It took another solid minute before Eriba and Sage managed to bring down their targets. Ant versus ant—in Sage’s case—was an even fight, but not for the reasons Det expected. Sage’s takeover of the Wordless also seemed to apply a slight buff to the thing, making it a tiny bit faster, stronger, and even more durable. On the other hand, while it was semi-autonomous, it wasn’t entirely autonomous. Sage still needed to give it some attention to keep it doing what he wanted.

  He could command it to attack, but if he did, it would do so blindly. It wouldn’t pay any attention to its surroundings, and even got underfoot of Tena’s clone at one point, nearly tripping the tank. After that, Sage took to micromanaging the pet-ant, commanding it to move, attack, and withdraw as needed.

  Meanwhile, the normal Wordless had all of its normal faculties, displaying a minor amount of guile and planning with its attacks. Like when Det had fought them before, the Wordless ant was quick to take advantage of opportunities to attack—the opponent ant or Tena—and the Bulwark walked away with a few more cracks and scratches in her armor.

  While that Wordless was being defeated, Eriba worked on her aim. Only one shot had hit Tena’s double, the blast blowing chips out of the armor to leave a lemon-sized crater. That had led to a combination of cursing from Tena, and blushing and hiding from Eriba. While still shooting.

  In retrospect, Eriba realized it wasn’t her best moment, and doubled down on improving her aim. It hadn’t been a fast improvement by any stretch of the imagination, but at least she hadn’t hit the clone again. And, little by little, more of her shots smashed into the Wordless ant, until it finally stilled.

  With that last blast—then one more for good measure, apparently—the battlefield was quiet.

  “Calisco,” Det said. “See any more?”

  “None coming our way,” Calisco said. “Pretty sure I saw some in the distance, and there are more closer to that castle thing. They know I’ll explode their asses if they get too nosy around here.”

  “That’s definitely it,” Det said flatly. “How’s everybody else?”

  “Ready to sit down,” Tena said, doing that by dropping to her butt on the ground. “My ankle doesn’t really hurt—or it does, and it’s easy to ignore—but something is grinding in there every time I move. Makes me want to puke.

  “Could really use a heal…” she trailed off, looking in Weiss’ direction. By the expression on her face, Det wasn’t the only one who’d noticed their healer’s complete inaction throughout the entire fight.

  Around them, Eriba and Sage both had sweat running down their faces from the exertion, while Calisco crossed her arms at the same time she kept an eye on the distant packs of ants. As annoying as the woman could be, she was at least taking this seriously. And she’d done a good job blasting those packs to halve the numbers that actually reached the party. Two Wordless were already a struggle for Tena’s clone, Sage, and Eriba. Four would’ve been impossible, for the moment.

  Was I really fighting the same things all by myself? Well, with the Pack. Did they carry me?

  Det glanced at the ants he’d killed by himself. No, his wolves hadn’t done all the work this time or last. But how well he did compared to how well the others did wasn’t an important point right now.

  “Weiss?” Det said the healer’s name quietly. Yelling wouldn’t help things, even if by the look on Tena’s face, she was inches away from doing that. Fighting on a broken or crushed ankle could have that effect on people, after all. “Hey, Weiss, you in there?”

  “Yeah, Weiss, are you…?” Tena started, that same venom in her voice she’d used when Det had first entered the suite to find her there. Thankfully, she stopped herself as Sage put a calming hand on her shoulder. The crystal helm turned to look at the other ReSouled, then Tena visibly sighed, and the crystal covering head flaked away to reveal her hair matted to her from sweat. “Sorry, I’m annoyed. At myself. I should’ve been able to take all those ants by myself. At least, I thought I should’ve been able to.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Sage said. “After hearing about Det clearing the dungeon solo, and the training we’ve been through the last week, not to mention being ReSouled, I expected this all to be a cakewalk. I thought Beauty was being overly cautious. What did we have to worry about?”

  “A lot,” Eriba said quietly. “Tena, I’m sorry I shot you.”

  “It’s not just your fault,” Tena said. “My clone stepped in your way, too. I’m not used to fighting with other people, and staying out of their firing line.”

  “We all have something we can improve after that display,” Sage said.

  “I did pretty well,” Calisco said.

  “Quarterstaff,” Det coughed into his hand.

  “No idea what you’re talking about,” Calisco replied, face straight, arms still crossed.

