“Steve! Top of the stairs,” Brad commanded, moving his shield in front of him, keeping it hovering just below his face so he could have a better view of what was coming. “Keep an eye on what’s going on up there and let me know if they need help.”

“I’m not leaving you two alone down here!” he objected.

“We’ll be fine! We’ve got bloody skeletons to do all the hard work,” he replied quickly. “Go!” Steve hesitated for a second, looking like he was going to protest the order some more before finally cursing and turning around. He headed up the stairs at a fast run. I didn’t have time to think about what may be happening above us. My attention was focused solely on the other end of the room as the first forms reached the end of the tunnel and came into view.

A stream of forest dwelling animals and insects exited the mouth of the tunnel at full speed. In the short time before they reached the trap lying just inside the room, I spotted spiders, snakes, and lizards of varying sizes, a possum, a bush turkey, a wallaby, and even an echidna among the press of bodies. They came on as one group, with no fighting amongst themselves, other than the inevitable jostling that came from such a large number of creatures packed so tightly together.

As soon as the leading bunch of them stepped on the trap, the thin layer of stone covering it broke and dropped them down into the pit and out of sight. The animals trailing immediately behind followed them down, unable to halt their forward momentum. Pained squeals and the energy from their lifeforce that I could feel flowing into me let me know that more than a few had perished on the spikes that lay at the bottom. As more experience flowed into me, I knew my snake defender was attacking the ones that had survived the fall.

My attention was pulled away from imagining the scene unfolding within the pit as more animals exiting the tunnel began launching themselves across the opening in the floor. My three skeletons waiting at the edges swatted most of them out of the air. They knocked frogs, sugar gliders and other smaller wildlife back and down into the pit with little trouble. My monitor lizard scurried around behind the skeletons, taking care of anything that got past them. It bit and clawed at the small infected creatures, and even knocked some down into the pit with its swishing tail.

I was glad to see my two rockaunchers holding back. They seemed to recognize that they weren’t needed. The increased intelligence my dungeon’s defenders had been granted at Rank 2 was evident in the restraint they were showing, as they didn't blindly follow their orders to attack any animals that entered. They simply watched on as their fellow guardians handled the threat relatively easily.

So far, all of the attackers that had entered the dungeon had been simple infected creatures. There was no tell-tale dark aura that the Void puppets from last night had possessed. I did notice that all of them were heavily riddled with black streaks and marks, though. That most likely meant they were in the late stages of the infection. They seemed to possess even greater ferocity than the infected I’d fought within the forest, and they were launching themselves with increased strength across the pit. Even still, my trap and defenders were dispatching the invaders without any problems, and I relaxed a little at seeing how well it was going. The steady stream of experience points I was gaining was also encouraging. A lot of the smaller creatures were only worth a single point, but the sheer number of them meant it was adding up quickly.

The dominance of my defenders lasted for only a short time before a heavily infected wombat, almost entirely covered with black lines and spots, bounded into sight. In a feat that I was sure it wouldn’t have been able to accomplish without the assistance of the dark energy at work within it, it leapt across the pit, barreling into one of the skeletons and bearing it to the ground under its substantial weight. The crazed animal began snapping and clawing at my undead defender lying beneath it, and I moved in to assist.

As I moved forward, I saw a bush turkey flying over the trap, taking advantage of the opening created by the wombat. Suddenly, the rockauncher that had been waiting opposite the entrance smashed into it, sending feathers flying. The bird’s broken body shot backwards through the air and collided with the animal that had jumped behind it, both of them tumbling down into the pit. The rockauncher fell down with them, but soon shot back out of the hole, using one of the stone spikes at the bottom to anchor itself against. Landing near the middle of the room, it started shuffling slowly to the wall, trying to get set again for another attack.

When I was in range of the wombat ravaging my skeleton, I cast my Light Dart spell. Without any armor on, I didn’t want to get close enough to the action to use my staff, especially after seeing how such a big animal could easily leap into the room. Besides, this was a good chance to rank up my attack spell. Brad stayed close behind, ready to intervene if anything tried to attack me, but otherwise he kept out of the fighting as he’d promised.

