Elania bit her lip and stared at the shadowed interior of the gatehouse. Tanyan and her had both seen something move inside, although it had only been for a brief second. Despite [Darkvision] letting her see in the dark confines of the caverns, she still had trouble when there were large differences in light levels. The wall and most of the cavern were bathed in the bio-luminescent light from the ceiling, while the gatehouse interior was not.

She’d be able to see once inside just fine, but that meant going in without knowing what was inside. She glanced at Tanyan with a bit of worry on her face.

He returned her look with apprehension writ on his face, apparently, they were in unspoken agreement about things having gone awry. Cupping his hands against his lips Tanyan called into the abyss, “Hello? Taniel? Is someone there?”

There was no reply. Right. Not Taniel then.

The two exchanged another worried glance before Tanyan sighed. “There is no way around, we are going to have to go through.” The monk held out his arm, and a golden orb suddenly appeared in his palm. Its light gave a clear view of the dark space in front of them, and its yellow hues were bright enough to bathe the entire group.

Elania realized they probably saw a whole lot worse than she did, she didn’t really need a light. When her skin began to itch and prickle she grimaced. She stared at the light in dismay.

‘Stupid [Holy Weakness]… I should think about negating that at level fifty…’

Tanyan glanced at her as if reaffirming she was okay. After Elania nodded, the monk flexed his palm, and the light was sent further into the abyss, lighting the way and almost daring the group to dive further into the hazy shadows of the ruin.

The interior itself was a mess and smelled of rotting flesh and fruits, while scattered bones, crushed leaves, and dirt were spread across the stone floor. It looked like a wild animal’s home. It gave off an eerie vibe, one that Elania would have been comfortable with if this had only been just a game.

‘Dirt? Oh god, this isn’t dirt. No wonder it smells so bad.’

The further they went, the louder distant sounds of incoherent chatter became. Elania thought she picked out a word or two. Still, the jumble of sounds was too mis-mashed to make any sense to her. The light eventually illuminated another large room where Taniel was lying unconscious against a wall with his hands tied in frayed rope. A small dart stuck out of his neck.

‘A tranquilizer…?’

Besides that, he looked unharmed other than the two short green creatures staring down at him. Both turned toward the group, and she could make out small warts that covered their exposed skin. Each was clothed in primitive garb, and she recognized what they were immediately. One had a small copper-hued sword while the other had a gnarled staff. [Identify] spit out information on them obediently.

[Shaman - Goblin (Rank C Monster) - Level 45 ]

[Fighter - Goblin (Rank C Monster) - Level 33 ]

A chittering of many voices erupted, and she saw that there were easily a dozen or more of the goblins climbing down the walls or vacating their hiding spots. The Shaman raised his staff and uttered a single syllable, and thanks to her [Universal Speech] skill Elania understood what it meant. “Eat!”

‘Fuck, Goblin Slayer was right.’

The goblins didn’t seem very intent on allowing their captured meal to escape, and as more streamed down, the numbers continued to grow in their favor. Elania was fairly sure she could fight them without issue; there was no way they were as strong as a Darkwalker individually. Tanyan would probably be able to handle himself as well, but the novices… There was no way this fight would go other than a chaotic melee, and she didn’t think they would survive.

There was one obvious skill that would be able to help even the odds.

[Demonic Aura (Activated)]

[You have gained a level in Demonic Aura!]

Elania felt the surge of power flow through and then out of her... The energy tingled across her skin, and she felt heavy and lighter at the same time. The two goblin leaders' eyes suddenly widened in fear, and the rest of the goblins found themselves frozen in place for a moment before chittering loudly and fleeing in the opposite direction.

“Your aura, Elania…?” Tanyan said, and she could hear the stiffness in his voice as she realized he was being affected as well.

It didn’t seem like he was having trouble moving, but he kept shifted uncomfortably where he stood.

‘So it affects allies too…’

Elania glanced back at the two novices who looked locked in place and almost afraid of Elania as they stared at her. She realized that people would fear her for what she was and for what she could do. If most of those like her were monsters before being summoned and then treated as slaves, she was afraid it wouldn’t matter if she were originally human.

They might still treat her like a… demon.

