“There you go Miss Kat, keep it up,” Dorrik said, nodding their head approvingly. “Try to keep the flow of your mana even. Too much will disrupt the spellform and cause it to collapse, and too little will let the arachnogators through the door.”

She grunted in reply, hands spread wide as she stared at the dungeon door. A glimmering fog powered by her mana filled the opening holding back a pair of nightmarish creatures.

Each of the monsters was big, maybe half again as long as Kat and covered in thick leathery scales that ended in an elongated snapping muzzle. Perhaps more distressing were the eight scaled legs, each ending in a pair of razor sharp hooks.

“Are you sure there isn’t a better way to train this spell?” Kat asked, her voice clipped as she tried to manage the complicated spell form. “I kinda thought that protection magic was going to be like using elementalist abilities. I’d just concentrate on what I wanted to do and release the mana.”

“This is really hard,” she continued. “I can feel the tower helping me manage the magic, but even then it’s like performing three calculus equations at once atop a moving train.”

One of the arachnogators lunged forward, pressing its torso into the mana imbued mist and pressing forward. A sound like metal on porcelain filled the dungeon chamber as the fog stretched, giving way but not quite breaking as the monster tried to force its way through. Kat grunted, pushing more mana into the spell and then smoothing out the flow of the invisible energy.

“Ward is one of the most basic arcane protection spells,” Dorrik replied. “Once you have mastered its use, then we can look into purchasing you more potent defensive spells. Until then, it is best to have you practice in a combat setting so that you can level up your skill. Once you are at its higher levels, the mana drain and management is much more forgiving.”

“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to hold them,” Kat warned. She could feel sweat beading on her forehead. “I’m not sure that this spell was meant to handle the sort of monsters that live on the eighth floor, especially at my-”

With the sound of a breaking windowpane, the ward shattered. The glowing mist blew away from the doorway, as if caught in a strong gust of wind, and Kat staggered backward a step, pain spiking into her head as she suffered the spell’s backlash.

The first arachnogator scrambled through the doorway only to meet Kaleek’s greatsword. Its heavy scales stopped most of the slash, but the momentum from the blow still smashed it into the floor.

With practiced ease, Dorrik planted a foot atop the creature’s head and reversed their grip on both of their swords before stabbing them downward with pinpoint precision into the monster’s eyes. It twitched once and then Dorrik flowed to the side a fraction of a second before the second arachnogator lunged into the room.

Dorrik dodged its flailing legs, slapping the one swipe that came close aside with a sword. Kaleek on the other hand just accepted the blow. His chest glowed red as the hooked blades on the end of the gator’s foot scraped across the steel plates, drawing a line of sparks but not dealing any lasting damage.

He swung his sword sideways. The blade glimmered in the dim light of the dungeon as it slashed through two of the monster's legs, snapping the thin limbs like they were twigs. Frantically, it tried to take advantage of its forward momentum to attack Kat even as it fell to the dusty ground of the dungeon.

She shook off the stinging behind her eyes and backpedaled. The monster snapped at her, washing her with its warm, rancid breath even as Kat finished Shadow Stepping to safety.

Then it flopped to the floor, sliding on its scaly belly toward Kat. She stomped on its muzzle, pinning its jaws shut as she activated Penetrate and brought her dagger down on its forehead. The blade flashed red before she buried it in the gator's skull.

It twitched once and went still.

Kat blew out a sigh, yanking her knife out of the creature’s head and wiping it on her thigh before resheathing it. She reached up with her left hand, massaging both temples as she tried to get rid of the last vestiges of her headache.

“You did very well Miss Kat,” Dorrik said helpfully. “That said, we should probably wait a bit before we continue on. We are very close to the dungeon’s boss chamber, and unless I miss my guess you are running very low on mana.”

“Come on!” Kaleek blurted out. “We just spent five minutes watching Kat bar the door, and then I got a grand total of TWO sword swings in, and now we have to wait again? I’m going to end up bored out of my mind!”

“Dorrik’s right,” Kat replied, crouching and pressing her back against one off room’s rocky walls. “I only have 9 mp left. If we end up in any sort of real fight I won’t be able to do much but poke the monster with my knife.”