The beam of light that shot out of my palm burned a shallow hole in the crazed wombat, but it wasn’t enough to knock it off the skeleton and it didn’t get its attention. My defender, even with its levels and much higher strength, wasn’t able to dislodge the heavy animal. It just didn’t have the leverage it needed, not to mention that it was basically just a bunch of bones. They were magically enhanced, but the undead was still at a disadvantage in such a position. Even so, it managed to do some damage from beneath the large creature, continuously hammering at the wombat’s back with its fists and biting at it.

As I was considering risking moving in close to knock the infected animal off with my staff, the monitor lizard came to the skeleton’s aid. It clamped down on the wombat’s back leg and dragged it off with an impressive show of strength, backing up as it swung its head from side to side. Not wanting to waste the easy opportunity such a large target provided, I hit the wombat with another light dart as it came fully off the skeleton and just before the monitor began savaging it. It soon lay still, defeated, and some of its energy traveled into me.

The skeleton began to get back to its feet so it could retake its position on the edge of the trap. Before it could regain its feet, a huge kangaroo covered in swirling wisps of Void energy bounced easily over the top of the pit and hit the skeleton standing at the corner of the trap with its powerful body, knocking it back several meters. My heart froze at the sight of the Void puppet. Although I’d been expecting them, I hadn’t been anticipating something as imposing and powerful as this kangaroo. It was taller than me!

I was encouraged to see my defender that had been knocked back already recovering, and as the skeleton that had been attacked by the wombat regained its feet and ran at the kangaroo, some of my worry faded. But then my heart began beating rapidly in fear as the kangaroo turned around and kicked the skeleton with its powerful hind legs, launching it backwards a good 10 meters to land in a clatter of bones and with a large portion of its health bar missing.

The Void creature hopped back around and shrieked a challenge to the room, the sound echoing throughout the dungeon. Brad and I stopped where we were, shocked by the loud cry and the power behind it that was almost tangible at such a close distance. I wasn’t sure if it was some kind of an ability or just the proximity that affected us. Luckily, my defenders weren’t fazed by the unnatural noise.

The last skeleton guarding the edge of the pit abandoned its defense and turned to the beast. It lunged at it and slammed its bony shoulder into its side. The undead might not weigh much, but the level-5 guardian had a magically enhanced form. It was able to knock the Void creature off balance despite its size and the protective dark energy covering it.

The rockauncher on that side of the room then shot itself at high speed into the kangaroo’s head. Already unsteady from the skeleton’s hit, the impact knocked the Void puppet down onto its side. Unfortunately, it fell clear of the pit and remained in the room with us. Shaking my head to clear it of the lingering effects of the Void possessed’s shriek, I analyzed the abomination to see how effective the attacks were against it.

It had lost almost half of its health already! I breathed a sigh of relief. My defenders’s empowered attacks were quite effective, even against the protection the Void energy provided its minions. I watched as that same energy gathered around the kangaroo’s head, healing the damage the flying rock had caused while providing greater protection to the weakened area.

My monitor lizard scampered quickly to the downed animal and clamped its jaws around its throat, tearing at the flesh hidden behind the smoky energy. I was concerned to see the lizard’s health begin to decline, and its snout start to darken. Wanting to hasten the animal’s demise before it could do too much harm to my lizard, I shot it in the head with a light dart. Before I could do it again, the fluttering sound of wings drew my attention to the tunnel just as a flock of birds burst into the room.

They immediately started swooping at my defenders and headed towards me and Brad. I swung wildly with my staff through the air. My skill didn’t activate to guide my strikes as I abandoned any thoughts of technique in my desperation to defend myself. I managed to hit several birds, knocking them out of the air, but there were simply too many. My face and arms got scratched repeatedly and I was soon covered in bloody streaks. Even with my increased fortitude, my tough skin was unable to hold up against so many attacks. I was forced to give up on using my staff and simply covered my head with my arms, hunching over and shielding my eyes from the relentless assault.

