As Sir Peter and Sir Kelreyn descended the [Floor] with the small handful of devotees gathered from their Knight Stations, everyone prepared for an ambush.

  Kelreyn faced west and Peter faced east. They approached the first fork in the corridor.

  Sure enough, Kelreyn saw the half-elf, the half-dwarf, and the Foxtapus charging forward while Peter saw Merijest, Thesa, that weird bird-box thing, and the Bronze Motif.

  “Stay back so we can funnel them,” Kelreyn shouted.

  “Yeah, I know that Modess Kelreyn,” Peter scoffed, annoyed at being told what to do. He’d chosen the more diminutive ‘Modess’ in addressing Kelreyn, rather than the more appropriate ‘Sir’ or ‘Toress.’ As a general rule, he had stuck to ‘sir’ for fear of tripping up on the forms of address at the Convent, but he was pretty sure ‘Modess’ was something that a Vicaress or even the Archknight Superior would use to address the lowest rung of Knights.

  None of the devotees were particularly combat ready, but they each had at least a basic weapon and were told to stick by either Kelreyn or Peter.

  Before the Knights could back up into the corridor, a sound came from behind. Dozens of flapping wings.

  “Probably an illusion,” Peter said.

  A flock of surprisingly-corporeal undead birds descended on the devotees, picking and scratching at the gaps in their incomplete armor.

  ***

  Jugulars, spinal columns, anything quick and deadly. Merijest’s flock of flying zombies (the soulless vessels were courtesy of Yabba’s weird new ability) took out each combat virgin in a matter of seconds. Another dozen or so charged the Knights, but that was more to distract them or push them into the fork than to do real damage past their armor.

  Pushed from the safety of the funnel, Kelreyn faced the western fork while Peter stood at her back facing east.

  At the front of the group, Thesa faced Peter. She assumed a hunched, defensive position with the Menthic Axe in her off-hand and her other ready to summon her halberd in an instant. Behind her, Merijest and the Foxtapus prepared to cast while the Bronze Motif rattled further back. The youngest [Familiar] fired a few shots of [Payday] but nobody wanted to put the little creature too close to harm’s way.

  “This is your last chance, Kelreyn,” Thesa called firmly. Part of her questioned giving the option at all. The vision of Kelreyn killing the Hundred-Legged Snake loomed in her head. She’d been afraid of the thing, yeah, but what Kelreyn had done finally clicked something in Thesa’s brain. These creatures, however much they activated her fear or disgust, were nowhere near as terrifying or revolting as the cruelty of Beautuk’s campaign for power and dominance. Even the Peppermint Wyrm, still incubating like an infection under her skin, was worth so much more than that.

  Kelreyn scoffed. She refused to turn away from the approaching trio. Witmie charged in front with Durn and the Foxtapus keeping more distance from the melee.

  Kelreyn wasn’t even paying attention to the undead birds pecking at her armor. Kelreyn replied to Thesa, “worry about yourself.” She pointed her sword at the [Witch]. “You know that monster killed Garteth Vicaress, right? Your values were always frail, but I never imagined you’d fall to such depths.”

  Before she could add anything, Witmie bared her fists and charged the Knight. Kelreyn remained at Peter’s back.

  “Don’t I get a chance?” Peter mocked, meeting Thesa’s eyes. “I heard you were a traitor but you’re not even consistent.”

  Merijest replied with a shrug, “we just assumed Kelreyn was in charge.”

  Peter scoffed. “Yeah right. I can do whatever I want.”

  “You’re just a sorry replacement for Thesa,” Merijest shot back.

  She stepped in line with her [Witch], closer to the [Paladin] as he charged with his sword.

  Before Kelreyn could say “idiot,” Thesa disappeared from Peter’s peripheral view, popped up between the Knights’ backs, and said “you won’t get to call her a monster again.” The spaded halberd stabbed through Kelreyn’s lower abdomen, twisted, and pulled out with explosive force. The Knight gasped but maintained her stance as she spun around to face Thesa.