She sighed and turned to face the goblins again and took a small step forward, her hand going to her back to free a javelin. She was ready for them to pounce, but they seemed similarly affected as the novices. As she moved forward all the goblins, including the leaders, took a step back, and Elania suddenly smirked.

‘This is going to be easier than I thought.’

She continued taking steps toward the creatures, causing them to back away from Taniel and toward the exit on the other side of the gatehouse. Some even began to scramble up the walls and seek an exit through the holes in the stonework. She took another step, then another, until she finally decided to try something new.

Calling upon her [Mana Manipulation] skill, she flexed her ‘Power’ and pushed it into her aura in one colossal surge, sending a shockwave toward the Goblins, though it wasn't enough to injure them. In a chorus of squeals, they pushed and prodded each other out of the gate house’s dark stone walls and back into the darkness. Elania was surprised at how well it worked. Nothing had gone that smoothly before.

[You have gained a level in Demonic Aura!]

[You have gained a level in Mana Manipulation!]

‘Thank God... I think half the smell went with them.’

She waited for a few moments, planning on keeping the aura on until they got well and far away, but when one of the novices groaned she cut it off. She wasn’t sure what the full effects would be on them, especially if it was damaging. She was sure that the aura had gotten stronger along with her raw ‘Power’ and [Mana Manipulation] skill even if the Aura itself had only leveled up once. That was worrying because it was her only real ‘AOE’ skill and it had a cooldown.

[Demonic Aura (Deactivated)]

[You cannot activate Demonic Aura for 30 minutes.]

The novices both let out audible breaths of relief and sunk to their knees as the aura faded. “That w-was-what was that?” One of them asked in an almost frantic voice.

“Well, that worked, even if it was a bit uncomfortable.” Tanyan was shaking his arms and legs as if they had all fallen asleep. She noticed he wasn’t as affected as the novices who were slow to recover.

“I’m sorry.” Elania ran a hand through her hair. “I didn’t realize it would affect you too.”

The look Tanyan gave her was hard to read at first. His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t trust her. That wouldn’t have been a surprise to her, considering how the others felt. When he suddenly smiled and shook his head, she felt a bit of relief.

“It’s alright. Just tell us next time.”

Elania found herself smiling back. That surprised her as she had been having serious doubts about the party and finding ‘civilization’ in general. It still seemed like the best bet for her long-term survival, mostly if she wanted anything more than a primitive existence in the endless caverns. Tanyan’s acceptance told her she might be able to find the same with others when they reached Neftasu.

“I will. Thanks.”

The two novices shook their heads and stared at their hands, still trying to shake off the effects of her aura.

‘I’ll have to be careful about using that, I can’t imagine people would be happy if I accidentally turned that on inside the city.’

Elania metal rattling overhead had her looking up for signs of the goblins, but she didn’t spot any. Still, it was a reminder. “I don’t think we should stay here. Let’s get Taniel and go.”

At the very least, the smell was going to make her sick, and she was doing her best to ignore that the walls were covered in excrement.

Tanyan nodded, and they both approached their unconscious party member. The [Holy Monk] knelt down and carefully removed the dart from Taniel’s neck. There was a short flare of light from Tanyan’s hand before he looked back at Elania. “I think he is fine; whatever they used just put him to sleep.”

“So, you can’t wake him up?”

“Not unless you want me to go to sleep instead.”

She shook her head and decided there was only one course of action.

“I’ll carry him.”

She knelt down and aligned his body then easily lifted him up and onto her shoulder. She’d seen a silly you-tube video once that showed what to do if you needed to ‘save’ your boyfriend from a fire. It worked just as easy as the video had made it look, although Elania suspected that was because of her abnormal strength.

“You sure you’ve got him?” Tanyan raised a brow, “He’s pretty heavy.”

“I think I’ve got him for now.”

With Taniel rescued, the group continued their way out through the gatehouse's back and onto the great wall. There was no sign of the goblins, although she imagined with their ability to climb the stone that probably made sense.

“We’ll follow the wall through several more caverns like this,” Tanyan turned to grin at her, “It should only be a few more hours before we are at the last waystation before Neftasu.”

Elania smiled at him before she shifted her gaze to the wall that seemingly went on forever in the dark haze of the cavern. If the ruins led to the city, maybe… maybe going off on her own wasn’t such a bad idea. Taniel certainly would have preferred that, she thought even as she was carrying him to safety. She knew the party had only been forced to take her by the deal with the Mushroohums and that once they arrived, there wouldn’t be any reason to help her. If she split off on her own now, maybe she would be able to hunt creatures for a while, level up, and get stronger.

