“Celaine, Teff, would you keep a lookout please?” Marcela said. “Let’s give our friends here a few minutes to catch their breath.”

Celaine looked at Teff. “Could you go up the crag? I’m going to butcher the razorclaw.”

“Someone else can handle that,” Eve said.

Celaine looked over parties of Chosen. “No offence, but I’m not convinced any of you have butchered a sheep before, let alone a razorclaw. I’ve handled plenty of game, and at least seen someone take apart a razorclaw.”

“It’s alright,” Teff said, already climbing the rocky face. “We don’t need both of us up the crag.”

Celaine pulled Bloodshadow from its sheath, the knife they’d taken from Kassius still as sharp as ever and no doubt eager for the blood of this beast. She went about the process with grisly efficiency: removing the heartstone, the eyes, the largest teeth, and parts Hump preferred not to think about.

Len scowled the entire time. “Is that really necessary?”

“We risked our lives for this,” Hump said. “Might as well spend the few minutes we have to gather the spoils. It’s a shame we can’t bring the whole hide back.” With fur that could tear skin to shreds, and the creature being so large, it really wasn’t something they could carry.

Len stared down his nose at Hump—the same look Hump imagined he gave anyone with less money than him.

“Keep staring,” Hump said. “You look great.”

They gave the three rescued adventurers food and drink, while Dylan and Bud worked together to create a stretcher for their fallen companion. Fila remained behind while Jacob and the rest of the party went after the wounded razorclaws, tending to their more serious injuries before they moved.

The three introduced themselves. Louisa and Warren belonged to the same party, the former being the niece of Lord Kint. A man Marcela seemed familiar with though Hump had never heard of him. Tanek had met with them later, along with the now dead adventurer.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Marcela asked. “All we know is from Jacob, who arrived with orders to help protect the local villages.”

“The expedition started off fine,” Louisa said—she was the woman with ice powers. “We were making progress. Yesterday morning, Ricard led our strongest parties on the final push for the dungeon core. The rest of us staged an attack from various sides to disguise the main assault. That afternoon… well, I assume you felt the earthquake here too?”

Marcela nodded. “We were in the forest when it happened, though that was no earthquake. Until yesterday, this section of forest was nowhere near the dungeon domain.”

“It expanded?” Warren asked, wincing as Fila poked at a long wound down the back of his shoulder.

Marcela had a grave look on her face. “Without an expert, I hesitate to say for certain, but it’s the only explanation we can think of. Unfortunately, we don’t know why.”

“Gods know,” Louisa said. “There was no telling what was going on in the chaos. The ground erupted around us; the trees were coming down. Warren and I were cut off from our party and before we knew it, a monster horde was surging through the forest. We did the only thing we could think of. Head east, and hope we make it out.”

“We met Tanek along the way,” Warren said. “And the razorclaws.”

“The story’s the same for me,” Tanek said. “I was split off from my party and ran into our fallen friend, Leo, over there. Poor fellow—he had a good head on him. As for Ricard, I don’t even know if the main force is alive.”

“Jacob believes it is,” Marcela said. “He received orders to defend the village yesterday evening. Hopefully word reaches us fairly soon on how to proceed. For now, we’ll take you back to Tailsend. The village is outside the dungeon domain. I wouldn’t call it safe, but it’s a damn sight better than here.”

“Thank you, Marcela,” Louisa said. “My father always speaks highly of the count and countess, and I can see the same good qualities in you. We owe you all of our lives.”

The journey back to Tailsend was uneventful. Hump wasn’t sure whether the razorclaws had scared off the competition or if the credit for that went for the bronze rankers, but they were back in the village in less than half an hour.

It was no welcoming sight. The villagers stacked up the remains of the monster horde on the far side of the village, systematically harvesting what usable parts they could. Though from experience, Hump knew there wouldn’t be much. The meat of dungeon-corrupted beasts was mostly inedible, and these were no essence beasts. They were ordinary animals unlike the razorclaw, twisted into flesh hungry monsters, and that meant they lacked heartstones.

“What happened here?” Louisa asked.

“You weren’t the only ones to run into a monster horde last night,” Hump said. He didn’t want to be down in the village right now. He was tired—both from lack of sleep and the constant fighting—and wasn’t sure he had the strength to face all that death again right now. Turning to Marcela, he said, “My party will keep watch for a while just in case anything followed us.”

