Blistering heat washed over all of them as soon as Jason opened the door. A fireball the size of a man’s torso hovered near the gate, flickering in front of a pair of hands.

  For a heartbeat, Rayne thought it was the lair of another monster, but then the flames sputtered, wavered, and collapsed into sparks, revealing the person behind it.

  Casper stood there, and Rayne couldn’t believe it for a second.

  Her appearance was starkly different from the last time he had seen her. Her robes were torn and barely covered her body, her hair looked wild, and bloody bandages wrapped around her shoulder.

  Disbelief flashed in her eyes as she met eyes with them.

  She took a shaky step forward before looking directly at him. “Rayne,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  Before he could reply, his eyes caught the rest of the soldiers jerking upright at the sight of them. He immediately recognised the familiar faces.

  Hobbs looked at them, rubbing his eyes while Axel sat against the wall, his expression one of pure shock, while Ardan laughed, waking up a few soldiers sleeping on the side. Fredrick was also there, standing up and looking at his party as if they were ghosts.

  The noble brat looked like he hadn't eaten anything for over a week.

  He counted around seventeen of them and saw that Kundan and Dean were also part of the squad. He’d only briefly interacted with both of the men and they hadn’t liked him, but right now, they looked at him and the rescue party as if they were envoys from the gods themselves.

  “It seems like we made the right decision to explore the whole first level,” Nate muttered, flashing a genuine smile towards him.

  “Yes,” Rayne nodded before taking a step into the room.

  The others immediately followed, and he moved toward Casper.

  “Commander Evans decided to send a rescue party to find out what happened to you all, and Captain Edran agreed to let me and the others tag along,” he explained before she could ask anything. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

  Casper blinked, taking in everything before she suddenly plummeted to the floor. “Thank the gods, we weren’t abandoned,” she murmured.

  Rayne crouched down, putting a hand on her shoulder. “No, you weren’t. I’m glad you all survived the apex monster.”

  Casper nodded, then froze, and Rayne could see the question burning in her eyes.

  But before he could explain, a hand suddenly grabbed him and he felt the air leave his lungs. Hobbs hugged him tightly, wrapping both arms around his shoulders.

  “Rayne! I have never been so happy seeing a group of men before!” Hobbs laughed loudly and ruffled his hair, getting glances from the others. “How did you become part of the rescue party? You were still on the supply quest when we left for this hellhole.”

  Once the giant finally released him, Rayne spoke. “We came back a few days ago. There were complications with the supply quest and it took more time than we intended. And once we learned you all hadn’t come back from the dungeon, we immediately joined the rescue party.”

  “You did good.” Hobbs patted his shoulder, then his eyes turned serious. “Now tell me—how do you know about the apex monster? Did you see that fucking chimera?”

  “Chimera?”

  “Yes, the apex monster is called a chimera,” Casper replied. “We were barely able to injure it and escape to the dungeon room. And even after that, it took time to deal with that thing.”

  She pointed to the left, and Rayne widened his eyes.

  A massive bug corpse lay curled against the far wall, its chitin peeled open like a cracked shellfish. The creature’s thorax had been carved apart with crude knives, chunks of exposed meat torn free. Its abdomen was deflated and gutted, greenish ichor pooled around it like old soup.

  Monster bones were scattered around. The whole squad had almost eaten it whole.

  “Tastes foul,” Hobbs muttered. “Like rotten leather dipped in piss, but it was either that or starving. Unfortunately, we didn’t buy a lot of rations since it was supposed to be a half-day job. And whatever was there was used to feed Fredrick since he refused to eat the bug.”

  Rayne nodded and began explaining what had happened since they entered the dungeon. He mostly kept it short, talked about saving Bran, and how they had separated from Shawn's squad a while back while leaving out the confrontation.

  Though, Kesh and Nate added a few parts, pitching in from time to time.

  More soldiers gathered around them, listening to the whole story. Rayne felt Axel’s gaze fixed on him. The squad leader looked tired and bore the gaunt look of someone who hadn’t slept for days. A bloody gash ran across his arm.

  But he nodded quite a few times throughout the tale.

  “I’m glad Bran survived,” Ardan said. “When the chimera ran after them, we were sure none of them would make it out alive. Bastard came back all bloody and if not for Mage Casper and Axel, we wouldn’t have reached this room. Even then, we lost men fighting this thing.”

  He pointed at the monster corpse on the side, then at the two corpses lying nearby. Rayne stared at them. One of them had his head chopped off.

