Grim had never seen the aftermath of a dungeon flood before. He knew the facts of what happened, that monsters would spread out quite far from the original dungeon, expanding just like humans could. He knew that they took over whatever area the dungeon was in, and that the biomes of the dungeon could also spread to fill that same area. But seeing what remained of Evandross made it abundantly clear that there was one thing those accounts and books couldn’t portray accurately. One thing he had to experience for himself to believe it.

  ? Up close and personal, Evandross could no longer be considered a human city. It was, by all definitions, a dungeon.

  ? Monsters of all types roamed freely in the streets below. A pack of goblins were hacking away at the remnants of a building’s door and gathering the broken pieces to carry back to some unseen base. Two blocks over, a tiger was napping in the sunlight, while a small herd of deer were cropping at tufts of weeds barely a hundred meters away. Some kind of small wyvern was circling lazily through the sky, its screeching calls ringing in the air–at least until an archer further along the wall shot it down.

  ? “Not quite what you expected, was it?” One of the guards on the wall asked, turning to favor Grim with a savage grin. "This is Evandross, boy. The Monster City.”

  ? “I didn’t really expect anything,” Grim told him, and it was the truth. “I knew it was in an almost permanent flood, but this is… a lot.”

  ? “Still plenty of time to change your mind,” the guard offered. “There’s no rule sayin’ that a solo delver can’t go in, but it’s dangerous.”

  ? “I appreciate the warning, but I’m still going to do it,” Grim replied, tightening his belt.

  ? “This something that your guild put you up to, is it?”

  ? Grim smirked, in spite of himself. “You could say that. This is supposed to be a part of my interview.”

  ? A look of recognition came over the guard’s face, and he nodded, chuckling softly. “Ah. Ironmarshians.”

  ? Their reputation was well-founded, Grim thought, turning his head at the sound of rustling paper. The guard had retrieved a small logbook and was flipping through the pages. Finding the one he needed, he pulled out a pen. “Very well. It’s clear that you’re doing this willingly. I need to know your name and next of kin in case you don’t come back out.”

  ? Strangely, in spite of the guard’s acknowledgment of the danger, Grim found the comment amusing. “Grim Kestrel. On the off chance I don’t make it back, the only other person who knows I’m here is Veyra Tull. I have no next of kin.”

  ? If he found that strange, the guard made no comment. He scribbled down the details, then closed the book with a snap. Gesturing out over the monster-infested city, he said, “Standard operating procedure for anyone at level three is to give you a week. If you don’t return in that time, you’ll be recorded as lost, and we’ll notify Captain Tull.”

  ? Ah, so they knew who she was, Grim thought. That was interesting. He wondered if any of the delvers on this wall were from Ironmarsh. “Alright, that sounds good. I’m only supposed to delve one dungeon, so I don’t think it’ll take me a week. Maybe a day at most.”

  ? Not for the first time, he tried to locate the place that he’d been told about, but there was no way to differentiate streets. There were five or six larger streets that cut the city into sections, but if there were signs depicting their names, he couldn’t see them from here, let alone make out any details.

  ? “Well, go ahead and take the stairs down over there when you’re ready,” the guard instructed, pointing a ways down the wall. “We can only cover you for the first few hundred yards, and then you’re on your own. Do your best to stay alive, okay? I hate having to send out search parties to try to identify remains. Especially of children.”

  ? Not at all pleased to be referred to as a child, Grim still did his best to offer a polite salute, barely touching one finger to his forehead, then made his way over and down the stairs. They were of sturdy construction, but new. It seemed as though they’d been made in the last month, not years ago. It brought to mind semi-regular monster raids. It was a slight hit to his confidence, though not as much as when he reached the bottom and found himself sinking to the ankle in swamp water.

  ? Great, he thought. One of the worst things for attempting to move stealthily was shallow bodies of water. As quietly as he could, he moved toward a patch of dry land. Overhead, two spells raced out to a point he couldn’t see, and he heard the screech of a monster. A third spell appeared, and the monster fell silent. That was something at least. He offered a silent prayer of thanks that he’d be covered for the first few hundred yards. That should cover him until he reaches the interior of the city proper.

