Nikolai had plenty of time to study the murals on the walls as they moved through the hallways. Each time they encountered a door, an opening, or even the slightest crack in the floor or wall, the group halted and checked the area for traps.

  To their credit, several such traps had been found and either triggered intentionally or safely disarmed. Most had been primitive, and morale remained high among the adventurers.

  A few small chambers had been discovered along the way, each holding a sarcophagus at the far wall. No one had disturbed them. Nikolai had been surprised at first, but after seeing how some of the others bowed when approaching them, he guessed it was out of respect for whoever rested in this dark place.

  This display was a bit surprising to him, he had assumed most adventurers would crack those open without hesitation.

  The murals, however faded, told their own story. While the murals in the main hallway showed large battles and monsters, these instead focused on a different part of the army. There were no sword-wielding warriors—only people in colorful robes, wielding staves or wands.

  The scenes appeared to follow a narrative. One mural depicted buildings with a woman in front—long flowing hair and a halo of light around her head. The next showed her and a man clasping hands, a washed-out city behind them. More people gathered behind the woman in each panel, likely symbolizing growing influence or perhaps apprentices? The mural Nikolai studied now showed her battling a monster, a small army behind her, fire blasting from her staff.

  A slight change in light made him look over his shoulder. One of the other mages had approached and studied the mural beside him.

  “A shame that so few people will ever get to enjoy these, isn’t it?” the man commented.

  Nikolai nodded. He had always wanted to visit Egypt for this exact reason—not because he was a great history buff, but because he loved stories of the ancient world.

  A call from up ahead reminded the mage to move on, and Nikolai and a few others remained at the rear of the group. The nearest area had been cleared of traps, and they began advancing again.

  Nikolai walked behind Simi and the orange-robed mage who traveled with her. They spoke quietly, but he wasn’t listening. A shout of excitement suddenly echoed from ahead, and the group hurried forward.

  Around a gentle bend in the corridor, they found the others gathered around a large doorway. It was carved directly into the stone wall, with cracked golden inlay and ornate sweeping lines that immediately made it clear this was important.

  “What did you find?” Simi called out.

  The small man from her team—whose name Nikolai still hadn’t learned—grinned. “It’s her we think! We found her tomb!”

  Simi smiled. “Imagine if we found her staff!” she said to the orange-robed mage.

  “I’d claim it on the spot!” the mage replied with a confident grin.

  Simi smirked. “You sure you want to fight me for it, Livi?”

  The now-identified Livi gave a matching grin. “You better believe it, Sims. Maybe we’ll finally see a Gravling without fur—I doubt it’s pretty!”

  Simi gave her a playful shove. “Prettier than your pasty face!”

  Livi laughed and brushed against the wall—

  —and the entire hallway shook violently, and the door which had moments ago blocked their path faded like it had never been there, revealing a continuation of the hallway beyond.

  The floor split open directly beneath the two mages, and they began to fall.

  Nikolai saw it in slow motion. The gap widened fast—too far to jump. He saw Simi’s face twist from surprise to fear and reacted without thinking. His hand shot out, and his mana barrier spell activated.

  The barrier materialized beneath Simi, and Nikolai forced it to extend far enough to catch Livi as well. They landed hard, and he grunted with the strain. The gap was still widening, and Nikolai stepped forward carefully, making sure not to look down.

  “Hold on!” he yelled.

  “To what!?” Simi shouted back, still shocked.

  Nikolai had no real answer. Instead he twisted his head and shouted:

  “Help! I need help!”

  Others rushed to him. One man quickly uncoiled a long rope, fashioned it into a lasso, and threw it with impressive accuracy between the two mages. Simi gestured for Livi to take it, but she refused and tried to give the rope to Simi instead.

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  Nikolai growled, “Livi, just take the rope, you damn idiot! Simi can hold on to you!”

  Livi shot him an outraged look, but she obeyed. Moments later the rope was secured around her, Simi lightly holding on. With both balanced precariously on the mana barrier, Nikolai began moving it toward himself. He hadn’t even known the spell could be used this way. Could he fly using it? Well—probably not safely, but still, worth a try maybe…

  Across the gap, people shouted anxiously. He spotted Azila watching him with narrowed eyes—the threat of swift punishment clear if he dropped the two mages. Nikolai decided to ignore her completely.

  He raised the barrier carefully. A heavy clunk sounded as the floor mechanisms stopped moving—but several identical clunks echoed behind him as well. People shouted warnings, but Nikolai forced himself to keep focus.

  Simi’s head appeared over the edge of the floor, then Livi’s. Their eyes widened at something behind Nikolai. He had no time to see what, until the others managed to haul the pair to safety. Only then did he allow the barrier to vanish.

