The Sloth Lord turned toward the echoing clack-clack-clack noise reverberating beyond the opening. It cracked open its slimy, slit mouth and blew out air that made its lip region flap. The sound drew the attention of its partner, whose eyestalks swiveled instantly, followed by its much larger and slower body.

The first Sloth Lord dipped its head, indicating it was returning to the corridor. The other swung its head in the opposite direction, indicating it was going to stay behind, probably to guard Ruckus.

That was good enough. The first Sloth Lord headed toward the opening. Its species having been subterranean for thousands of years (at least according to the game’s lore), the creature had evolved over time, developing certain abilities suited to its current surroundings—namely, being able to see perfectly in the dark.

It had absolutely zero sense of smell, however.

The Sloth Lord slid soundlessly along, creating rainbow-infused streaks in the Gorlag Oil slathered across the floor. It saw clearly into the corridor—nothing there, and the opening in the wall provided no corner to hide behind.

Clack clack!

There it was again, farther along the corridor. Like a stone being thrown against a wall. What could it be?

The Sloth Lord crept forward, well inside the corridor at this point, then stopped.

What if…

It turned its eyestalks around.

Looked up.

There!

The intruders, having nowhere else to hide, had plastered themselves against the ceiling, using the jagged edges as handholds.

Crafty Ferals.

The Sloth Lord slid a few paces back, readying a—rather conveniently loud—attack spell that would manipulate the stone surfaces, causing hundreds of tiny spikes to shoot from the walls and ceiling, piercing the intruders and notifying everyone else.

It never got the chance to cast that particular spell, however.

Something clicked under its fleshy, tail-like appendage.

The last thing the Sloth Lord saw was both Feral intruders letting go of the ceiling, dropping silently to the ground, and darting toward the opening.

Sprinting toward the opening, as if to get away from a…

BOOM!

The blast tore the creature’s body into bits, splashing green blood all over the walls. Carey and Min-joon covered their ears as the explosion filled the chamber, sending smoke and loose rocks through the opening to pelt them in the backs.

“Ow!” Min-joon squealed.

Carey raised his short sword. “Get ready, kid!”

Ruckus swung his enormous torso around to pinpoint them.

“Get them! Kill them! Skin them alive!”

The same Torg Fighters from earlier dropped the gold nuggets they were carrying and rushed toward Carey and Min-joon.

Almost, Carey spoke in his mind, as if sending telepathic messages. Almost. Almost…

Now!

The fireball was quick as an arrow, almost laser-like—a narrow, superhot beam of concentrated energy from Will’s growing repertoire of advanced spells. It flashed against the floor, missing the Torgs.

But that was okay. Missing them was the whole point.

Instantly, the Gorlag Oil lit up with a hiss, the section of floor between Carey and the Torg Fighters becoming a carpet of dancing, wriggling flames. The Torg Fighters screamed, caught right in the center of it.

Carey looked past the fire and smoke to see Will halfway up one of the staircases. Up there, he could cast spells from a distance. Something white and swift flashed across the space—Beatrice flying from the top level toward Carey and Min-joon, where she could park herself behind them and cast healing spells as necessary.

She landed as the smoke and flames were clearing.

“Nice work,” she said, readying a spell.

“Thanks,” Carey said, and flashed her a thumbs-up.

Light particles swarmed over him and Min-joon. Warmth blossomed inside Carey’s chest, his vision turning pink as Beatrice cast Aura of the Empath over them. It was a buffing spell that allowed them to pool their HP, sharing the points with each other and with the caster. It also fortified Stamina and increased Luck and morale. His vision would remain slightly pink until the spell ran out.

The Torg Fighters were still alive, HP bars reduced but still around two-thirds full. Carey sprang toward the nearest one and slashed with his short sword. Min-joon—howling like an Indian from an old Western film—engaged the other.