  ? “As long as I can get out of this damn swamp,” he muttered under his breath. Working his way toward the corner of a building, he peered down the street to see the pack of goblins returning to work at the door again. “Might as well get some essence while I’m here, right?”

  ? One use of Shadow Dash put him on the other side of the goblins, so they were all facing away. He leapt on the largest of them, burying his knives into the beast’s neck and dragging it back into the shadows. The others noticed, of course, and pursued quickly. He was waiting for them around the corner, and with a low sweeping kick, he knocked the legs out from under the leader, then plunged his knives into its back before jumping away.

  ? The last goblin raised its club and hissed at him in Tennido. “Chik! Kill!”

  ? It lunged forward and slammed its club down, no thought of tactics or good form in its mind. More than a little surprised at its use of the word in common, he swayed easily to one side, grabbing the monster’s arm and yanking it forward. A quick slash across its throat left it stumbling weakly, turning to glare at him before it fell limply to the ground. A tiny trickle of essence flooded into him, and the silence was broken by a sharp whistle from the wall, followed by applause.

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  ? “Nice one, lad!” one of the guards shouted. “Didn’t think you had it in that twig body!”

  ? Laughter echoed the jab, then more applause. Grim felt a little better. This was the one thing he was good at, after all. He gave them a quick wave, then disappeared into an alley, making his way further into the city.

  ? Now that he was on the ground, he could make out street signs at each intersection. By sheer coincidence, he was on Baker’s street. So Baker’s Crossing was ahead, he thought. He might even be close to the house in which he’d been born and not know it. He paused then, torn between trying to find the building–if it was even still standing–and finding a level two dungeon he could delve. The sooner he accomplished his goal, the sooner he could get out of this ghost city.

  ? Some kind of large beast was making noise in the building beside him. He peered into the window, but couldn’t see more than fur. Probably a tiger like the one he’d seen napping, he thought. He wouldn’t interact with those if he could help it. He had no buff or attack skills, so engaging such a dangerous predator would be suicidal. Instead, he crept quietly past the building and into the shadow of another. From there, he used Shadow Dash to get onto the rooftop, getting a better view of the surrounding area.

  ? From his new vantage point, he saw Baker’s Street stretch out into the city. Behind him, the wall loomed like an angry monster in its own right. More than a dozen heads were visible over the edge of the wall, watching his progress further into the city. Spells and arrows flashed into sight at regular intervals, hitting beasts he couldn’t see. He’d actually expected to be outside of their range by now, but from this height, he could see he’d only made it two or three blocks.

  ? It’s going to take me hours just to reach a dungeon, he thought. If he’d known their locations, he could make a beeline for the nearest level two, but there were no up to date public maps. Dungeons moving were rare, but not unheard of. What was more, one or more of them could have expanded territories in the time since the city had fallen, so he might stumble across one without warning. All the more reason to move carefully.

  ? He took his time going deeper, relying on Shadow Dash to get him from rooftop to rooftop. That meant he moved exceptionally slowly, as the skill had a thirty second cooldown. On one rooftop, the structure under his feet had been severely weakened by weather and time, and collapsed under his weight the instant he came out of a Shadow Dash. It was only a quick dive for the edge of the rooftop that saved him from plummeting into the depths of the dark building with the debris. And, of course, there was a group of goblins that had moved in, and let out screeches of surprise and hurried to follow him. It was a very close call, but he managed to jump to the rooftop next to it before using Shadow Dash to get further away and hide.

  ? One rooftop posed a different kind of danger, as a small orc had been standing on it. But Grim pulled off a lucky critical hit, killing the monster after stepping out of a Shadow Dash. The noise of its body falling alerted several nearby monsters, however, and he saw a flock of bird-like creatures rising into the air and flying over in his direction. It was almost impossible to avoid detection this deep. Monsters were pouring in from all directions. He cursed quietly, looking all around to try to find an escape route. There was another rooftop nearby, but it was to the right and several feet lower than his. Beyond it, there was no cover. He looked deeper into the city and saw a cluster of trees. He could use them as cover, he thought, willing his Shadow Dash to life.