  That was a bad way to go.

  Rayne looked at Axel. “Where is the chimera now?”

  “It sat right in front of the room all this time, waiting for us to come out, and tried to break the walls.” Axel sighed. “But it left half a day ago. We didn’t come out because we weren’t sure if it was a trap. You all didn’t see any signs of it?”

  “No, only old marks. It might have gone to the lower levels.”

  Casper nodded. “Probably. We shouldn’t waste time then. We need to leave this godforsaken dungeon.”

  Both Axel and Rayne nodded at the same time, and a few soldiers already began putting their armours back on. No one wanted to stay in the dungeon longer than needed.

  Rayne saw several men walking with a limp, and nearly all of them had dried blood on their armour. He guessed their potions had run out trying to save the worst injured, and they had been quietly waiting for death.

  He gestured to Kesh, Nate and Quinn and they took out the potions they had gotten from Graveson. At once, soldiers looked at them with greed in their eyes and if not Axel grunting, they would have leapt for the vials.

  They passed one potion to each of the soldiers, the worst injured drinking it immediately. Even Casper and Axel took sips out of them, and he saw Fredrick gulping one whole despite no visible injuries on him.

  It took only a few minutes for everyone to be ready after that. One soldier couldn’t walk despite the potion, multiple bones broken in his leg, and Hobbs slung him over his shoulder.

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  “It's a straight path to the bridge. Once we cross it, the exit won't be far away. But to be safe, we should destroy the bridge so the chimera can’t cross. That would give us time,” Rayne said, getting a nod from both Casper and Axel.

  “I can do that,” she said.

  “Good. Then let's be on our way.”

  They stepped out of the room, and a few soldiers looked at the ceiling as if expecting the chimera to jump down. But it was empty.

  The tunnel felt colder than before as they walked, and Rayne wasn't sure if he was simply imagining it. He walked in the rear with Jason and Casper and noticed how she kept glancing back.

  He couldn’t blame her, as it took every ounce of his willpower to keep walking straight instead of worrying about the chimera. They made quick ground, moving as fast as possible, and it didn’t take them long to cross the second dungeon room.

  Then the first one.

  A wave of relief seemed to pass through the group the closer they got to the bridge. Even Casper seemed a little relaxed.

  “Thank you for coming to rescue us. I'm pretty sure most would have simply assumed we were dead,” she whispered, looking at him.

  “Captain Edran didn't,” he replied.

  “But you joined the rescue party. As the supply quest leader, the decision was probably yours.”

  “It was, but the others were just as willing to enter the dungeon.” Rayne smiled. “And I wanted to make sure that Axel is actually dead.”

  Casper chuckled. “Then, are you—”

  A tearing roar made Casper swallow her words.

  It was a distant, bone-shaking boom that echoed down the passageway like thunder slamming into stone.

  Everyone froze.

  Then came another roar.

  It wasn’t a sound any normal monster could make.

  It was a blood-curdling, bellowing shriek that scraped against the inside of the skull, vibrating through their ribs. Walls trembled. Pebbles rained from the ceiling.

  None of them had to be told what was coming.

  Axel shouted the next second. “Everyone, run! We need to get to the bridge quickly!”

  They exploded into motion.

  Boots slammed the ground as they sprinted. Some stunned soldiers cried out as they were dragged by the others, but they had no choice.

  The tunnel shook with the repeated, thunderous thud—thud—thud of something massive sprinting toward them. Rayne's heart hammered in his chest, and he wondered if the chimera had smelled them or if they were simply unlucky.

  But he knew they could make it. They needed to after all the risks they had taken.

  “Keep fucking running! It's close!” Hobbs bellowed from the front.

  They rounded a bend that opened up to the chamber, but just then Dean stumbled over a rock, falling face-first on the ground.

  He cried as others jumped over him.

  Rayne cursed and didn't think. He immediately sprinted toward the man.

  “Get up!” he shouted, grabbing Dean’s arm and hauling him to his feet.

  But Dean’s knee buckled.

  Having no time, Rayne threw him over his shoulder, muscles screaming. The man was heavy despite his inflated stats, and it slowed him enough for dread to stab through him. But he had no choice.

  He started sprinting again just as another roar bounced off the walls, louder this time.

  A huge shadow lunged into view. Rayne risked a glance back—

  And wished he hadn’t.

