We needed to get the others.

The stairs were eerily empty. I could hear the sounds of fighting, or maybe it was of people trying to break down walls, but whichever it was, they hadn't made it into the stairwell yet.

Kara had to carry Ella up the stairs. When the green woman's left arm fell off my bodyguard's shoulder, I realized that she was an Adventurer. I didn't know what Tier she was, but considering she didn't help us in the fight, it was either low or she was a non-combat class.

Trok didn't have a problem keeping up with us or following us, which I'd been worried about considering what we'd done to the two Minotaur Cultists, but his bright brown eyes never dimmed, which was honestly inspiring. It was like he didn't just have hope we'd get out alive; he knew it.

Once we reached the second floor, I nodded at the door where we'd left the others. "That's the room we need in."

Trok walked over to the console and typed something. He grinned as the door popped open. "Miss Ella gave me the master code so I could do updates to the system." He opened the door and puffed out his chest as he held it for us.

"Thanks." I patted him on the shoulder, then walked into the room.

All four women were talking by one of the bars. It looked like Ren had helped herself to more of the beverages than anyone else.

"ATLAS!" The midnight-toned woman ran towards me. "You're alive!"

Her words were slightly slurred and her movements wobbly, but she crashed into me and wrapped her arms around me. Her face contorted as she pulled back and looked at the glowing purple sphere I was holding.

"Wuzz that?"

"The Dungeon Core for this place." I looked at the others. "The Cult of Wurn is here, and they want this back. We need to get out of here before they, or one of the Bandit groups, find us."

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Oz held up the broken bottle she was holding by the neck. "We're ready to fight."

I shook my head. "These are Tier Fives." I looked at Jenne. "We have to get this to Trent."

Aelin held out her hands as she walked towards me. "I'll carry it."

"Aelin, I don't know if that's a good idea. This is basically an artificial Mantle. It could hurt you." I shifted to move the sphere away from her, which caused me to see Ren dancing her fingers over the core.

"Pretty." Ren looked up at me and took off her glasses. "Am I pretty too?"

Aelin chucked as she held out her arms. "It doesn't look like it's hurting Ren." She sighed. "Look, Atlas. I can't fight like you, Oz, Jenne, and Kara can. If I don't have my bow…" Her voice trailed off. "It's me or Ren that has to carry it so you have both hands free and Ren…"

The blonde woman perked up at that mention of her name. "Is pretty?"

I kissed her forehead. "Yes, you're pretty." I passed the sphere over to Aelin. "If you start feeling weird, let me know…"

The petite woman scowled at me. "I can handle this."

"I know…" I held up Ren, who was leaning into me heavily. Whatever she had drunk was starting to hit her hard. All it took was a stumble for me to sweep her off her feet and princess carry her. She nestled her head against my chest. It wasn't how I'd planned on walking out, but it was what we had.

I looked at Trok. "What's the closest Gate?"

"Wait!" Jenne held up her hand. "We aren't going back to Klix?!?"

"We're outmatched and in possession of something very dangerous." I nodded at Aelin. "Mive, Klix, Harror, Tres, Lagu, Zeb..." I tried to think of other cities that would be safe. "We stand a better chance in one of those cities than we do in here." I turned towards the carnage below us. "I'm not adding one of you to that pile."

Oz stepped forward and looked at the Minotaur boy. "Which of the cities Atlas just named has the closest gate to us?"

Trok shrugged. "We're in the middle of town, in the middle of the Dungeon. All the gates are the same distance from here."

"So it boils down to which gate has the safest route." I eyed the teen, but the boy shrugged.

"Is there a way for us to see other parts of the floor?" I tried to think of something that would give us an edge.

"Not without going back to the core room." Trok flinched as something crashed below us.

There were shouts, letting us know that we didn't have much time.

"There are people waiting for us in Klix." I made sure everyone had heard me before turning back the Minotaur that was supporting the older woman. "Please tell me there's another way out of here."

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