Chaos had exploded in the clearing around them. The party had scattered from where they’d been standing moments earlier and were now locked in combat with a collection of malformed, monstrous deer. Glowing lichen ate through their skin, puppeting their bodies, and their mouths twisted open far wider than should have been possible, their teeth replaced with dripping, ethereal mycelium.

  Despite having only spaced out for a second, Alicia, Tab, and Roxy already seemed to have taken several hits. They were all standing around Kat, protecting her from the monsters that swarmed the clearing.

  Panic set in, and Kat immediately grabbed her guitar and took to the air. Her fingers started dancing across the strings, her healing Inspiration setting in.

  “I’m good! Go!” Kat shouted, looking around the clearing. She saw five deer, maybe six, but it was hard to tell given how fast they were moving. They charged around at unnatural speeds, their unusual grace at odds with their monstrous demeanor. Thankfully, now that the party wasn’t trying to protect Kat, they were better able to mount a retaliatory strike.

  Tabitha crouched down, then launched towards the nearest enemy with blistering speed. She was nothing more than a blur as she started laying into her target, continuously jumping away from any attacks directed at her.

  Alicia formed another small network of barriers and patches of thorns, hoping to corral the monsters into predictable patterns, but this time she elevated herself on a barrier as well. She began jumping from barrier to barrier, periodically crouching down to strike a monster before retreating to safety behind a Wall of Thorns. She repositioned her barriers much faster now, continually shifting them around the clearing, both to distract her opponents, but also to minimize HP loss should any of the enemies decide to break them down.

  Roxy was the hardest to keep track of, as was the nature of her class. She would appear with blades drawn every few seconds, each time from a new, unexpected angle, only to retreat into the darkness after finishing her strike. There were plenty of distractions for her to capitalize on, and each attack landed with deadly precision.

  As Kat continued playing, she kept her eyes peeled for any opportunity to keep her party safe. Alicia did her best to distract as many as possible, but there were still plenty of opportunities to prevent monsters from gouging the Dryad’s barriers.

  On several occasions, she threw out a magical stun to create an opening for Tab or Roxy. Others, she would reposition to shove a deer into a Wall of Thorns, watching as thick barbs dug into its skin. She even defeated a monster herself, reducing it to a puff of smoke with a well-timed Sonic Blade. Barely a few minutes passed before the group had successfully repelled the attack.

  Roxy had scored the final strike, blades sinking deep into a monster's gut before it vanished entirely. Once the coast was clear, Kat took one last look around the clearing before returning to the ground with a heavy sigh.

  “Kat, are you okay?!” Alicia asked, running towards the Vampire before cautiously kissing her cheek.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine, though… what exactly happened?” Kat asked.

  “Not entirely sure, Fangs,” Tab said, sheathing her weapons. “We were all walking along, then you began staring off into the distance with a blank look on your face. We tried to snap you out of it, but a few seconds later we got swarmed by monsters. Had to break formation to keep you safe, and it took you a solid twenty or thirty seconds to snap out of it.”

  “Probably some kind of hypnosis or charm effect.” Roxy was bouncing around the clearing, digging through detritus to try and find all the loot. Once she finished, she brought it all to Kat, who promptly put it in a small pack.

  “Must have been,” Kat muttered. “I was trying to keep an eye out for monsters, or maybe puzzles or something, when I saw this massive deer, antlers covered with this glowing moss. It stared back at me, and for some reason I thought it was trapped, maybe asking for help or something.”

  “Yeah, definitely hypnosis. Do we think that was the mini-boss of the floor?” Tab asked.

  “We won’t know for sure until we find a door, or confirm that there isn’t one,” Alicia said, her hand finding its way to Kat’s. “In the meantime, how are we all faring? Good to keep pressing forward?”

  “Little beat up, but nothing crazy.” Tab stretched out her arms, wincing as she seemingly discovered a few sore spots. “With Inspiration, I’ll be fine.”

  Roxy spoke up next. “Same. Let’s just keep an eye out for suspicious patches of glowing moss moving forward. But not too much of an eye or else… you know.”

  Alicia chuckled quietly, then quickly nuzzled her cheek against Kat before standing up again. Kat appreciated the warmth, and even laughed herself as she saw how Alicia now needed to lean down slightly to be at her level. With one last nod of approval between everyone present, they fell back into formation and started marching forward once more.