  He panted like he’d run a marathon and finally turned to see what had caused the panic—

  —and felt his breath freeze in his throat.

  The floor behind them had lowered into a ramp, revealing ranks of undead marching upward. Dozens of them. Of the rear team, only seven remained on this side: two warriors, the rope thrower, Nikolai, Simi, Livi, and a green-hooded man with a longbow who fired rapidly into the undead line.

  Simi stood, but Livi struggled, hissing and clutching her ankle. Nikolai dropped beside her.

  “You’re hurt. You can’t move. Let me fix it.” He grabbed her ankle despite her pushing at him.

  She cried out in pain but wisely didn’t resist further. “Fine, do it…”

  Nikolai activated his Lesser Heal rune. Through the spell he sensed the injury—not a break, just a severe sprain. He pushed as much mana into the spell as he could. Livi gasped, but within less than half a minute the injury was healed.

  The mana cost hit him hard—between the barrier and this healing, he estimated he had maybe thirty percent remaining.

  Livi stood, tested her weight, and gave him a curt nod. “Thanks, stay back.” She then moved past him to rejoin the fight.

  The warriors were being pushed back. Across the chasm, the larger group had things mostly under control, they too were under attack, but some mages looked back over the chasm in frustration—they couldn’t fire safely without risking friendly fire.

  Nikolai had been told not to fight, but the situation was turning bleak. He drew his sword, his hands shaking, and took up a position behind Simi and Livi as they hurled spells into the advancing undead. Their combos wiped out large clusters, but still more kept coming.

  Nikolai watched in horror as the undead finally broke around the two frontline warriors, one of them grunting as he stumbled from a shallow cut to his leg. The archer shot down a few, but more surged in. Then one of the large stitched-together zombies barreled into the warriors out of nowhere, forcing them back and opening a dangerous gap.

  Simi growled, drew her short axe in her free hand, and prepared to hold the line. The archer kept firing, but panic was starting to affect his aim.

  Nikolai took a deep breath and activated his Soothe spell. This time he controlled the mana flow carefully, remembering Lazgrim’s lessons. Calm settled over him—not the absence of fear and other emotion, but enough to push down his rising panic.

  A zombie charged, and Nikolai smoothly sidestepped, slicing its head off with surprising ease. Another attacked. He deflected the blow and stepped in like Pavel had taught him, but got too close for a swing. Disgusted, he grabbed its head and activated Lesser Essence Drain, darkness swirling around his hands. The zombie froze, then collapsed a few seconds later as he absorbed the meager energy within.

  He quickly glanced around, but no one was paying any attention to him. First a sigh in relief, then he grinned.

  He wasn’t supposed to reveal his affinities, but here, in the dim dungeon with limited visibility?

  Perhaps he could do this..

  He drew his wand and fired a beam of dark energy into the nearest zombie, draining it instantly. The essence was weak, but his shaking hands steadied, and his reserves began refilling slowly.

  He met Simi’s eyes. She looked unsettled for a heartbeat, she had noticed. She hesitated, then nodded toward the left flank. He nodded back and charged.

  Sword and wand in combination, Nikolai fought with growing confidence. Each takedown granted more essence, which fueled more spells and kept him from tiring. The others, however, were wearing down. Livi looked pale, and even Simi seemed to be slowly flagging. The front warriors defeated the hulking undead, and things seemed to be turning.

  At least until something blurred through the chaos.

  Someone shouted a warning.

  Livi never even saw it, never had a chance to react properly.

  It slammed into her like a charging bull. Only once it stopped moving and began tearing into her did Nikolai get a clear look.

  Humanoid. Two legs, two arms. Long serrated claws. Leathery skin and tangled gray hair. Muscles rippling beneath the skin. And a mouth full of too many teeth, opening impossibly wide.

  Nikolai snapped his mana barrier into existence—not to protect Livi, but to smash into the creature like he had at that slaver’s brothel. It didn’t notice until moments before the shimmering force slammed into it, launching it across the room so hard cracks split the opposite wall.

  Livi didn’t move.

  “Simi!” Nikolai yelled, pointing.

  Simi tore her eyes from her injured friend, shock giving way to murderous fury. She charged the strange undead monster screaming.

  Nikolai dropped beside Livi. Her stomach had been ripped open, deep crimson contrasting sharply against pale skin. No time to hesitate.

  He pushed healing into her wounds, burning through the essence he had gathered, fueling his dwindling mana reserves. The bleeding slowed, the flesh began knitting, but it wasn’t nearly enough.. He felt her pulse weakening, the life beginning to drain out of her.

  He managed to mostly stop the bleeding, and instead changed directions. He forced every last scrap of essence her had left into her, channeling his light affinity through the drain rune, reversing its function entirely.

  Livi groaned, then her eyes fluttered open, then she screamed..