Hump knew that Vamir was fast, but as they hurried through the grove it was his first time truly seeing the man in action. He moved as silently as a wolf, easily staying ahead of them while still on the lookout for any traps along the way. Judging from all the random twists and turns they’d taken, Hump gathered there was a hell of a lot of them.

The thick canopies and curtains of vines made it near impossible for Hump to maintain any sense of direction. They were no longer sticking to the cavern wall, instead, Vamir directed them along the fastest route to the kobold den. Occasionally he glimpsed the cavern wall, a looming darkness in the distance, its surface spotted with pale flowers and vines that hung above the grove.

When Vamir finally brought them to a stop, Hump was breathing hard. Physical endurance had never been one of his strong points, and right now even Bud was struggling—though to be fair to the knight, he was wearing heavy armour.

Hump felt as if he were at death’s door. His lungs burnt with a fire while the rest of his body was freezing cold. He wanted to throw up and pass out at the same time, and a painful stitch had been stabbing at his stomach for the last few minutes. He was pushing himself hard. The aftereffects of the essence elixir were beginning to subside, but he’d used up most of its power in that last spell. There was little of it left to fill the gap in his core from all the power he had used. At least by keeping moving he’d staved off the worst of the cold.

“What’s out there?” Hump managed.

Vamir and Celaine were both scanning the ground ahead.

“Lots of traps,” Vamir said. “We’re going to have to proceed more carefully from here. I’ll take the lead. Follow every step that I make unless you want to try your luck on a kobold trap.”

“That bad, is it?” Bud asked.

“You tell me,” Vamir said. He stepped forward with intention, pressing something with his foot then jumping back out of the way. A shadow descended from the tree above, as big as a table. The rope became taut, catching the object before it struck the ground, so that it hung there around knee height. The entire underside of the board covered with spikes.

Hump groaned, staring fearfully at the ground around his feet. “I hate traps. I hate them so much.”

“There’s a lot more like this,” Vamir said. “And some simpler traps too. Many involving snakes and bugs.”

“What a horrible way to go,” Bud said.

“Not all of them are designed to kill,” Celaine said. “Traps are often more effective if they leave their victims alive. It’s more terrifying that way, for both the victim and their team. And it leaves them with a wounded party member crying out in pain and constantly giving away their position.”

“You know a lot about this,” Bud said.

Celaine nodded. “Where we come from, they’re a big part of how we’ve survived as long as we have.”

“It’s dangerous then?” Bud asked. “What am I even asking, of course it’s dangerous. The Pantheon protects us here.”

“Tell that to the people of Hursdale,” Celaine said.

“Let’s not get into this,” Vamir said. “We need to keep moving.”

“I need,” Hump breathed, “a minute.”

“You’re such a wuss,” Celaine said, smirking. Her breath was as light and easy as ever.

Hump glared at her, willing daggers to shoot from his eyes.

“Don’t you have a spell or something?” she asked.

“I have a couple in my book that would help,” Hump said. “They’re just extremely specific.”

“What do you mean?”

“One requires the freshly harvested heart of a deer,” Hump said. “And I’d have to eat it raw.”

Celaine wrinkled her nose. “Why do you carry that book around if it's full of useless spells?”

“Hey!” Hump took another deep breath. “Leave my book alone. They’re not all useless.” It shook hard on his belt, making him stumble to the side.

Celaine tilted her head to look at his book. “Was that your book?”

“You’re imagining things,” Hump said, straightening.

“If you two are done,” Vamir said, “I think the villagers might appreciate our help. No rush of course. Don’t let me stop you.”

Hump looked away from Celaine and cleared his throat. “Sorry. I’m ready.”

“Good,” Vamir said. “Stay close.”

“Hells, I’d hug you if it keeps me from losing a leg,” Hump said.

Vamir smiled dangerously. “Keep annoying me and a hug won’t save you.”

“Brilliant.” Hump stared at the ground around him, trying to see through the thick undergrowth and tall blue grass, yet he couldn’t even see the ground, let alone any sign of a trap. Imagining what was in there just made it worse: poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, poisonous everything. Taking that first step felt like walking a mile. There was one thing he was certain of, this close to the den, Hump was betting on a whole lot of pain if he took a wrong step.

