1

Zack and Jackson’s constant snoring kept Damon up most of the night. Lying on the dirt floor, he would peek at Hammer occasionally, but the former SeaBee seemed unaffected by the noise. Maybe he’s used to sleeping in the same quarters as Jackson, he thought.

Damon hated not being able to sleep with Angie just for the sake of a hunting trip. Along with the snoring, it put him in a sour mood, so when the first traces of a blue light appeared on the horizon, he didn’t waste any time.

He shook Zack’s shoulder. “Get up, partner. It’s time to wake the kids.”

Zack looked at him bleary-eyed and snorted. “What are you? My wife?”

Damon chuckled as the two orcs pulled themselves off the floor, brushing the dirt from his arms. They roused the smaller Alabama orc first. Hammer rose quickly, but waking Jackson was a more difficult task. The heavy-set rookie’s eyes fluttered as he snorted, drooled, and spoke random words and sentences.

“Aah’m comin’. No need to pitch a fit,” the southern orc moaned in a daze as he flailed his arms loosely. The veterans rolled his sluggish body back and forth. “Aah cain’t take out the dawg now. Aah’ll be late for scole!”

Damon and Zack stopped and glanced back at Hammer, who stood near the wall and laughed. “He’s always like this early in the morning.”

Losing patience, the orc general pulled the wineskin from his inventory and squirted a gallon of cold water into the rookie’s face.

“Buh!… Wha?…Wait a…” Jackson spat as his eyes focused. “Whatdya… Hey, stop that…” He raised his arms to his face as Damon kept the water flowing. “Stop… stop, aah’m awake. Aah’m awake.”

The general pulled away as the other two orcs laughed at Jackson, who sat up on the floor. His drenched head and shoulders gleamed in the muted sunlight coming from the open doorway. He wiped the water from his skin. “Damnation. That wasn’t necess-sary,” he said angrily, making his last word sound like accessory.

The two orcs laughed while Damon glowered at him. “Yes, it was. Now get up. We have work to do.”

2

As the sun painted amber hues across the misty landscape, the four orcs hiked into the forest north of the village looking to fill their food inventories. They occasionally used the Boulder spell to target the squirrels, birds, and rabbits, but they relied mostly on their swords. As a result, they weren’t very successful. The animals easily avoided them. As experienced outdoorsmen, the Alabama orcs caught more prey than the Marines.

“We should’ve brought a hunter with us,” Zack grunted as he watched the rookies, but Damon didn’t respond.

The general was staring at the bunches of dead wood and fallen trees on the forest floor. “We’re forgetting something. That Rukh supplied us with lots of wood to burn in the tower.” He turned and looked at his friend. “We may not have that advantage this time, and it’s apt to be colder and wetter in the dungeon.”

Zack agreed and Damon continued, “Do you think we can load these branches and limbs into one of our inventory slots?”

They tried it and discovered that the food slots would, so while the Alabama orcs loaded up on food, the Marines packed their inventories with firewood.

3

They arrived back at the village to find most of the members up and ready to go. Zahra remained in her cabin, attending to Lorenzo, who had awakened briefly during the night. The veterans discussed who should stay behind with the injured Grimalkin, and Harper made the case for leaving Kylah and Nevan.

“Zahra will need people to help her and carry out other duties like cooking. So, if anyone stays behind, I want it to be Kylah and her father.” She inhaled deeply. “I don’t want her anywhere near that dungeon.”

They debated the downsides of the plan—that whoever stayed would miss opportunities to level up in the dungeon—but the veterans generally had the same sentiments.

“Okay, but I don’t want it to be Zahra,” Damon added.

Harper glanced at him with a confused expression. “Why not? She’s been the one tending to his needs the most.”

The general nodded. “Yeah, but she’s also at the lowest level of all the healers. I want someone more able to defend the village. Keshon’s at level 44 and Jordan told me she handled herself pretty well against that Gryphon.”

The veterans argued over the strategy—Harper felt that Zahra should continue with Lorenzo and that Keshon’s level and experience would be a greater asset in the dungeon—but Damon wouldn’t budge. “Let’s not forget that Brett is still out there.”

Angie eyed him. “I thought we had a truce?” she asked sarcastically, and the veterans laughed. That cut through the tension that had built over the decision.

“Alright. Now all we have to do is convince them,” Harper said, gesturing to the recruits that had gathered at the village center.

4

Zahra and Kylah protested the most, but as the other recruits sided with the decision, they relented. Meanwhile, Nevan appeared to be genuinely pleased with the arrangement.

Harper checked to make sure their telepathy was turned on. “I want daily updates at sundown,” she told them.

Since she wasn’t going to be part of the expedition, Kylah handed off the loot she had gathered in the tower. She gave the druid staff to Sierra, the short sword to Rachel, the crescent knife and leather whip to Zahra, and kept the flamberge sword for Keshon.

The excursion group filled their wineskins with water from the well and said their last goodbyes to the four members remaining at the village. Then the team headed toward the large, flat stones they had spotted from the tower.