Light in the dark, and they were crouched down, looking at the small clearing and the single glowing pillar. It was not, exactly, what they had expected. In the middle of the column of light was a dark red bow, one that radiated darkness.

Around it, sitting quietly, was a large – very large – gnoll in grey and brown. So large that Lance had thought all the champion gnolls that they had seen beforehand was like the tiny brother in a bad cartoon. It was almost double the size of every other monster, rippling with muscles.

It was not moving, it just watched the light. It swiped at the light occasionally, feeling the pulse of power push it back, shaking its hand as arcs of electricity danced across its fingers. Yet, even as they watched, a claw pushed in a little before bouncing back, as though the barrier was slowly, slowly degrading.

Around the large gnoll a pack of normal gnolls prowled. Another pack of shadow gnolls, on the far edges of the clearing fading in and out. Flicking themselves from position to position in the never-ending darkness.

They had crawled up here, from their position overlooking the clearing, downwind from the monsters. Matt had scouted the clearing out beforehand, brought them up slowly without lights so that they could see. Well, most of them.

“I can’t see a damn thing…” Keeley muttered, softly. They were all speaking softly, knowing better than to raise their voices. The gnolls weren’t, surprisingly, powerfully built to hear. Oh, better than human normal for sure, but not that much better. Even so, none of them wanted to risk it.

“That’s what you get, not grabbing better vision upgrades,” Neil said, having scooted back after one quick look.

“I’m the light bearer!” Keeley protested.

“Now, you’re the blind one as we scout. It’s fine, we don’t need you to see,” Lance replied, gesturing down at the small drawing he’d done.

The woman squinted down, the others only glancing down at the circle of dirt, pebbles and sticks used to indicate the monsters.

“So we got a plan?” Sarah asked.

“If you can call it that,” Lance said. “I’m not exactly, you know, trained for this.”

“What? A few months playing Battlefield Commander not make you an expert in small unit tactics?” Matt said, half-smiling.

“Not enough to matter, no.” Lance grinned. “Still can kick your ass in Smash though.”

“Whatever. You cheese…”

“Boys…” Keeley whispered. “Later.”

“Right, sorry. So, here’s the thing. We got Boss, normal gnolls and shadows. The big guy is going to take concerted effort to take down. I doubt we can crit him, so that leaves us with needing to lock him down. That’s your job.”

Keeley frowned but nodded. “I don’t know if Entangling Roots is strong enough…”

“Probably not. Either way, open with Cloud, then Temporal Trap, then Root him once that starts going low. If you can stun chain him, that’d be perfect. Neil will tank him if he charges you,” Lance replied. “In fact, I want him down there close to the monster as soon as we can.”

“I’ll open the way, once the Cloud is gone.” Sarah muttered. “If I can get a few quick kills, that’d work.”

“Doesn’t help with the damn shadow gnolls though, they’re out of the major areas. And you know they’re going to come for Keeley,” Matt said. “I can get maybe one or two to start, but after that…”

“Do what you can. Then focus on wearing down the other gnolls. The faster they go down and we hold the boss, the better,” Lance replied. “We’ll trap the area around Keeley and Yanesh.” He paused, cocking his head at Yanesh. “Think you can keep her safe?”

“I bought a second Meridian. Sped up cooldowns even further,” Yanesh said. “I can sling Elemental Bolts fast, but I’m not sure.

“I’ll hang out back then too, help take care of them,” Lance said. “Any comments?”

The group fell silent for a second before Sarah spoke up. “With the Cloud in play, neither Matt or I can get in there. So why don’t we stay hidden?”

“You thinking an ambush?” Lance replied.

“Yeah. Keeley and Yanesh pop-up, cast the spell and lock down those guys in the center. Matt takes out a shadow gnoll or two, and while they start charging us, we wait till they surround and we hit them. Won’t take us too long to take a few more of them down with your help, then we shift and intercept the norms.”

“Huh.” Lance rubbed his chin. “Leaves the Boss free to react if he gets free fast”

“But we take down more monsters faster,” Sarah countered. “And that’s good.”

Lance glanced around, gauging the team before he nodded. “Alright, we’ll do that then.” He paused, then added. “If you intend to buy any upgrades, do it now. We go in in five.”

More nods of confirmation, before Lance snuck himself upwards to stare at the group. He could see how the light, the column of energy keeping the bow safe was failing. He wasn’t entirely sure what a gnoll who, for the most part, had not used weapons wanted with the bow. But whatever it was, he figured it was best to get this done before it got its hand on it.

Also, he kind of had to admit, he was kind of looking forward to seeing what the bow could do.

In less than five minutes time, the group signalled their readiness. Most kept their points, remembering what happened the last time they had cleared a Dungeon. A ton of points, and a new Shop location meant they wanted to buy the best they could.

Just so long as they didn’t die, at least.

Smiling grimly, Lance surveyed the strained and tired look on his friends faces. It had been a stupidly long day, but they would see it through. And then, then, they’d crash.

Just had to survive one last fight.