Gad shifted in the darkness.

Her eyes burned at the touch of the cool water, but she forced them to stay open. Around her, she found the shapes of the others, slowly falling alongside her down into the deep darkness beneath.

 

Hidden Quest, Survive the Fall, has been completed.

The dungeon guardian is impressed by your performance.

You have been awarded gains.

You have gained the knowledge of how to swim.

You will also be given a little push.

 

Before she could even register what was happening, the window was gone and a torrent of warm knowledge poured into her brain, and suddenly, she had an idea of what to do with herself in the water and clumsily righted herself with torso twists.

Her backside touched the squishy bottom of the lake's edge, and she kicked upwards with a desperate energy, still flailing with the unfamiliar knowledge. She couldn't use her arms though, as she was still holding onto Kur and Tun, and she couldn't fight the weight of all three of them.

Even with her [Strength] and her brain's flawless commands, her body, unfamiliar with such a way of movement, struggled to follow suit, and in the darkness of glittering bubbles, she saw that she was not the only one struggling.

No! She thought. They're going to drown!

But an invisible force picked her up, and she was pushed onwards and upwards.

"Hang on!" Sej shouted in their minds. "We're being pushed out!"

We are? Gad thought, recalling the window but not daring to hope.

The current spun her around, and she pursed her lips to hold on to her breath, her lungs screaming for air, and Kur and Tun threatening to be ripped from her grasp. Then, she hit something hard, and she was forced to let go of it all…

"Ah!" she inhaled, coughing.

She coughed and hacked, fighting to push air into her lungs. Under her hands and chin, she felt the touch of many small and smooth cool objects as she felt around for the two delvers she'd carried. Thankfully, her left hand found Tun's solid chest, and her right the growing too long hair of Kur.

"Are you guys alright?" Sej shouted. "I figured we were close to the shore, but it was deeper than I thought!"

"I'm fucking alive!" Mul retorted, and spat loudly. "Now, let's not do that ever again!"

He was still coming off combat, so his grumpiness translated loud and clear as his suppressor began to reassert its control once more.

"Not like we had another choice!" Sej said. "The damned poison was right behind us! Look!"

Gad glanced upwards, as she dropped her bottom heavily upon what she now saw were black pebbles, and indeed, she found the branch they had jumped from, and the poison that still leaked from the Theater of Thorns. Jumping into the water had been their only choice, and the blue skinned guide had been correct to make it.

"Quick!" Jasphaer said, in between coughing. "Check… Injured. For anyone… Not breathing!"

"Yes! Quickly!" Leta shouted.

A surge of panic filled Gad with an energy she did not have, and she pushed herself up to her quivering, thick and muscular legs, and rushed to scan the array of strewn delvers around her, who lay where the dungeon guardian's wave had deposited them on that pebble shore.

Rel was closest to her, and lying face down, so Gad quickly moved over.

"Check for breathing!" Leta shouted, taking charge of the situation. "If they're breathing, turn them on their sides and leave them for us. If they're not breathing, shout for us right away!"

Gad dropped down to her knees beside Rel, and gently, with her heart on her throat, the tank turned the archer to her side. She placed a hand in front of her face…

Breathing, Gad thought, her sight going black with relief and the effort. Just hang in there. We're out. We're safe.

The morsvar leaned on her knee and groaned as she pushed herself up once more. She stole a quick glance towards the towering wall of branches to her left, and found that the Miasma emanated like vapor from within it, seemingly seeping out from the very floor itself. The red, poisonous air rose high above the branches, but it never seemed to cross into the purple skies above the black pebble beach and the dark Great Lake that stretched far behind them.

Whatever rules were in place there, they were finally out of reach of that devastating epic beast, and Gad quickly continued checking on the others.

A shout rang up at some point, and she watched Leta get down and start chest compressions on Teb. Then, the quills covered healer leaned down and breathed straight into the quam's mouth.

Weak coughing reached Gad's ears in the silence of those quiet waves, and her shoulders eased as she saw the DPS cough and return from the brink.

However, other than the quam warrior, everyone seemed to have escaped relatively alright, and Leta and Jasphaer wasted no time in going around cleansing the unconscious people of their [Touch of Rot], while those awakened downed potions to similar effect.

