There was a knock on our door, and I stood and walked over to open it, expecting Fela to inform us that everyone was ready to begin the second floor. Instead of seeing her pleasant face, I was greeted by a short, gnarled Kurskin. He was smaller than me, but undoubtedly stronger. His face was a mess of badly-healed scars, and a few of the spines that crested the ridges of his head were missing.

  He didn’t make any move or say anything. He just simply looked at me with his lips curled back in a lazy, broken-toothed smile.

  “Can I help you?” I asked.

  His tongue flicked out, tasting the air. “Someone’s been looking for you.”

  A chill passed through me, but I maintained my outward composure. “You’ve got the wrong guy.” I tried to sound aloof, uncaring.

  His eyes drifted to Ersabet and back to me. “Maybe. Maybe not.” With those words, he turned around and walked away, leaving me holding the door.

  “Uh, who was that?” Tabby asked behind me.

  “I don’t know.” I shut the door. “But I don’t like him.”

  “We should go,” Ersabet said. “We’ve waited long enough already.”

  “What about the others?”

  “If Fela hasn’t gathered everyone, they can find us on the second floor. If we stay here, there could be trouble.” She gave me a knowing look.

  I wasn’t about to argue, so we left the room together, and Ersabet led us toward the entrance to the second floor. As we walked across the room, our group received plenty of sideways glances and sneers, but no one looked at me like they recognized me.

  My eyes scanned the other players, searching for the mysterious Kurskin. Finally, I found him near a door. It looked like any other old door, but this one had a familiar, magical red light above it. I pointed him out to Ersabet, just as he noticed me. He looked me in the eyes and gave a shallow nod of his head before he opened the door and disappeared into blackness.

  “Where’d he go?” I asked Ersabet.

  “He has exited the dungeon.”

  I felt a sense of relief. “That’s good, right? I was worried he’d be waiting in ambush on the second floor.”

  “He didn’t say he was looking for you – he said someone was looking for you. If that individual is not in the dungeon, the Kurskin would need to exit to inform him or her of your whereabouts.”

  “There’s only one person who would be looking for me,” I said, looking nervously at the door.

  “Prajio,” Ersabet sneered. “It is possible that he sent your description to bounty hunters across Vedra. We know not, and it is a concern beyond this dungeon. Therefore, we must focus on the task at hand and worry about your estranged partner later.”

  “We weren’t partners,” I said. “I only knew him for a few days.”

  “Yes, but participating in daring adventures together creates strong bonds quickly. I had felt the same with Fela and her companions.”

  “Fela doesn’t seem that bad.”

  Ersabet continued leading us to the second floor. “She is the most tolerant of them, but she did not stand for me when they cast me out.”

  “You knew her before this, didn’t you?” I asked.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “She knew your last name.”

  Ersabet huffed. “We had some short interactions when we were younger. That is all I will say about Fela.”

  Her tone made it clear the conversation was over, and we were close to the stairs to the second floor anyway, so I let the conversation drop.

  Ersabet waved at someone behind me, and I turned around to see Fela coming toward us.

  “We grew tired of waiting,” Ersabet said. “Is everyone ready?”

  “Mostly,” Fela said. “Mercella’s finishing up with a vendor. Head on down if you want. We’ll be right behind you.”

  The entrance to the second floor was much like that of the first. It was a set of sandstone stairs with a heavy darkness lingering only a few steps down.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I will go first,” Ersabet said. “Follow close behind.”

  She descended to the second floor, and we followed after in a tight group. I was ready for the change this time, but it was still disorienting. Slowly, the darkness vanished, and we were once again in a long, stone hallway. A notification popped.

  Welcome to the Second Floor. All skills that can be cast a set number of times per day have been reset. Please enjoy your experience as you continue to explore The Buried City dungeon.

  That was an unexpected blessing. I had burned through a lot of my skills fighting those spiders, and without them, I was just a squishy human.

  I took a few steps to give the others room to exit the stairway and was struck by how dark it was.

  “Can anyone else see?” I asked.

  Ersabet said she still could, but the effect was lessening, while the rest of us had completely lost our night vision. It was impressive that it had lasted for so long in the first place. Ersabet passed around the vial, and we each carefully added one more drop into each eye.

  There were a few uncomfortable moments when my vision adjusted, and then I was good to go. Once again, there were dead players in the hallway, although far less than we encountered on the first floor.

  “Should we wait for the others?” Delen asked.

  “Let them catch up to us,” Ersabet said. “They would think us cowards if we simply lingered by the stairs, waiting for them to come carry us through, but that doesn’t mean we can’t walk slowly.”

  “Lead the way, boss,” I said.

