Chapter 84 – Climbing Lead

  “Sixteen pacs, two animals.”

  “Beast Cult?” asked Cole.

  “Negative. Challengers. Survivors from the last floor.”

  Cole backtracked a few dozen yards and pulled himself up a small rise to peek at their trail. Sure enough, there was a group of about twenty people following a few hundred meters above, still making their way down the switchbacks and making no effort to disguise themselves. All of them were armed, all of them were dangerous. But that didn’t make them enemies. He clicked his tongue. At least in Syria it had been easy to tell who was a threat—if they spoke Russian or wore a Glefa uniform, they were safe to shoot at. Here, it wasn’t so clear. If they weren’t being dodgy, their intentions probably weren’t overtly hostile. But that didn’t mean they’d stay that way. This floor was a molten hellscape devoid of resources. It wouldn’t take long to drive the under-equipped to theft or worse in the name of self-preservation.

  Beth leapt up beside him. Cole grabbed her and dragged her down to his level. “Stay out of sight,” he said.

  Beth rolled her eyes. “They just want to stick close to the team that took out the floor boss, dude. Loosen up your asshole before you pop out a diamond.”

  “Maybe,” said Cole. “Or maybe they want the gear and weapons that let the team take out the floor boss in the first place. Or our other supplies. Or they want to blame us for the apes that killed their friends.”

  “Mr. Positive, over here,” she replied, but her levity was starting to sound forced to Cole.

  Cole slid back and dropped back down to the path. “Nona, Howie,” he called.

  Howie jogged over and Nona was close behind. “‘Sup?” asked Howie.

  “You got any charges back?”

  “Yeah, got a couple. What do you need?”

  Cole glanced back over his shoulder. “Rig something up. Not dangerous, but bright, loud, and flashy, to let them know that we know we’re being followed and don’t appreciate it.”

  “Got just the thing,” said Howie. He turned to Besson. “Cover my six?”

  Besson nodded, hefting his rifle and walking off to provide overwatch for the team’s mage as he set his trap.

  “What about me?” asked Nona.

  “See if you can get into that group and figure out if they’re planning to follow us, kill us, or what.”

  She nodded. Cole turned ahead and raised his voice.

  “Roxy?”

  His shield maiden glanced back at him. “What is it?”

  “Take point and let’s get into those ruins. That place is a sprawl, and I’m sure it’s crawling with shit that wants to eat us. I won’t have any charges for a couple hours, so if we get jumped, I want whatever it was to regret it immediately.”

  Roxy grinned and hefted her shield. “Oh, I’ll make sure of that. Rally?”

  Cole scanned the valley below, pointing out a structure. “That monolith there.”

  Artian fingered his bow. “And what of me, Lord Cole?” he asked.

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  Beth snickered beside him. “Lord Cole,” she mocked.

  “Go with her,” said Cole, nodding toward Roxy. “Watch her back. I’ll be right behind once Howie catches up.”

  Artian bowed and trailed after Roxy.

  Beth glanced up at him, curious. “They all just listen to you? Even that weird quiet one? You got some sort of magic power that makes everyone do what you tell them?” she asked.

  Cole pulled his rifle up and peered through the scope at the city below, looking for any sign of movement lurking in the shadows. “Yeah, it’s called trust. I’ve shown they can trust me to be the one making the calls, putting them where they’re most useful and keeping everyone covered. A good team is greater than the sum of its parts.”

  “Ooh, the power of friendship,” she mocked. “Naw. Even Artian’s dangling on your line, and he hates being told what to do. Gotta be magic.”

  He looked over at her, then looked away.

  “What?” she demanded. “You looked like you were going to say something.”

  “And you looked like you were going to say something sarcastic back, so I didn’t bother.”

  Beth hmphed, fair cheeks turning rosy, and stomped ahead. “I’m going to walk with Roxy,” she declared, leaving Cole on his own. He smiled to himself. Beth might be rough around the edges. But she was a good kid. Clearly handled pressure and shitty situations well. Forced to grow up too quickly, even before Dallemonte had nabbed her for his tower. But it had kept her alive here, and she was obviously fearless. Hell, sand down the attitude, and she’d have made a great soldier in a few more years.

  Cole lowered the rifle and considered. Beth didn’t want to be rescued. Ultimately, she didn’t have a say in the matter. She was a minor, abducted from her legal parent and thrust into a death game. They’d be ordered to help retrieve her. Cole had long since learned the difference between interpreting orders and following them blindly, but he’d never encountered a situation like this, where the person being rescued didn’t want to be saved.

  He knew how to deal with hostiles and incoming fire. Less so with belligerent children. As a teenager, fist-fights had settled those issues, but he wasn’t sure he could knock sense into Beth even if he’d wanted to. The girl had been fighting constantly for weeks and been rewarded for it with power that she was too young to understand. She didn’t yet realize what that power could do to other people.

  Or to herself.

  Howie joined him after a few more minutes, finished and grinning with pride. “We’re set. Besson’s taking rear guard to make sure no one’s brave enough to keep pushing after us despite the warning. And look!” he said, holding up a handful of red plant matter before shoving it in his mouth. “I found lichen!”

  “Better than mushrooms, I guess,” said Cole. So maybe the floor wasn’t totally devoid of resources. Maybe Howie’s secondary class would actually come in handy for once. “Let’s keep moving." They continued making their way down, seeing Roxy, Beth and Artian on the levels below as the switchbacks carried them closer to the ruins. Somewhere above, a bright light flashed against the upper walls of the cavern, and shrill whistles and crackles reached them a moment later.

  “Guess they found it,” cackled Howie.

  “Let’s hope they got the message,” said Cole. He couldn’t see the group of survivors, but the thick cloud of smoke choking the path would dissuade anyone from continuing.

  “Gotta be some treasure down there,” said Howie. “What’s a ruin without treasure, you know? But monsters, too. I’m thinking ghosts and goblins and maybe a fire dragon, this time.”

  “Because steam wasn’t bad enough,” said Cole, shaking his head.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” said Howie, pulling his pack around. He pulled out a small sack of what looked like blue leather, and a full magazine of rounds. “Dragon nymph scales and more ammo. Also some steam rounds for my cannon and we scooped up some residue and Babel Bucks. We didn’t get a chance to see if the big one dropped anything else.” He looked ahead. “How’s the kid?”

  Cole didn’t point out that Beth was only a couple of years younger than Howie himself. Mostly because Cole was only a few years older. “She’s tough. But she’s had it rough. Doesn’t want to go home. She wants to stay here where she’s got powers and magic and all her problems can be solved by swinging a sword.”

  Howie barked a laugh. “Yeah, there’s something to the simplicity. I’m glad it’s not our job to be the ones to force her, you know? We just gotta tell the extraction team where she is. But Roxy’s the one I’m worried about.”

  Cole glanced over. “What do you mean?”

  Howie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean what do I mean? That kid is like Roxy Junior. You think all those mamma bear hormones go away in a Lewis Field? We’re out of this tower at the next portal. How do you think Roxy’s going to take leaving Beth to fend for herself again?”

  Cole hadn’t even considered that. “Shit,” he said. One more thing to worry about.

  But the sound of Roxy’s shotgun discharging below knocked him out of his thoughts.

  “Contact front!” called Roxy over the radio.