Gideon’s sword flashed back and forth through the air, and three fairies fell to the ground.

  His blade stabbed out in three quick thrusts and another three fairies joined the dead at his feet.

  “Argh!” he screamed, as a fairy circled behind him and stabbed him in the neck. Unconsciously reacting to the sting, his sword arm raised slightly, and two more of the tiny dragonfly-like humanoids darted in and stabbed him with their needle swords.

  Swinging his sword at anything flying nearby, he retreated backwards until he reached Falcon’s conjured Earth Wall, then rotated around to hide behind it.

  “Cover me!” he exclaimed, fishing a health potion from his belt.

  “On it!” Falcon said, not looking down at him as she tracked the following fairy. She released her arrow, and it skewered the creature, pinning it to the wall.

  “Do you have eyes on the others?” he gasped as his eyes darted around, looking for movement.

  “No! I’ve been a little busy since they swarmed me,” she replied, equally out of breath.

  “I’m coming in!” Lioness called, and Gideon raised his sword to guard the side, while Falcon stepped out from the safety of the wall and fired one arrow after another, striking the creatures attacking the cleric.

  “Cover me!” Lioness shouted, and downed a health potion, then Falcon followed suit.

  The fairies’ tiny swords only did a point of damage with each hit, but they accumulated quickly.

  “Lioness, how are Forge and Cinder?” Falcon asked.

  The cleric shook her head and worked on her breathing, as the occasional fairy would fly around the wall and attack, and Gideon would attack from his side, and Lioness the other.

  “I lost track of them when they swarmed,” she complained.

  Gideon took a deep breath. “Lioness, stay here and get your breath back and guard Falcon’s flank. Falcon, you cover me. I’m going to run out there and bring them here to safety.”

  The two women readily agreed, and they moved into action.

  ***

  “This is kind of fun, isn’t it?” Forge said, as he swung his mace, swatting a fairy from the air.

  Cinder flew around the cavern, grabbing the creatures in his mouth, crunching down on them, then dropping them to the cavern floor.

  “Fun!” he agreed.

  He’d been worried at first when the giant tree disgorged a swarm of the little beasts, but they didn’t have the strength to pierce his armor or Cinder’s scales.

  “They’re pretty weak. I doubt they could even get through my enhanced skin,” he told the dragon.

  Cinder lined up a shot, then breathed out a cone of blue flame that caught a dozen of the creatures in its blast.

  Forge watched as the dragon turned his head, breathing out a steady supply of flame, and chasing the fairies back to the tree, where his flame engulfed the hole the fairies had spawned from.

  He listened for a moment, but the telltale zipping sound of their wings was gone, and the room was silent.

  “I think that’s it, pal,” he said, turning towards Falcon’s wall that hid the others.

  They had heard a strange buzzing when they’d entered, but it wasn’t until they made it to the room’s center before the fairies attacked.

  Though fairy was just a convenient word for the creatures. While their overall form seemed humanoid, their features were clearly insectoid. Even their tiny swords were a part of their anatomy jutting out from one multi-jointed arm.

  He saw Gideon charge out from behind the wall, screaming a battle-cry, his sword held up and ready to attack.

  Forge dismissed his mace and waved at the swordsman.

  “I think we got them all,” he said.

  The swordsman stared at him for a moment, then scanned the room before taking a seat on the cavern floor.

  “Well, that sucked,” Gideon said.

  Confused, Forge walked over to his friend and took a seat next to him.

  “Cinder, go check on the others, please,” he sent the dragon, who took off towards the curved earthen wall.

  “What’s wrong? I drew them in like we planned for flying swarms.”

  Gideon stared at him for a moment, then dropped his head into his hands.

  “I might have screwed up,” he said.

  “Okay. What happened?”

  Gideon realized his sword was still in his hand, and retrieved a handkerchief to wipe the blade down before returning it to its sheath.

  “I…thought you might need some help. So, I rushed out to take some of the attention off you.”

  Forge nodded his understanding and started to get an idea of the problem.

  “Then Lioness followed me to provide healing and engage the monsters,” Gideon explained.

  “And they overwhelmed you,” Forge said, finishing the warrior’s statement.

  Gideon nodded his head.

  Lioness, Falcon, and Cinder joined them in the center of the room.

  “Well, that was a right big screw-up!” Falcon shouted.

  Forge took off his mask and looked up at the ranger, who was staring daggers at Gideon.

  “No, this was just bad luck,” Forge said.

  “Luck didn’t make Gideon charge out into a swarm of murder-fairies!” she shouted.

  Cinder walked over and sat on Gideon’s lap and ran his head under the swordsman’s chin.

  Gideon reached down and scratched the dragon absently.

  Forge sighed. “No, it’s bad luck that this dungeon seems to be geared towards my power-set.”

  Gideon scowled at him, but he continued.

  “Look, I’m the armored one. So, I can take a hit better than anyone else on the team. I’m also the only one with the Loot ability. But what if it had been beasts, or creatures with a unique weakness, that I couldn’t target?”

  He looked up at Falcon. “What if it required stealth and pinpoint accuracy?”