  I walked next to Ersabet as we traveled down the hallway. Behind us, Tabby and Delen had Kitz sandwiched between them. I was glad they were looking after him. If something were to happen to the kid, I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself.

  Thankfully, we only had to dodge a few bodies. Each was weaponless, likely having been looted by the player who killed them.

  Before we were about to reach the end of the hall and get our first glimpse of what the second floor had in store for us, we were obstructed by four Kurskins, two coming around from each corner.

  I pulled my sword out reflexively and heard Tabby load her crossbow behind me.

  “Is there something you need?” Ersabet calmly asked them.

  “We only wanted to say hello,” one of the Kurskins answered. He held a flail in one hand, its spiked head resting atop the ground. It didn’t look like this would be a friendly ‘hello.’

  “Rats,” Ersabet hissed. “Have you no honor?”

  “Honor?” he questioned. “How much gold is honor worth? Your weapons and gear, on the other hand, will fetch a fine price.”

  “Try to take them, and you're dead,” I said in my most intimidating voice.

  The Kurskin stared me down before saying, “Mind your betters, human. Speak again, and I’ll have your tongue.”

  I stared right back at him, remembering just how much I hated the Kurskins in particular. The Daliri were tolerable, but every Kurskin I had ever met was a bully at the best of times and a bloodthirsty monster the rest. It was unwise of me to continue to antagonize him, but I just couldn’t stop myself.

  “If you want my tongue,” I said, “come and get it.” I puckered my lips and kissed the air, and the Kurskin’s green face turned red with rage.

  Before he even made his move, a crossbow bolt passed inches from my head and buried itself deep into the Kurskin’s left shoulder. He roared in fury, lifting his flail off the ground and charging directly toward me.

  A second Kurskin came forward, but two others stayed back, presumably to attack us from range. The Kurskin with the flail spun it violently in a circle before bringing it down, cracking the floor in front of him. The shockwave from the impact blasted toward our group, and I was launched off my feet, flying so high that I hit my head on the stone ceiling before crashing back to the floor in a heap.

  I shook my head to clear my vision and looked around to quickly assess the situation. Everyone but Kitz and Ersabet had fallen. Ersabet was engaging one of the Kurskins with her staff. She spun her weapon in intricate arcs like an expert, and her opponent, who carried an axe in each hand, was having a hard time getting close enough to her to do anything.

  The Kurskin with the flair stepped forward and loomed above me. “I’ll have that tongue now.”

  There was a tremendously loud ‘smack’ and the Kurskin's free hand shot to his face as he stumbled backward. A rock about an inch wide fell to the ground next to me. It was Kitz! He had hit the Kurskin with his slingshot and probably just saved my life.

  I activated Devastating Strike and kicked my foot out, catching the Kurskin in the knee. The enhanced blow caused the Kurskin’s leg to buckle, and he collapsed to the ground before me, writhing in pain.

  I was tugged upwards by some unseen force, but whatever spell was being cast on me failed thanks to my Magic Be Gone, and the tugging ceased. I felt that same tug one more time, but only moved a few inches. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Kurskin who had stayed back holding out a hand, like he was cupping a ball. He was using some sort of telekinesis spell, and he was giving it one last try. My guts turned over in my stomach as I was lifted off the ground, floating helplessly for a few terrifying seconds before a bolt from Tabby’s crossbow struck him in the chest.

  He lost concentration and dropped me. The stone floor was unforgiving as I slammed into it. The wind was knocked out of me, but my head avoided any injury this time, and I had my wits about me. I scrambled to my feet as the Kurskin ripped the bolt out of his chest. The tip of it was wet with blood, but only the tip. His armor had protected him.

  There was a bright orange flash to my left, and my arm erupted in white-hot pain. I screamed and flailed about, my arm engulfed in fire.

  I fell back to the floor and rolled around, attempting to smother the fire as a second fireball flew over my head.

  A scream erupted from behind me. It was high-pitched and shrill, and clearly that of a little boy. They had hurt Kitz!

  I stumbled over to Kitz, my arm still on fire. On my way to him, I noticed the top of a Kurskin’s head sticking out of the stone floor. Ersabet had trapped him with quicksand and was moving to engage the other two, one of her mini-whirlwinds leading the way.

  When I got to Kitz, Delen was beating at the boy’s leg, attempting to put out the fire. I tackled Kitz to the ground and used my body to smother his burning thigh.

  Suddenly, I was ripped off Kitz by a familiar force. The scaly, telekinetic asshole had me again.

  More screaming erupted down the hall, but it was different from what I’d heard from Kitz. I realized someone, actually multiple someones, were shouting words, not crying out in pain.

  My stomach lurched as I suddenly accelerated through the air directly toward the hard, stone wall. With an unimaginable force, my body crunched against the wall, and my lights went out.