  Thankfully, Alicia’s trail of tulips helped guide their progress. Getting turned around during combat was easy, and Kat hated the thought of exploring this dungeon without any such navigational tricks. It was a piece of cake to determine where they’d come from, then reorient themselves to continue in their original direction. Due to the low visibility, Alicia started to summon more flowers than she had on the first floor, color coding them all to indicate different paths.

  They eventually found another small chamber with several paths branching off it. After marking all the paths, they settled on the largest before embarking once more.

  The new room was decorated identically to the first, with glowing blue moss and fungus as far as the party could see. After several minutes of exploration, the moss began to take on even stranger shapes. It grew thinner and more elaborate, forming concentric rings suspended above the ground. Kat had been nervous about seeing the large deer again, and it was Roxy who pointed out the obvious; the moss was clinging to spider webs.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  No sooner had the words left her lips than a horde of undead spiders descended on the group, each roughly the size of a raccoon, all of them puppeted by ethereal mycelium. Thankfully, with Kat in complete control of her faculties, the girls were able to mount a stronger defense this time.

  Alicia started with her favorite trick; summoning a maze of barriers and briar patches to control the battlefield, but this proved to be significantly less effective than usual; the spiders simply crawled over the barriers, others descending from the ceiling as they joined the battle. She called this out to the group, panicking slightly when she saw the monsters creeping effortlessly through her thorny vines, and everyone tried to pivot their strategies accordingly.

  Kat did her best to avoid the spiders, but it was hard to properly survey the battlefield when they had no idea how many monsters they were up against. On one occasion, a spider even landed on her back as she prepared a spell, prompting her to scream and drop to the ground. Thankfully, Roxy saw this and leapt to her defense, impaling the spider and reducing it to a pile of loot before it managed to bite Katrina. Now freed from her monstrous passenger, Kat jumped to her feet and began launching a barrage of Sonic Blades. She figured that, since Alicia’s barriers were much less helpful, their best option would be to end the battle as quickly as they could.

  Concentrated bursts of magical sonic energy flew from her guitar, and she silently cheered to herself as she slew several spiders entirely by herself. She knew the others were putting in far more work, but it was still a thrill to be in the heat of combat.

  As Tabitha slew the last of the horde, Kat finally allowed herself a deep breath and a sigh of relief. “Whew, that was hectic. How’s everyone doing?”

  “A little banged up,” Alicia said, her voice tense. “I think I got bit in a few places.”

  Fear gripped Kat as she ran over to check on the Dryad. The bark and wooden plates that served as armor had clearly taken some hits, and Kat immediately found a few exposed pieces of skin that, sure enough, had obvious bite wounds in them. She grabbed Alicia’s shoulders and held her tight, looking into her verdant green eyes. “How do you feel? Dizzy? Nauseous? Weak?

  “I mean, it stings, but I think that’s just from being injured. I’m fine, Kat, I promise.” Alicia reached up, cradled Kat’s cheek, and the two girls rested their foreheads against each other.

  “I’m tempted to believe her, myself,” Tab said, walking closer. “I got a few bites myself, there were just too many to keep track of, and I’m feeling fine. Still, there’s always a chance the venom acts on some kind of delay; I vote we leave now to avoid the unnecessary risk.”

  Roxy stepped forward next, her hands full of coinage and monster parts that she handed to Kat. “I agree, we have no reason to try and finish this floor tonight.”

  Alicia seemed nervous, and hesitated as she looked around the party, then back towards the path they’d been taking. After a moment, she sighed and nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. We still have a week left, right? Plenty of time.”

  With a hand on the Dryad’s back, Kat leaned in and nuzzled her face into her girlfriend’s shoulder. “We’ll be okay, Alicia. We explored a bunch of the second floor! Besides, we still need to get out.”

  With a consensus reached, the party fell into formation and began retreating out of the Dungeon. They followed the trail of colorful tulips closely, watching for any signs of the monsters that had already proven to live on this floor, and within minutes they’d made it back to the entrance of the floor. A familiar massive tree blocked the path, and had they been without markers, it would have been easy to miss the exit entirely.

  The walk up the stairs was slow, but thankfully monster-free. Kat thought about flying, as she hated how many steps there were, but immediately chastised herself for the thought.

  As the soft, artificial rays of sunlight began filtering back into their vision, everyone prepared themselves for the long walk through the forest. They left the staircase, quickly falling into formation as they began searching for monsters, but thankfully none were present at the moment. Their luck didn’t hold for the entire floor, however, and they had to fend off another pack of wolves in the second chamber.

