1

The team stepped into a large clearing and gazed at the massive, flat stones that protruded six inches above the grass and weeds. They were eleven feet wide and arranged in a roughly square formation that stretched seventy feet. Damon stepped up to one of the outcroppings and kicked his boot against it. As he expected, it was solid, buried deep in the earth. He looked around the clearing. “Does anyone see an opening?”

No one did. They paced around the structure.

“This has to be the place, but how do we get in?” Damon mused, then glanced at Vlad. “Any ideas?”

The Russian shook his head glumly. “No. I was not part of dis design phase.”

Damon grunted as they circled the formation. He knelt and started digging at the earth surrounding one stone. Even with his steel gloves, the soil dislodged only begrudgingly. He scraped back scatterings of sunbaked dirt that hadn’t been affected by the deluge to the east.

As he stood up, Angie called him over to the northern end of the formation. On the top of the largest embedded rock were two weather-beaten paintings, etched into the orange stone but almost completely worn away by erosion.

“Is that the boulder image we saw back at the portal room?” Zack asked as he pulled up alongside, but he knew the answer. The white paint had chipped away and curled in spots, but the image was the same. “So, this is the dungeon. Now what do we do?”

Harper knelt and examined a much smaller image below that of the boulder. It was a simpler, faded black mural. On the cracked stone was a single horizon line with a crude tree drawn on top of it. Below the line and on the right side of the tree was what looked like an inverted triangle, which grew wider as it got closer to the top. On the far-left side, a line, painted at a forty-five-degree angle, slashed through the horizon and connected to the bottom of the triangle.

“It’s a tunnel,” Sierra gasped as she suddenly understood the meaning of the image. “It must be somewhere to the south.” She pointed to the beginning of the realms. “It must be…” She froze with a concerned expression, glanced at Zack, and put her hand over her mouth.

2

“Goddammit, Zack! How could you have not checked that out more thoroughly?” Damon shouted.

The fellow Marine just shook his head. “We… we thought something, an animal, had burrowed the hole.” He glanced at the Alabama orcs, who shared the same expression of apprehension and regret. “We investigated it,” Zack continued, “but it looked like the tunnel had collapsed forty feet into the ground.”

The orc general smacked his hand against his forehead, then looked at Harper. “Is there any way we could get back to the beginning quickly?”

The veteran mage peered up at the tower that hadn’t yet collapsed. “There was,” she said and shrugged.

The expletive that Damon shouted echoed through the woods, reaching even Emma’s ears.

3

As Damon forced the teammates to beat a path back to the start of the realm, Zahra suggested stopping at the village to update the four members. Damon wouldn’t consider it. “That’s what we have telepathy for,” he grumbled, then barked at the team to pick up the pace.

Angie watched his rage unfold. It was not an unfamiliar sight, and she had learned how to manage the rare occasions when Damon lost it. She bided her time, allowing some of the steam to blow off before telepathing him privately. You’re going to lose the team if you keep this up.

He clenched his jaw and glanced at her. You do realize that we’ve lost a full day because of this… at least?

Angie calmly told him that she knew. But if you keep this up, you will demoralize them. She paused as they bustled through the thick foliage. And you have to think about your messaging. You’re bullying them right now. Have you considered they might be wondering why we haven’t resumed the DNA search?

Damon laughed audibly, and some of the members shot anxious glances at him. He slowed and surveyed his team. Without exception, they were all sweating profusely under the noonday sun now. Their muted expressions were glum, desperate, as they scrambled carelessly through uncharted terrain, vulnerable to any creation the twisted designers had concocted.

Damon sighed. Alright, woman. What would you have me do?

The sun sparkled in Angie’s eye as she smiled. Nothing… almost. I want them to get there before nightfall too. She moved closer to him in the group. Keep up this pace, but tone down the angry-general routine.

So, Damon did just that. He kept them going, but rather than yell at and berate the team, he encouraged them. He told them that he thought it was pointless searching for more DNA and no one argued with that. The tension lifted, and soon the members started talking with each other again and hiking with more purpose.

The orc general glanced at Angie. Know-it-all, he telepathed and she chuckled. She reached out for him, and her fingers glided across the skin on his wrist, just above his metal glove. It was a small gesture, but it calmed him.

Still, the team hurried south, driving through the increasingly wet landscape. Not one of them detected the man hovering above the trees behind them, and they didn’t notice when he turned and levitated back to the northern side of the realm.

4

They passed over the flooded valley three hours later, using Sierra’s Boulder method. By then, they had allocated the rest of the loot they had recovered at the tower.

Silo hung onto the two sets of battle armor he had been carrying because all the orcs had one. Since he was the heaviest orc among the rookies, he kept the bronze-plated pants, but said he only would use them during battles because of their weight and lack of maneuverability. He gave Hammer the extra battle shield and was allowed to keep the hammer of the gods. That left Armando as the only orc without a hammer. As a trade-off, Zack handed him the extra skelchion sword. Thao kept the crescent knife and the two extra wineskins, but handed sets of studded leather armor to Sierra and Vlad.