“Thank you,” Marcela said.

Hump hesitated a moment, uncomfortable to be taking the lead when it truly wasn’t his place. “If the expedition has truly failed, we need to consider evacuating the village. We can’t defend here forever.”

“We won’t need to,” she said. “You know Natalie, don’t you? Ricard’s second in command.”

“We met,” Hump said. “She assigned us our quest.”

“Good. I’m awaiting her instruction. Her blessings give her the power to communicate over a distance, and she’ll issue us new orders once she has them. Until then, we must do what we can to hold here.”

Hump frowned, considering pushing further.

She seemed to read his mind as she continued, “If she hasn’t contacted me by the evening we can reconsider. In the meantime,” she looked at the body of the fallen adventurer, “we’ll find a place to bury him. He died a good death; he deserves a good place.”

Hump stared at the body—at the bloody ruins of his face. It didn’t look like a good death to him, but he decided not to argue the point. “Very well,” he said.

He watched the Chosen head back to Tailsend from the edge of Stonebark Forest, talking amongst themselves.

“You lend that wizard too much of your ear,” Len said as they walked, no doubt intentionally saying it loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

“I really don’t like that man,” Emilia said.

Hump snorted. “You and me both.”

“What do you think?” Bud asked.

“Well, obviously he’s an arsehole,” Hump said.

Bud rolled his eyes. “Not that. What do you think about waiting for orders to come through?”

Hump shrugged. “I think we might not have enough time to wait for Natalie’s instructions. If the dungeon remains, these people cannot stay here. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that monsters will infest the outer sections of the forest. At the same time, escorting hundreds of defenceless people with so few of us is risky, and well beyond our quest assignment.”

“You say that as if the assignment matters,” Emilia said. “Surely helping people comes first.”

“I suppose,” Hump said. “We better be compensated for it though. I’m nervous. There shouldn’t be razorclaws here, and the dungeon was already massive even before its domain expanded. Something dangerous is going on here, and I’m sick of being a part of it already.”

Celaine groaned. “Times like this make me just want to leave. I really don’t want to die pointlessly to a monster horde.”

“Give Marcela some time,” Dylan said. “I think losing Matthias was all the wake-up call she needed. She’s smart, and she cares. I don’t think she’ll take unnecessary risks.”

“Agreed,” Bud said. “I trust her.”

“Then let’s see what happens,” Hump said. “If we don’t receive orders today, I’ll push for us to evacuate anyway.”

It turned out they didn’t need to wait for evening. Jacob and his party returned a short while later—they’d finished off the most heavily wounded of the escaped razorclaws, though the one filled with arrows had escaped. With luck, it would die from its wounds, but that seemed unlikely for a creature as strong as it and in such an essence rich environment. Within an hour of their return, Marcela gathered them all in the tavern.

“Natalie contacted me a few minutes ago,” she explained. “Her explanation was brief, but the expedition has failed. Ricard is alive but wounded, and at least for now, they’ve halted the attempt at clearing Sheercliff Forest Dungeon. We have been ordered to leave the villages and meet the expedition on the road back to Sheercliff. And she wants us to bring the villagers with us.”

“So we’re giving up?” Eve asked. “Did she even specify what happened?”

“She referred to it as a tactical retreat,” Marcela said. “And no. Communication was brief, and details were non-existent.”

Eve sighed. “The Pantheon will not be happy with this. This expedition was supposed to be a joint venture. A sign of mutual trust. Instead, it’s made us all look weak.”

“That is for people far more powerful than us to worry about,” Marcela said.

“Meanwhile, we need to clean up this waste of bloody time,” Corvin said. “I can’t believe Matthias died for this. He was a good man.”

Marcela clenched her fists.

“It won’t be a waste if we get the Stonebark people to safety,” Bud said.

“If they even agree to leave,” Corvin said.

“We should speak to Harlow and Joan,” Hump said. “We’ve got almost thirty Chosen in this little village.”

“Don’t see how it will help,” Corvin said. “They seemed pretty decisive about defending their homes to the death. Good on them if you ask me. Let them fight for it. There’s honour in that. I will not beg them to come with us.”