  “Right, but…” Det said, eyes back on their healer. One who finally blinked. His eyes took in the rest of the party, their sweat-stained faces, Tena on the ground cradling her ankle, and the torn-up bodies of the Wordless on the ground.

  “I…” Weiss started. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be here.” The words came out almost a cry, and he spun on his heel to take a step in the direction of the dungeon’s exit, clearly intent on straight-up leaving. He only got that single step before the deep, threatening growl of a certain alpha ink-wolf standing between him and the exit stopped him cold in his tracks.

  With blood-red eyes, bared teeth, and the absolute snarl vibrating like a chainsaw from its mouth, it was more than enough to make Weiss freeze. And Det didn’t call the wolf off. This warranted a discussion, and if Weiss left, it would never happen.

  “You’re not leaving,” Det said simply, even as Sage and Eriba turned surprised looks in his direction. What, did they expect it all to just end with Weiss running away with his tail between his legs? Hell no.

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  “I shouldn’t be—I can’t be—in here,” Weiss said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “We’ll manage,” Det said.

  “Good, then I’ll…” Weiss said, lifting his foot to take a step. Another vicious snarl had that foot going right back to the ground without moving forward a single inch.

  “We will manage,” Det repeated. “That includes you.”

  “Det, maybe…?” Sage started.

  “No,” Det said. “He stays. We all stay. We’re going to figure this shit out.”

  “If he doesn’t want to be here,” Sage said.

  “Too bad,” Det said. “He’s our healer. If he’s not in here with us, do you think Beauty will let us stay? I sure don’t. He leaves, we lose access to dungeons until second year. That’s one of our biggest advantages out the window, just like that. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  “So, what, you’re going to have your wolf attack him if he tries to leave?” Sage said.

  “If that’s what it takes, yes,” Det said. “My preference, though, would be he sits down, heals Tena’s foot, and we all talk about this to figure things out. While he’s doing that, Eriba should do some tinkering, and I’m going to set up some defensive options, so we’re a bit more prepared for the next ants that come our way.”

  “I can do that,” Eriba said, turning over the gun on her wrist. “I can do a better job than this.”

  “I think that was pretty good for your first go at it,” Calisco said.

  “Takes a lot of energy each shot,” Eriba said. “I can do better.” She repeated the statement and the sentiment with a determined look on her face.

  “That’s what we’re here for,” Det said. “You and Sage practicing, so take as much time as you need. Weiss, come on over here man. Tena’s in pain.”

  “The pain’s not that bad…” Tena started until Det scowled at her. “I uh, mean, it uh… it really hurts. Owie.”

  “Don’t quit your day job,” Det said out of the side of his mouth.

  “Shut up.”

  “I really should leave,” Weiss said. “We all should. You can’t count on me. I’m no good.”

  “We’re not leaving,” Det said. “Not even at lunch, if we don’t get this sorted out first.”

  “Beauty will…” Calisco said.

  “Have to deal with it,” Det said.

  Instead of answering, Calisco looked from Weiss—still caught unmoving like prey in front of the ink-wolf—to Det. “Are you really Det?” she finally asked. “Cause this whole thing… this isn’t the shut-in loser I knew. I heard some rumors about people who pissed you off, but I thought they were just all blowing it out of proportion cause you were ReSouled. When did you get a backbone?”

  “Always had it,” Det said. “Weiss, c’mon. He’s not going to hurt you. Unless you try to leave.”

  “Please,” Weiss pleaded.

  “No,” Det said. “Come over here and take care of Tena. If more ants show up before her foot is healed, it’s going to be a pain for her.”

  “Det…” Weiss tried one more time, half-turning to look at the party.

  “Weiss,” Det said. “This isn’t open for discussion. You’re staying.”

  Two seconds of staring at Det, hoping he’d change his mind, Weiss’ shoulders slumped in defeat.

  “Don’t blame me if one of you dies,” he finally said, turning and slouching as he walked over to slump to his knees in front of Tena. “I’m sorry it’s bothering you,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I’m useless.”

  “You’re not useless,” Tena said, clearly uncomfortable and struggling with not being outright abrasive. “You… you healed my nose when that turtle attacked me, remember?”

  “That didn’t matter…” Weiss said.

  “It did to me,” Tena corrected. “So, if you could take care of my ankle, then I can protect you and the others the next time the ants come.”