Ruckus watched the battle, shouting and barking his head off. He had managed to lift his gigantic frame off the couch, at least. He picked up the battle-axe. Not good. Carey was suddenly aware of rippling muscle layered all over the boss’s hulking frame.

Carey danced around the Torg Fighter. He deflected blows, dodged and swung himself around, and caught the occasional slash or stab of the creature’s sword.

Min-joon wasn’t doing so hot. He took a blow to the chest and arms, each time shouting “Ow!” like a little kid.

Will cast another spell, this one at the remaining Torg Fighters. There were at least three standing in front of Ruckus, ready to join the fray.

No way Will could take on all three by himself. They had to get over there and help.

Carey finally killed the Torg, though his HP bar was down to about 70 percent. As his vision was still pink, that meant Min-joon and Beatrice were also at 70 percent, their Health Points pooled together. Min-joon had taken quite a beating.

Carey helped Min-joon finish off the other Torg fighter, then spun around to face Beatrice.

“Bea, Will needs you. He’s taking on three of them. We’ll get Ruckus. Heal us first.”

Beatrice looked terrified and confused by all the commands.

“Okay,” she said, then took a deep breath.

She cast an advanced healing spell that split as it coursed through the air—two misty balls of bright white light—hitting both Carey and Min-joon, bringing their Health bars up to about 85 percent. She looked ready to cast another, though her LP bar was only half full.

“We’re good!” Carey motioned for her to move along. “Go, now!”

She flung herself through the air with a flap of her wings and shot toward Will.

“You’re mine, now,” Ruckus growled, squaring his shoulders. He banged his free hand, which was balled into a meaty fist, against his chest and loosed a guttural chant that must have been some sort of war cry. With his other hand, he clutched the battle-axe’s long handle and swung as if the weapon weighed no more than a twig.

A “boss HP bar” appeared at the bottom of Carey’s vision. He could highlight it whenever he felt like checking on Ruckus’s Health. These were common in videogames and would help him focus on the most important task at hand—reducing that red bar to nothing, effectively killing the boss.

“Puny little kitty cats,” Ruckus taunted.

Up close, he seemed twice as tall and three times broader than before. Long, yellow-stained teeth jutted up from his jaw, curving past his upper lip. He dipped his head forward, his curved horns aimed at Carey and Min-joon like a bull about to charge.

Behind him, the remaining Sloth Lord readied a spell.

Carey had intended for the Sloth Lord to get caught in the Gorlag Oil, not the Torg Fighters (though all three would have been fine by him). But the plan hadn’t worked out like he’d expected. The Sloth Lord remained free to fortify, boost, and heal whomever it pleased—from a protected spot in the center, no less.

The realization hit Carey like a punch to the gut.

They were going to fail.

“Get behind him,” Carey shouted at Min-joon. “Backstab him!”

“Okay!”

Carey tried to distract Ruckus by swinging his sword and barking at him, while Min-joon darted around the edges of what had become a gladiator arena.

Ruckus noticed Min-joon but didn’t seem to care, probably because the boy seemed too weak to pose a real threat. That was a good thing—physical size didn’t matter inside the game, only stats and skill level.

Snorting derisively at their futile plan, Ruckus bent forward to charge. Carey bent his knees to prepare himself.

He pressed the tip of his tail against the floor.

Ruckus charged as expected.

Always wondered what being a bullfighter felt like.

Carey used his tail like a spring, exploding his legs and tail upward, launching himself toward the ceiling. He flipped several times, keeping tabs on Ruckus as the world swung around him, and landed expertly behind the boss.

Before Ruckus could turn around, Carey entered sneak mode and launched a backstab against him. He jumped onto the boss’s back, wrapped an arm around his neck, and used his other hand to thrust the short sword into the monster’s thick, scarlet, hideously veined neck.

Ruckus unleashed a roar that seemed to shake the walls of the chamber.

The boss’s HP bar drained from 1,450 to 1,295.

Ruckus grabbed Carey with his free hand and threw him against the wall.

