[Move quickly, Garg, we need to gain distance.]

[Right.]

Nothing brought monsters to an area faster than the sounds of battle. The chance to jump on others in the middle of a fight, or capitalise on an exhausted victor, was too good to pass up. Of course, what ended up happening most of the time was that a smaller fight quickly escalated into an all out melee as the opportunists ran into each other.

They were coming now, she could sense them, weak cores flickering in the darkness as the monsters skittered forward.

From her position on Garg’s back, Columbant fired acid blasts at the targets behind them, the sizzling liquid boiling through the air. Almost all of the shots went wide, but at least one hit home, a monster crying out in the darkness and drawing others towards it.

All around them, the sounds of battle began to ignite, the frenzy spreading rapidly. Which meant the monsters in front of them were also drawn to the fight.

[Garg, charge!] Columbant ordered.

[Gladly!] the big beetle replied.

She lowered her head and rushed forward, putting all of her significant mass behind her reinforced horn. The pride and joy of Garg and Columbant’s beetle-beast design, the horn was formed of condensed bone covered in hardened chitin. Highly mutated, it was a deadly weapon and a powerful defensive tool at the same time.

And Garg demonstrated it now, lowering her head and spearing the first target to put its head up in front of her. A shadow beast crept over the rock and hissed at them, only to receive a horn to the torso. Garg threw the monster off with a flick of her head and rumbled out a laugh as she continued to barrel forward.

[Keep up with us, Slither!]

[I’m here.]

[Rist, give us a fire wall.]

[Gladly.]

It took only a moment for the fire demon to unleash his power, the tunnel brightening as the fire erupted behind them. The flare revealed the hovering beasts, each looking for an angle, but they shied away from the heat before pouncing on each other, giving Columbant and her pets the space they needed.

[Run, Garg! Follow my directions!]

Steering the beetle with antennae taps, Columbant directed her group through the packed tunnel as more fights began to break out around them. As long as they stayed that little bit ahead and didn’t get caught in the middle of it, they would make it out.

The terrain rushed past as Columbant ducked low on Garg’s back. In her mind, she kept checking the Tunnel Map, tracking their progress as they drew closer and closer to the next junction.

She steered her charging steed expertly, narrowly avoiding spires and rocks and more monsters emerging from their hiding places to seek prey in front of them. There were many victims of Garg’s horn as the race continued and the beetle-beast was rumbling merrily by the time they arrived at the second junction.

[Slither, we need your shadow again.]

[I don’t have long.]

[That’s fine, over there!]

As one, the group dove into a pocket of darkness and once again sank into the shadow that Slither provided. Not a moment too soon. As the fighting behind them caught up, chaos erupted. This was a meeting place between two large, arterial tunnels, monsters were everywhere and any excuse was enough to send them into a feeding frenzy.

[One minute,] her shadow pet ground out, the strain evident in his voice.

[That’s fine,] she assured him, [don’t push yourself too hard.]

She constantly scanned the surroundings as the brawl spread. They’d come this far, their odds of escaping had climbed significantly, but the next part would be the most dangerous. With the shadow exhausted, they had no choice but to make a break for the third and final junction. If they made it to that point, they’d be clear to ascend higher in the stratum where they outclassed the monsters much more heavily and spawn rates would be lower.

For fifty seconds, they rested and waited as Slither shrouded them in darkness, but all too soon, their time was up. Once more they were revealed, but Columbant held them still.

[How’s your mana, Rist?]

[Almost full. I can go anytime.]

[How are the legs, Garg?]

[Fine.]

[All right. We’re going to creep to the left side and then make a break for it.]

[Got it.]

The three smaller group members piled onto the top of Garg and prepared for the next dash. They were in a tight spot, but they’d been in many before. They could make it.

Hugging the walls, Columbant directed them to the far left side before she aimed and carefully fired three acid shots towards the right. The sizzling liquid arced through the air, catching the attention of the more dull-witted monsters and pulling them away from her crew.

[Now!]

[Quietly?] Garg asked.

[No! Full speed ahead!]

The beetle-beast was tired, but rallied herself and charged forward, horn lowered. She had utmost trust in her mistress to steer her to safety. The ground rumbled as the six-legged monster charged ahead, her weight enough to crack the stone beneath her as she ran.

[Need you to free fire here, Rist. Try not to run out of power, but don’t hold back too much,] she instructed her demon pet.

At tier six, Rist was the strongest of her helpers, a scarce demon core that fell into her grasp before this current outing. He’d only grown into maturity two weeks ago and was still coming into his own, improving his Skills from their baseline levels.

[Got it,] he replied before his hands ignited and he began to hurl explosive balls of concentrated fire out into the darkness.

The cries and shrieks of monsters rang out immediately as the cavern lit up. Despite their power, the explosions didn’t spread as far as they should; the suffocating thickness of the cold and shadows suppressed the fire and light.

[Keep going, Garg! You’re doing well.]

[I will.]

And on they rushed. They were climbing now, gradually making their way higher into the Dungeon and toward safety.

Hope rose in Columbant’s heart. She felt rising relief that none would need to be sacrificed. She loved her pets and desperately wanted them to survive.

The monsters were thick around them now, and she bit and fired acid at everything she could reach. But nothing could stop Garg’s momentum. She was a spear, designed for this and this alone.

Then suddenly, things grew quiet. Monsters scrambled to hide and the surroundings grew colder. Columbant felt a shiver of fear run over her carapace.

She’d been too busy piloting and watching the monsters around her to notice the real danger. Now it reared up before her, staring down with cold, cold eyes.

The serpent had returned!