The den’s entrance was camouflaged behind layers of well-placed bushes and vines. Bud’s frostfire made short work of it, freezing the foliage, and then smashing through the brittle ice. Both efficient, and it avoided spraying deadly sap everywhere.

They paused outside the entrance. It was more a crack than it was a tunnel, and there wasn’t a single bit of light inside. If Vamir hadn’t brought them straight to it, Hump could have easily mistaken it for a shadowy crevice even without the camouflage in front of it.

Vamir led the way inside, followed by Celaine, with Hump coming third. He shuffled on through, the roof so low it almost touched his head. He was forced to walk sideways at the narrowest point, but once they were through, it opened into a wider tunnel that allowed them to stand side by side, though Vamir was forced to duck his head. Inside, thousands of tiny fungi grew in the cracks of the wall and along the edge of the path, filling the tunnel with a dim white glow.

“I’m not sure Bud’s going to fit,” Hump said.

He heard Bud’s armour scrape against the walls before he saw the knight. He hobbled in like a crab, holding his breath while bending his knees to keep his head from hitting the roof. At the narrow point, his sword caught. Bud fumbled for the belt, removing his scabbard, and holding it in his hand. He drew a deep breath, sucking his gut, then forced his way through.

Hump arched an eyebrow. “I’ll be damned, guess I was wrong!”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Celaine said.

“No light from here,” Vamir said. “I’ll lead. Give me some space.”

They made slow progress through the tunnel. Every couple of minutes Hump heard a bang behind him, followed by a pained grunt. Each time it took all of his wizard-trained-focus to keep from bursting out into laughter. This was one of those moments he was glad to be short. He and small spaces meshed like two peas in a pod. With Vamir leading the way, and Celaine playing the role of secondary sweeper as they searched the tunnel for traps, Hump had nothing to do but keep out of the way, which left him far too much time for nervousness and fear to set in.

They were in a dark tunnel, too small for them to run, and likely lined with painful and deadly traps, so far away from help that if they died here their bodies might never be found. It was a dark thought, one he tried to distract himself from by studying the fungi on the wall. Like the plants outside, the light came from within them. It fascinated him that something so small could survive off the dungeon’s chaotic energy, rather than burning up.

The tunnel widened as it curved around to the left. Soon, Hump heard the soft chatter of kobolds echo through the tunnel in distorted tones. As they got closer, he smelt smoke, along with something foul. It churned up memories of the other prison and a sinking feel grew in his stomach.

There was a distant bang, followed by a muffled scream that sounded human even from a distance.

“We need to hurry,” Bud growled.

“Better to move a little slow than to let them know we are coming,” Vamir whispered back. “Be patient.”

“Patience could get someone killed,” Bud said.

“Lack of it could get them all killed,” Vamir retorted. “And us. Now calm down and let me do my job.”

He was right. Hump hated it, but that was the truth. He gripped his staff so tightly that it hurt. He wanted it to hurt. There was another scream, and Hump’s heart leapt with it.

“Kelisia’s mercy,” Bud whispered.

The tunnel forked further ahead, Vamir hardly needing a moment to figure out which path the chatter was coming from. Again Hump heard the scream, louder than before. The kobolds hissed and snarled, and Hump could swear they were laughing.

There was another bend. Beyond it, orange light flickered. Fire. The smoke smelt stronger here, itching at his lungs. They crept forward, Vamir first, Celaine falling back to allow Bud to take her place beside the man.

The tunnel connected to a small chamber with the fire in the middle. Crouched over it was a kobold with its back to them, standing over an injured member of its den. Across the fire, two kobolds held a woman by the arms. Blood dripped from her mouth. Her face was covered in bruises, one eye had swollen half shut, and the other stared at them white with fear. A third kobold paced around her, a club in hand.

It raised the weapon. Hump’s vision went red. Pure rage and hate filled him. He raised his staff, gathered his power, and…

A bowstring twanged.

Celaine plunged an arrow through the club wielder’s eye. For a moment, the creature remained standing, it’s body not quite realising what had happened, then it dropped to the floor in a lump.

The woman screamed, frantically pulling against the kobolds that held her. The two creatures released her, snarling and shouting. She fell to the ground, scrambling back out of sight of the tunnel. The four still living kobolds turned to see them, and their snarls cut short.

Fear filled their eyes and Hump soaked it in. Power raged within him. They were right to be afraid.