  Then he nodded up at Lioness. “And while I have a healing spell, it’s extremely limited. But we have not only a cleric, but a cleric that’s a good fighter.”

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  “This dungeon is just the luck of the draw, and it was my time to shine this go around.”

  Gideon nodded his head in acceptance and hugged Cinder tightly.

  “You’re a good friend, buddy. Both of you,” he said.

  “Family!” Cinder sent.

  Gideon cracked a smile at the dragon. “You’re right. We’re family.”

  He stood up and turned to Falcon and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  The ranger’s anger cooled, and she hugged him back.

  Gideon then gestured for Lioness to come over, who rolled her eyes, but joined in the hug.

  “Group hug!” Cinder sent the party, and rushed over and slid between everyone, so he could be in the center.

  Forge smiled and stood. A group hug it is then, he thought, joining the group.

  “Being an adventurer has a lot more hugging than I imagined,” Lioness deadpanned.

  The party broke into laughter and separated, with Falcon having to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes.

  “The strongest bonds are formed in laughter, not blood,” he sent Cinder.

  Cinder nodded his agreement and Forge turned to the scattered fairy bodies that littered the floor.

  “Anyone have a broom?”

  ***

  Jackal and Zap approached the Lord’s Chamber, where the Lord of Scofrey conducted official city business.

  Jewel stood nearby, leaning against a wall, and sent him a thumbs up.

  He shot her a wink, and Zap moved forward to push the massive, barred doors to the room open.

  The pair walked in, and a group of guards converged on them.

  “If one of you draws a weapon, or moves to block us, you will be dealt with harshly,” Jackal warned, not pausing in his walk towards the large table that sat before the throne and dais.

  “Guards, step back!” came a sharp voice.

  The guards all stopped and took a step back before turning to the High Commander, who stepped forward to meet the pair.

  He walked up to them, making sure he was slightly to their side and not blocking them, then bowed deeply.

  “Guildmaster Jackal and Arch-Hero Zap, I was only just made aware of your visit. How can I help you?”

  Jackal and Zap stopped and regarded the man.

  He wore a fancy version of the city guard’s uniform, but Jackal could feel the power that radiated off the man. Nowhere near as powerful as them, but strong for a member of the Guard.

  “I am High Commander Peridew and am in charge of the security for the city,” he explained.

  Jackal nodded, then paused as the name jogged his memory.

  “You’re not related to Captain Peridew, who fought at the Battle of Ironbridge, are you?”

  The man straightened and gave him a wide smile.

  “Yes sir, that was my great grandfather. A man, I am sorry to say, I never got the chance to meet.”

  Jackal laughed and patted the man on the shoulder, and even Zap’s stony expression turned to a grin.

  “Your great grandfather was a good kid.”

  Jackal leaned in close, “I’m sure you’ve heard that he was a hero of Ironbridge, but what you probably didn’t know was that he struck a blow to the Lich King himself.”

  Zap laughed at the memory.

  “I remember that. Jewel was holding back the Death Knights while Dirk was searching for the phylactery.”

  “And you and I were fighting the Lich King,” Jackal laughed.

  “And then out of nowhere, we heard this unearthly scream, and all three of us stopped to see what was happening.”

  “All three of you, sir?” Peridew asked, confused.

  “Both of us and the Lich King,” Zap laughed.

  “We just kind of stopped hitting each other and turned to see Peridew come running up and slam a longsword right through the lich’s chest!” Zap chortled.

  Jackal cackled with laughter. “And then we all sort of looked at the sword that was just sitting there in the monster’s chest.”

  Zap’s gravelly laugh boomed through the chamber.

  “And do you remember what Peridew said?” Zap laughed, nudging Jackal with his elbow.

  Jackal stood at parade attention and looked at the High Commander.

  “He said, Well, that should just about take care of that,” Jackal said primly, before devolving into laughter.

  “I…see. Did it help?” Peridew asked.

  Zap nodded. “Absolutely! While all three of us were trying to figure out what was going on, Dirk managed to find and destroy the phylactery, killing the Lich King for good.”

  Peridew stared off into space for a moment. “I never knew. How amazing!” he grinned.

  Jackal laughed and smacked the man on his back, then sobered quickly.

  “Look, Peridew. We are about to have a very intense meeting with the powers that be, and I doubt it’s going to be pretty. My recommendation is for you to take your men outside and guard the door.”

  Peridew considered the request. “Can you please assure me you won’t kill anyone?”

  Jackal thought for a moment, then nodded.

  “I won’t lie to you. It may come to that. But if things have devolved that far, I’ll call for you before everything sets off.”

  Peridew nodded, gave them both a deep bow, and gestured for his men to follow him.

  They left the room and closed the heavy doors behind them.

  “Seems like a good kid, like his grandfather,” Zap observed.

  Jackal nodded, then turned to the rest of the court, who were watching them silently.

  “Let’s go get this place back on track,” Jackal said.

  Zap nodded, and the pair made their way up to the front of the court.

  Time to transcend the political, Jackal thought with a grin.

  ***

  It turned out a broom wasn’t necessary, as when Forge looted a single fairy, the rest of the bodies disappeared.

