Mary

The first thing I felt was a deep chill, nestled exactly where my stomach should have been. As for why that was, I had a hard time remembering. Even thinking was a struggle for me, as I lay in what appeared to be a deep abyss; the only thing I felt was that icy sensation, gradually spreading over me. I don't know how long it lasted, but eventually, something bloomed within the cold, expelling it from my senses, and replacing it with an almost glowing warmth. It was slow, but I managed to force my eyes open.

The sight that greeted me was a wooden ceiling, and the magic of multiple healers; including David and Lilly, both casting their strongest spells. I felt something soft below me, and weakly grabbed at it, noticing the familiar touch of a bed beneath me. Each of the healers was completely engrossed on the wound that was slowly, but visibly mending.

I struggled to speak, and my voice came out as a faint rasp. "Where..." The one word was all I could manage, as I felt so drained it was impossible to do more.

"We're in the Guild Healer's Den. Your stomach was almost completely ripped out, and there was some severe internal bleeding. You're alright now, or at least, you will be soon. All you need to do is rest, and let the healers take care of you. A voice spoke to my right, before I heard the sound of liquid sloshing around in a flask. "You really... need a better hobby." I managed to slightly tilt my head to the side, so that I was facing Nick, who was taking a drink from his favorite flask.

"And ruin my perfectly good reputation as a fantastic dungeoneer? Never." He smirked in my direction, only slightly lowering the iron flask.

A slight cough from one of the healers interrupted them. "Please don't converse with the patient while we're healing a wound of this magnitude. None of us want to accidentally heal the wound in a detrimental way, because you told a joke." David's words were calm and professional, but I could hear the telltale signs of the man's humor shine through at the end.

"My jokes are amazing! I just didn't tell any down there because we were on a mission that involved lots of money!" Nick shot back, feigning indignance.

It didn't take me long to realize that they were attempting to diffuse any lingering tension. Upon examining my companions' behavior, Nick had been gripping his flask far tighter than he normally did; judging by how white his knuckles were, and David's brow had furrowed in consternation as he cast his magic. I let the tension leave my body with a light sigh, beginning to recall the moments prior to the frenzy. I remembered preparing and casting the teleportation magic, and standing at the entrance to the dungeon, but my vision left me before I could see if anyone else had appeared around us.

"Did anyone else make it out?" At those words, I saw David, Lilly, and Nick flinch, before David and Lilly got back to work. Nick stoppered his flask and put it into his pocket before speaking, his voice grim. "No." He paused momentarily; "Nobody else made it out. Our three teams were the only ones." His expression was unreadable as he stared at the hardwood floor, nearly motionless.

I shifted to focus my gaze on the ceiling. If we were the only ones to make it out, that would mean that the raid had not only failed, but had ended in total disaster. I closed my eyes as I felt the muscles finish stitching themselves together. We would likely have to face an inquiry as we were the most senior party remaining. At best we might be demoted for a few months; to potentially several years. At worst, we could be completely removed from the Guild, and be barred from ever entering the dungeon again.

It would be up to the decision of those who weren't present when everyone fell. It would be idiotic, slow, and we would probably end up suffering more than a dozen incidents of public humiliation as the trial dragged on. I took a deep breath, trying to push away the thought of becoming just another ex-dungeoneer, trying to scrape by with odd jobs that barely paid. Caravan guards didn't always last long, depending on the area.

"Peter talked to me already, and I'll be the one giving him the report. He already knows how bad it was, and he said that he'll try to keep us in play, but that there will likely be some strings attached. Regardless, we'll have to keep the young ones out of it." Nick nodded his head toward my left, which I hadn't bothered with. Lilly said nothing, as the healing magic finished its work, and the other healers slowly filed out.

Shifting again to look down towards the other areas, I saw that Vance was being revived in a space that had been cleared of obstructions. His body looked grizzly, with all that had happened both before and after the killing blow had been struck. Jacob and Serena were both sitting off to the side, while more powerful clerics cast the required spells to fuel the resurrection ritual. David would normally have been among them, but even after drinking a mana potion, I presumed he was depleted, and likely still physically exhausted after the events of the raid.

