Corvayne sat with the fire to his back, watching out in the woods. He ended up with Lady Blood Claw on first watch. He liked that she usually spoke about once every ten minutes or so, and was properly quiet.

“You don't need much sleep either?” She asked, eyes still trained out in the dark.

“That and I take two watches because I also have really good night vision.” Corvayne shrugged.

There was a crackle. He turned and placed another small log on the fire. The mist captured the camp fire's light. There were a few owls hooting off on a different island or perhaps the far side of this one. While the monsters were the most obvious animal life on any given floor, there was usually a number of smaller creatures around.

“What did you think, back at your village, that kept you going through the day?” LBC asked. Her skin was charcoal with occasional flutters of flowing color.

“I'd think about when I could leave. I kept in mind it wasn't forever. I'd read books and know there was something more out there.” He stared into the dark. “It's only been... two months?”

“I was considered a failure as well. I don't know who I am, or where I came from. I lived in the slums of Abresguard with a woman who was not my mother, maybe an orphanage? Until one day the Magus took me from my home. From then on, he spent time molding me and other kids into being... I guess wizards? Soldiers?”

Corvayne wasn't sure why she was sharing with him, but then again they were sparring partners, and Nyx probably had heard it all before and... he didn't seem like the most sensitive person. He didn't look over at her but nodded. “He wanted me to fight wizards. So maybe he was asking me to clean up after he made mistakes.”

Lady Blood Claw waited a while then continued. “Not suprising. I think he considered us failures. I was always the worst of the lot. I never met his standards, my skills were laughable compared to others. For the most part, the Magus would claim we were his apprentices, but rarely tried to teach us magic. He had minions he used to ferry us around. Some of them were nice, some of them were mean, and others... I was scared of them. There was one minion who was kind to me. I thought about him because he had a spear like yours. Said it reminded him of home.”

Corvayne looked over at her. “Oh. Is that why you held back when we first fought?”

A small amused laugh. “That and you could have skewered me after breaking my shield. Why did YOU hold back?”

“Trying not to kill people.” Corvayne went back to checking for signs of monsters. He saw Seru step out of the tent and walk past them to the woods. She stopped and looked embarrassed.

“Uh, bathroom.” Seru said with a little waver to her voice.

Corvayne looked over at Lady Blood Claw, then back at Seru. He caught a whiff of perfume. “Do you want someone to go out into the woods with you?”

“No no... it's like, fine...” Seru waved then went down the hill. Corvayne watched the direction she went... He could see far enough in the dark to see she was going further then she needed to go, past two lines of trees.

“Do you think she might want someone to keep an...” Corvayne gestured off to where she went.

“Why not go yourself if you're concerned?” Lady Blood Claw smiled at him. “No, I wouldn't worry. Wait a minute or two. Watch.”

He sat and waited. About two minutes later he heard the tent flap open again. Nyxion strode out, fingers hooked in his belt, nodded at them, then walked downhill to the woods headed in the same direction.

“Shouldn't we uh... stop him?” Corvayne gestured then looked over at Lady Blood Claw. She looked bored.

“I won't stop them unless you care if Seru sleeps with someone else.” She shrugged.

“Oh. OH! Not at all.” Corvayne frowned. “Just... Nyx and her? I didn't think he liked her. At all.”

LBC nodded. “I'm pretty sure she's a local noble. See... last time we tried to sell to Gygaxians. One set of parents wasn't buying because they were in mourning. Their daughter had been missing for weeks after going hiking.”

“Oh so... She's a noble, and that's enough for him to drop disliking her?”

Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes a little, skin flickering orange. “He doesn't always have good taste. I think sometimes he just goes with what's available and willing.”

Corvayne folded his arms. “Going off in the woods to have sex... That might fly on floor 3 but I mean, we don't know the patterns of monsters on this floor.”

“Ok. Go tell them to just fuck on the platform like non-idiots.”

Corvayne sighed and got up then strode down the hill. He could hear the two talking, and saw Seru's head looking down. He didn't see Nyxion, so maybe they really did just have to take a bathroom break. He was about to turn around when he heard Nyxion's say something softly from the same direction. He couldn't make out what the man said at all.

“Well of course it's fucking sweaty! I've been walking and fighting all day!” Seru hissed while still looking downwards.

Nyx sounded muffled. “It's not a complaint.”

Corvayne cleared his throat. There was a squeak and Seru fell behind the bushes. Right after that he heard Nyx call out. “Watch it! You'll break my neck!”

Seru sounded annoyed. “I fell OVER.”

Corvayne spoke clearly and calmly. “Guys, if there's monsters roaming they'd come for you with the noise you're making. Just do it behind the tent or on the stairs up to the lift or something.”

Nyx stood up, putting a white undershirt back on. It was hard to make out other features but he sounded annoyed “Talking pretty big for someone who last night did the same thing without any backup, Corvayne.”

“I don't want to worry Lady Blood Claw.” Corvayne folded his arms.