DrollTroll takes -13 smashing damage

Carey instantly recovered. He landed on his feet and scanned his quick-access inventory.

Yes!

He summoned a Shroom Boom Grenade and pulled his arm back to throw it—but he never got the chance.

The floor began to shake.

“What the hell?”

It seemed the entire dungeon was shaking and rumbling now, as if one of the ancient gods from the game’s lore had scooped an enormous hand into the earth, clutching the shrine like a toy, intent on ripping it out.

“Earthquake,” Will yelled from the back.

Ruckus seemed confused, but only for a moment. Chuckling, he focused once more on Carey.

He was about to charge when an epic cracking sound, like a lightning strike, went off inside the chamber. The floor had broken apart in the quake.

Something was jingling—actually, lots of things were jingling.

“Oh crap,” Carey said.

“The gold,” Min-joon yelled, skipping around as he tried to find solid footing.

Carey’s stomach quivered at the thought. It was the main reason they had come down here. Scanning the area behind Ruckus—who now looked utterly confused by the cracks forming at his feet—Carey watched the piles of gold nuggets and the various manmade items disperse across the shivering floor to slip through the emerging cracks.

“Grab some,” Carey shouted.

Dodging a strike from Ruckus’s battle-axe, Carey made for the gold nuggets, skipping over cracks and balancing himself precariously on islands of stone formed by the destruction. He managed to scoop up a few nuggets, but it was hopeless—the quake tossed him around like a ping-pong ball, and he almost fell into a crack that had widened to several feet. Nearby, one of the Torg Fighters disappeared into a crack after taking one of Will’s lightning bolts to the chest.

That gave Carey an idea.

He searched the shaking, rumbling floor as Ruckus charged again. If he could just lure the big asshole to the edge of one of those cracks…

Easily, he leaped over the Torg boss, but he underestimated Ruckus’s reach.

Ruckus slashed the air overhead with his battle-axe. The weapon caught Carey in the back as he flipped. In real life, it would have sliced open his back to reveal his bloody spine. Luckily, this was only a game… sort of.

“Son of a bitch!”

Carey landed on his face, momentarily stunned, as what felt like a thousand volts of electricity coursed up and down his back. Stupid game pain.

DrollTroll takes -42 slashing damage

“Bea!”

Carey shouted her name as he picked himself up and backed away from Ruckus, but it was no good over the noise of the quake. She couldn’t hear him at all.

A rift yawned open above Ruckus, resembling a black tear in a piece of fabric. Multiple streams of fiery light shot out, trailing… were they tiny meteors? In less than a second, they hit Ruckus with an impact like grenades going off.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ruckus barely had time to put up his arms and battle-axe in defense. The damage from Will’s Meteor Flurry spell was impressive. The boss’s HP bar went down to 1,025—still about 70 percent full.

Carey flashed Will a thumbs-up, and Will offered a salute in return as he held off a Torg Fighter trying to climb the stairs. The earthquake had quieted to a low rumble that sent shivers through the ground.

The gold stash was gone. Erased.

Furious at them, Ruckus roared loudly enough to make Carey and Min-joon duck, as if someone had unleashed a spray of machine-gun fire above their heads.

Min-joon took the opportunity to backstab him while the boss was distracted, the boy-thief disappearing suddenly and reappearing on Ruckus’s left shoulder, blade flashing.

“Nice one,” Carey shouted at him.

Min-joon leaped off the monster’s shoulder before he could be thrown off. He almost landed in one of the cracks.

“Be careful!”

Carey’s heart almost stopped as Min-joon danced around the crack and hopped back to safety. As if he cared about the boy-thief.

Maybe he did.

“Will! Beatrice!”

The battle was getting down to the wire. This would take a team effort. Will killed the last Torg on the stairs, then sprinted over to Carey and Min-joon. Beatrice flew down after him.

About time.

“More fire and meteors,” Carey shouted.

“I’m on it,” Will said, guzzling a potion to refill his LP.