Seeing how desperate the situation was, Brad acted quickly. He grabbed my collar, pulling me back and down to the ground. He then squatted next to me on my right, covering me with his shield. Lying on my back, I watched as birds and bats crashed against the transparent barrier and bounced off the armor covering Brad’s body. He shook with every hit, but held firm. With a moment to breathe, I surveyed the confusing mass of flying bodies. I picked out magpies, kookaburras, crows, and so many more varieties. Some of them were barely recognizable due to the advanced state of the infection. Alarmingly, I also spotted signs of Void energy fluttering around at least one of the birds dive bombing us.

“Move back slowly!” Brad shouted to be heard over the deafening noise the birds were making.

I started to shuffle slowly back, using my elbows and feet to get enough leverage. I needed to stay low and under Brad’s shield. I wouldn’t last long if I tried to stand up. The birds would cut me to ribbons. Brad kept pace with me, covering me with his body on one side as he kept the shield angled to protect as much of my body as possible.

He grunted as a large crow suddenly crashed into his helmet. It fell to the ground, stunned, and I stabbed at it with the butt of my staff before it could recover. I couldn’t put much force behind the attack while lying on the ground, but my advanced strength made up for the awkward position and the blow snapped the bird’s neck. I felt sick as I ended its life so brutally, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Another large bird came at us from behind and smacked into Brad’s back, causing him to fall forward a little. He recovered quickly and got the shield back over me as I dealt just as ruthlessly with the second dazed bird.

I wasn’t sure how long we could hold out like this. Through the confusing mess of drifting feathers and swarming birds, I wasn’t able to get a good look at my defenders to see how well they were holding up, but I could sense some of them closing in on our position. I soon saw one of my skeletons flailing its arms around as it took up position in front of Brad and me, managing to knock some birds down but taking a lot of hits in the process. The birds’ attacks weren’t well suited to injuring the bony guardian, but its health was still being whittled down slowly.

I caught a quick glimpse of one of the rockaunchers as it went flying overhead, taking out a couple of birds before it crashed into the wall. The skeleton that had been guarding the other entrance reached us, standing behind us to help block attacks from that direction. Despite the dangerous situation, I felt a small amount of pride in my creations as they followed their orders to protect us. I hadn’t had the presence of mind to call for them, but they had sensed the trouble I was in.

My defenders were in the fight, but there were too many birds for them to deal with quickly enough. I wasn’t sure how long Brad could hold out. His protective gear was resistant to the claws and beaks of the birds, but he must be covered in bruises after all the impacts he’d suffered. I was worried for myself, too. The skeletons and Brad were doing their best to keep the attackers off me, but there were simply too many to block them all. We needed some way to deal with the large group.

Suddenly, the glint of the new magical ring on my finger caught my eye. That’s it! I clenched my right hand into a fist and reached it in between Brad and the shield, pointing the ring up at the ceiling. The magical accessory lay against my skin, so I found I could easily connect to it. It was a simple matter of willing it to activate. A blast of air shot out of the ring, knocking the birds in its path around. Several of them got tangled up with each other and crashed down into the ground, but disappointingly, most of them managed to recover and ride it out like an updraft. I desperately fired off another blast, with the same minimal results. There was only one charge left. The ring’s magic had managed to take several birds out with each hit, but an air-based attack obviously wasn’t well suited to be used against flying enemies. I decided to save the remaining charge. We’d need to find another way out of this. I retracted my hand back under the protection of the shield.

My heart sank as I spotted a bunch of animals hurrying towards us across the ground, gaining entry to the room now that my defenders were concentrating on protecting us. Once they got to where we were hunkered down, I’d be buried under a pile of biting, clawing animals. With the number of poisonous snakes and spiders that must be among their number, I would be a goner. Our retreat had all but stalled under the ferocious aerial assault, so there was no way we could reach the entrance before they got to us. Brad recognized the added danger incoming.

“If you’ve got any more magic tricks, now is definitely the time to use them!” he yelled, voice strained.

For a brief, shameful moment, I considered teleporting out of the room to save myself. No! I pushed the selfish instinct down deep. I’m not going to leave Brad alone down here.

