Maya stood helplessly in the middle of the tight protective formation and tried very hard to resist the temptation to swap her equipment. She was a mage. And a knife-thrower. Not a warrior. She felt very weak and useless with so little energy.

That was the entire point of a disguise, after all. To pretend to be someone she wasn’t.

But she stood with a sword she had no idea how to use, a shield that only slowed her down, and even at the start of a fight had barely enough energy to fire Windborne Blade twice before she’d be completely useless. And that wasn’t enough to bring down even the feral lizardine who stalked the desert, let alone handle a full band of five.

Luckily, she wasn’t on her own. Hence the protective formation.

Her allies varied wildly in level, a collection of individuals intended to be hired on singly by those without a party or who needed a little help. Riha the bladedancer, Dert the tank, and Irliorsi the female merla crossbow ranger were all just below level 30. Maben the rogue, currently invisible in stealth somewhere nearby, sat right in the middle of the pack at 35, while the other tank, Lubon, and Eshavish the merla crossbowman were both at level 39.

“You know,” Eshavish commented, “most of the time we’re not hired for something this focused.”

His voice was soft and accented in a way Maya struggled to describe. Russian would be the closest earth approximation, but it was not a very close approximation at all. Significantly more breathy and gentle.

“Most of the time we aren’t hired at all,” Irliorsi replied, laughing as she fired her crossbow point-blank into an attacker’s throat. The feral lizardine - they didn’t quite look like player or NPC lizardine, maybe oversized kobolds? - gurgled in fury and punched at her, only to be flawlessly intercepted by Lubon’s shield.

“Indeed.” Lubon grunted and took a half step back, then rammed into the attacking probably-kobold with his shield to disorient and stun it before swinging his massive sword down on the creature’s head with a slightly uncomfortable squishy crunch. “It has been too long since we all worked together.”

Maya finally could cast a basic Wind Whisper or Spark. She opted for the latter. It may be less powerful, but Wind Whisper was rather obviously her go-to spell and she wanted to get out of the habit of using it. At least for the purposes of this infiltration. The fewer clues she could leave to her true identity, the better.

Another attacker fell under a combination of Dert’s wide swings and sudden blade attacks from behind - certainly the work of Maben. Maya had been about to throw her Spark at him, so she switched targets at the last moment and fired it instead at the biggest, slowest, and ugliest of the three remaining enemies.

It seemed to have no effect, apart from making him growl irritably. Maya sighed and returned to staring at her slowly-regenerating energy. She couldn’t wait until she had myriad mighty spells at her disposal, and could safely revert to her more mage-appropriate equipment.

Hmm. Speaking of myriad spells, though, she still hadn’t assigned her attribute points from reaching level ten. And, even better, it looked like she got 4 per level now instead of the 3 at tier 1!

She planned to have a great many spells soon, so she dropped them all into intelligence. It wasn’t the most efficient for increasing energy, but it was the only stat that impacted the number of ability slots she could access at a time. She didn’t want to deal with switching abilities in combat - and the accompanying penalties - any more than absolutely necessary.

That brought her ability slots up to 6. Nowhere near enough. She’d have to spend the next several levels pumping int if she wanted to be viable as a versatile mage. The fact that each individual ability had a separate cooldown meant the more she had to cycle between, the better. Especially since some of the more powerful ones had a long activation time - and thus cooldown.

A loud CRACK! snapped her out of her contemplation just in time to see the last likely-kobold collapsing to the ground under the combined attacks of the party.

“Check-in,” Lubon ordered in a low bellow. Maya wasn’t sure if he had any other tone settings. If so, she’d yet to hear them.

“Full,” Maben said, appearing from stealth in the process of sheathing both knives.

“Half.” Dert sounded disappointed.

Lubon nodded. “Fishies?”

“Not fish,” Irliorsi replied, with the sort of tolerant irritation that came of long acquaintance. “60%.”

“75%,” Eshavish said.

“90%,” Riha said smugly, grinning as she wiped down her thin blades.

They turned to Maya.

“I’m uninjured, you did good. Do you mind?” She gestured toward the bodies.

“All yours,” Lubon grunted. At first, they’d tried to help by looting the bodies for her, but once they realized that Maya routinely got anywhere from half again to three times as much from the bodies than they could have, they were happy enough to leave the task to her.

Another collection of unimpressive low-tier gear went into her seemingly endless inventory, but at least this group had some silver on them. It wasn’t very much, but it would help. 38 silver, 41 copper. Not bad.

“What are these, anyway?” Maya asked. “Are they feral lizardine? Kobolds? Something else?”