What would she say to the guards at the city gate then, though? “Hi, I’m Elania, I’m a human-didn’t-eat-a-bunch-of-people-unbound-demon and would like to come in and sell some monster parts for some luxury items?” Somehow, she saw that as being much worse than having an introduction by the monks.

She glanced at Tanyan, he was leading the way and the two novices were trailing behind him like chicks following a mother hen. She was glad that she was at the back of the line; she didn’t want them to see the apprehensiveness in her eyes. At least one person in the group seemed to be warming up to her but being friendly did not necessarily mean he trusted her.

Elania glanced at the back of the man she carried. Taniel had made no secret of his animosity toward demons and that she was no exception to it. He had even tried to kill her when the Monster Core had sparked an uncontrollable bloodlust in him. Tanyan had stopped him, but the fact that he had thrashed her in hand-to-hand combat wasn’t easy to forget.

She sighed. They had already managed to cover most of the distance without the help of their missing guide.

‘I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stay. We are getting close and I’ve come this far with them already.’

They continued traveling along the top of the wall for hours. Despite the weight on Elania's shoulders, it didn’t bother her too much. She had noticed that her power was dropping slightly faster than expected, but that made sense. If ‘Power’ was food, then carrying Taniel on her shoulders meant she’d be burning a lot of calories, right?

“Put me down...” Taniel’s voice was gruff and muffled, and Elania let out a breath of relief. She had hated the thought of him dying while he was on her shoulder.

“But I’m sworn to carry your burdens.” She answered in her best Lydia impression.

“I said put me down.” He snarled groggily.

Elania’s levity faded slightly as she placed Taniel back on his feet. She stepped back and let him stretch and work the stiffness out.

“You didn’t have to carry me.” He glared at her as he finished straightening out his appearance.

Elania stood awkwardly waiting for him to say more, and Tanyan and the novices all held their breath as the two looked at each other. Elania wasn’t sure if he even knew what happened. If he remembered being hit by the goblin’s tranquilizer or not... She half expected him to turn on her, and she steeled herself to fend him off if Tanyan didn’t intervene again.

Taniel opened his mouth to speak but sighed instead. “Thank you. I’m not sure what happened after they hit me with that tranquilizer, but I can guess.”

Elania blinked as she processed what he said.

‘Does that count as a ‘Flag?’ That’s the first time he treated me like a person instead of a monster.’

“You’re welcome.” Elania grinned, “But we should keep going. We’ve lost a bit of time.”

She decided that she would stay with them all the way to the city. If things continued to evolve like this, then she had hope that she’d be able to fit in despite her demon status.

Taniel grumbled, but his small smile was unmistakable, “Right… we should get going.”

The rest of the trek across the wall and through the caverns was uninteresting at best. The tunnels turned into a maze-like mesh. Elania realized that there was a distinct uphill incline to their path that had them moving upwards quickly.

Elania realized that the route they were on was well-traveled. The stone was smooth, and the fungal growths and moss had receded from the path. It hinted that others frequently traveled through the same way. As they came around a corner, golden light spilled up out through a window in the stone.

They’d reached a waystation that was completely unlike the cold empty ones they’d been through before. She realized there was a large wooden door banded with iron reinforcement beside the stone window, and a guard stood half-asleep leaning against the wall beside it. He was dressed in chainmail and leathers, with a halberd propped up beside him.

Taniel looked annoyed that the guard was neglecting his duty and, no doubt, placing the current inhabitants in at least a little more danger because of it. Tanyan shook his head, though.

“Not a surprise the man is asleep. The Guard sweeps through here daily.”

“Doesn’t mean he should be asleep.”

Elania felt her cheeks burn and felt a little sympathy for the watchmen as she distinctly remembered getting lost in [Battle Concentration] training when it was her turn to stand watch a few nights earlier.

As they approached the entrance, instead of eerie silence, there was light chatter and a sweet, crisp, refreshing smell in the air, and the new brightness was a welcome shift from the darkness of the labyrinth of caverns they had been traveling through for what felt like weeks.