“Cax!” I shouted to be heard over the cacophony of bird calls and beating wings. In my panic, I forgot I could just speak to him in my head, the words simply coming out. “I need a spell that can take them out!”

A screen appeared in the lower half of my vision, and I quickly scanned the details of the spell he’d chosen. It was called Blinding Orb. It would create a light just like my Glowing Orb spell, but this one would shine at such an intensity as to temporarily blind anyone who looked at it. Good enough! I would have preferred filling the top of the room with fire to burn the damn birds to a crisp, but my magical affinities didn’t lean towards that kind of destruction.

I spent the 20xp required to unlock and learn the spell, and as the knowledge settled in my brain, I felt the first of the animals reach my legs. There were simply too many for the skeleton at the front to keep back. My jeans and shoes were holding up against their claws and teeth for now, but it was just a matter of time before they ripped them apart. I didn’t want to use my ring to clear them off, afraid of what the blast of air might do to my leg.

I quickly looked up at the ceiling through the cloud of frenziedly flying birds and focused on a spot towards the middle of the room. I activated Determination to help me ignore the distraction of the birds fluttering around as they tried to claw and peck at us, and the animals attempting to maul my legs. I cast my new spell, creating a shockingly bright orb of light as big as my head where I was looking.

Once it was in place, I shifted my gaze to the ground and yelled at Brad, “Close your eyes tightly and don’t look up!” The first of the animals got through the fabric protecting my legs and began biting and clawing, ripping into my skin and the flesh beneath. Some had also reached my arms and blood began to flow from all my limbs. I thrashed around, trying to knock them off me as I relied on Determination to help me block out the pain. You were basically burnt alive by the shard. This is nothing, I desperately tried to convince myself. Brad was trying to get them off me with his baton, but because he had to focus on keeping the shield up and was under attack himself, there wasn’t much he could do.

I hurriedly sent a mental order to my defenders through the magical link that connected them to me, telling them to hide their eyes. I wasn’t sure if the spell would affect them, but better to be safe. It was only then that I realized two of my guardians were down, the link that had connected us gone. I’ve lost a quarter of my defenders! I thought, panicked. Not wasting anymore time, I sent a command through the magical tether connecting the Blinding Orb to me, and it detonated silently.

An extremely bright burst of light filled the entire room for several seconds. Even with my head turned to the side and down, and with my eyes scrunched up, I was left blinking away tears and had spots dancing in my vision when the effect ended. The noise of flapping wings and bird calls was gone, replaced by the sound of tiny bodies slamming into each other and the floor as the blinded birds fell to the ground, unable to see where they were going. The animals that had been scurrying towards us were wandering aimlessly around, bumping into each other and calling out.

I violently swiped the insects and animals that had reached me off my body with a shudder, and got to my feet with Brad’s assistance. We stumbled back to the opening leading up into our camp to get some breathing room and to get a handle on the situation. Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Steve was coming back down. “There were some of those Void animals running around at the edge of the forest, but they didn’t engage,” he called out ahead of himself. “They ran back into the forest just now.” When he walked into the room, his eyes widened as he saw the blood covering me from the multiple cuts and bite marks on my head, arms and legs. He ran over to support me, putting his shoulder under my arm. When he looked at the room and took in the sight of the dozens of birds stirring feebly on the ground, and animals and insects stumbling around blindly, he exclaimed, “What the hell happened?!”

Brad and I were busy trying to catch our breaths after the short but intense attack we’d been subjected to. Still, Brad panted out, “I was wrong. Next time, you can stay.” I didn’t hear Steve’s reply as Cax informed me I’d been poisoned, confirming my fear that there had been venomous wildlife attacking us. I cast Heal on myself, removing the poison and fixing up the multiple cuts and bites covering me. I pushed off of Steve and clapped him on the shoulder a couple of times to show my appreciation. “All good now,” I told him. I breathed deeply in relief as the pain of the superficial wounds faded. Should have at least put my pain-reduction shirt on before this all started, I scolded myself.