“Lesser Drake-kin,” Dert replied, sounding affronted. “And they have very little relation to lizardine, I’ll have you know.”

“Does that mean there are greater drake-kin?” Maya had to ask, even if she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Of course, and many other varieties besides,” Irliorsi replied disdainfully. “Drakes really got around, before they killed each other off.”

“Did they though?” Maben asked. “I’ve heard rumors that some still live in the far north.”

“North is too cold for them.” Irliorsi shook her head. “They should be near here, if they were going to be anywhere.”

“The far north is warm, Liorsi. I’m not talking about the ice flats, I’m talking about the north. Past the plains, past the forests, where it’s even deader than here.”

“I’ve never been farther than the swamps,” Irliorsi said. “But we could see the mountains and the ice from there. You say it gets warmer again if you travel far enough?”

“Yes. This continent is like a sandwich.” Maben held out two knives in demonstration, one hand held between them. “Desert,” tapping the two knives, “and ice mountains.” The hand in between.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how climates work,” Maya interjected.

“Have you been to the northern sea? Have you stood upon the sandy shores and stared at the Great Blade that pierces the world itself? Have you felt the war between the sea and the sun?”

“Well, no, but I’m only level ten.”

“That does not stop you now, does it?”

“There is no Great Blade,” Dert put in, a bit late. “It’s just a pointy rock coming out of the sea. I don’t know why you elves worship it so much.”

“It’s an assassin thing, not an elf thing,” rumbled Lubon. “Most elves prefer practical deities rather than a lump of stone that’s never done anything for anyone.”

“Hey, don’t belittle the Great Blade.” Maben glowered. “No mere rock is so perfectly formed. No mere rock is black as night and mirrors the sea and sky so clearly.”

“Like the leypillars?” Maya asked.

Maben scowled at Maya. “The ‘leypillars’ are but lesser reflections of the Great Blade. They pierce only small pieces of reality. The true Blade pierces the entire world.”

“Mhmm.” Riha laughed. “And when you travel to the other side of the world and find its hilt, then you can talk.”

“I do not need to see it, I know it is there.”

“You mean you believe it’s there.” Eshavish said.

“I believe. . . that we’re about to be attacked again.”

Maya saw the gleaming eyes in the darkness just as Maben spoke. The formation closed around her before she could even draw her stupid Warrior’s Sword.

She drew it anyway, though she was seriously considering throwing it instead of keeping a hold on it. She’d gotten pretty decent at throwing Oceanblade. Though, sure, an enchanted Unique blade with its own innate momentum made a much better thrown weapon than this boring over-long too-heavy pointy piece of junk.

Another large band, twelve or thirteen by a quick count. The lesser drake-kin attacked in a wave, but they were no match for her team. Riha and Maben took out three of them before the lines even closed. The moment they clashed, Lubon moved far faster than his massive lizardine bulk would have implied to impose himself or his shield between the attackers and Maya or the merla rangers.

This seemed to be a full battle group, not the smaller patrol bands they’d mostly been encountering.

It took nearly five minutes to finish them all off. But they managed, with no casualties and only moderate injuries. Their check-in showed that no one was under half health, so they continued on.

Maya didn’t actually know the way to Domitius’s compound, but she would recognize it when she saw it and had a general idea of the direction. She was trusting to luck more than she normally would, closing her eyes and moving by impulse whenever a decision had to be made about their direction. She could only hope she wasn’t leading them in a circle.

She hadn’t gained any levels yet, which she largely attributed to the fact that she was hardly involved in the combats. The experience system, though opaque, seemed to reward actions more than results. But right now Maya cared more about results and speed. She’d gladly accept no XP for the entire trip, so long as they made it there before anyone showed up and got away safely after.

Get. . . away safely.

“Hey, I know this is a bad time to realize this, but. . . can you guys use Dust of Recall?”

The NPCs exchanged glances, then shrugged.

No one had, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t. They could try it now, but that would mean waiting for someone to catch up from town, or going with one person down for the rest of the trip. Maya was confident they could handle it, but not that confident. The group worked in very good synergy, and she wasn’t sure how throwing that balance off would impact their performance.

“But if you’re killed, you’ll just respawn at midnight, right?” she asked, just to be sure.

Maben nodded. “Correct. The cycle of the world will return us to life if we are killed before our time is over.”

Maya blinked. “How can you tell if your time is over?”

“If one’s time is over, then one is not returned to life,” Maben said, as though this were obvious. “The Blade of the Worlds knows when to cut and when to heal.”

“I thought it was called the Great Blade?” Dert demanded.