“Well, we made it.” Elania smiled and took in a breath. She felt pleased, but also a thread of worry. She would need to be on her guard. She thought that she might make a cheap contract with someone to change her eye color to one that wouldn’t scream ‘unbound’ to everyone who saw her suddenly seemed like something to consider.

‘I hope no one freaks out when they see my eyes.’

“Yes, we’ve made it.” Taniel replied, but all four monks seemed to be relieved that they were out of danger.

The guard was startled awake as they approached and then did his best to appear to have been alert the entire time. Tanyan nodded to the man, but Elania kept her head down, worried that he’d speak up when he saw her race or eyes. The man didn’t notice either--- or they weren’t as problematic as she was led to believe when she was allowed in with the others without challenge. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.

The waystation was much larger than any of the others; it was a round cavern with many buildings, most of which had candles or lights shining out of open or leather-covered windows. Elania realized that the leather covers were the norm. Maybe wood was expensive in the deep caverns, so wood shutters didn’t make sense.

“Ah, there you are!” A familiar voice sounded through the air, and Elania stiffened as she and the others turned to face Marcus. He looked perfectly fine, a heavy bag of something in hand, and a grin on his face.

Elania couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d long assumed the Ranger had ended up dead at the hands of the Manzitore when he didn’t catch up to them several waystations back. The same surprise she felt was mirrored on Tanyan and Taniel’s faces.

Taniel was the first to react. His eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the man who had abandoned them on the road.

“You!”

Tanyan placed his hand on Taniel’s shoulder, but the angry monk surged forward anyway, grabbing Marcus’s cloak into a fist and pulling the older man close.

Even from where she was, Elania could take in Marcus’s scent. It was fresh, clean. It looked like he’d been doing well for himself since he’d split off from the group. At the very least it hinted that there might be soap somewhere. She bit her lip as she tried to pointedly ignored her sudden bout of enhanced sense of smell. ‘Fucking Darkwalkers.’

She wondered if he had abandoned them immediately after she dealt with the Mantizore or if he had even tried to meet back up with them.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Taniel snarled, “Two of us are dead because of you, you bastard. I should-”

“Don’t make a scene, monk.” Marcus’s eyes shifted to the people around them. The few people who had been out and about in the waystation had turned to stop and stare at the commotion beginning to brew. Even though Taniel’s anger was justified, Elania noticed multiple guards coming watching from afar. They didn’t seem to appreciate the breach of peace.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to stay with you for a bit, but you all made it here safely, yes? Isn’t that what’s important?”

Tanyan’s nails dug into his palm as he glared daggers at Marcus. It was clear he was about to snap along with Taniel. Two guards on a level above them were looking down from the roof of a building, and she realized that if something didn’t stop Taniel from attacking Marcus, they might all end up in serious trouble, which was not something she wanted to risk.

“We just arrived and should get something to eat, find some rooms and wash up?” Elania chimed in, stepping forward to put a hand on Taniel’s shoulder in an attempt to rein him in. He grunted, and to her relief, released the other man’s clothes.

“Listen to the girl, she’s basically a newborn and has more brains than you. The Conclave has no authority in the waystations.” Elania smiled nervously, silently praying that Taniel wouldn’t take the bait.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” She was distinctly aware that she was the only one in the group who didn’t actually need to eat, but it was all she could think of to redirect and break the tension.

Marcus and Taniel glanced at Elania, then at one another, and there was a silent truce formed between the two as Taniel backed off and retreated to Tanyan’s side.

“Yes, that’s a great idea! I’ve already found a splendid Inn and I’m sure it still has space for the four of you. They’ve a roast Ralfot on the spit, and we’ll get this all sorted on a full stomach.” Marcus urged the group to follow with his arm, and the party reluctantly followed.

The silence of the party made the tension all the more obvious, and Elania was quickly considering finding a place to slip away on her own. She’d probably need to split off from the group soon anyway, but she needed to figure out how things worked now that they had reached civilization.

She focused on the bag that Marcus was carrying along beside him. It was full of something, and she realized she could periodically catch a scent from it with her heightened senses. It smelled like [Razorscale], which meant he had followed the same route they had? What was he doing with parts of that monster that had killed one of the novices?

Despite the short distance, the oppressive silence of the other party members made it feel much longer.