  “Nice surprise,” Kelreyn said, confidently. “Not enough to–ach–put me down–ach!” The Knight coughed as she spoke, realizing there was less blood leaking from her wound than there should be. Her mouth was dry and her thinking foggy.

  “Why don’t you care about what Beautuk is doing with my mother and all the others trapped in his Realm right now?” Thesa asked.

  “Shut up about your fucking mother,” Kelreyn shot back. “That bullshit miracle was the only reason you were chosen over me and you never deserved it.”

  Thesa’s mind raced over memories, her anger willing her to act but also clouding her thinking. She wanted to understand Kelreyn, to make things better, but Kelreyn refused to meet her halfway. Maybe she never had.

  Kelreyn started to call on Beautuk for a spell as she turned, but with a punch from Witmie, the Knight’s head whiplashed, her neck cracked and her body keeled over dead.

  “Don’t worry, Thesa,” Witmie said with a grin. “We’ve got your back.”

  The death was shocking but in the heat of battle, there wasn’t time to organize her thoughts. Thesa felt simultaneous frustration and grief that Kelreyn hadn’t relented on the one hand. On the other hand, she was proud that her and her allies had been able to take out even a single Knight. Her thoughts were cut short when she turned to see Peter going toe-to-toe with Merijest. His sword glowed with holy light and an aura surrounded him. He’d set up the same spells Thesa had once cast to fight the demoness’s Crow-Lion.

  They might be able to take the [Paladin] on his own now even at his high Level, but the rumble of the [Raid] party grew closer as adventurers charged into the corridors. At the very least the funnel was no more.

  Durn and Witmie turned to face the western fork that led to chamber C. Yabba, the Bronze Motif, and the Foxtapus followed, covering the rear as they went. Meanwhile, Thesa and Merijest remained at the nexus of three corridors trying to take down Beautuk’s champion.

  Thesa put herself between the Knight and her demoness, halberd and sword locking together.

  Merijest summoned a volley of icicles, but before she could move her wrist the [Paladin] pointed at Thesa and shouted with a holy reverberance in his voice, “don’t move a muscle.”

  Thesa froze. As Merijest threw darts of ice, Peter easily avoided being hit.

  “He cast [Conduct Sigil]. If I go against the command and move, my stats will all take a huge debuff,” Thesa [Party Messaged]. The rest of the party was already outside of her peripheral vision. All she could see was Peter and Merijest. Hot fingers of fear gripped her stomach.

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  Merijest’s eyes narrowed as she turned from Thesa to face Peter. Her height grew until she towered over him. “You’re not even worthy to give her a suggestion,” the demoness shrieked as she took on her Wyrmic form.

  Additional pairs of wings bloomed from her back with spurts of purple blood. Her body contorted, neck, spine, and tail became serpentine; limbs cracked and stretched into many-jointed appendages. Maroon scales and black plumage covered more of her skin. Her face remained structurally unaltered but contorted nonetheless by rage. White pupils expanded to cover all but a thin red border of her eyes.

  With her extended limbs, Merijest lifted Peter. Her claws popped and dented his armor. From behind her canine teeth, cold breath emerged slowly, covering the Knight in a layer of frost.

  She might have killed him right there, but the holy blade of a third, shorter Knight pierced Merijest’s hide.

  Merijest screamed and hurled the pathetic [Paladin] to the ground. The gash in her side oozed black. Then, lifting her [Witch] in a long-fingered claw, she bounded around the corridor’s corner toward chamber C. There the rest of their party was waiting.

  The Foxtapus summoned a psychic barrier in both doorways although their opponents hadn’t yet reached either of the chamber entrances.

  More [Raid] members appeared at the fork, turning out from chamber A. Witmie spit on the ground when she saw Clorbo leading the charge. His rabbit ears were covered awkwardly by a green cowl.

  Merijest looked over Thesa for injuries but recoiled at the thought of Thesa seeing her in this form again. For her part, Thesa struggled to see what was going on without turning her head.

