Erin heard them before she saw them. The chittering and growling of the qek language came past the mouth of the cave. Her stomach dropped as she ducked low.

Did she send us into a trap?

[They don’t seem to be expecting you.]

That much was true. The qek inside were having some sort of celebration, which she suspected had something to do with their prisoner. Erin moved quietly up to just off the cave entrance and carefully peeked around the corner.

A dozen of the short beast-men gathered around a couple of fires, hooting and hollering with excitement. Wide-eyed, Erin took in the scene. At the back of the cave, there was a woman, hands bound above her. Her head hanging in unconsciousness, a trail of blood running from her temple.

There’s no way.

Erin thought in despair. She was sure she could kill one in a surprise attack, maybe two, but that would leave ten more to deal with. It was impossible. The woman shifted in her bonds as if she was starting to wake up.

Before any of the monsters could take notice, however, two of the qek shoved at each other, snapping and snarling. The largest of the group spotted the commotion and shoved in between them, using his greater bulk to bully them into behaving. The fight was broken up before it could get started, but it was impossible to miss the mutinous looks they threw at the larger qek.

I have an idea.

[I know.]

Erin didn’t have time to get into how invasive the whole mind-reading thing was. Instead, she knelt to scoop snow into her gloved hands and began compressing it into a tight ball. Hoping against hope she wouldn’t be spotted, she stepped out into the mouth of the cave and threw the snowball with all her strength.

She missed her mark, but luck saved her anyway. The snowball drifted too far right to strike her intended target. Instead it smashed hard into one of the qek who’d been about to fight. The monster stumbled sideways under the force of the impact, running right into its larger companion. The beast-man whirled on the spot and in a blur of limbs began to slash blindly at its ‘attacker.’

All hell broke loose as the group of qek turned into a screaming mess of slashing claws and snapping teeth. Momentarily transfixed, it took a mental prod from Lisa before Erin thought to step out of the cave's entrance and back into her hiding place.

Well, that worked about as well as I could’ve hoped.

She thought as the sounds of the melee continued to explode from within the cave. The noise was deafening and Erin’s stomach did flips as she imagined what other creatures might be hearing it. She waited to feel that dreaded impact tremor. Though now that she thought of it, she had no idea if that thing had survived its clash with the Iron Spider cluster.

It wasn’t long before the sounds of battle began to die out. Erin had seen how viciously the qek fought, even against each other. She peeked inside to take stock of the situation. Of the original dozen, only three remained and all of them were so battered, bloody, and barely on their feet.

The remaining fighters stood facing one another in a rough triangle. None of them looked up for more fighting. With the amount of blood leaking from the scratches and bites she would’ve guessed they’d need an ambulance and a trauma unit to keep them alive. She glanced down at the scratch she’d received earlier in the day. The scab had mostly fallen away, and what remained was a thick pink line of new flesh. It didn’t compare to the injuries the qek in the cave had inflicted on one another, but if they healed like she did, it might be enough to survive.

She waited and watched. The tension between the three had only increased in the meantime and it seemed likely that they would continue to fight. She was already patting herself on the back for how well her plan had gone when the other mage stirred again. The woman groaned in pain as she struggled back into consciousness.

All three qek snapped their heads towards their waking prisoner and just like that the fight was over. They exchanged a few growled words and then turned toward her.

Well shit.

Erin ducked low and slipped into the cave. Turning toward their prisoner had faced them away from the entrance. Erin pooled the magic in her hand and tried to light the fireball as quietly as possible. The spell froowshed into existence at the same volume as usual, but thankfully the qek were too distracted to notice.

Erin aimed and fired the first shot, not even waiting to see if it struck its mark before conjuring a second fireball and taking aim again. The first shot took the far-right qek square in the back of his head, which was quickly engulfed in a rolling wave of fire. The second fireball landed right as the center qek wheeled around in confusion. Fire poured into and over his snout as he fell backward onto the cave's floor, dead.

[You have slain: Qek Scavenger, would you like to loot?]

The last one had better survival instincts. Rather than turn to stare at his attacker, he leaped to the side and ducked low. His menacing yellow eyes landed on Erin as she gripped her staff in both hands and angled it across her body, tip pointed at the qek.

She’d seen how quick these monsters were once they were on guard, and she didn’t want to risk wasting a fireball. The potion had worked wonders and she was able to cast again without wanting to pass out and throw up, but she could still feel how tired and hungry she was even under its effect.

I always preferred melee classes anyway.

She thought to herself as she scooted forward bit by bit, ready to bring the staff down over the qek’s head. Somewhere to her side, she heard the first one she’d targeted gasp and then gurgle, falling silent.

[You have slain: Qek scavenger, would you like to loot?]

Erin ignored the prompt as she inched closer. The qek’s body practically vibrated with the tension in its muscles as it prepared to launch an attack. Truthfully it was a pitiful sight. The creature was barely one-third her height, covered in wounds that dripped blood audibly on the floor. Like the slow drip of water after the rain has stopped.