“The Great Blade is a physical manifestation of the Blade of the Worlds. I have told you this before.”

Dert shrugged. “I don’t remember. Your theology is so weird, I don’t have room for it in my brain.”

“Then what do you believe in, Mr. Big Smacky Shield?” Maben retorted.

Dert shrugged again. “Dunno. Protecting folks.” A slow smile spread across his face. “We call it the Shield of the Skies. See, if you look at the clouds, you’ll see that that one there is in the shape of a great warrior with his shield between the world and the darkness beyond.”

“Not all of us can see in the dark, Dert.”

“He’s making it up,” Lubon said. “There are no clouds tonight.”

“Aw, don’t tell them that.”

“I’ve traveled enough of the world not to be deceived by so obvious a fabrication,” Maben said. “I know of a great many lizardine faiths and none rely on cloud shield warriors in any way.”

“Hey, you can’t judge what I can believe just ‘cause I’m a lizardine! What if I believe in your great knife thing too?”

“Then you would not be so shamefully ignorant about its truths.”

“It is traditional among our people,” Irliorsi put in, unable to stay quiet any longer, “to follow deities who actually show themselves to us. An inanimate rock is not something any merla would choose to follow.”

“You don’t speak for your whole species,” Dert insisted. “Just because most of you are insular doesn’t mean you all are.”

“Incoming!”

They dropped the debate at once and spun into combat formation without hesitation, just in time for Maya to see a pack of four. . . big light-furred somethings bearing down on them at a charge.

Maya got a vague bear-like impression from the beasts, except that they each had six legs, three tails, and no hesitation to use any of them.

“Scatter!” Lubon shouted, and everyone did just that. The beasts’ charge carried them through the center of the formation, only to meet no resistance as everyone ran to the sides and let them past.

Maben took a running jump and landed atop one of the beast’s back as it ran past, only to be slashed at once by all three of the creature’s tails moving with the flexibility and focus of tentacles. The rogue went flying, leaving streaks of blood on the beast’s serrated tails.

Maya stared, stunned by the speed of everything happening. Two crossbow bolts zipped past, snapping her back to the moment. She started charging Windborne Blade on sheer reflex, then fired at the nearest of the four beasts as it turned to double back at them.

She missed. Usually the system assist meant her aim was incredibly accurate, even without taking the maxed luck into account. But she'd missed.

The battle hadn’t stopped to wait while she charged her attack. Maben darted around the area, striking out from stealth in the darkness - but didn’t try to mount one of the beasts again. Riha spun and danced, blades flashing in the moonlight,

The pair of merla did their best to maintain a steady stream of ranged attacks, some glinting with poison, others barbed or otherwise enhanced, but they were forced to spend as much time running and evading as attacking. The four beasts moved with too much precision, coordinating as a pack and there were enough of them to keep the whole group off balance.

Lubon proved the most successful. He bellowed a taunt at the nearest creature, then planted his shield and took the resulting charge head-on, slashing at the beast’s face as they skidded across the dusty ground. It reared up and lashed at him with four claws and three tails, but Lubon proved exceptionally capable at evading and blocking.

Lubon kept its full attention focused on him, though Maya couldn’t quite believe he’d come out on top. She started charging her next Windborne Blade to fire at his more stationary opponent, since she clearly wasn’t going to bring down one of the three still running amok.

Dert had his hands full keeping the other three away from Maya and the rangers. Significantly less powerful than Lubon, he wasn’t able to bring them to a stop, but did his best to distract and deflect. Still, Maya saw him slashed by claw or tail too many times to doubt that his health must be falling fast.

Then her attention snapped over to a dark flying form. Somehow, the beast had reared up with a trumpeting bellow and smacked Maben right out stealth. The rogue landed in a crumpled heap and didn’t stand up.

Maya’s attack finished charging. Without thinking she fired the Windborne Blade at the nearest creature. Its tails flashed out as it spun, knocking her attack out of the air. She felt very, very overmatched. But there was no time for despair. She wasn’t going to just sit by and watch while her team was killed.

Maya ran to where Maben lay, unmoving and bleeding, hit by some kind of stun attack but still alive.

Exhaling in relief, Maya dragged the rogue back over to the protected triangle behind Lubon and the rangers.

Riha ran interference, slashed viciously at any of the creatures that came close to her, and easily evaded three attacks for every one that hit. But each of the beasts’ three tails moved independently, striking in sync or coordinated by turn, and that wasn’t taking the claws into account.

The pack was altogether too good at what they did. Before Maben could move, two of them maneuvered Riha between them.