  With Skilda catching up again and Clorbo’s detachment blocking the path to chamber A, Merijest shouted “charge!”

  Witmie ran ahead to meet Clorbo and punched him in the jaw. Durn cast [Wind Wall], conjuring a rectangle of swirling air between Witmie and the rest of the party. As the wall was pushed forward, Witmie jumped up landing sideways with her feet against it as she began spinning and punching in every direction. While Witmie used [Tornado Strike] to unleash a whirlwind of blows and plow an opening, her party followed behind, running from the pursuant Knights.

  Some of the adventurers were of moderate Level but none were prepared for Witmie’s strange windmill maneuver. The surprise was enough to push back the approaching crowd and, as was their actual intention, to escape through the secret door, closing it behind them. They poured into chamber F with relief but the fight was not over yet. It wasn’t the most strategic location since the enemies would eventually pass the hidden door by brain or by brawn, but for a moment they had their own funnel.

  Merijest’s party resumed many of their tactics from the start, flinging spells, coins, and dead birds. For her part, the demoness extended her elongated torso and shook repulsively, yielding a torrent of frozen purple fluid from beneath her swollen skin. The sleet-like blood, rather than crashing against the ground, swept into a glide that showered the hoard of adventurers in caustic, sanguine precipitation. Unfortunately even dead opponents would clog the path to the exit.

  Thesa still couldn’t move which meant Peter had survived Merijest’s throw. Thesa didn’t need to ‘move a muscle’ to use [Dive] but the distance between their current location and the surface was just outside of the ability’s range.

  In order to get close enough, they had to abandon their funnel. As the party fought their way down the corridor through hoards of adventurers and devotees, Thesa prepared to take them one at a time out of the [Dungeon]. She’d gone back and forth on whether to take Merijest first or the other [Familiars]. If Merijest got out, the whole [Raid] might turn and chase her, but the risk was high for both the demoness and the rest of their team. Merijest’s Wyrmic form made her a more formidable force here in the [Dungeon] than a hundred [Familiars] combined. Anyone left inside would face a steep challenge to remain alive.

  As they broke past chamber D into the atrium, Merijest’s many-jointed arm handed off a still-paralyzed Thesa to Witmie. In a blink, the [Witch] and the [Fighter] were outside.

  ***

  Thesa wasn’t sure how long it had been since she first entered the Blinny [Dungeon]. Outside, she could feel Peter’s spell lose hold of her, unable to breach the magical confines of the [Dungeon].

  The trees which had only just begun to recolor themselves when Thesa had entered the [Dungeon] at the end of winter were now green with life. The warm air contrasted the usually cold subterranean chambers she had spent so long in.

  A small crowd of adventurers and devotees were still waiting for their chance to advance into the atrium, but their attention was pointed away from Thesa and Witmie. The efforts to bait and break up the funnel had worked.

  From the outside, the [Dungeon] looked like a particularly large but otherwise plain slab of concrete embedded in a large hill. Passersby might never guess that it extended 100 [Floors] below the ground.

  Thesa directed Witmie toward a tree beside the river. “I think that’s where the Twin Stars want us to meet,” she said. “Remember to stay out of sight.” Then she used [Dive] to re-enter the fray, appearing beside Merijest.

  ***

  In the Entrance chamber, the battle raged on. The width of the room offered some disadvantages to Merijest. More adventurers could sling volley, both magic and mundane. And whereas outside, the available space might allow her to more easily zig through the air, the atrium was still cramped for a creature of her current size. Mainly, Merijest’s focus was on Skilda, but that meant she was bodying any hits that the Foxtapus and Durn failed to intercept. Her legs, or rather her hind legs in this case, were bloody and torn.

  It was jarring to flick between the relative calm outside back to the internal carnage. The usual metallic taste and ringing ears from [Dive] didn’t help either.

  “How’s it going in here,” Thesa shouted. She didn’t see Peter.