Eum and Calli did the same for Medis, Mach and Era, carefully tilting potions into their mouths, and Leon sat beside the unconscious trio with his eyes closed as he drew in short bursts of breath. He nursed an HP potion while holding onto his side, and he looked deadly pale in that low, purple light, and Gad hoped that he hadn't injured himself further. At least, soon Era should be up in order to heal him properly and set his bones into place again.

"Gad…"

She looked down and to her side. Having checked up on Nar, the last person within her reach, she had finally allowed herself to sit down, and the adrenaline had just poured out from her, leaving her weak and unable to stand again.

"Nar?" She lowered her face to his. "Are you okay?"

"Probably not… The others?" Nar whispered.

"We're safe. We're all safe," she said, placing a hand on his back. "We did it."

"Ah, that's good…"

"Do you need to meditate? How are your pathways?" she asked him, but there was no response.

"Jasphaer," she called. "Do you need to check him up?"

Jasphaer looked up from where he was treating Cen. "Hold on, Cen's got some water in her lungs, so I'm just fixing her up. From what I can see from here, Nar's pathways are completely burned, and I will need time to heal him, but he seems stable for now. Give him a potion if you can, please. I think he's earned it."

"Got it," Gad said.

"That was close," Jasphaer said, his hands pushing aura into Cen's chest. "And he's going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. Once you give him that healing potion, wait twenty minutes, and then give him an HP one if I haven't returned to check on him. For now, just let him sleep. That's what he needs."

Gad nodded at him, and Jasphaer went back to his healing.

Crystal, she sighed, as she slowly dribbled a potion into his lips. You're crazy, Nar. I have no idea just how far you're going to go… Or how far you're willing to go for it.

Potion finished, she passed a hand over his wet hair. It was almost impossible to believe that they had all escaped, unscathed, once more. Statistics were not in their favor, and she didn't know how long they could go before something did happen. Could even happen in the Brightnight, after all, as they still had three months left in that jungle.

We made our choice. Now, we need to get strong enough to get through it all and reach the future we dream of…

"Gad?"

She looked up.

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

"Jaz. You alright?"

She eyed him up and down. His shaggy blond hair was wet and flattened against his scalp, and caked with sweat and dirt. She spotted cuts and bruises showing through his battered jungle suit, but other than that the prankster archer seemed fine now that the [Touch of Rot] had been cleansed from him.

"Yeah…" he said, kneeling before her with a sigh. "But…"

He leaned in, and she did the same, frowning.

"I can't take this anymore," he whispered urgently. "I need to tell you something!"

And having said so, he glanced back in the direction of…

The aethermancers? Gad's brown only frowned deeper.

Jaz pulled out his tablet, and tapped away urgently, then flipped the screen towards her. The tank had to blink several times to get her blurry eyes to focus, and read the words before her.

 

Someone attacked us!

There was a bullet wound on the ma'bat's wing.

The flesh was all weird and blue. No blood leaking. Maybe poison!

 

Gad read the words a second time, then she looked up at the archer's anxious expression.

"You sure?" she asked him. "It could've been something el…"

But Jaz shook his head with so much energy it must have hurt.

"I've seen enough of Lim's damage," he said. "I'm sure of what I saw!"

Gad nodded slowly, then pushed the tablet back towards his chest.

"Thank you. I will deal with this," she said.

Jaz exhaled slowly, dropping his shoulders, and nodded quickly. "Thank you."

Then he got up and left.

Gad stared over across the lake, doing her best not to look in the direction of the aethermancers.

The Great Lake was a vast stretch of peaceful waters, with lines of neon blue and lilac shimmering gently across its surface. The shore glowed in a kaleidoscope of color when one of the lake's gentle waves lapped against the rocky shore, revealing neon green, red and pink.

There was no beast, insect or animal, or anybody else as far as she could see on that long, narrow stretch of black pebbles. The silence and the gentle waves should have been a balm to her soul after the chaos of the Hungry Jungle, and yet, that quiet now felt oppressive. Threatening. As though eyes peered at them from the roiling red mist behind them.

Jaz's findings likely only meant one thing… The strange death of the aethermancers' guide had not been an accident. Someone in the dungeon was targeting their life, and in the pursuit of that goal, they didn't care who got hurt in the process.