  “Mmm,” Weiss said with a forced nod, though he didn’t meet her eyes.

  Good enough, for now.

  “Keep an eye on him,” Det told the alpha, and it padded over to stay within easy reach of the healer. From its body language, it wasn’t just looking at him, it was also looking out for him. The wolf would both protect him and keep him from leaving. Det’s intention wasn’t to get the man hurt or killed.

  He needed a minute to calm his mind, though, before the conversation continued, and he slipped his brush and a bottle of ink from his pouch. There weren’t any more ants coming for them right at this moment, which meant it was a chance for his magic to show its worth. Time to prepare was a huge advantage for him, and—for once—he had ink to spare.

  After he secured their ‘camp’ a bit, he could move on to putting together some scouts or roving packs to do their own hunting. Would he still get the ‘experience’ Beauty talked about if his renditions remotely killed Wordless? A few tests would tell him one way or another.

  If it worked, they could send out Sage’s pet, along with anything Eriba could whip up, and Det’s renditions to thin the herd a bit. Suddenly, having three Arsenals in the party looked like quite the advantage.

  Before that, the camp.

  Walls wouldn’t be much good against Wordless that could just climb over them. He could probably do some kind of house—he’d done it once when he got caught out in a storm back on Radiant—but not anything that could really stand up to the ants attacking it. Not to mention, a few of them needed to be right up in melee to fight. Tena wouldn’t do much good sitting inside and drinking tea.

  The thought of tea reminded Det of Weiss, and he couldn’t stop himself from looking over at the healer. He still had his head down, but Tena was rotating her foot at the ankle, as if to see if it still hurt. The ink-wolf hadn’t moved, its keen eyes locked on the Medic, while the others—besides Eriba—had gathered around.

  “Weiss,” Det said as he decided that if he couldn’t build up to slow the ants, he’d just have to build down. Pits. Spike pits. Water pits. Acid pits? Could he do that? With kernelization, maybe he actually could. He popped the cork of one of the ink bottles he’d gotten from the Mistguard, dipped his brush, then began painting wide strokes of black across the ground and grass. “Why don’t you tell us what’s really going on.”

  “Nothing to tell,” Weiss said. “I’m a coward. A useless coward.”

  “I doubt either of those things are completely true,” Sage said. “Even though you may feel that way.” The man, voice calm, crouched down so he was at eye-level with Weiss, even though the other ReSouled’s eyes were firmly locked on the ground between him and Tena. “Why do you think that?”

  “You saw,” Weiss said. “I can’t… fighting… when I think about… since that day. I shouldn’t be allowed to fight.”

  “Allowed?” Sage asked, that one word standing out more than the others.

  Weiss didn’t answer immediately, allowing Det to finish the painting of his first trap. It wasn’t complicated. Mainly a big rectangle with his depiction of acid inside it. What was different with this one was that Det had injected the kernel while painting it instead of while manifesting it. It was still a toss up if it would work—or produce a pit full of water—but he had to test sometime. Besides, who said ants could swim?

  “You should answer him,” Calisco said. “Why wouldn’t you be allowed to fight? It’s kind of our whole point here.”

  “Not mine,” Weiss said quickly. “I’m not here to fight. I’m here because… it’s my penance. My hell.”

  “What are you even talking about?” Tena said, some of her impatience seeping through again. The look on her face said what her words didn’t; with every new word coming out of the Medic’s mouth, Tena was thinking Weiss would hold them back. Would hold her back. It was probably for the best Weiss was still looking at the ground.

  “I’m here to make up for what I did,” Weiss said. “What I did… and wasn’t punished for. Like I should have been. But I can never make up for it. Nothing will ever be enough. But, I can’t do it again. I can’t let it happen again.” Now that he was speaking, the words were pouring out of him like he’d sprung a leak.

  They were finally getting somewhere while Det moved on to his next pit trap. Since he wasn’t sure if acid would work, spikes were an oldie by a goodie for a reason. The ‘fun with traps’ helped calm Det’s aggravation at Weiss, and to think more clearly. The man freezing like that was a problem. A big one. But, it sounded like there was a reason for it. Did that make it better? No.

  Did it make it something they could work with? Maybe.

  And, since he’d started the mess by stopping Weiss from running away from the problem, he couldn’t just sit back and let the others sort it out by themselves.

  “I think,” Det said in the brief silence. “It might be time for us to talk about our drives.”