  Durn replied, “just peachy. How long until you can get me out of here?”

  “It’s going to be another minute,” Thesa said. For a moment, her senses all became too intense. Her ears rang and it felt like everything was swelling. She hunched forward, covering her pointed ears. After a few moments, the sensation faded.

  Each clawed finger of Merijest’s Wyrmic hands twisted and contorted so that each was aimed at a different adventurer. With a snap, the bones broke through skin as spurts of bone extended into the hearts of her targets. Only Skilda and two other adventurers managed to avoid the maneuver (although they didn’t avoid the spray of blood).

  The Foxtapus continued to summon protective magic for Merijest while the Bronze Motif and Yabba stayed nearby it. The Bronze Motif’s occasional coins dinged against bits of armor and walls. The non-sapient [Familiars] were slowly making their way toward the exit.

  Durn cast [Gyro Sphere] and sent a swirl of wind in the direction of the exit, knocking several opponents off their footing long enough for a flock of new undead birds to rise from near Yabba’s feat and assault the enemies.

  “Ok, ready,” Thesa said, grabbing Durn’s hand. The pair blinked outside. Thesa again directed Durn toward the meeting spot while she crouched and pinched the bridge of her nose, waiting for her [Dive] cooldown to run up. When it did, she popped back inside.

  This time, Thesa had no time to adjust to the scene. Peter had reappeared, having snaked through the western corridors in the hopes of cutting the party off. He was a little late for that, but his presence still presented a significant danger.

  “Thought you got rid of me?” Peter laughed. “I’m the main-fucking-character.”

  “The what?” Thesa asked as she met the [Paladin] for a flurry of blade and spade.

  “I’m the hero. You guys are the villains. That means I’m going to win,” he continued. “That Beautuk guy even told me I’m chosen.”

  “Beautuk…guy?” Thesa replied. She could hardly parse what she was hearing. Her head throbbed. “You seem like you hardly know who he is.”

  “It’s obvious he’s the ‘lawful good’ god in this universe,” Peter said.

  Thesa shook her head confused. “I truly don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She stabbed her halberd, letting Peter sidestep, thinking he had an opportunity to hit her, but she deftly maneuvered herself to grab him before using [Dive] to take him back to chamber C.

  “The hell?” he shouted. The [Paladin] regained his composure as Thesa darted north (waiting for her [Dive] cooldown). For a moment, the swelling of her senses returned stronger than before and she almost collapsed while running.

  ***

  To say Merijest allowed herself to be surrounded would be disingenuous. She was being surrounded, but she loomed close to the ceiling, allowing even more adventurers to crowd beneath her in the chamber while Yabba, the Bronze Motif, and the Foxtapus made a push for the exit relatively unassailed.

  As Thesa reentered the atrium on the western side, she watched the non-sapient [Familiars] make it through the entryway. A gaggle of adventurers turned toward Thesa and she felt the impact of blades and hammers on her armor. A dagger pierced through a gap in her armor and lodged into her torso. Peter shouted something as he caught up to her. Thesa fell to one knee but she [Messaged] Merijest. “Cooldown is up. Take my hand!”

  One of Merijest’s ruptured dactyls reached out for her [Witch] and then they were outside.

  Witmie and Durn were waiting by the water where a large clam had emerged and waited open.

  “Get in,” Witmie invited.

  Before they could, Thesa keeled over, spitting blood. Everything was a swirl of swollen light.

  Merijest’s body seemed to gray all at once. With a disgusting squeeze through what had just been her mouth, she began to shed the Wyrmic form. The grotesque body grayed and loosened as Merijest’s regular claws wrenched open the Wyrmic mouth and pulled herself through. The now-shed skin was stained with blood and puss. With a nauseous look on her own face but without time to spare, Merijest scooped up Thesa and joined the rest of the party in the clam.

  The shouts of Peter and Skilda resounded behind them. The clam sank impossibly deep into the shallow water, quickly carrying the party far away.

  here.

  ***

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