They probably triggered that Grounding as well, she realized. To try and make it look like an accident perhaps? But when it failed…

One couldn't just openly commit murder in a popular domain like the Brightnight. The consequences would be swift and severe, especially given the perceived status of the families of the aethermancers they had taken in. Thus, whoever it was, either didn't have such concerns or they were growing desperate. Either way, this wasn't good news.

The morsvar passed a hand over her wet, scaly chin.

It's always one thing after another…

**********

Kur leaned on his knee, groaning, and dropped heavily besides Row.

"How is she?" he whispered to Leta.

"She took a few nasty hits on her way down, but it's nothing to be worried about now that the [Touch of Rot] is gone," the healer said, not moving her eyes away from her work.

Several needles were arranged in lines across the unconscious red haired party leader, and they all shone with the soft gray of Leta's aura. The intensity of their glow slowly increased and waned, and Kur fully sat down to watch the brown toned cooline work in silence.

The rest of the injured were arrayed around them, carefully laid out on mattresses on the floor of their communal tent. There had been no willpower or energy to set up the inside tents after their harrowing escape from the jaws of the Hungry Jungle, and Sej had promised them that there would be no rain or danger upon that shore.

Jasphaer was currently treating Viy, and her whole body glowed faintly with his aura. And a ways from the auramancers, the aethermancers were bunched up within a circle of deep blue and purple aether.

Eum and Calli had managed to get enough potions into Era to wake her up, and the still shaken dark alfin healer had, in turn, managed to get enough of her wits about her to use her sleeping healing AOE skill. Sarke had been bundled up with Leon's party, and Sej sat nearby, watching over her.

It had been about half an hour since Kur himself had woken up, and the aethermancers had already been fast asleep by then. Gad had been the one to wake him up, and after making sure he was alright, she had wasted no time in filling him in on everything he had missed since the crash. And by the Crystal, it had been a lot…

Life threatening wounds they couldn't heal because of the [Touch of Rot].

A crazy run through a jungle where even the flowers had wanted a piece of them.

The epic ruler of the Hungry Jungle itself showing up at the last minute to try and block their desperate escape followed by a surprise hidden quest.

And, finally, and much more troubling than the rest, was the fact that there was someone in the dungeon after Leon's party, and who had already targeted his own and Row's party in order to achieve their nefarious goals.

Kur rubbed his chin, only vaguely aware of Leta's workings at his side. He had no reason to doubt Jaz's observations, as even taking their crash into consideration, a perfect bullet hole like the one he had described was unlikely to have been a result of any injuries on their way down. And there was the strange coloring and lack of blood around the wound as well…

He had no knowledge of poisons or any other such things, but Jasphaer had some from his many studies, and the healer had, even if reluctantly, agreed that Jaz's description seemed that of a poison.

"Maybe some kind of paralytic? Or neuro-toxin? Something that would bring down the beast mid-flight?" the healer had ventured. "But without analyzing it myself, it's impossible to tell for sure."

Regardless, Kur agreed that all the evidence seemed to point to one conclusion, and that they were all also targets now.

He sighed.

As much as I like them, we can't let this go on, Kur thought. Whatever happens between us, happens. But we need to get the truth out of them at the very least.

It was pretty much known fact that they were all scions from rich families, and incredibly wealthy ones at that, and given everything Kur had learned about the cutthroat nature of all things XP, business, connections and power, he had little trouble believing that someone would be targeting the children of their rivals in order to bring a business down to its knees in the next generation.

Question is, do they want them dead, or kidnaped? Kur wondered.

He shook his head. Whichever one it was, neither option was good news for the auramancers caught up in the crossfire.

Especially because no one cares about us… We're just an obstacle to be removed.

"There," Leta said, pulling him back from his swirling thoughts. "That should do it."

Kur blinked his gritty eyes and focused them on the face of the healer, and the smile that tugged at the Minus' born cheeks eased his heart somewhat.

"You should go back to sleep too," Leta told him with her gentle smile. "You were pretty banged up yourself."

Kur nodded slowly. There was an annoyingly cloying sense of a buzz clouding his thoughts, but sleep would have to wait until he at least felt like he knew what to do about the situation. Once the aethermancers woke up, he needed answers from them.

"I will. Soon," he promised her. "Don't worry, I'm alright. But how about yourself? You've been healing us non-stop, and you've been up for almost two days now."

"Meh," Leta said, shrugging. "I've done hospital shifts in the Minus. Today was only a little bit more dangerous than our average days, and not as long as some shifts."