Beatrice cast the same healing spell from earlier—the ornate, misty box of bluish light which had shielded Carey from attacks as it lifted him through the air and healed his HP bar back to full. Perfect!

In all this time, Ruckus didn’t attack—but there was a reason for that.

The Sloth Lord.

They had almost forgotten about him. The Sloth Lord had forced Ruckus to stand still while it used its own spell to heal the boss.

“Hurry up, will ya?” Ruckus scolded the creature.

Visibly eager to get going, the Torg lieutenant tapped his boot against the floor and smashed his fist against his leather chest armor in anticipation.

“Take down the healer,” Carey commanded. “Quick! Before it can cast!”

The party leaped into battle, avoiding fresh cracks in the floor. Beatrice cast a wide-area buffing spell that made their weapons more effective against unarmored enemies, but weaker against armored enemies. It would help kill the Sloth Lord but leave them at a disadvantage against Ruckus.

Min-joon distracted Ruckus by slashing at him, which might not have been the best idea. The boss thrust his battle-axe and its metal-spiked tip at the boy-thief for an impressive 26 points of stabbing damage. Min-joon flipped backward, Minor Nectar potions appearing in both hands. He guzzled them.

They had managed to interrupt the Sloth Lord’s healing spell halfway through. Carey was thankful the creature turned to face Will. That gave him the opportunity to enter sneak mode and attempt a backstab.

It worked beautifully. Carey mounted the slimy, foul-smelling creature and stabbed his sword into its neck.

Within minutes, they had reduced the Sloth Lord’s HP to 20 percent. It managed to cast a few spells that made rock spikes shoot up from the ground, piercing Carey and Will, and a swarm of pale Cave Moths attack Bea’s face, interrupting her healing spell and blinding her for a time. But Bea’s buffing spells were effective—it was only a matter of time before they wore the creature down.

Once they’d killed the Sloth Lord, Carey spun around to inspect Min-joon.

The boy had single-handedly taken on Ruckus and was dancing around the boss, narrowly avoiding most of his strikes with the battle-axe while lunging forward now and then to land strikes of his own.

But the damage had been done.

“MJ,” Carey shouted at the boy, “back off!”

Ruckus charged the boy with his horns, doing massive damage and sending Min-joon tumbling into a wide crack, where he disappeared.

“No!” Beatrice screamed.

Carey darted toward Ruckus, entering sneak mode as he positioned himself behind the boss. The backstab was ineffective—an unfortunate roll of the dice due to his less-than-ideal skill level—and made Ruckus spin around, fully aware of Carey’s attempt.

Beatrice ignored the combatants. She flew and landed on the other side of the crack into which Min-joon had fallen.

But he hadn’t fallen—not yet, anyway.

“Help!”

The boy-thief had managed to grab onto the edge with one hand. Beatrice reached down and helped him up.

Carey tried concentrating on Ruckus, whose HP was back up to 1,100.

Damn Sloth Lord.

This was going to take forever. He pulled another Shroom Boom Grenade from his inventory as Ruckus readied himself to charge, the battle-axe’s spiky tip pointing forward.

“Get out of the way,” he shouted.

Beatrice rose with a few flaps of her wings, hands clutching Min-joon’s wrists. She flew them both back to where Will stood readying a spell behind Carey.

Carey tossed the grenade.

… and missed.

Ruckus had already begun to charge, which meant the grenade fell where he’d been standing a second ago, exploding harmlessly and making poisonous green spores bloom in a small cloud that affected no one.

“Shit-nuggets,” Carey said, getting ready to jump.

But something changed this time. Ruckus, instead of charging straight through Carey like before, suddenly propelled himself upward using his powerful, muscular legs.

Carey met him in midair, totally unprepared for what happened next.

Like a helicopter blade, the axe became a blur of motion as Ruckus spun himself around. The edge caught Carey right in the chest and flung him across the room.

DrollTroll takes -87 slashing damage

He was a dead man.