We needed a way out of this dead end, and fast if those creatures were digging at us right now.

  Lenna held up a hand. “I think he could make it around the outside of the chasm.”

  Kabi handed me the now empty pot, and I tossed it into my inventory. We needed to clean it, but that was so far down the priority list it barely even registered in my head.

  Strange nodded at Lenna and chirped twice.

  “There is a ledge that none of us could travel across, but given how small he is, it’s possible.” She nodded at the little dino. “The downside is, little one, you’d miss all the adventures we’re going to have.”

  The humming grew louder.

  Dengu snorted, shaking his head. “We need plan, they come.”

  I let out a sigh and scrambled up the boulder to study the rune on the wall.

  “Message important?” Strange chirped again, and this time he spoke to me. “More important than fights. Little ones in trouble.”

  My chest tightened, but I nodded, splitting my attention between the two important topics. “I get it, they are like you and you want to protect them.”

  Dengu squawked. “We all want to protect them, but only he can make it.”

  “Up to you, Strange. If you think you got what it takes, then I support you.” None of this mattered if I couldn’t figure out the rune in front of me, and how to actually trigger it. “Kabi, how do you trigger the runes on the hidden barrows?”

  By the time I finished the sentence, he stood next to me on the rock. He placed his hand on it and a rune flickered under his palm.

  “It’s a hidden tattoo,” he whispered as the wall in front of us flickered. “Everyone, hurry.”

  Lenna leaped past me as Dengu jumped high to get inside.

  Strange chirped, and then hid near the tunnel entrance.

  “Good luck,” I told him as I headed inside the wall, Kabi hustling after me.

  Lenna’s silver flickering light surrounded us.

  We found ourselves in a small room with a rough floor that barley fit the four of us. A single archway beckoned. Yet, everything was covered in inches of dust, except for a faint trail down the center of the area. It also had dust, but much less than the rest of the antechamber.

  “I need to go first,” whispered Kabi. “If the northerns spot you, they will attack without question. They dislike us as-is, and they may attack me, but they may not.”

  Memories ripped through my head of lessons about the northern tribe. How they crawled on 4 legs and killed people from Steadfast on sight.

  “Wait,” I said as I held up a hand, trying to steady my mind.

  “Are you okay?” asked Lenna. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

  “I didn’t think…” I shook my head. “I’m okay, but I remember things that… he knew.”

  I hesitated instead of saying his name. I couldn’t get it out.

  Kabi paused near the archway, waiting for me to continue.

  “They kill people from Steadfast on sight. We should hang here until the creatures leave, then head out the way we came.” While I didn’t mind losing time in the tunnel, starting a war with people I didn’t know wasn’t on top of my list. We already had one war going, we didn’t need another.

  “No, we need to find a way to the surface,” replied Kabi. Yet, he glanced down the tunnel in front of him with a frown. Both of his lower arms hung loosely.

  “Would that have tripped any alarms?” asked Lenna.

  Kabi froze for a moment and leaned closer to the tunnel.

  I reached out to Strange, who already sped away from our location.

  He squeezed between two tight rocks, then slipped into an open space. From there he continued on through a tight crack in a different slab. The humming vibrated his claws, but he kept pushing forward.

  The vibrations caused a slide of gravel that almost swallowed him, but he pushed through to the other side.

  He froze within the crack as the humming stopped. A loud crack filled the nearby space, and the slab above him shuddered. Behind him a rock broke free, providing a pathway for something much bigger.

  It didn’t pay him any attention as claws dug another rock free, deft paws shoving the new rock behind the large beast as it pushed towards the next.

  Strange didn’t dare move. He just waited.

  A heavy hand touched my shoulder and I let out a sigh.

  “You okay?” asked Kabi. His eyebrows drew together.

  “Yeah, they are most of the way through the cave-in. Strange is hiding.”

  He nodded. “I just hope the wall holds them.”

  “With the number of runes covering it, I don’t doubt it will.” The overlapping runes flickered through my head and I promised myself to try and remember as much as possible. The notes I’d made in the notebook would help.

  He leaned closer and I described the scene that I’d seen in my head.

  Dengu stood close to the archway. “Only smell dust, no recent movement.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Maybe we should wait. I’d rather not deal with the northern tribe. I only have my grandfather’s stories to go on, and they are old.” Kabi backed away from the archway and closer to the wall we’d come through. His indecision was clear, as was his distaste at being stuck underground and without action.

  We both turned to Lenna.

  “Don’t look at me, we are under a ton of rock. It’s easier outside to follow the footprints.” The light above her sparkled a little brighter.

  The question was to stay and wait, or go and hopefully not get caught. It wasn’t an easy choice, for both offered considerable risk.

  Kabi pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “You’re right, I bet this is only here because of the dungeon entrance.”

  “An entrance that’s at a higher level,” I added.

  Everyone immediately understood what I was saying. Any Northern Tribe members using that dungeon entrance were above our level.

  Dengu stayed focused on the arch, but he shifted his weight to relax his muscles, trying to avoid cramps.

  Nothing came at us from the tunnel.

  “What about a surprise attack?” I said and pointed to the solid wall. “We jump down and attack the creatures.”

  Strange still stayed where he was, waiting for the beasts to pass.

  I sent a few questions his way and he sent his impressions, but he couldn’t get a good enough look to Identify the things.

  “He thinks there are five of them.” Five we could handle, especially if these were the backups. There weren’t any Forgers, since I hadn’t gotten a notification.