The magic circle drawn for the ritual glowed with less of an intensity than I expected, considering how powerful the magic that was being used was. The wounds on Vance's body sealed shut in moments, and then the magic dimmed. One of the healers said something to Jacob, who nodded a few times, while Vance was transferred from the circle, to one of the nearby beds.

On the opposite side of the room, Ivy from Kingsfoil had been watching the process while one of the other Guild sponsored healers took care of the wounds she had suffered in the fighting, along with Kingsfoil's own cleric. She was wincing every now and then at the momentary pain that her injuries brought, but I assumed that the memories and pain that went with them would help her become a much better tank than she currently was, as had happened with Johnathan.

The big man turned out to be in the bed opposite of me, and his injuries were far worse than they had initially appeared. Apparently, fighting against an unending horde of skeletons could prove dangerous, as Johnathan had a fractured leg, several lacerations, multiple stab wounds, shrapnel in his back that was successfully removed, and some ash that had gotten into his lungs, which required a disease specialist to remove the foreign matter.

I admired Johnathan for pushing through all those wounds with sheer willpower, as Nick went down the list of injuries sustained. Nick and David were also hurt in the fighting, just not nearly as bad as Johnathan had been, who waved feebly at me with a goofy grin, clearly just happy to be alive.

Our chatting was cut off as Peter walked into the room, grabbing a chair, and sitting down next to Nick and I. "So, I got the local Guild Lawbringers to back off for now, but they're going to want answers. Nick, can you have a report ready for me by tomorrow?" He looked like he'd spent the better part of an hour negotiating with Death, his expression calm, but wound up tight enough to break at any moment.

"Mary, I'm glad to see you're awake, but I'll need to get your side of the story as well, so when you're up and moving around, please send me your own report on what happened, to help keep the story straight." He nodded to me, before looking at all of Nightshade in turn. "Make no mistake, what happened here was a complete and utter failure. We failed to complete the raid, and as far as I know, Nightshade, Blueberries, and Kingsfoil are the only survivors. Thus, we're going to have to shut down operations for the first ten floors until we can get some more powerful dungeoneering parties from Terrice. This means there won't be anybody going in through the main entrance until we can clear out the undead that remain in the areas we missed. Furthermore, the Terrice Guild Master will likely not be as understanding as I will." Peter looked at Nick and I, his calm expression becoming solemn.

"If your team can't keep the story straight, I'll have to involve the two less experienced teams, and I'm fairly certain they don't know just how cruel the system can be, nor what's at stake." He lowered his voice. "Since our Senior Dungeon Behavioral Analyst learned of the failure, he's been ranting about how little time we may have before something serious happens. As such, I've already sent word, requesting whatever the nearby kingdoms can send us in terms of supplies, people, and advisors. Officially, the money we were given to fund the raid is going to be put to use by outfitting an elite team that will work to kill the unique monster in the dungeon, or if that's not possible, delay them as long as they can. Unofficially, we're putting the money to use in order to give the civilians time to escape, should the attack happen too soon, or if the reinforcements don't get here in time." Peter sat back, running one of his hands through his hair. I was a bit dumbfounded, if I was being honest.

"Why are you telling us this? We may end up having an inquiry on our hands, and you're telling us that there's something bigger to worry about. Why?" Nick looked serious, despite the alcohol-induced blush that had appeared on his face.

"You're going to be part of the official team, as a smokescreen, and also to keep you from having to deal with an inquiry. If I can keep the wolves at bay, I want your team to delay whatever's going to happen while we still have time to do so. In this way, we can give ourselves a chance to survive the coming storm that William keeps ranting about. Once your team is in fighting condition again, come find me and we can see about making Nightshade look like the brave heroes you'll need to be. If you can't handle the mission, you can reject it at any time, but that's going to make it almost impossible to keep the inquiry from happening, as I won't be able to give them any reason not to summon you for questioning. Hope you heal soon." Finished speaking with us, Peter got up and left the room, muttering something about needing a drink.

I turned to look at Nick, who had his flask in hand again. "Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire. Guess I won't be trying to wring any money out of him this time." His expression said it all.

We were screwed.