  “How’d we do?” Lioness asked.

  “60 cold iron fairy swords, 32 reagents, and a Tier Two core,” Forge said, reading from his System log.

  “Not too bad,” Lioness said.

  After a fruitless search of the room for treasure, they entered the corridor that led further down into the dungeon.

  The corridor had a steeper decline than they’d seen so far, and the party didn’t look forward to having to make their way back up to the surface.

  The tunnel finally flattened out, and the entrance of a well-lit room came into view.

  Forge stared into the wide room, but saw no enemies of any sort. Instead, they faced a maze.

  Well, not exactly a maze, he amended. He could clearly see the exit at the far end of the room. However, instead of a normal cavern floor, narrow stone pathways positioned over what appeared to be boiling black oil led a circuitous path to the exit.

  Forge turned to the party and shrugged. “I think this one might be beyond me,”

  The party stepped out into the room and scanned the area.

  Walking to one side of the room, Falcon investigated the wall and called Forge over.

  “You’ve been in more dungeons than me. Does this look familiar?”

  Forge studied the wall and ran a hand over the strange markings that were carved into it.

  “It reminds me of the antechamber of a boss room,” he said.

  She grinned back at him.

  “So, if this is the boss room, where’s the boss? And why is there an obvious exit on the other side of the room?”

  Forge turned back to the team and saw Gideon approaching the black boiling liquid.

  “Stay away from the oil!” he shouted.

  Without hesitation, Gideon jumped back and drew his sword.

  Sword pointed towards the strange maze, he continued moving back until he’d put 20-feet of distance between him and the pool of black boiling liquid.

  When nothing happened, he looked over at Falcon and Forge and waited for an explanation.

  A geyser of boiling oil shot up into the air from a pool, followed by another, then more.

  Lioness watched the geysers and counted silently.

  The party joined her, all watching the oil fall from the air to land on the stone pathways, where it hissed in the cool air of the dungeon.

  “It’s timed,” Lioness said.

  The team watched the pattern repeat, and Forge summoned his journal and began taking notes.

  “Is that it?” Gideon asked.

  Falcon shrugged. “Maybe, but probably not. If we’d entered the maze, it would have gone off when we were halfway across. But there has to be a boss in here.”

  Lioness groaned. “It has to be in that pool, right? How are we supposed to fight something that’s hiding where we can’t get to it?”

  “We need to get it to come out into the open.” Forge said.

  “So, we need bait,” Gideon said, looking at the rest of the party.

  “Between my cloak and my heat immunity, it should probably be me,” Forge said.

  “No. That’s not the answer,” Falcon replied, staring at the strange maze.

  She gestured to Forge. “We are looking at this from the view of our abilities, but no other Rank One team has someone with fire immunity. So, there has to be something we’re missing.”

  “We’re spit-balling ideas, right? One thing every team has, is the ability to start a fire,” Lioness said.

  “Light the oil on fire?” Forge asked. “I can do that.”

  Everyone seemed to agree, so he raised a hand and cast a Tier One Firebolt at the boiling black fluid.

  It struck the oil without fanfare, but the rolling liquid caught fire and quickly covered the entire pool with a thin layer of flame.

  The flame just flickered on the surface of the oily black water, and the team waited for something to happen.

  “I’m not sure what I expected, but it was more than that,” Gideon said.

  A long black tentacle thrust out of the water and slammed into one of the stone walkways, followed by another, and together they pushed a fat round body out of the pool.

  It looked like an amorphous blob, but the twin tentacles turned the body, and an enormous mouth, ringed with rows of teeth, opened and screamed.

  Forge was disoriented by the sonic attack and had to steady himself to keep from falling over.

  The rest of the party all managed to maintain their footing and stared at the monstrous form.

  Its massive body sat across two stone pathways, and its tentacles slammed indiscriminately around it.

  With the oily surface still alight, Forge reached out towards it and caused it to blaze with sudden power.

  The creature seemed to panic, and its tentacles pulled it away from the maze and towards the party.

  “Gideon, take defense! Lioness, cover him!” Falcon shouted.

  “Stay with me, Cinder,” he sent the dragon.

  Cinder looked up at him and grinned, then turned to watch the battle. They’d be ready to step in, but this wasn’t their fight.

  Falcon shot arrow after arrow into the monster as she continuously moved and lined up new shots, looking for a weak point.

  Meanwhile, Gideon’s sword struck at the giant grasping tentacles as it reached towards them.

  Every cut from his blade caused the creature to pull its tentacle back and scream its defiance.

  The sonic attack would hit them, but Falcon’s arrows would fire into the mouth, causing the creature to close its maw and swing at them again.

  Forge and Cinder watched the party slowly whittle the creature down until he saw it try to pull itself back towards the inky black water.

  A burst of flame from behind it sent it tumbling forward off balance, and Gideon charged in for the kill.

  He stabbed forward with all his strength, and the rubbery body seemed to move with the strike before finally giving in and letting the sword pierce deep.

  Lioness attacked the tentacles as they reached for Gideon, her short sword slicing into the rubbery flesh.

  And with one last twitch, the creature lay still.