  “Strange can remain hidden, ready to continue on. We ambush them with everything we got, the goal being to kill 2 from the initial assault. That would make the rest of the fight easier.” At least it was a plan. Anything was better than sitting here in the dust.

  Kabi nodded as his swords appeared in all of his hands. Each of us readied ourselves in our own way.

  The five creatures finally reached the cavern below. “Five it is.”

  We all approached the exit, and everyone waited for me.

  “They are searching the ground but staying away from the door.” Two of the creatures then layered on top of one another. “Two are fighting, let’s go. Direct everything on them.”

  Kabi made the wall intangible, and then we all leaped.

  [Hemy, Tracker, Hunter, Level 102, Prey]

  [Holls, Hunter, Level 105, Prey]

  [Jolt, Hunter, Level 105, Prey]

  [Hult, Leader, Hunter Level 110, Prey]

  [Jent, Hunter, Level 109, Prey]

  The leader and Jent fought in the center, while the three other giant wolf creatures paced along the outside of the cavern.

  None of them even looked up.

  Arrows slammed into Hult, who stumbled, but Jent didn’t see the attack. Jent latched onto one of the leader’s legs trying to tear it off, and it went flying only moments later. Dark blood gushed from the wound.

  Then the rest of us hit.

  Kabi landed first, his swords dancing as he focused on Jent.

  I aimed for Hult, the leader, with my spear tip glowing. I landed with a crunch on top of the beast.

  Dengu landed behind me with an even heavier crunch.

  I stumbled and tightened my grip on my spear as I leaned even harder, driving it deeper into the Hunter’s back.

  [You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 110, Hult, Hunter.]

  I leaped off before the notification finished crossing my screen, as did Dengu. He collided with Jolt in mid-air, who was headed our way.

  Golden lines filled the air as the two tore at one another.

  I dodged a bite attack from Hemy, and stabbed at it with my spear. He jerked back, but the glowing tip burned a deep line across his fur.

  He bared his teeth at me and lunged. Yet, Kabi plowed into the side of him without a care in the world, completely surprising the beast.

  I dodged to the side just to give him room.

  One last Hunter remained unoccupied, and, surprisingly, Strange stood next to him. Both just stood there watching the battle.

  The wolf-like creature was actually sitting, with a tongue lolling out, as it stared at the fight where Kabi danced with his blades.

  Arrows darted through the air and hit Jolt, who finally died.

  Kabi danced around Hemy, who couldn’t keep up, and within moments, down it went.

  [You have gained experience from combat.]

  “Alpha, I found friend!” Strange’s voice echoed across the blood filled cavern, and Holls shook his spiked tail. “Want’s new Alpha.”

  I literally did not have words.

  Lenna leaped down from the boulder she had fought from, right beside me into the dirt. “I’ll figure this out.”

  My stomach growled, and I headed to the carcass of the leader, to harvest what I could. The heart tasted like candy – sweet, but with a spicy hint to it. I couldn’t place the flavor.

  [You have devoured a level 101, Hult, Hunter, and gained five stat points in Toughness.]

  Every little bit helped.

  The rest of the meat tasted fine, though a little spicy, which was weird. Still, I cut some hunks up and added it to my inventory. I ate several more pieces, until my stomach shut up.

  I didn’t gain a level from this fight, but that was okay. My skills were more important at the moment.

  Multiple eyes stared at the back of me, and I turned around to find Holls wagging his tail in my direction. He bowed his head.

  Part of me felt like I needed to touch his nose. I found myself even stepping closer before I tried to figure out what’d happened.

  It’d come from eating the heart.

  While I could resist the action, I didn’t stop myself as I padded closer, then lightly touched his nose. He nuzzled me lightly before pulling back.

  “See, friend!” Strange bobbed next to him, happy energy rolling through the bond between us. “Pack mean to him. I tell him we are nice and get fed.”

  [New pledge: Holls.]

  [Current pledges: Lenna, Kabi, Strange, Holls.]

  Well, okay.

  “I guess we have a new friend,” I added, unsure of what else to say. My skill wouldn’t lie about something like this.

  Kabi approached from behind me, and he paused, staring. “Sometimes I don’t know how this keeps happening, but then I realize I just have to go with it.”

  “That’s Alex,” added Lenna.

  Dengu even nodded his head, as he leaned closer to sniff the Hunter. Holls leaned away from Dengu, but didn’t move any of his feet. He also stared at Kabi.

  “Do you need to eat?” I asked Holls, not sure.

  He nodded and leaned toward what I’d left behind. I waved at it. “Go for it.”

  He scrambled away from all of us and leaped at the pieces of his old pack.

  “So, back to the city?” I asked, looking at Lenna.

  “I mean, aren’t you our industrious leader?” she joked, though her gaze went to Holls tearing into the carcass behind us.

  The map I’d stolen from the farther cavern came to mind, and I yanked it out of my inventory.

  “What the…” muttered Kabi as he stepped closer.

  Steadfast was marked on it, along with the tunnels stretching out from here to the badlands. The badlands were mapped out in detail, including where they had camps, and then a portal, labeled as Staging Point. The one in the south had an x over it, but also a question next to it about reconnecting the tear.

  Which didn’t make sense, since we’d destroyed that one. And I knew from Dengu, whether the Forgers knew it or not, that there was no way to reconnect it to Lenna’s world, since the other end now went to the Sisters.

  The most concerning point, though, was right where we stood.

  A note on the door.

  “Potential allies, positive contact so far.”

  That wasn’t good. Not at all.