I forgot all about my mistake as my entire focus was on my rockaunchers as they got to work finishing off the stunned birds and blinded animals on the floor. I watched in horrified awe as they repeatedly shot themselves from one side of the room to the other, rolling rapidly across the space in between. They left smears of blood behind as they rolled right over the wildlife, crushing the birds and insects and breaking the larger animals’ legs. I was reminded of the two officers’ presence as Steve gagged a little and Brad swore quietly under his breath.

I agreed with their disgusted reactions, but it needed to be done. The skeletons began to aid the rockaunchers, stomping on anything that the rolling stones of death missed. I made my way over to where I saw the shifting form of a Void-puppet magpie, and repeatedly struck it with the butt of my staff until it was dead. Another Void puppet, this one a kookaburra, had already been finished off by the rockaunchers.

I left them to the rest of the cleanup and took stock of the situation. The influx of attackers had stopped, and the tunnel for as far back as I could see from here remained empty. That was a good thing, because my defenders were not in good shape. The two I had lost were the carpet snake in the pit and one of my skeletons. I wasn’t sure what had done the snake in, but the skeleton had likely succumbed to the attacks of the birds. It was the one that had been attacked by the wombat and copped the powerful kick by the kangaroo, so it had already been substantially injured before the relentless flying assault had begun. With the magic that had held it together used up, it was now just a loose bunch of bones that had been scattered around the room thanks to the work of the rockaunchers.

I saw that my monitor lizard was on its last legs. The Void energy had eaten away at its mouth and made its way into its system, and it could barely move. It had just a sliver of health remaining. It had managed to finish off the possessed kangaroo, so I thought it a fair trade. I wasn’t sure if the magic of the dungeon would be able to bring it back from the brink of death. The magic could fix the defenders slowly over time, but the lizard was affected by the Void energy it had taken in from biting the kangaroo. It might be beyond the dungeon’s capabilities. Rather than heal it, I decided to wait and see if the dungeon could do it. It would be useful information for the future. If it couldn’t, I’d just create another one later.

The rockaunchers were also near the end of their lives. Every hard-hitting attack they made took off some of their health, and the cleanup they were engaged in now was steadily dropping it even further. I commanded them to stop before they literally ran themselves to death and return to their positions. The skeleton that had been guarding the camp entrance was in the best shape of all the defenders, so I told it to finish off the few remaining attackers.

The other two skeletons remaining were in pretty bad shape, but I had them resume their watch at the edge of the pit just in case. The dungeon would slowly bring them back to top form. Steve had said that the Void puppets up top had retreated, but I wasn’t convinced this was over. Only three of the Void’s minions had taken part in the assault on the dungeon, and there hadn’t been any sign of Tim yet. I was sure he was out there.

I quickly considered what defenders to create to replace the ones we’d lost. The lizard had handled the infected animals really well, but its biting attack made it susceptible to the Void energy when it fought against the puppets. Maybe I should go with…

The sound of running feet from the tunnel interrupted my planning. Shit! No time. I looked to make sure Brad and Steve had heard it. They were already moving to take up positions on either side of me. Reassured, I turned back around just in time to see a large snake flying across the pit. The Void energy swirling around it let me know it wasn’t a regular infected animal and that it posed a serious threat. It landed on the wounded skeleton closest to the wall and wrapped itself swiftly around my defender, binding its arms to its sides and bearing it to the ground.

I was assuming it had been thrown across by the person shrouded in dark energy standing just inside the room. Tim! I thought eagerly, glad for this second chance at finishing him off as I took a step forward, bringing my staff up. They suddenly jumped from a standing start, easily making it over the 1-meter hole in the ground. No, wait, I thought, stopping with a frown and a pang of sadness as I got a better look at the figure. That’s not Tim! Beneath the misting darkness, I could make out a lady covered in blood. As best I could tell, she was old. Maybe in her sixties. Based on her clothes, she had probably been on a hike when she was killed. Her age was obviously no longer a limiting factor as she landed smoothly by the monitor lizard and snatched up the large form easily.