  ? After a quick blink, he was in a tree’s highest branches, nearly stumbling on the uncertain footing but recovering quickly. When he glanced back, he saw the rooftop he’d just left swarming with monsters. A pack of goblins led by an orc had met a pack of wolves, and the two monster parties attacked each other, their previous prey forgotten. Was he in between the territories of two dungeons, or were the wolves roaming further than they should?

  ? His thoughts on the next leg of his path were wiped from his mind when he felt something curling around his wrist. Looking down, he was horrified to see that one of the thinner branches of the tree he’d landed in was wrapping firmly around his wrist. The tree was alive! He tugged as hard as he could, but it had already gotten a firm grip. So instead, he attacked the thin branch with his knife, quickly chopping through it and freeing his wrist. A branch whipped out at his attack, smacking him in the back of the head and sending him tumbling to the ground.

  ? He’d done it now, he thought, seeing the tree looming over him, its entire trunk leaning to continue trying to pummel him. He rolled to the side to avoid a torrent of whip-like branches that slammed down, and felt another two hit him in the legs. They hurt, but did little damage. He hurried to scoop up his fallen knife and roll out of the tree’s branches. Howls rang out in the air, indicating that he’d been spotted again. He had to find cover, and quick.

  ? It wasn’t just the tree that he’d landed on that had come to life, but the entire cluster. He could hear the creaking of wood as the monsters leaned in his direction, trying–in vain–to whip him with their branches. He put his back to the wall of a nearby house and edged along it, doing his best to stay out of range. Two goblins rounded the corner he was moving toward, and, upon seeing him, immediately raced forward, short swords swinging for him. He had to jump back to avoid them, undoing much of his progress.

  ? Three more goblins came from behind him, and he found himself surrounded. Acting on instinct, he ran back towards the monster trees. The goblins followed, of course, but while Grim was able to avoid the worst of the whipping branches, they weren’t as fortunate. After several dozen hits by the trees, the goblins let out screeches of rage and switched targets, forgetting Grim entirely. He left them to fight it out and rushed toward the opposite end, his face stinging from where a lucky thin branch had hit it. Blood trickled down his face from the cut, but he’d avoided any serious injury.

  ? More and more monsters were rushing toward the sight of the commotion, and either attacking the goblins or falling onto the trees from all angles. That was fine for his plans, but more than one or two of them were perceptive and saw the human attempting to sneak away. He saw a wolf pause, sniff at the air, then turn to stare him down, and he knew he was nowhere near clear. Across the street, he saw a dark house with open, shattered windows, and charged up his Shadow Dash as he saw the wolf padding towards him, a low growling challenge coming from deep in its throat. Just as it lunged, the world around him went black. And then, he hit an invisible wall.

  ? Crashing down onto his back just outside the building he’d targeted, he let out a grunt. Had the building just rejected him? Only one thing could cause that, his training whispered in his ear. Shadow Dash could travel from one shadow to another, with one exception. It could not be used to traverse between dimensions. Which meant that the place he’d tried to enter was…

  ? “A dungeon!” he gasped, looking at the building again. It was plain in the extreme, with nothing to suggest that it wasn’t an ordinary building. But now that he was looking closer, he could make out more details. Blue curtains blew lazily in the broken windows, though there was no breeze in the area. And the door… It was red. He glanced around quickly, and saw a street sign nearby. Baker’s Crossing. His parents’ home! It was a dungeon!

  ? As quickly as he could while the wolf was distracted sniffing the ground, trying to find his scent, he ran toward the door of the house and put a hand up against it, feeling the essence of the structure. Level… three. Not what he wanted, but he had no other options. More monsters were noticing him now that he was in the street and under the bright sunlight. Six goblins, two orcs, and more than three wolves. He had no choice. Between the danger of the unknown dungeon and the growing flood of monsters outside, he’d pick the dungeon.

  ? Without another thought, he turned the handle and shoved the door open, almost throwing himself into the safety of the dungeon. The door slammed itself shut in the face of the lunging wolves, and plunged him into darkness.