“That’s pretty much all I do,” Kaleek responded, picking his own spot to rest against the wall. “Of course, I use a bit bigger of a knife than you, but I’ve heard that size is mostly a matter of personal preference.”

Kat just rolled her eyes, unwilling to deal with the smug grin on the big otter’s face.

“Kaleek,” Dorrik said, a slight questioning tone to their voice. “That reminds me. Whatever happened with that desoph visiting from another pod? I believe you said that her fur was as smooth and soft as fine silk?”

“Delora?” Kaleek responded, his head drooping slightly as the smile disappeared from his face. “She was originally an organic engineer assigned to help our pod’s coral farms produce some unique specimens. Once things started to heat up with the stallesp she got recalled to the fleet. It turned out she’d been on loan from one of the bigger ships in dry dock while it was refitted. Hostilities sped that process up, and alas I am once more very single.”

“I’m sorry,” Kat offered. “It really sounded like the two of you were having fun there for a while. It’s terrible that the war would rip you apart like that.”

“You know what they say,” he said, a bit forlornly. “What comes in with the tide, leaves with the tide. If it’s meant to be, we’ll find a way.”

Dorrik nodded solemnly, crest tight to the back of their head.

“You did exchange contact information though?” The big lizard asked. “So long as she is within range of a relay, you should at least be able to exchange messages.”

“Yeah,” Kaleek said sourly. “I have a message out to her already. I don’t know where she’s deployed, but it’s been two days and she hasn’t gotten back to me. Maybe she’s busy, but-”

He paused for a moment before shaking himself. A second later, Kaleek’s usual irreverent grin was in place.

“Say Kat,” he began slyly. “How are things with that more than a friend of yours? Have you finally worked up enough courage to ask her to be your mate?”

Kat froze as both Dorrik and Kaleek turned to look at her. Frantically she checked her mana reserves, hoping without reason that they might have refilled enough to end their impromptu break. 12 mp. Crap.

“I asked her out,” Kat replied. “Sort of.”

“Oh come on now,” Kaleek chided her. “You’re going to have to tell us a lot more about what ‘sort of’ means. I’m not going to let you get away with just that.”

“Fine,” Kat said. “I might have confessed that I cared for her and that I was sacred for her safety and that was why I was training so hard. We also have a date coming up, and I have absolutely no idea what to do.”

“Atta girl,” Kaleek replied approvingly. “Mutual protection against dangers of uncharted waters is one of the classic reasons for sealing a relationship. If you ever have any doubts about whether your feelings for her are real, just think back to that moment when you were afraid that a taarl had her in its maw.”

“Except now I don’t know what to do,” Kat moaned, burying her head in her hands. “I’ve always been so focused on the next step: making money, defeating the next monster, defanging a conspiracy before it could hurt my friends or I, I just never had the chance to actually have a normal life. I know that Whip likes me and I know that I like her, but I don’t know what the next step after that is.”

She stopped abruptly, cocking her head to the side and casting a confused glance at Kaleek.

“Also, what in the hell is a taarl?”

“Big fish with razor sharp sail fins,” the otter responded dismissively, “but that doesn’t really matter. Of the three of us, clearly have the most experience in matters of the heart. Whippoorwill likes you, and the you she likes is the person she’s spent all of her time with. You don’t need to do anything special, only spend time with her. Just be yourself, but you know, funnier.”

He pursed his lips, glancing Kat up and down once before continuing.

“Maybe try being prettier too. You’re awfully pink. You should look into getting some sort of prosthetic fur implants to fix that.”

“The fact that I have not been in a relationship yet does not mean that I am ignorant on the subject,” Dorrik cut in, all four of their arms intertwined across their chest. “I have spent a significant amount of time studying the romantic practices of any number of species. From the onglap ceremonial presentation of a dream rock to traditional zahwell fasting and courtship dances I am as close to a xenological expert on the subject as you are likely to find.”

“Did your study of human dating extend beyond Chrome Cowboys?” Kat asked out of a morbid sense of curiosity.