The skeleton between the two attackers hesitated, seemingly uncertain about which one to assault first. I was too focused on what was happening with the possessed lady to direct it, so it was left to make its own decision.

My lizard was struggling feebly in the woman’s grasp. The foreign energy in its system had obviously weakened it, and it was unable to resist her. The Void lady brought it to her mouth, and before I could react, she bit into its throat and jerked her head around, tearing out a large chunk of flesh. The lizard’s last small bit of remaining health disappeared. She tossed the body aside, her empowered form sending the giant lizard sliding far across the floor.

The sight of my lifeless defender being thrown away so casually filled me with anger and spurred me to action. I ran at the lady, analyzing her as I went in order to get her name for later and to see what level she was. Level 2. Ok, I can handle that, I convinced myself. I pulled my staff across my body and back over my right shoulder in a move my skill had helped me memorize, ready to unleash a powerful swing. However, instead of moving to attack me, the lady ignored me. She ran at the skeleton that still couldn’t decide which threat to address first and shouldered it down into the pit. I felt the connection to it disappear as it landed at the bottom, the spikes there finishing it off.

The woman suddenly stumbled a little but quickly recovered. She lifted the snake holding the skeleton and threw them both over the pit and into the mouth of the tunnel, showing an amazing amount of strength. She turned her back to me and flexed her legs, clearly about to leap over to join them. I quickly let go of my staff with my right hand and pointed the ring at her back. I fired off the last charge, sending an air blast towards her. I was hoping to knock her down into the pit, but the attack hit her just as she jumped. It actually helped propel her across the hole in the ground. She landed a little roughly but was otherwise fine. Damn it! I cursed internally, frustrated at the failed attack.

I pulled up on this side of the pit, only a meter hole in the ground separating us. I was aware of Brad and Steve joining me, but I kept my focus on the enemies in front of me as I stared at them in confusion. I couldn’t believe it! They were running away and trying to take a captive. What are they thinking?! I wasn’t worried about them taking the skeleton. It couldn’t exist outside of the dungeon. I was only worried about why they wanted it. The way they were ignoring the three of us and the teamwork they’d shown was extremely unsettling, too.

I was desperate not to let them escape and was about to jump over and take the fight to them when a new figure appeared. There was no mistake this time. “Tim,” I muttered darkly. He had changed in the short time since I’d last seen him, but he was still recognizable. His once blonde hair was now completely dark. His shirt and pants were tattered, hanging off him and leaving him barely covered, and his shoes were covered in filth. A lot of his skin was visible as a result of the poor state of his clothes, and I could see the black splotches and lines on his skin had mostly faded. It looked as though his skin tone was returning to normal. The wound in his stomach that had been packed with Void energy before was now smooth skin, and the dark aura around him was evenly flowing. He had been put back together by the Void to some semblance of normal, but his eyes remained the same soulless black pits.

I mentally ordered my two rockaunchers and sole remaining skeleton to wait. We needed information. I wanted to see how this played out. Brad once again moved his shield to cover me, and Steve did the same on the other side. I quickly analyzed Tim to see what changes he’d gone through. “He’s level 3 already,” I exclaimed unhappily in disbelief. He looked right at me, and even though it was impossible to read any emotion in the swirling darkness that were now his eyes, I was sure he recognized me.

His gaze was extremely unsettling, but I steeled my nerves and didn’t look away, glaring right back at him. Maintaining eye contact, he crouched down over the snake and put his hands on either side of the skull of my weakly struggling skeleton. It was still being held tight by the animal. What is he doing? I tore my gaze away from his and looked down at where he held my defender. I watched in curious fascination as Void energy began to build up around his hands, drawn in from the aura surrounding him. It took about 10 seconds before they were wrapped in a dense dark cloud. He then squeezed his hands together, and several seconds later the skeleton’s head cracked and caved in. My eyes widened in horror. The ability he had used had given him incredible strength to be able to crush a level-5 being so easily. It took a long time for him to channel the energy into his hands, though, I reassured myself. Just don’t let him grab on.