“Come on!” She snarled at it through clenched teeth. Its eyes darted left and right, and then it scooped a handful of dirt from the floor and tossed it into Erin's face. She jumped backward, just managing to keep the worst of it from getting in her eyes. As she moved, she brought the staff down in a chopping motion. Blindly trying to intercept an attack she couldn’t see.

With a solid clack, the length of wood struck the cave's stone floor, and Erin caught motion from the corner of her eye. She pivoted on the spot to find the qek on the run. Down on all fours, it barreled straight out the cave's mouth at a pace she couldn’t hope to match.

“I hadn’t expected them to run away.” She said to Lisa, still watching where the qek had vanished. Her Liaison made no reply, and Erin cursed. Having a monster who knew who and where she was couldn’t possibly bode well Her eyes fell on the blood spatters that were left behind; she sighed and shook her head. The wounds would’ve killed any person or animal on Earth, but a feeling in her gut told her that creature would recover.

She stood for a moment longer, wondering what to do before she remembered why she had come. She turned on the spot to find the previously unconscious prisoner very much awake and staring right at her. Blue eyes stretched wide, under a mess of dark hair. A trail of dried blood ran down the side of her face.

[Gurty said this Mage was even newer than you.]

Erin shifted the staff into her inventory, causing it to vanish from her hand as she approached the woman.

“My name is Erin.” She said as she moved in closer to inspect the ropes. “I’m going to get you out of here.” The woman didn’t answer, watching silently as Erin looked her binds over and began to undo them. The greater strength of her new body came in handy as she worked the knots loose.

Once her hands were free the woman stumbled forward and Erin caught her by the shoulders to keep her from falling over. Balance restored, she stepped back away from Erin and stared at her with hollow eyes. They looked at each other for several long seconds before the dark-haired woman visibly pulled herself together. After several slow, deep breaths she spoke.

“My name is Sigrid.” and without waiting for Erin she asked, “where am I?”

“That’s a loaded question. All I know for sure is that I died. I’m Erin by the way.”

“Died?” Sigrid looked horrified, “you mean that was real?” She covered her face with her hands and Erin grimaced and gave a half-hearted shrug.

“Yeah, I mean as far as I know.”

“I have to get back!” She suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Erin’s shoulders. “I can’t be dead! My kids!”

Whenever Erin’s thoughts had strayed towards the idea of getting back to Earth somehow, there had been a knowing finality in her gut. She was certain she couldn’t go home in the same way she was certain she couldn’t swallow a boulder. It was impossible.

“I’m sorry…” was all she could think to say. Sigrid let her go, sat on the floor with her head in her hands, and began to cry.

The cave’s floor was still covered in the bodies of slain qek, most of them murdered by their fellows. The weeping woman sitting in their midst made for a macabre scene that she knew would come back to her as she was falling asleep; likely for the rest of her life.

[You should collect your loot and leave before it gets dark.]

Erin grimaced again but pulled up the prompts.

“Yes.” She said to both of them, only then remembering Sigrid wouldn’t know she was talking to Lisa. If the woman heard she gave no sign, only continuing to cry into her hands. Erin’s first instinct would’ve been to try and offer some comfort, but the sun was setting and they needed to be gone from here before it got too cold.

Qek Scavenger Loot 1 of 2 Default 9 Copper Maefars, 2lbs of qek meat. Equipment Select this option to discover loot. Qek Scavenger Loot 2 of 2 Default 8 Copper Maefars, 2lbs of qek meat. Equipment Selection this option to discover loot.

“Equipment for both,” Erin said, hoping she’d be able to save some time that way. Two of the bodies began to glow with a white-blue light and Sigrid screamed and jumped up.

“It’s alright, they’re just-” but she wasn’t listening. The light faded leaving behind a few items on the floor. “It’s okay,” Erin repeated, holding her hands up. The dark-haired woman seemed ready to bolt. “I can explain everything.” She said, stepping towards the small piles of loot. Two bags of coins and the unappetizing bricks of raw meat went straight into her inventory.

What was left behind was a bundle of five torches, and a tent.

“Well, that’ll come in handy.” Erin stashed both of them into her inventory and turned to Sigrid. “We need to get out of here.” She said.The woman was borderline catatonic now and Erin was running out of patience.

As she searched for the right words to say, to make Sigrid understand the situation a bark-like laugh reached her ear from beyond the cave entrance. Sigrid jumped at the noise, and Erin could feel herself turn pale as dozens of growling voices answered. It didn’t have the tone of a war party seeking revenge, but that didn’t change the fact that a bunch of qek were about to wander into the cave where they were hiding.

In desperation, Erin looked toward the back and saw that a narrow tunnel led deeper. She grabbed Sigrid by the wrist and pulled her by main force down the passageway. The woman took a few stumbling steps before she complied and began to walk on her own. Once they were out of the cavern, Erin looked back to see a massive number of qek piling in.

Many of them paused at the sight of their dead fellows all over the floor causing those behind them to growl and shove. She watched as some pointed and laughed at the dead qek on the floor. Erin let out a soft sigh as no alarm was raised. Apparently, ten dead qek was business as usual for the beast-men.

“Come on,” she said, still holding Sigrid's wrist, Erin turned and moved deeper into the darkness. Feeling her way along the wall as she went. “We need to find another way out of here.”