  The chimera spilled into the tunnel like a living nightmare. Its black fur bristled, claws carving the stone beneath it, six burning yellow eyes glaring through the dim, and its flesh seemed to be melting from its face. Its long tail scraped the ceiling, metal-hard spikes dragging sparks across the stone.

  It was fast. Too fast.

  Rayne gritted his teeth and ran harder. If the chimera caught him, he wasn't going to survive. None of his skills would save him from such a monster.

  “Rayne, run fucking faster!” Nate screamed from ahead.

  “Working on it!” Rayne shouted back.

  The monster roared again, the sound slamming into their backs like a physical force. Dean trembled and whimpered over his shoulders, and Rayne almost wondered if he should drop him.

  Jason appeared on his left just then. “Give him to me! I’ll be able to carry him easily.”

  Rayne didn’t hesitate. He picked Dean up from his shoulders and handed him over to Jason while running. He didn’t know how they did it. The man was heavy, but adrenaline was a hell of a drug.

  With no burden on his shoulders, Rayne caught up with the rest of the group, and they finally took their first steps into the wide chamber.

  Rayne sprinted into the open space with the others, lungs burning, legs aching, sweat stinging his eyes. Jason barreled beside him, constantly looking back.

  Behind them, the chimera crashed through the tunnel mouth. Its claws tore trenches into the floor as it moved, and every breath it took came out as a furious snarl.

  It swung its tail around, and a piece of the wall came down. Rayne barely avoided the falling debris, pulling out his sword and shield just in case.

  “We're almost there!” Axel shouted, voice cracking. “To the bridge! Don’t stop!”

  None of them did.

  All the soldiers pounded across the cavern floor, boots slamming against stone. Casper was at the rear with Rayne, sweat-soaked, eyes wild with focus. A spell matrix appeared in her palm, and she sent flames sprawling toward the chimera.

  Rayne looked back just enough to see the flames hit its body, but they didn't seem to do much as the chimera snarled again.

  Fortunately, they were finally at the start of the bridge.

  No one cared about silence this time, and all of them ran across the wooden planks. The river roared beneath them, and Rayne's heart plummeted as he heard wet noises coming from under the bridge.

  The next second, the first dire earthworm climbed up onto the bridge.

  Its thick, fleshy body slammed into the planks with a wet thud. Circular rows of teeth snapped open and shut, spraying globs of spit onto the walkway.

  “Shit!” Kesh yelled from the front. “They’re coming up!”

  More worms slid free of the cavern walls, writhing toward the bridge. Their bodies slammed and scraped, sending tremors through the walkway. One reared up high enough to block part of the path, its maw opening like a tunnel of spinning teeth.

  Casper hurled a fireball at two of them without slowing down. The flames burst across their faces, burning through the soft flesh. The worms screeched and jerked backward, thrashing wildly.

  The other soldiers took out their weapons, slicing across them and avoiding them with their shields as they rushed forward.

  Jason smashed another one away with the flat of his axe, still running with Dean on his shoulder. “Rayne! Keep moving!”

  Rayne swung his sword at another worm rising on the left. The blade carved through its upper lip, spraying thick, rancid fluid across his vambrace. The creature shrieked but kept coming, its mouth snapping inches from his face.

  He shoved it away and kept running.

  Then the cavern behind them shook hard. The chimera had reached the bridge.

  Rayne didn’t need to look back to know it was there. He felt the tremors. Heard its claws scraping away the wooden planks. Felt panic seeped through his bones.

  “Casper! Blast it!” Axel shouted, voice cracking with fear.

  Casper turned and flung another explosion of fire down the bridge. The flames rolled over the walkway, lighting the chimera’s fur and making it screech in fury. But the monster didn’t stop. It tore through the fire and charged across the bridge.

  Rayne dared a glance back as the soldiers in front reached the other side.

  And that was when one of the dire earthworms burst out from beneath the bridge—right in front of Rayne.

  The plank beneath his feet shook so hard he almost stumbled. The worm slammed its whole body against the side of the bridge, and the walkway jolted.

  “Rayne!” Casper yelled.

  Rayne tried to brace himself, but another worm lunged from the opposite side, smashing into the railing-less edge of the bridge.

  The impact threw Rayne off balance.

  His foot slipped.

  He reached out, fingers scraping uselessly against wood—

  —and the worm’s massive body slammed into his chest.

  The world flipped. The bridge vanished from under him. Cold air rushed past his ears.

  Rayne felt himself falling through the air, down into the roar of the river below.

  ***