Hump stared off into the red smog that filled Stonebark Forest, trying to calm down while he waited for Celaine to return. So far, nothing had attacked them, but they were still many miles from the villages and in these conditions that would take them some time to cover.

He could feel the power within the dungeon’s essence tingling on his skin. It overwhelmed his senses as if he was standing in smoke, nauseating in its presence. An uncomfortable experience at the best of times, but right now Hump didn’t trust himself to be so exposed to this power. If he was right, and a fragment of the gorger had somehow infected his soul, this might just be the strength it needs to break out.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Bud and Emilia approaching.

“You alright?” Bud asked.

“Yeah,” Hump said. “The prick only shoved me.”

Emilia chuckled. “And you tore him apart for it. It’s a shame Celaine missed it, that was quite the sight. Marcela and Eve both agreed that they should come with us. They’re collecting what heartstones they can from the ogres and getting everyone ready to move.”

Hump sighed. “Then some good might come from this at least. We could do with the coin once this is over. Though I have a feeling this isn’t going to be like Bledsbury Dungeon.”

“As do I,” Bud said.

“Why’s that?” Emilia asked.

“We never saw a display of power like this for a start.” Hump gestured toward the giant mounds of stone all around them. “This dungeon is well beyond us to fight.”

“If the gods are with us, we will find a way,” Bud said.

Hump gave him an unconvinced look. “Well. If you hear them, could you ask them to clear this damn mist. I can’t see shit.”

Bud let out a breath. “You won’t be doing us any favours talking like that.”

“Tell that to Matthias.”

“Do you not fear the gods, Hump?” Emilia asked, more curious than accusation.

“Of course I fear them,” Hump said. “I just don’t think they care one way or the other.”

“We’ve been over this before,” Bud said.

“And so far, no god has smote me,” Hump said.

“I thought you trapped in the den of a monster from another realm,” Emilia said. “Maybe that was a message.”

“In that case, we might really be in trouble,” Hump said. “I wasn’t listening.”

Bud scowled. “It’s like you’re trying to make them angry.”

“If I’m honest, I’m rather angry myself right now,” Hump said. “Their bloody Chosen didn’t help. Seriously, Bud, why are so many Chosen arseholes?”

“He’s got a point,” Emilia said. “I do sometimes wonder.”

“Exactly!” Hump said. “It’s a mystery.”

Bud frowned at her. “Do you have to encourage him?”

She smiled innocently. “Not that I would ever truly question their reasoning, Robert. Just wonder.”

Hump jumped, looking to the right as something moved in the red mist. A moment later, Celaine appeared, somehow moving silently despite the crunching foliage of Stonebark Forest.

“You look like you saw a ghost,” Celaine said, smiling at them.

“A ghost would be less frightening,” Hump said.

She snorted. “I found a way through. Is everyone ready?”

“I’ll go find out,” Bud said.

Celaine nodded, then paused as she looked at Hump. “Why is there dirt in your hood?”

Hump looked over his shoulder and brushed at his hood with his hand, dirt falling from inside.

“I took a bit of a tumble while you were gone,” Hump said. “Nothing to worry about.”

They joined the others. Estra was still unconscious, so they’d made a makeshift stretcher using two young trees and part of a bedroll. Blood caked her face, but the wound to her head and cheek appeared healed. Jim was on his feet again, shaky, but he was moving around unsupported.

“Everyone’s ready,” Marcela said to Hump. “I’m sorry about what happened. I’ve spoken to Len briefly and will have a proper discussion once we’re back to safety.”

“Thank you,” Hump said. He glanced at Len, who quickly turned away from his gaze. With him, he noticed Nina was now carrying a one-handed axe on her hip—they must have recovered Matthias’ weapon. “We’re all shaken up, and he lost a friend. I won’t hold it against him.”

A small smile touched Marcela’s lips, though she looked sad. “I appreciate that. And you speaking up when you did. I didn’t conduct myself properly.”

“I’d have thought worse of you if you had,” Hump said. “One grows used to losing people in our line of work, but it never gets easy. At least, it never should.”

“I hope to remember that,” Marcela said.

“It’s something my master would say.”

Eve walked over to join them. “Are we ready?”

“Yes,” Marcela said. “I think we are. Celaine, what did you find?”

“The forest has changed much,” she said. “We won’t be able to stick to the stream as much, and much of what I saw was rocky and difficult to traverse. I fear it may be a long journey back, but we will find our way..”

Marcela sighed and glanced up at the sky. “We should start moving then. I just wish we could tell how much daylight we have left.”

“Not enough I expect,” Hump said. “We’ll need to stay close together.”

“And there’s wounded to consider too,” Marcela said. “Celaine, will you work with Teff to guide us back and watch out for any ambushes?”

“No problem.”

“Thank you.” She raised her voice so that everyone could hear. “We’re moving out.”

They moved in a box, the stretcher with Estra at the centre, carried by Brielle and Jim, despite his wounds. Offensive casters walked with them, and the rest of their melee combatants were spread across the front and rear of the formation, while Hump and others with defensive spells walked on each flank. They proceeded at a fast walk, a tense silence between them, talking only when there was valuable information to share. They couldn’t risk being heard by monsters, especially with visibility this low. Though it did little to put them at ease, especially when even the trees were a danger.

They watched all directions closely as they marched, staring into the mist, eyes fixed on every shadow. More than once, somebody called out that they’d seen something, and every time nothing had come from it. Celaine and Teff would return often, though she seemed to be doing the brunt of the work. Not that Hump could blame Teff—Celaine’s eyes were something few Chosen could compete with at their circle.