“Of course,” Dorrik replied. “I’ve also watched the Shareholder and the Maid, Street Samurai Summer, and Mergers & Acquisitions. I pride myself on having a wide breadth of knowledge about your race’s cultures and customs. I couldn’t just restrict myself to one show, especially now that I’ve caught up and am stuck waiting on new episodes.”

“And do you have any different advice than Kaleek?” She questioned, trying not to think about the terrible production values of the soap operas the lokkel had just named.

Dorrik paused, their crest fluttering as they thought over their options. Eventually, they shrugged, a strange, undulating sight given their four shoulders.

“Cora Blackharp picked up her first date on a megacopter that had both a five star restaurant and a ballroom for dancing complete with an automated chamber orchestra,” they mused. “But it turned out that the date was a ruse. Miguel Antonelli disabled the helicopter’s security systems, setting the stage for a daring raid. During the fighting, Cora was injured, and Miguel found that he cared more for her than the blackmail his handlers had on them, and under the stress of the moment, he proposed to her on the spot.”

“On their first date?” Kat asked, raising a single eyebrow. “That seems a tad bit quick.”

“Well,” Dorrik replied, “Miguel sacrificed himself to save Cora’s life two episodes later, before they could actually get married, so it is hard to determine if things actually progressed too quickly or not.”

“So do you actually have advice for Kat or not?” Kaleek questioned, his nose wiggling with amusement.

“Unless she has access to a megacopter and a team of paid off commandos to fake a dramatic attack mid date?” Dorrik began, slowing their words down as they looked at Kat expectantly. She shook her head.

“In that case no,” they finished. “Kaleek’s advice was surprisingly well grounded. If you act strange, it will come off as unnatural. Simply act like you normally would, and then kiss her at the end. After all, that’s most of what relationships are for your race, right? Kissing friends?”

Kat’s response died in her throat as she practically choked on her words.

“Kissing friends?” She sputtered. “Is that what you think?”

Dorrik nodded their head placidly. She looked to Kaleek for support, but the desoph had his face buried in a hand as he stifled laughter. She sighed in defeat before replying.

“What about you Dorrik, when are you planning on looking for a mate?”

The big lizard paused for a second, their crest stiffening in distress. They closed their eyes for a second, taking in a deep breath before exhaling. When they reopened them, nervousness warred with solemnity.

“I plan on seeking a mate when I complete my transformation from carrier to male. Something that appears to be happening sooner rather than later.”

“Really?” Kat asked, perking up. “I know that’s a big deal for lokkel, but I didn’t know that you were so close.”

“The timing is a complex matter,” Dorrik responded stiffly. “Partially dependent on the age of the lokkel as well as their emotional state, usually as a reflection of achievements during their lifetime. For most of us it is a special event, one that is shared only with family and close friends. Sometimes it takes place in person, but more often than not, given the distances involved, lokkel evolve while in the Tower.”

They faltered for a second before continuing their speech.

“I would be honored if the two of you would take on the role of my seconds for the ceremony. It is nontraditional, but not unheard of for a lokkel to have members of another race present when they-”

“Absolutely!” Kat yelled, jumping to her feet and practically skipping across the room to throw her arms around the big lizard’s neck. “You couldn’t keep me away from it.”

The lokkel stiffened, clearly unsure how to respond to Kat’s excitement and proximity. Behind her, Kat heard Kaleek tromp closer. His hand slapped down on Dorrik’s shoulder. Kat could practically see the grin on the desoph’s face as he spoke.

“What she said, old buddy. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve been a part of my pod for years. You tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”

“I, uh-” Dorrik caught themselves, uncharacteristically fumbling for words. “Thank you. I’ve been meaning to bring it up for days, but-”

“But sometimes it’s hard to just come out and say it,” Kat said with a chuckle, eyes flickering to the side as she checked her mana. “By the way, I’m topped off. As soon as you guys want to challenge the boss I’m ready to go.”

She unwrapped herself from Dorrik, hopping back a couple of steps. The lokkel’s crest was standing on end, rigid with an emotion that Kat had never seen before. They put one of their upper hands on Kaleek’s forearm and nodded at the otter.

