When Rosalyn woke up some time later she was surprised to not be in her bed, and was confused about where she had fallen asleep. She hoped that Mother Cham wouldn’t lecture her about it as her thoughts drifted to the question of whether there was still some warm food back in the mess, Rosalyn groggily wiped her eyes and muttered “Maybe I can guilt Janie into cooking me some food?”

That was when the memory of the previous day came crashing to the front part of her conscious mind. At that moment Rosalyn came very close to sinking back into the despair she had wallowed in until exhaustion had claimed her. However, two observations stopped that. First, she was very hungry. She hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch the day before and that seemed like a lifetime ago now. Second, there was a glowing blue dome over her. Curious, she stood up and touched it. The dome vanished with a loud pop and the mysterious voice from earlier spoke up “Ahh you are awake then child? I am glad you are fine. It has been many years since I have heard such deep sadness. Whatever has happened to cause you such pain, you have my condolences.”

Rosalyn jumped in momentary panic at the sudden sound, but managed to calm herself with a deep breath and ask “Who… are you?” A deep rumbling chuckle echoed from the that same nowhere and everywhere space. “Ahh, that would spoil the surprise! However, I mean you no harm. Besides, at this point you could use all the help you could get, as there appears to be a lich and a veritable army of dead chasing you. Still, I suppose it wouldn’t do for us not to know each other’s names. You may call me Serena.”

Rosalyn focused on the direction she had come from, but couldn’t hear any sounds of pursuit over the roar of the waterfall. “Uhh, my name is Rosalyn. How far down did I get swept? Also, why are you helping me?”

The voice was silent for a long moment, and for a second Rosalyn had thought she was alone again, “While I may not have the straightest moral compass, I am not so twisted to watch a child die. I promise you that I am not helping with an ulterior motive in mind. Besides, you are one of the village kids that played in the cave entrance! I have watched you all grow up as you snuck into this cave system and play your adventure games. It has been one of the rare joys in my existence this past decade and why I expend energy to keep the entryway free from monsters.”

That got Rosalyn’s attention and made her look around suspiciously. There was something that had watched them play? She wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what to make of that revelation, but it was strangely comforting to know she wasn’t alone. At least, figuratively that is.

“Well child, come on then. You must be hungry. I can point out some edible mushrooms and moss and then I can lead you further in. We do not need to dally too long, while your river shortcut has given you a sizable lead, the horde is tireless. We might be able to hide you further in, but I fear the lich is going to be very thorough of their search of the caves as he seems to really want to catch you if the curses he is throwing are any indication. Thankfully, I am not the only thing in these caves, and the other residents are cunning little things. They will slow down the undead for invading their territory and that will buy you time to get somewhere safer.” A small blue orb materialized in the air above Rosalyn, and the voice spoke up again, this time coming from the orb “I can lead you like this if you do not mind.”

“Is there a back exit?” Rosalyn asked with hope. The orb shook side to side, “Erm, no. Not one that you could use anyway. There is one that the kobolds use, but you are too large to fit through it. We might be able to widen it, but I don’t think we are going to have that kind of time. Still, let us struggle until the very end and make them truly work for your death, yes?”

Getting to her feet Rosalyn stared into the blackness of the cave before her. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if the voice had an ulterior motive despite her claims to the contrary.. Thinking about her situation for a long moment, she realized that going forward was her only option and she quickly jogged forward to follow her mysterious guide.

Tomtom the Scout watched the abominations that were prowling in the entrance to their Mistress’ domain. His job was to warn the others before they were spotted preparing the tunnels for their guests. Fortunately the creatures have spent the better part of the day pawing at the translucent blue barrier that the Mistress erected to protect the human pups from the creatures that lived deeper in the cave.

Tomtom was starting to think that they would never get through and this whole mess was just a false alarm when a new being stepped through the torn shreds of the wooden wall the humans had erected. At first glance Tomtom thought that the newcomer was a human, but quickly dismissed that. He moved… incorrectly.

His eyes glowed red as he incoherently shouted at the creatures about “failure” and “incompetence” as they cowered. Tomtom almost felt a pang of sympathy for invaders as he watched the newcomer raise his staff and bludgeon the strange dog with two female heads sewn on. Emphasis on the almost. Invaders would get no sympathy, no quarter, and no second chances.

The experienced scout silently watched the temper tantrum with mild disgust. That was no way to treat any part of your tribe. Several minutes after the dog creature stopped twitching the newcomer stood up and flicked his staff causing the gore to slide off like the surface of the item like it was greased.Turning around he made one dismissive gesture and the barrier protecting the cave shattered into motes of blue light.

Tomtom watched as the chamber filled up with hundreds of skeletons and zombies. He made special note of the special abominations that mingled in the horde, but there were not too many of them. Around seven he guessed. The thing that looked like a human starting pointing down the hole at the three cave entrances near the bottom. Realizing that he was directing the group to split up and search Tomtom let out a toothy grin. Splitting up was always the first mistake they made. He jumped off his hiding place and ran to make his report.

The kobolds of the Snare Setter Tribe were about to have a lot of fun watching these stupid invaders blunder around in the dark.