“I think we’re almost at the halfway mark,” Celaine said. “There’s a bend in the river that I remember, though there seems to be a lot of new bends since we were last here. The dungeon really ruined the place.”

“It’s bad, is it?” Dylan asked.

Celaine shrugged. “There’s somewhat of a path. We’ll manage. And no monsters as far as—”

She stopped, head tilting to the left, then in a swift motion she brought up her bow and launched an arrow into the mist. There was a flutter, and something dropped dead, landing on the ground nearby. A stonepecker, except its head and beak were covered in blood. Red essence still simmered in its eyes, slowly fading from its dead body.

“Nice shot!” Teff said. “I’m telling you; she’s got eyes like a hawk.”

“And the mouth of a jinx,” Len said.

“Count yourself lucky,” Celaine said. “It was looking at you.” She turned to Marcela. “Keep following the path around the hill that way. We’ll come back before you reach the end.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

It was a long and eerie walk, and soon they were relying on their abilities to light the path. Hump used Burning Wisps to manifest a single fiery companion, pouring into it only enough essence to produce light. Eventually though, the mist thinned. They were reaching the outer limits of the dungeon’s expanded domain. And through the mist was the gentle flicker of candlelight at about head height. Hump thought it was a torch or lantern at first, but he couldn’t think of a reason anyone would be this far in the forest.

There was a loud crack, and Hump jerked around to the right as a shadow flicked over them, though he couldn’t make it out. He felt icy cold bloom and a light rush past him. Bud was there, carving through a branch with his frostfire blade. Hump felt a burst of sickening essence, then all at once roots tore from the ground. A dark trunk rose from the dirt, staring at them with crystallised eyes of bloodred sap, spread out around the midpoint of its trunk. A high pitched, crackling growl escaped from somewhere at the base.

Hump raised the Shield he’d been holding on his lips since they’d started their return journey. The barrier spread out before him in a shimmering pattern, a wall against the corrupted tree. The creature burst forward, churning across the earth like an avalanche, scrambling atop its mismatched root-limbs. It threw its weight forward and leaves shot from its canopy in a hail of shrapnel, shattering across Hump’s shield in a hundred different places.

It lashed out with its branches, and the impact drove Hump back a step, though his spell held. Those at Hump’s side spread out around the sides of his shield, pushing forward. As the creature attacked again, it was met with the deadly force of far too many Chosen. This newly born monster had picked the wrong fight. A bloodroot tree by the looks of it, corrupted by the dungeon’s essence.

Bud carved through a branch, shattering it into icy shards. Marcela slashed straight along its centre with perfect precision, droplets of water trailing the edge of her blade and splashing outward. Brielle lunged at it with her axe, hacking apart the tree with furious vigour. Emilia ducked a low branch and dashed in closer.

Hump lowered his Shield and gathered the residual essence, fuelling his Burning Wisp with all the power he could. Its orange body went a violent red and then rushed forward, exploding across the tree’s fleshy eyes. The sap bubbled and smoke, filling the air with the smell of burnt caramel. It flailed violently, but to no avail. The others were through, gouging at its eyes until Brielle punched straight through a gap in the bark to get at its insides. She dragged her fist back, sticky sap trailing like blood. In her hand shone a fragment of a still forming heartstone.

The creature went still. They stared at the creature, then all of them looked around to see what else might come for them.

“I think it’s clear,” Celaine said.

Dylan approached the fallen tree and knelt beside it. He touched it with his hand and then whipped it back, a chill running through him. “It takes a grotesque power to corrupt life in such a way.”

“It sure does,” Hump said. “Let’s get the hell out of here. No doubt our essence will draw more monsters.”

They continued forward toward the light, weapons ready. The flickering remained steady, though as they got closer Hump realised it was larger than a simple candlelight. And then he realised, it was a still manifesting will-o’-wisp. Given time, the dense ball of essence would gain a sliver of sentience, and no doubt be drawn to the emotion-filled villages nearby that they fed on. It was a simple matter to destroy it. They were resistant to magic once fully formed, but like this even using a hand to rupture its form was enough to send its essence scattering back to the mist.

Night had set in when they finally reached the edge of the forest, not half a mile from where the dungeon’s domain ended. Corvin stood at the edge of the forest, a lantern in the night as he channelled the summer blessings of Ordana.

He let out a long breath when he finally spotted them, hurrying over to greet them. “Marcela! Gods, it’s good to see you. We feared the worse when the forest changed.”

“For the most part, we’re fine,” Marcela said.

“For the most…” he trailed off, noticing Matthias’ absence. “I’m so sorry.”

“As am I,” Marcela said. “How is Kesha?”

“She’s conscious again,” Corvin said. “The ogre gave her a nasty hit, but Krenton was able to patch her up. Everyone’s here. There were monsters sighted a couple of hours ago over near Stonepath and we’re spread so thin I didn’t know what else to do. I brought everyone to Tailsend.”

“What kind of monsters?” Hump asked.

“We didn’t stick around to find out,” Corvin said. “What in the hells happened out there?”

Marcela gave him a grave look. “Our leading theory is that the dungeon expanded.”

“How is that possible?”

“I can only think something has gone wrong with the expedition,” Marcela said. “Whatever the case, we have our own task. Until word reaches us, we must do what we can for these villagers.”

Strong words, though Hump wasn’t quite sure how they were supposed to keep these people safe on the edge of a dungeon. Monsters were coming, and they were hungry.