Once they passed the river, Zack approached Jordan. “I think one of us should check in on Emma,” he grunted. “Make sure she’s okay.”

Jordan leered at him. “Be my guest,” he said flatly.

The veteran orc scrutinized him for a moment, disappointed with Jordan’s response. Then he moved away from the Grimalkin member, creating a distance between them. As he continued to push through the last part of their journey, he telepathed Emma. Hey, little lady, how are things going?

Half a minute went by before she answered. Hi, Zack! I’m doing well. Brett fixed me and I’m settling in.

Zack hummed with interest. You mean the glitch? How did he fix that?

Emma paused. I’m not sure he’d want me to tell you, but I will say that the answer lies in the rip near the tower… Please don’t tell anyone else I said that.

He grunted. We shouldn’t keep secrets, girl.

Emma went silent for almost a minute, then changed the subject. Have you guys accepted the truce?

Zack slowed as he pondered the question. We haven’t talked about it much, but I guess we have.

More silence from Emma. Zack eventually continued. Emma, do you trust that piece of shit, Brett?

She laughed. Tell me what you really think, she teased. I trust him as much I need to right now. She paused, then backtracked. No, that’s not fair. He’s been good to me, Zack. I do trust him.

The Marine huffed. I don’t buy it. That man is a bad seed. He could almost sense her shrugging from across the realm. Be careful, little lady. Reach out to me if you have any problems.

Emma sighed contentedly. Thank you, Zack. I will.

With both of them feeling there was more to be said, they ended the conversation and Zack refocused on the trek. The sun was low in the sky behind them. He could feel its heat burning through his steel battle armor. Sweat trickled down his face as he glanced at the team members. It had been an arduous day, but they appeared to be in good spirits, chatting and joking with each other. The one exemption was Jordan. He had taken no interest in reaching out to his former lover and didn’t seem to care that Zack chose to. The Marine shook his head, not understanding how his teammate could turn off his affections that easily. Then he plowed through the wet and muddy terrain, knowing they were closing in on the tunnel’s location.

5

“Well, this looks like fun,” Sierra commented. She and the rest of the team stood in a pool of mud up to their knees. They had found the hole in the ground, but it was filled with water.

“You said the hole had a blockage, right?” Damon asked Zack, who nodded. “Then we’ll have to bust through it somehow. Maybe the water will flow through into the dungeon.” He glanced at Harper. “If the dirt and roots have collapsed in there, what spell has the best chance to bust it loose?”

She reviewed her spells. “I’d say Boulder and Fire Bullet.”

“Will the bullet go through that water?” he asked, then added, “Fire Scorch didn’t work back at the lake.”

Harper shrugged. “There’s no harm in trying.” Before Damon could respond, she turned to Vlad. “Let’s go. We’ll blast through the surface of the water and see how deep we can go.”

The burly Russian mage didn’t hesitate and walked with Harper to the opening. Through the muddy, brown liquid, they could see the edges of the hole faintly. Air bubbles popped sporadically up to the surface.

“Das a good sign,” Vlad commented.

Harper nodded. “You do the Boulder; I’ll do the other spell.”

The Russian queued up the spell and shot the round marble rock into the vague opening. Water splashed up in a torrent, drenching their faces. The two mages heard an audible thud and felt a small tremor as the rock pounded into the blockage.

Harper had fully charged her Fire Bullet and flung the projectile into the water. The flames immediately evaporated the surrounding liquid with a loud hssssss sound as the fireball plunged deeper. This time, the thud and the vibration were greater. A moment later, larger air bubbles rose through the surface.

“Yes!” the Russian shouted and Harper laughed at his zeal. Another round of fireballs and boulders drove through the mud, releasing more air.

Zack elbowed Damon. “You know, it’s kind of a good thing that it’s underwater. This way we know they’re making progress.”

The general turned to the Marine. “Oh, shut up.”

The mages blasted the hole three more times before the blockage finally gave way and, like a toilet flushing, all the water in that swamp flowed down the tunnel. The teammates walked through mud that was a foot deep and joined the mages as they stared into the passageway. The sun was still above the trees, giving them enough illumination to see the first fifteen feet of the hole.

Sierra kicked at a loose piece of mud, sending it tumbling down the hole. “Is the room at the bottom of the dungeon going to be flooded now?”

Damon shook his head. “We won’t know until we get there.”

The team debated camping in the forest for the night, but decided to venture into the tunnel despite the lateness of the day. The open clearing made their position too vulnerable to attack. So as the sun arced its descent and the wind-twisted pines loomed over them, Damon led the formation of orcs, hunters, mages, and healers into the black cave that led to the final dungeon of the earth realm.