Tim stood up a little unsteadily, and I had a horrible realization. The lady stumbled too after killing the lizard and the other skeleton. I quickly analyzed them both again, hoping I was wrong. Unfortunately, my suspicion was correct. Tim had just reached level 4, and the lady was now level 3. “They weren’t trying to kidnap it,” I said out loud, too stunned to internalize my revelation. “She was using my weakened defenders to get experience, and shared with Tim!”

I was caught up in trying to process what that meant about how the Void operated, so it didn’t register as Tim stood there considering his right hand, or the buildup of Void energy around it. When he lifted it to point right at me, my wandering mind focused back on the problem at hand. There was no time for me to react, though, as the energy he’d gathered shot towards my face rapidly in a roiling ball as big as a fist. Luckily, Brad was more experienced and hadn’t taken his eyes off the enemy. He braced his shield and caught the attack before it hit me. The force behind it cracked the special plastic of the shield and pushed it into me, knocking me back and turning Brad, leaving him exposed. Steve stepped in front of both us, covering us with his shield.

I sent a desperate command to my defenders to attack, but only one of them was able to. The skeleton was too ungainly to get over the pit, and one of the rockaunchers didn’t have an angle into the mouth of the tunnel. I felt the one that did have a clear shot launch itself at Tim, and I looked around Steve just in time to see it miss as Tim dodged out of the way. The rockauncher flew down the tunnel and it crumbled into loose grains of dirt as it went outside the boundaries of the room and the magic that sustained it.

Yelling in anger, I stepped to the left to get clear of the two officers and shot three light darts in quick succession at Tim. The ability he had used had clearly drained him. The protective coat of dark energy was much thinner than before, and three darts flew into him, the last one penetrating deeply and making him stumble back. He let out an ear-piercing shriek, and I could feel the anger and hate contained within it. He then turned and started running down the tunnel. The woman picked up the snake and followed him in his retreat.

“No!” I shouted. I cast another light dart, but it hit the woman in the back instead. She barely stumbled, and they kept running away. I’m not letting him get away again! I ran towards the pit, but before I could make the jump I was tackled to the ground by Brad. I shoved him off me, not being careful of my enhanced strength and actually sent him sliding several meters away. I jumped back up, but Steve was standing in front of me at the edge of the pit. He was still holding his shield in his left hand, and his right hand was held out and gesturing for me to calm down.

“Get out of my way!” I yelled at him.

From where he was lying on the ground, Brad said tiredly, “It’s too dangerous. They’re a lot smarter than I expected. They might have set up a trap. There’s probably at least a bunch of them waiting out there for us if we follow.”

“He’s right!” Steve quickly added. “There were several of them keeping us tied down that ran back into the forest. It’s obvious now that they just didn’t want us to be able to help you down here.”

As much as I wanted to disregard their words and chase after Tim and the others, I couldn’t convince myself to ignore them. What I’d seen the Void creatures do showed an intelligence and level of planning far beyond what I thought they were capable of, so I could easily believe Steve’s assessment of what had happened up top.

I swore and kicked a few nearby bodies around, needing to vent my anger before it made me do something stupid. Steve relaxed when he saw I wasn’t going to try and push past him, and Brad sat up, leaning back on his hands wearily. They both let me get it out of my system, not saying a word. The disgusting squishiness of what I was doing quickly got through to me and made me stop, so they didn’t have to wait long. When I finally calmed down and stood still, leaning on my staff and catching my breath, Steve asked the room, “So, what now?”

Good question. Before replying, I started to work out what needed to be done. I had to replace my defenders quickly in case the void creatures came back, there were a couple of blinking notifications demanding my attention, there was a room full of bodies to loot, and…

Hang on! I stood up straight, scanning the room quickly. The thought of loot had made me notice something strange. Almost none of the bodies had the glow of energy about them that meant I could loot them. In fact, only three of the dead creatures had it. They were the Void-puppet kangaroo and the two Void-puppet birds. And the multi-colored glow surrounding them was much more intense than usual.

“Does looting work differently in dungeons?” I asked Cax quietly, confused.

“No,” he replied, sounding just as unsure. “This is very odd.”

I wondered what was going on.