Then Dorrik turned around and led the way out of the room. Kat wasn’t sure if the lokkel was hurrying because they were emotional, or if they simply wanted to put a rest to the dungeon, but either way, a smile touched the corners of her mouth.

That smile disappeared the second they stepped into the boss chamber, the massive stone doors slamming shut behind them.

“Gozzlam,” Kaleek spat the word out, his voice hushed as he drew his sword. “The architects’ only mistake.”

“On your toes Miss Kat,” Dorrik hissed quietly, stepping behind Kaleek so that the two fighters were back to back. “You have a chance of outrunning them. Kaleek and I are too slow. Remember, you mustn’t let them catch you. Even at our present levels Gozzlam venom is too strong.”

She glanced at them in confusion, unsure what to make of her team’s sudden seriousness as she turned her attention to the arena. It was mostly the same unremarkable stone as the rest of the dungeon with a small pond in the center. Crossing the pond was a simple wooden footbridge.

As best she could tell, it was a scene from an executive park rather than a high level dungeon. All the tableau was missing was a bench, a couple of trees, and some grass. Hell, there was even a flock of about twenty grey and black geese in the pond.

“I don’t get it,” She said, motioning with her knife toward the center of the room. “All I see is a pond and some geese.”

One of the birds perked up at the sound of her voice, lifting its head from the water and staring at Kat. She locked eyes with it, cocking her neck to the side as she contemplated the goose in befuddlement.

It reared its neck up, stretching its neck to almost three times its previous length. It opened its mouth to reveal a quartet of razor-sharp fangs, each of them almost as long as Kat’s hand.

“What the fu-” Kat blurted out, her eyes widening.

The gozzlam honked, a chaotic cacophonous sound that jarred Kat onto her heels and made her teeth ache. The remaining birds snaked their heads upward, glaring at the intruders before they joined the disorienting riot of sound.

Then the first goose flapped its wings, catapulting itself from the water toward Kat at a speed her eyes could barely track. She bolted, activating Shadow Step even as she cast Pseudopod.

Acting on instinct, she blurred, quite literally, to the side as Shadow Step shrouded her supernaturally quick movements. The ground shook under her feet as the gozzlam’s bill slammed into the spot she had just vacated with enough force to drive a hole into the stone dungeon floor.

Kat jerked back onto her original course, wincing as another gozzlam’s neck rocketed past her, buffeting her with wind as it snapped fruitlessly at the empty air. Distantly she heard shouts and the clatter of metal as Dorrik and Kaleek defended themselves, but she didn’t have time to be concerned for the rest of her party.

A pillar of water grew from her chest as she ducked another angry fang-filled bill. Kat didn’t know how many of the demonic geese were chasing her, just that every instinct in her body screamed danger simultaneously, like she should be jumping, juking to the right and ducking all at the same time.

Instead, she passed her spare knife off to the Pseudopod, relaxing her control of it enough for the spell to interface with Dancing Blade. Kat planted her right foot into the ground and threw herself to the left.

An explosion of feathers and enraged goose zipped past her. It curved its too-long neck toward her trying to sink its giant fangs into Kat’s exposed side only for the Pseudopod to slash upward, dragging the edge of her back-up knife across the creature’s exposed neck.

For a brief second, Kat contemplated jumping into the air, but the feathers fluttering around her disabused her of that notion. Instead, she cast Gravity’s Grasp behind her, reveling in the trio of angry squawking thumps as the spell ripped flying gozzlam from the sky.

Once again, her Pseudopod lashed out, stabbing her knife into one of the stunned gozzlem before ripping the blade free.

The skin on the back of her neck tingled, and Kat leaned to the side, but this time she didn’t move quickly enough. Somehow one of the unfairly fast gozzlem had managed to pass her on the right, and time seemed to slow as its fanged bill launched forward, propelling the creature’s absurdly long neck.

Kat’s hand darted upward, snatching the blur coming toward her just underneath its chin and halting its momentum. For a fraction of a second, it glared at her, its beady malevolent eyes spitting equal parts hatred and confusion. Then she used every point of her strength attribute to rip the creature from the floor, swinging it like a perturbed impromptu flail at the rest of the flock pursuing her.

