Jen poked her head out in the tunnel. No sign of Eleck or the other red-scales. She’d feared Damien would have trouble with the soul force eaters, but it looked like he remembered his lessons. She should have known better. Maybe some sorcerers didn’t know how to fight, but her brother was a St. Cloud. And if they knew one thing, it was how to swing a sword.

“All clear. Let’s go.”

Jen led the way back to the central chamber. Since there was no one in the temple besides the two of them, Leah, Eleck, and the wise one she felt comfortable assuming anyone they met would be an enemy.

She rounded a corner and leapt back ahead of a blast of flame. She’d just caught a glimpse of four red-scales guarding the tunnel.

Damien sidled up beside her. “Any soul force eaters?”

“I didn’t see any.”

“Let me go first.” Damien stepped around the corner and flames washed over him. Her breath caught in her throat. When the flames subsided he stood unharmed amidst dying embers. “Clear.”

Jen rounded the corner. Scaled chunks of meat filled the tunnel. She ran past them, Damien hot on her heels. He might not be subtle, but her brother got the job done.

Outside the wise one’s chamber waited two more red-scales. Golden beams streaked ahead of her, disintegrating them above the waist. Definitely not subtle.

She burst into the chamber. The wise one lay on the floor, all the roots that had held him severed. Eleck spun to face them, halfway between the wise one and Leah’s bed.

He raised his hands and a stream of black flames shot at her. She didn’t even have time to flinch. The fire blazed all around her, but didn’t touch her. When they ended Eleck was gone, a fresh hole in the wall where he’d blasted his way out.

“You okay?” Damien asked.

She nodded. “I assume thanks to your shield?”

“I didn’t want you to get your face burned off if we ran into more of those red-scales. It never crossed my mind that Eleck could use hellfire. Good thing I put plenty of soul force into the barrier.”

“I second that. You check the old man, I’ll get Leah.”

Jen crossed the chamber and looked down into the wooden bed. Leah was on her back, eyes closed, sleeping just as if she had no idea a lunatic was about to kill her a minute ago.

Jen reached in and shook her. Leah didn’t so much as shift her position. Must be some kind of sorcery. She should have had Damien check the woman and dealt with the wise one herself.

“I can’t wake her up.”

Damien picked up the old druid and carried him over to the bed. He lifted a trembling, wrinkled hand and placed it on the roots. They slid back into the ground leaving Leah in the dirt. Leah groaned and her eyelids fluttered.

“You’ll have to carry her.” Jen could barely hear the wise one’s voice.

“I’ll get them both.” Damien conjured a box around Leah and laid the wise one in beside her.

“What now?” Jen asked. “We can’t stay here.”

The wise one pulled himself up the side of Damien’s construct. “A hidden grove. A sanctuary for the wise one. No one else knows about it.”

That sounded promising. “Where?”

“Out the door and turn right. Go straight until you hit a dead end.” The wise one fell back gasping for breath.

“I’ll take point,” Jen said. “You keep them safe.”

Damien gave her a thumbs up and they set out. The tunnel immediately outside the central chamber was empty. Jen listened with her enhanced hearing, but heard nothing beyond their heartbeats. No danger threatened for the moment.

She jogged down the hall, every sense straining to detect Eleck or his monsters. Damien guided his construct out next then brought up the rear. The tunnel seemed to stretch on and on. The further they went the dimmer the green glow became. If it grew much worse they’d be running in the dark.

Golden lights sprang up on either side of them. She looked back and Damien waved. Having a sorcerer along on a mission really made life easier.

A deep, snarling hiss filled the air behind them. Jen spun. Four black-scales appeared at the corner of the nearest intersection. They must have sensed Damien’s lights.

Her brother drew his sword. Good as he was Damien couldn’t defeat four of the reptilian monsters without sorcery.

She slipped back beside him. “Keep going. I’ll deal with these four and catch up.”

Damien nodded. “Be careful. I’ll take away your shield so they can’t drain it.”

A faint shimmer filled the air and then he was gone down the tunnel. Jen drew power from her core, raised her sword and attacked. Her blade took one’s arm off at the elbow and continued on to take another at the knee. She spun away from a third, its claws missing her back by inches.

Jen had to watch herself. Unlike some enemies, she couldn’t count on her iron skin to protect her from the soul force eaters.

She thrust her sword through the stomach of one of the uninjured monsters and ripped it sideways. Blood and bile soaked the dirt floor.

Jen lunged for the last one and stumbled. The monster whose knee she gashed had its claws around her ankle. She spun and stomped its skull flat.

Pain filled her leg and she went weak. The last black-scale had clamped its jaws around her left leg. Soul force rushed out of her core like water out of a leaky tub.

Jen rammed her sword between its shoulder blades before she became so weak she couldn’t fight back. It hissed, opening its jaws enough that she managed to yank her calf free.

She stumbled away from it. As she moved, the wound through its torso sealed up. Jen used the tiny bit of her remaining soul force to stop her leg from bleeding.

The soul force eater stood two feet taller after draining her, its head now brushing the roots hanging from the ceiling. Jen had only what strength she could muster from her shaky muscles; her empty core wouldn’t regenerate for hours.

The monster advanced and she hopped back down the tunnel. Her gaze darted left and right, hoping in vain to find something that might give her an advantage against the empowered creature. There was nothing but dirt and loose pebbles.

The black-scale snapped at her, forcing Jen to jump back. Her legs swore at her. Her weak counter slash bounced off its thick scales without making a scratch. She didn’t have enough strength behind the blow.

She backpedaled faster, a desperate plan forming. If it would just charge her, the monster’s own strength would do what she couldn’t.

It snapped at her again. Jen dodged and slashed its lower jaw. Just a shallow wound but it snarled at her. Jen bared her teeth right back at it. Come on, you ugly bastard, come get me.

She dodged two more swipes of its claws, opening a thin gash on its forearm in passing. It roared and charged. Finally.

Jen set her back foot and drove into it. Her sword burst out its back. Somehow she managed to guide it to the side so the huge body didn’t crush her.

She put a boot on its chest and ripped her sword free. Stupid monster. They were awfully lucky their opponents didn’t have brains to go along with their powers. Jen needed to catch up with Damien. If her brother ran into any more monsters he’d need her help.