“Fine fine fine. We'll just wake everyone up.” Seru called out, standing up and reaching over to a branch where her dress was draped.

Corvayne heard a thwapping sound and Seru started screaming. He had his spear in hand and ran into the bushes to where she fell. A shell appeared ahead of Corvayne, and he could see Seru laying naked with six spines sticking out of her, blood pouring out of her guts, screaming, and Nyx looking for the enemy.

Corvayne ran past them and dove behind a tree as he saw something in a bush bucking up to fire. There was the sound of wood splintering. He used [Flows-Like-Water] and moved into a pack of the porcupines, spear jabbing the front one three times as he moved past, landing with monsters all around him.

Another started to rear up and he used [Circle of Death], hitting another three. He didn't think it was a clean hit, and he missed a few altogether. A moment later he felt something like a hammer in his side then intense pain. He hissed and fought the urge to fall over, instead using [Flows-Like-Water] again to run by another Porcupine, killing it as he flowed out of the center of their pack. The monsters were still facing where he had been before. He could still see the bright florescent glow of the shield from the direction he had come from. He needed to get the monsters away from Nyxion and Seru.

He pulled out the fire breathing dagger then and swept it across the trees. Smoke and hissing steam roiled off the wet forest and there was a set of startled squeaks then screetches as the creatures caught fire. They started to run around in a panic, trying to do something about their burning bodies that lit up the night. Then one of the burning ones popped into a cloud of needles.

He only saw a moment of the burst before something hit his eye, punching his head back. He felt pressure on the back of his eye-socket.

He fell down as agony spiked through his head. Another pop happened and more quills hit him in the other side, causing him to fall on the side that already had a dozen or so. He screamed and adrenaline pushed him through the pain as he himself back up with the help of his spear. A few of the creatures had rolled around and put themselves out, while another one popped, this time not hitting him with spines.

Corvayne stumbled forward and aimed his spear as best he could at the fires still moving, squealing sounds letting him know he was scoring hits. Squeal, stab, squeal, stab, quiet. He killed another two and then an arm grabbed his. He stayed his spear as Lady Blood Claw started helping him back to base. He heard Seru screaming and crying so she was still alive. Mister I was running out to him.

“Help her.” He croaked. He tried to gesture to where Nyx's shield was lighting up the forest. He could sort of make out Seru sobbing as Nyx tried to hold her still and stop the bleeding with her dress.

Icariii ran and nearly fell over to reach Seru and start invoking mending. Corvayne felt Lady Blood Claw's side press into some of the spines and they caused a sensation that was both stabbing and intense pressure that curled his feet up. Every step jostled the spine stuck in his eye.

“Corvayne!” A horrified cry came out of where his bedroll was. Wick. Grunt came up and had a potion ready, taking Corvayne's other side with a burly arm.

He forced himself to speak. “Make sure they are dead. Go, don't let Icariii get hit...”

Lady Blood Claw let go of his other side as Grunt guided him to the ground, mercifully not jostling spines in his side. He could feel warm blood running down his face.

He saw Wick with shaking hands looking him over. “I don't know what to...”

Corvayne tried to hold really still, but every time he breathed he would jab a rib with a quill in his side, which caused him to sort of spasm a little with pain, which jostled the needle in his eye, which made him try to shut his eyelid, which made it worse. “Help... Seru.”

“Fuck her!” Wick cried out.

Corvayne took her hand. “I'll be okay. I need... Grunt for this. Help Seru.”

Wick stood up and backed off. “I'll be right back.” She went for her bag and came back with a potion, and moved to hand it to Grunt.

“Seru. USE it on Seru! Don't use it on ME!” Why wasn't she listening to him? He had to get Grunt to do something and he didn't want to ask the man to do it. But if he wanted to let his eye heal... he knew Wick was horrified with gore. She backed off, potion in hand, and ran over to where everyone else was. He couldn't pass out yet.

“Bad... luck.”

Grunt nodded. His big face clouded with worry.

“Gimme something to bite grunt.”

The big man pulled out a banana with brown spots. Corvayne, despite the pain, started to laugh, which of course, made his sides and eye hurt.

“Fucker...” He took a breath that was too short and shallow, trying to not move. He was pretty sure he was crying out of both eyes. Or what was left of one. “A sock or towel.”

Grunt wadded up one of his socks and stuffed it in Corvayne's mouth. He tried not to laugh at how terrible the sweat-drenched sock tasted. Corvayne took an arm and gingerly pointed to his eye. Grunt's nodded. He could hear Seru screaming too. He should have stopped her from leaving camp. Grunt placed a knee on his arm, used his other to hold his shoulder down. Corvayne closed his good eye and tried not to wimper. How many monsters had he jabbed in the eye? A spear moves forward, a spear moves forward, a spear moves forward...

Grunt pulled, and Corvayne felt it rip something, and he tried to scream for Grunt to stop then blacked out.