Kur stared at her.

"The Minus is not for the weak, and that's where Tsurmirel trained us," she said, chuckling at his expression. "Anyways, keep an eye on Row, then. I'm going to go check on the others."

Kur managed a tired nod for her, and stared down at Row. Her complexion had always been pale, just like Viy's, but it had been deadly pale just a few moments ago, before Leta's ministrations.

Hopefully she'll be up soon too. She needs to know and be a part of whatever happens, Kur thought, examining the slight touch of color that had returned to the Row's countenance.

He groaned quietly and rubbed his stinging eyes. There was always something happening after something else had just been resolved, and even aboard the Scimitar, there were hardly any periods of proper rest where he was able to shut down his brain.

He sighed. It was unlikely that there would be any brains shutting down for the remainder of their Climb.

Crystal, three more months to go, and I already feel like we've been in here forever, Kur thought.

"Hmm…"

Kur looked down. "Row?"

"Kur? Where are…"

The red-haired party leader seemed to be struggling with her eyelids.

"Hey. It's okay. We're all okay!" he said, patting her head gently. "We all made it."

"My people…" she said, straining to lift her neck.

"They're all here, being healed by Jasphaer and Leta," he told her, as he gently pushed her head back onto her pillow. "We're all good. Everyone is here."

Row collapsed back with a sigh.

"Thank fuck," she whispered, her eyes glistening in the low, purple light. There were neither aura nor aether lights set up, so Leta and Jasphaer moved about by means of small lights attached to headbands.

"I thought we were done for, Kur… When we fell? I thought that was it!" Row breathed, the words shaky.

Kur pursed his lips and nodded.

"If it hadn't been for Jul's ghokfdsnmd we would've been fucked too, on that spire," she whispered.

He frowned at her.

"For Jul's what?"

"Her hgodfsdlk, of course…"

"Her what?" Kur asked again, his heartbeat picking up.

What in the Pile was going on? Row was starting to fall back asleep, and he leaned in closer.

"What are you on about… Her hfpajfpsdfkosa…"

"Row?" he asked her in a hushed tone.

But the party leader was back under the grip of sleep.

That… That was an attribute I don't know about? He realized, the dungeon shifting around him. But how would she know about…

And then, at long last, it hit him.

Hold on… She and her party speak of [Instinct] all the time, but none of them have it!

In fact, from what he recalled, Row already knew about the attribute even before meeting their party, and Kur had never seen any other Climbers with [Instinct].

According to the Master of Aura, attribute knowledge sharing was one of the mercies granted to Climbers, but it only extended within one's own party, and they had to have exited the Gates together for it to continue working on the outside.

So how does she know?

His heart beat faster, as a sense of unexplained foreboding took him, squeezing his lungs and tightening over his throat.

He pulled from his memories.

Taz and Wik could hear and speak about it too, but maybe it was because of their crazy circumstances, he thought. The master and the faculty can speak about it, because they've all gained it at the expected levels… But this. How could this be? And what attribute was Row talking about just there?

He had obviously been unsuccessful in discussing Jul and Nar's [Instinct] with other apprentices in the Leadership track, but Row never had issues in—

"Ow?" he mouthed at the sudden spike of pain that sheared through his mind.

A round of laughter burst outside, from those who were awake and chatting right outside their tent.

Wait… What was I… Thinking…

His eyes were suddenly very, very heavy, and the buzz within his mind expanded to block out every coherent thought, a whispering that deafened him to reality.

Without realizing it, Kur laid down beside Row, and closed his eyes.

I was… There was…

But he was gone.

A few feet away from him, Leon woke up with a startle.

What was that?

The paladin glanced around the tent in confusion, his mind a jumble of half-formed thoughts, sensations and memories. Heart thumping against his temples, Leon's glowing eyes eventually came to settle down upon Kur's sleeping figure.

That… Was that a…

But Era's [Embrace of the Night] reached out for him, enveloping him once more, and all was forgotten as the restorative sleep took him.

A few steps away from both Kur and Leon, in the silent night within the tent punctuated by gentle lapping waves, Nar frowned and mumbled in his sleep, plagued by dreams of voracious, salivating maws that grinned at him with many rows of teeth of many shapes. And on his finger, his storage ring glowed in a weak glimmer of red…

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