  It was obvious to Kat that everyone, particularly Alicia, was moving slower than usual, and she was happy they’d decided to turn back. Thankfully, wolves were much easier to defend against than spiders, though they were still formidable.

  When the wolves first appeared, Kat took her usual place in the air as the combat broke out. However, as there weren’t any flying creatures, she’d taken her safety for granted and lost track of one of the wolves when it circled behind a large cluster of trees. An attack from a different monster forced her to split her focus, and she was concentrating on a stunning spell when the first wolf leapt into the air and bit down on her ankle.

  She screamed in pain as the wolf dragged her from the air, throwing her to the ground. It quickly tried to lunge at her neck, but one of Alicia’s barriers blocked the attack. Kat heard a flurry of steel, a yelp of defeat, and when the barrier receded, the last of the wolves had been defeated.

  “Kat!” Alicia screamed. “Kat, are you okay?!”

  Wincing in pain, Kat pulled her leg close to examine the injury. Thick, unnaturally dark blood oozed from the puncture wounds, which was thankfully normal for her. As Alicia helped her sit up, she quickly pulled up her status. “Looks like I’m at… 54%. Thankfully I’ve avoided any serious attacks until now.”

  “C’mon, there’s no time to waste, we need to get you to Elias!” Alicia was soon joined by Tab, and together they helped Kat limp the rest of the way.

  Kat’s breathing was heavy, and it was impossible not to focus on Tabitha’s alluring heartbeat. It promised relief, strength, rejuvenation, and Kat even knew how delicious it was already. Surely Tab wouldn’t mind, right? It was for the good of the party, right?

  She licked her teeth, which practically itched in anticipation as her eyes wandered to the Foxgirl’s neck.

  Past conversations floated through Kat’s mind. She heard Tabitha’s scared voice when she’d first expressed her fears, and how nervous she’d been just before Kat had finally bit down. Despite everything, she trusted Kat, and hadn’t hesitated to pull Kat to safety when she needed help. Those memories, echoes of fear and trust, eventually overpowered Kat’s bloodlust, and she pulled her eyes away in time to see Elias.

  Shoot, it’s been that long already?

  “Kat! Wow, that’s a doozy of a bite.” Elias grabbed Kat’s hand, helping to lower her legs into the water. “Alright, just like I told Alicia, this is going to sting a little. You ready?”

  With a tense nod, Kat signaled for Elias to start. The water began humming with excitement, a soft glow overtaking it, and magic began coursing through Kat’s injuries. It certainly hurt more than expected, but she was thankful for the pain; it was a welcome distraction from the predatory thoughts that lurked at the edge of her humanity.

  As the group settled in, Kat quickly realized that no one was planning on sleeping anytime soon. Tonight’s delve had been far more dangerous than all their previous trips, and Alicia in particular seemed extra clingy. Kat was currently resting her head in the Dryad’s lap, and they were holding hands with more intensity than usual. As the healing continued, everyone began updating Elias on the delve, what they’d found, and the conversation quickly pivoted to theorycrafting strategies now that they knew what to expect on the second floor.

  Kat stayed relatively quiet, only pitching in when directly asked questions. It was still relatively early for her, but she couldn’t resist the urge to close her eyes. Between the hum of Elias’s healing, the quiet conversation of the group, and Alicia absentmindedly playing with her hair, Kat was unable to prevent herself from taking a small nap.

  “Oof, that was a nasty bite…”

  You alright, Kat?

  “I’ll be fine, but it’s easy to forget how quickly things can turn in a Dungeon.”

  Good thing you have some extra help, right?

  “Yeah, without Elias’s healing, this would be a lot harder.”

  I meant Roxy, actually. She’s really starting to pull her weight, yeah?

  “I mean… sure, I guess. I’m still not a big fan, but I guess she hasn’t sabotaged anything yet. That’s exactly what she would do if she were planning on backstabbing us though!”

  Alright, no need to get too worked up. Got any music today?

  “Trying to distract me by changing the subject, eh? You’re lucky I want to talk about music… Anyways, today’s song is Lettre à soi même by Roland Dyens. It’s a shorter song, but I think the vibes are perfect for our first trip down to the second floor. All those creepy, glowing mushrooms, the moss, the monsters that can hypnotize people, it’s incredibly spooky stuff.”

  Shame you can’t hypnotize the deer back, right?

  “Look, I swore to never do that again, okay? It just… doesn’t feel right. Although, I guess if it’s a Dungeon monster… huh.”

  Maybe it’s worth a shot!

  Nyx <3