The ground team had fought their way up to an entrance. Rather than running into the dungeon, though, they paused at the doorway. "Rail!" called Spikes. A frightened team of civilians ran up with a heavy bundle and slammed it down, revealing iron bars to anchor to the ground. Geomantically primed wooden stakes let them use a rehearsed procedure to put the first bar in place just above the ground.

The core had to have guessed there was a problem, now. Vonn looked around. Now it was starting to bring more monsters into play, up from a trench and from the second known entrance. Over a dozen. The air split with trumpet calls from the sky fleet. The Elf commander's armor flashed in the sun as he gestured to messengers and flag-bearers.

The Woven braced pikes against the ground to form a wall against the monsters closing in from outside the entrance. The rail crew focused on their work and something flashed amid them. The enchantment was up and running! That'd block attacks from the depths. It wasn't the final step, though. Now a pair of Elementalists slapped the rocky entryway and started casting, trying to seal off the gap. Something drove them back in fright but they returned, aggressively shaping the dark stonework.

Vonn was trying to see all this from above without even having binoculars. He couldn't spy the details. He shook his head and looked around more broadly. "Fliers."

"Saw them," said his partner. "But they're not going for us. Guess we're not the threat."

Vonn raised his gun. "Let's see." The Elf followed his lead as one of the monsters flew close enough for a shot. The gun kicked gently against his shoulder and pellets whooshed out, one after another. The scout hadn't finished reloading his crossbow, an awkward hand-crank model usable in this confined basket, when Vonn finished missing for the fourth time. The bloated bat-thing wavered, then continued its swoop toward the ground team. All the shooting had done was delay it. Still useful. It was up to the ground troops to fend them off -- including fire from an archer squad following them.

Spikes and company looked confined and awkward, trying to coordinate with Woven troops. Their style wasn't meant for organized warfare. Still, they knew what they were doing and had monster-slaying experience and more variety to their tactics than the construct spearmen. A blast of electricity flared from one of the team's casters and something exploded, probably good news.

The Elf said, "They've done it!" Vonn couldn't tell right away, but soon the troops backed off and made a fighting retreat through the last pair of scuttling bone spiders that threatened them.

"Did they seal it? Did they remember --"

"Yes, look!"

A trickle of green smoke escaped from a trench near the sealed entrance. The escaping troops had chucked one of Selen's potions through the tunnel before closing the doorway off. Now any air flow had to reveal itself elsewhere.

Meanwhile, it was out of sight, but Ralator himself was leading another group to do the same thing. Flashes of elemental blasts went off in the distance. A trumpet code blew for a retreat being made over there. Was that good? Vonn wasn't sure even the scouts had memorized the hastily extended list of signals.

But he did recognize the bell being rung by a messenger below them. "Come down," shouted the man.

So Vonn vented air from the balloon and began landing, faster than he would've liked. They hit with a thump and wobbled to keep the basket upright.

The runner explained meanwhile, "Looks like the dungeon's starting to get serious. Haul that thing back to camp."

Vonn had kept enough air in the bag that it effectively weighed little right now, but he still couldn't easily tug its awkward bulk along with its anchor. He and the scout began pulling. Right in time for a trumpet blast to alert them, so that they could spot the slime monster slurping upward from a ditch toward them. Ambush!

Vonn yelped and reached for the gun strapped over his back. The Elf said, "Too strong!" and pulled the basket. But that was slow, even with the messenger helping. The mass of dark goo with its wandering eyes was drawing near. Cursing and stumbling, the three of them got untangled from the ropes and fled. Vonn spared a backward glance and saw the beast wobbling past the balloon, chasing them.

The three ran on. The Elf scout tripped. Vonn hopped over the rock that'd caught him, and skidded to a stop. He reached down and grabbed the guy's hand.

The "Grimace" monster joined in, lashing acidic slime across their arms. Vonn's vision flashed red with damage. The Elf got up and the messenger shouted, hurling a sawdust pouch. It burst into flames right next to Vonn. Reflexively he held out one hand to protect himself and the burning magic flowed and rebounded, giving the monster a second taste of it. The slime whipped at them again, catching the spellcaster scout in the leg, but it was flailing blindly now. Even its eyes were drifting to the wrong side.

"Again, fire!" said the scout. He was wincing in pain as he stepped back to prep another spell. Vonn crowded close to help. The Elf saw what they were doing and tried to distract it with a crossbow bolt that sank into its soupy flesh.

Then the runner threw his second flammable bag and snapped his fingers. This one missed to one side but with Vonn's help compressing the Mana around it, the pouch erupted and struck from behind. Vonn whipped his gun into place and fired off two quick shots. The beast let out a kettle shriek and trembled.

Vonn yelped, "Run!" and demonstrated. The buildup of energy behind him was palpable. He hurled himself to the ground, rolling over twice, and felt a shockwave of air rush over him. He peeked out from behind his bruised hands and saw the actual blast had been more of a deflation. Some acidic jelly burned a few feet away from where the monster had been.