The bird in her grip slammed into one of its companions, neck snapping as the two animals collided with bone crushing force. Then Kat was in motion once more Shadow Step pulling her away from the pile-up of impotent avian rage.

She fumbled for options and came up almost empty. The gozzlem were fragile, barely stronger than an actual goose, but they were fast and Kat didn’t dare try her luck against their fangs. More importantly, there were a lot of them pursuing her, not giving Kat a moment to breathe and come up with a proper plan.

Instead she was only left with a list of gambles and bad choices, so Kat chose the best option from the list and began reciting the words to ward. Her hands twisted themselves into strange shapes and sigils, guided by the power of the tower granted skill.

Arcane magic was like healing, but more so. Complicated, loud, slow, and a mana hog, but at the end of the day, it was hard to argue with their utility.

Kat spun on a heel throwing out her right hand. A cone of glowing mist sprayed from her palm, stopping to hover in the air just in front of the gaggle of charging gozzlem. She grunted as they slammed into the shimmering fog. Without even checking the spell form, Kat poured mana into it knowing that ward would need every erg of magical energy she could provide it.

One after another, six gozzlem thudded into it like songbirds against an overly clean window. The first goose hit at an awkward angle, cleanly snapping its neck from the force of its collision. As for the remaining five, they were now an angry honking pile, trapped between the ward and the gozzlem that followed them.

Then, Kat’s Pseudopod went to work, operating with a mind of its own due to Dancing Blade as it dove, stabbed and slashed at the vulnerable flanks of the geese. By the time the gozzlem were back on their feet only two of them remained.

She let the arcane spell lapse. Ward could create an area of impassable space, but there was no way to move it after casting. That made it useful for places like doors or gaps in a shieldwall, but in the open, it was nothing more than an immobile mana sink.

Kat lunged to the right, knife springing to her hand as she cast Dehydrate on the blurry form of the attacking goose. The spell barely clipped it, injuring one of the animal’s wings but not slowing it in the slightest as its neck snapped forward.

Her knife hand got there in time, but Kat had to retract it at the last second as the gozzlem shifted its aim from her chest to her wrist. Instead, she spun to the side, slamming an elbow into the side of the gozzlem’s head, stunning the beast.

Not taking any chances, Kat dove toward the creature’s legs. Behind her she could feel her Pseudopod struggling to keep up with the remaining gozzlem. It was only a matter of time before the lightning quick animal managed to break through her defenses, and she would prefer to not have her back turned when that happened.

Instead, she drove her knife into the neck of the still woozy goose, releasing her grip on it as the hilt slammed into the creature’s chest. Then she was on her feet and spinning to face the remaining gozzlem.

There wasn’t time for her hand crossbow, the animal was moving too fast. Instead Kat whipped a throwing dagger at the monster, wincing as it snapped the flashing blade out of the air with a spray of sparks as its fangs clashed with the weapon’s metal.

Her Pseudopod feinted to the left, driving the gozzlem to the side and straight into the second Dehydrate that Kat had prepared. It seemed to wilt under the force of the spell, staggering as the magic drained its body of any free moisture.

Then her Pseudopod finished the job, slashing her knife across its neck with a vicious backstroke. The gozzlem staggered back a step on unsteady, webbed feet. It tried to let loose one last forlorn honk, only for the sucking wound on its neck to steal the sound, transforming it into a gurgling hiss.

Kat sighed, walking over to the dead gozzlem that had her knife and wrenching it free before surveying the room. There was only one monster left, and Dorrik was easily keeping it at bay with a dazzling display of swordsmanship as Kaleek snuck around its side, sword at the ready.

She began making her way to the foot bridge, checking each of the downed geese as she moved to ensure that the treacherous monsters were actually dead. Just as she reached the bridge, Kaleek finished the final gozzlem.

Kat looked back one more time to make sure her two companions were all right before rolling her eyes and placing a hand on the dungeon altar. Godforsaken geese.

Congratulations Adventurer!

You have completed the Iron Tier Level Eight Dungeon, Picnic of Despair

Three of Three party members surviving. Good Job!

Assigning awards:

Agility + 1

Stamina + 3