“Look out!” Maya screamed, but it was too late. They roared and lunged in unison. Riha dodged one, but took the other smack full to the back of the head. She fell limp, stunned just like Maben.

Maya tried desperately to parse the fight into something she could understand, something she could break down and solve. She’d come so far! There had to be something! But these were on a completely different level than the foes they’d encountered thus far. Perhaps all the luck in the world wouldn’t be enough.

Lubon wasn’t going to make it. She sensed that without knowing how; his opponent was lashing with all its serrated tails plus three of its six massive clawed paws. Even his shield wasn’t enough to protect him, though he did seem able to resist the creature’s stun attack.

Riha lay on the ground, unmoving, as the two beasts who’d cornered her rapidly slashed away her remaining health. Her speed advantage negated, unable to defend herself, she wouldn’t last long.

The fourth had circled around and bowled into the two merla rangers, despite Dert’s best efforts to hold it back. All three fought desperately, but it looked to be a far too even match. As soon as the two busy with Riha finished her off, they’d be able to split and bring both current fights to a swift and deadly end.

Maya cursed under her breath. She didn’t even have a way to check on her allies’ health bars. Her energy was spent, all she had was this stupid warrior’s getup.

Frustrated at her complete lack of information or anything useful to do, she threw caution and planning out the window and charged.

She didn’t expect to do much damage. But she wasn’t going to sit by any longer. If the team went down, she’d go down with them. Not hiding.

It was a stupid move. Maya knew it. But what else could she do?

Without conscious thought, she swapped out her warrior weapons for the two unique blades. They just felt more right in her hands.

She slashed the nearer of the two attacking Riha across the rump with both blades, screaming wordlessly, and kept stabbing. Both beasts turned at once to this new threat, leaving the prone bladedancer where she lay. Maya couldn’t spare the time to wonder if she was still alive. She just slashed and stabbed and screamed in fury.

Maya wasn’t unfamiliar with this feeling, but this time her mindless flurry of attacks was guided by a subtle surety. Her speed was sufficient to match that of her attackers, though they had four times as many limbs to attack her with.

She kept moving in her best attempt at evasion, and half their attacks hit anyway. She wasn’t nearly as fast as Riha, and significantly lower level as well.

But the combination of warrior armor and her Path of Life specialization meant Maya wasn’t quite as defenceless as a normal level 10 player would be.

-20 -20 -20 health

-15 health

She wouldn’t last half a minute, but she’d last at least a few seconds.

And that was enough. Maben jerked awake, the stun ending, and without hesitation dropped into stealth to rush back into battle.

Maya let up on her attacks, dropping aggro with barely a quarter of her 541 health remaining, and rushed to Riha’s side while Maben took up the monsters’ attention.

Riha didn’t look good. She’d live, and hopefully the stun would wear off soon like Maben’s had, but if the fight went on much longer Maya knew she’d be one of the first to go down.

“Yes!”

Maya spun at the unexpected voice. Dert and the two merla had brought down their monster, and turned their attention to helping Maben. Just in time. The rogue wasn’t moving as fast as before being stunned - the attack must also include a lingering speed debuff.

Maya left them to it and ran to help Lubon. He wasn’t the sort to ask for help, even when he needed it, and the others had enough to keep them busy.

She hadn’t lost much of her quasi-berserk fury and it was easy to slip back into the right mindset. The beast snarled and spun on her, roaring as it reared up on its back four legs. Maya knew what was coming. She didn’t try to evade, just jumped forward to close the distance and tried to get in a few more stabs before—

-35 health

Maya went flying back from the dizzying force of its blow. She landed several feet away, unable to move.

Stunned for 10 seconds

Time felt slow. So very slow. Fights moved fast, attacks exchanged in split-second encounters, and ten seconds was an eternity.

9 seconds

Lubon fought on. He was the only one she could see from where she lay.

She’d bought him a few precious seconds, dealt a little extra damage. But it wasn’t enough.

4 seconds

There was no dramatic finishing move, no biting him in half or knocking him back. One moment Lubon and the beast fought with the same furious rhythm as before, then he simply fell limp and collapsed to the ground, his body and gear subtly losing vibrancy and saturation in clear indication of the outcome.

3 seconds

The beast turned its gleaming white eyes on Maya.

Before it could take a step Dert slammed into its face with a bellow of rage. The lower-level tank bashed and slashed and roared, and Maya immediately saw the similarities and differences of his attacks compared to Lubon’s. Lubon had favoured the shield as defence, while Dert treated his as a second weapon.

Or maybe it was just that he was mad right now.