Hump bit his cheek. “I didn’t tell you to beg. There’s more holy power concentrated in this little village than these people have seen in their entire lives. Channel some of those blessings, make yourselves all glowy, and start acting like Chosen.”

Corvin frowned at him. “Did I mention you are insufferable?”

“Enough, Corvin,” Marcela said. “Hump is right. If we can’t convince the people here to leave, then we don’t deserve to be Chosen.”

Harlow and Joan took little convincing. The priestess was in hysterics, overwhelmed by everything at once, though somehow more taken aback by the Chosen than all the slain monsters on her doorstep. Harlow wore a long face throughout the conversation, though he made no objection.

“I was coming to the same conclusion myself,” Harlow said. “I’m almost ashamed to say it, but I don’t think we can keep our homes safe any longer.”

“I’m sorry about all this,” Marcela said. “It was our job to help.”

“Don’t be foolish, milady.” Joan clasped a hand over her mouth. “Forgive me for speaking out of turn. I just mean… for so many of you to come here and try to help us. We couldn’t ask for more.”

Marcela smiled. “I’m still sorry.”

“We’ll be alright,” Harlow said. “I said it before—we of Stonebark are tough as rock. We’ll get by, even if the getting by takes place somewhere else.”

“Do you think the others will come around?” Corvin asked. “They weren’t exactly cooperative when I asked the first time.”

Harlow sighed. “They’ve lost family, lad. They’ve seen the bloodlust of these beasts. I think you’ll be surprised how quick that changes a person’s mind.”

Marcela turned her gaze to the chapel window, where a crowd awaited, drawn by their activities.

She sighed. “I suppose I should get this over with now rather than later. The more time we have to prepare, the better.”

It was a tough reality to face for anyone; Hump understood that, despite never having a true home of his own. There were gasps, murmurs, and fear amongst the crowd as Marcela spoke, and more than a few objections.

As the crowd turned on her, Marcela breathed deeply, and pure blue light shone from her chest. Her eyes glowed. The air around her turned to glitter, like a fine rain caught in presence.

“I know this is a lot to ask,” she went on. “I know you are afraid of what the future will bring. But I ask you to trust me. A place has been made for you outside Sheercliff City. A place you will be safe until we are ready to reclaim your lands. I will not force you to come with us, but you have seen what will come for you if you remain. The dungeon has expanded once already. The attacks will only become more frequent.”

The expressions of the crowd ranged from anger to panic, but the objections had quietened. Marcela turned to them. “Get some rest. Tomorrow morning, we’ll work together to take those of Stonepath and Marlton back to their villages to reclaim what they can. Harlow, can I trust you to arrange your provisions.”

Harlow bowed his head. “Of course, milady. We’ll need some time.”

“You have tomorrow. We leave the following morning.”

He frowned but nodded.

“In the meantime, I’m going to go over our route,” Marcela said. “I’ll be in the inn if anyone needs me.”

“So the plan is to escort all these people along the edge of a dungeon,” Celaine whispered. “I’m sure that will go well.”

“I’m going to speak with her,” Hump said, following her to the inn without waiting for their response.

He pushed the door open, slamming it against the wall in his hurry. And then stopped.

Marcela wasn’t alone.

Tanek stood before her, his spear in hand. The blade embedded in Marcela’s stomach. The blood expanded on her robes, blooming as she stared at Tanek with wide eyes. He pulled it free, and she gasped. Her legs shook, and she collapsed to her knees, clutching at the wound with her hands.

Tanek turned to Hump with a displeased look. “Now this is unfortunate timing, wizard. Truly. I wanted to avoid another unnecessary death.”

“Unnecessary…” Hump trailed off as he saw another body beyond the tables and chairs. Jasper, the innkeeper, lay in a bloody pool on the floor, his sword fallen beside him.

“Why?” Marcela growled.

“I told you,” he said. “You’re a Daston. Now, stay right there, wizard, and I may just let you live. You did just save my life after all.”

Essence gathered around Marcela, cold and sharp, like liquid blades.

“Enough of that,” Tanek said, raising his spear to deliver the final blow.

Hump reacted without thinking. He brandished his staff, aiming straight at the bronze ranker before him. His spellbook fell open into his hand, the pages whirling, shining with the light of his power. He didn’t need to beat him. He just needed to make a lot of noise and stall long enough for help to come. And he was somewhat good at making noise.