Either way, between Lubon’s long tanking and Maya’s brief furious attacks, this particular beast was already heavily injured. Dert may not have been as strong as Lubon, but he finished the job just as Maya’s stun finally ended.

She jumped to her feet as the second beast collapsed to the ground, then spun to see how the others fared.

Riha lay still and dull. Irliorsi lay just in front of her, as though the ranger had tried to protect her at the last. They hadn’t been fast enough to save her.

Eshavish stood alone, firing bolts into the creature in front of him as fast as he could reload, while Maben slashed it from behind. Before Maya could take even a single step, the fourth beast charged in and knocked Eshavish flat, then trampled right over him as it continued on towards Maya and Dert.

Sadly, having been acting as tank for his and Maben’s opponent, being knocked flat was not enough to drop Eshavish’s collected aggro with Maben still in stealth. The third creature continued its attack, ignoring the rogue attacking it from behind, until Eshavish too lay still and dull.

Dert slammed his shield into the charging beast’s snout, bringing it to a halt, and Maya tore her attention away from the other fight. They had their own problem right here.

Together, they slashed and stabbed and smashed in a synchronized fury. Maya felt vengeful rage burning through her, and the same emotions emanated from the lizardine warrior beside her.

-20 -20 -20 health.

Those stupid tails! Too many, too fast. Maya wouldn’t survive another attack like that.

Luckily, she didn’t need to. Dert’s continued assault drew its aggro, buying Maya a few precious seconds to finish it off.

The beast fell. Maya had 39 health remaining, but turned at once and charged at the last remaining enemy, Dert in perfect step beside her. Together, they slammed into the side of the last beast which was lashing out wildly at the unseen Maben. It seemed to be a standoff - the rogue couldn’t get close enough to do damage, but at least the attacking creature couldn’t retaliate either.

Already injured from the earlier attacks, the beast fell finally before their combined assault.

Suddenly, it was over. Apart from their heavy breathing and the faint rustle of wind, the desert lay silent.

Dert crossed to Lubon’s dull body and knelt beside it. “I’m sorry, brother,” he said softly. Then he took Lubon’s massive shield, replacing his own smaller round buckler with the sturdy rectangle.

Maben dropped out of stealth and stood in the middle of the carnage, expressionless and trembling.

Maya shook her head as she stared around at the outcome of the fight, incredibly thankful that she hadn’t skimped on the hiring. If she’d left even a single one of them behind, they would all have died here.

They stood for several minutes, coming down off the adrenaline high, cold reality replacing the haste and flurry of combat. Maya’s health and will began to slowly recover while energy and stamina zipped back to full.

“We need to keep moving,” she said, though they were all still significantly injured. They couldn’t afford to wait around for a half hour while their health recovered.

They were almost to their destination, and they couldn’t afford another fight. Even the smallest pack of lesser drakekin could bring them down in their current state.

It would be safer inside Domitius’s compound. Once they were inside, they’d be safe from wandering random encounters, and could either rest or hurry up and finish their task and get out.

“Don’t forget the loot,” Maben pointed out dully.

Maya blinked, realized that she had in fact forgotten, and circled the battlefield looting each of the beasts. They each gave her several rare ingredients, Pale Prowler Pelt and Pale Prowler Tail which she felt sure she could either sell or give to Dalra to craft something with.

“Done. Let’s go.”

Maya knew the right rock even before they reached it, recognized its silhouette against the starry sky. Beneath it lay the entrance to their destination.

Fortunately, they reached it without further incident, and for a second time Maya stared down at a crack in the rock leading into darkness.

For a moment, she hesitated. She had come this far, but it was a worthwhile trip even if she turned back now. The loot alone would be enough to pay for several new spells if she sold it. Sure, it probably wouldn't come close to recouping the cost of hiring her mercenary band, but they were good contacts to have made and good to know their abilities and fighting style for future reference.

Maya recognized her thoughts as excuses, trying to convince herself away from confronting the bared truth.

She didn’t want to go back down there.

She hadn’t realized it before. It had seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan at the time. But now she stood face to face with the actual doing of it, and she felt cold fear.

However much she told herself intellectually that it was probably safe, albeit very dangerous; however much she tried to rationalize the expedition, the fact remained that this was phenomenally stupid.

Was that her luck telling her to get out because it was impossible? Or just her own traumatic memories holding her back?

Maya gulped in the dry night air, closed her eyes to focus herself, then nodded.

It didn’t matter. She’d come this far. She wasn’t going to give up now.

She stepped forward out of the night and into the deeper darkness.