The wall behind me made it hard to get away from the sand as it outlined me in dust.

  I barely had time to roll away as something slammed into the wall behind me, just missing. The air displacement caused me to move faster in a slight panic.

  I still couldn’t see my enemy, and all my radar gave me was a not-prey, along with its general location. The confusing part was that it still stood on the sand and hadn’t rushed at me. Whatever had hit the wall wasn’t the creature.

  Sticking to the shadows, I kept moving silently around the not-prey, waiting for a chance to strike.

  Dengu and Strange dispatched the other Prancer and a growl came from the center of the ruins.

  “You dare kill my pets!” The deep voice echoed around the stone area.

  Sand flew up again in a few different directions, but not at me this time. A burst headed directly toward Dengu, but he dodged it.

  Strange kept back, sneaking in the shadows like me, yet he crept toward the creature. The bond kept me appraised of his progress across the sand.

  Dengu launched at the area of the attacker, but missed, landing in the sand and twisting about. Something slammed into his back and sent him flying.

  At that moment Strange attacked, chomping on nothingness for a split second before the stealth dropped.

  [Ruinous Hunter, Shooting Hook, Level 69, Predator, Unknown.]

  A long sand colored cloak covered the creature, if it was a creature. Standing on two legs, with bright yellow eyes peering out from under a hood, it looked very dangerous.

  Strange’s teeth dug in deeper on its arm, which held a contraption of sorts. It had a giant clawed hand on the end of a long chain.

  Strange had targeted the area right behind the metal contraption.

  As the target shimmered into view, Dengu leaped at it.

  I launched myself across the sand, taking a path in as much shadow as possible. Both Dengu and Strange were massively underleveled for this fight. I gritted my teeth, moving as fast as possible.

  The Ruinous Hunter slammed its contraption into Dengu’s face, knocking him back, and dodging his talons. He flung out his arm to remove Strange, yet the little guy had already vanished.

  That's when my spear made contact with its lower back. Its clothing burned as the blade made contact, then sliced deeper.

  Yet, it twisted about and tried to hit me with its weapon thing.

  I ducked as Dengu attacked its back with his talons.

  My spear didn’t hit anything under the ropes, so I twisted the tip in the clothing and yanked back, tearing part of the clothing away.

  I paused, which almost caught me a fist, but then Degnu made impact.

  There wasn’t anything under the robe. The area I’d thought were feet was just more robe, hanging down.

  I rolled away as Dengu tore more of the clothing off the creature, revealing something with a helmet, torso and arms, then it just ended, floating in midair.

  Even Dengu hesitated at the sight.

  That was a mistake, as the claw launched itself at the dinosaur.

  He dodged.

  I slid across the sand, slicing at the attached chain with my speartip glowing a bright red.

  The chain snapped and the creature screamed in fury. The metal hand continued on its way, hitting a stone wall.

  Yet, the strange creature dodged backward, away from us.

  “You broke my chain! You, you!”

  Then it disappeared, leaving the metal hand behind.

  I searched out on my radar but it was gone. Yet, I received a weird impression from Strange, and he appeared somehow far above us.

  The image of the thing’s robes came across the bond.

  “That little guy…” I whispered. Somehow, Strange had climbed inside the hunter's robes.

  “Dangerous hunt for little one,” said Dengu, shaking his head before he nudged the metal hand, which vanished.

  “I can track him.” Then I launched myself to the stone ceiling that created a pathway up.

  The stone ceiling hid giant steps, of all things, heading back in the direction we had traveled across the ruins. It wasn’t possible for the area to exist, but I ignored that. This was a dungeon after all.

  I leaped up the first stone block with Dengu right on my tail. Several stones later and we both slowed down. We inched closer to Strange’s location, but I didn’t receive anything but contentment from the little guy. It didn’t make sense.

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  [Strange has accepted a quest: Return the metal hand to the Ruinous Hunter.]

  I slowed down even more as the notification crossed my screen.

  “Quest?” asked Dengu, coming up beside me. “How he get a quest?”

  “No idea, though I want to find out.”

  Eventually we curved again, back to the area where we’d fought the strange sand creature, but much higher in the air. Strangely though, it all was still the same stone underfoot, with gaps in the ceiling of bright sunlight. The heat continued as well, but at least the sand was gone.

  Smoke from a fire drifted in the air, along with the sound of hammering. A large archway opened up to a room that reminded me of a forge. The Ruinous Hunter hammered on some metal near a bright red oven.

  Strange stood on a wooden stool of all things, watching. He turned in my direction as we entered.

  Dengu and I waited.

  The Hunter stopped his work and glanced at us. “Are you here to complete the quest?”

  “What about the fight?” I asked.

  “There are many paths in the labyrinth.” His helmet nodded toward Strange. “He decided to change the current path.”

  Dengu stepped forward slowly, then the metal hand appeared near his foot before he backed up next to me.

  The metal had vanished without the Hunter moving.

  [Your team has completed the Ruinous Hunter’s quest. As a reward you have gained experience and 10 free stat points.]

  [You have leveled.]

  The reward shocked me, and I somehow knew Strange had leveled several times. At least, I didn’t need to try to eat whatever he was to get stats.

  “Stats?” echoed inside my head with glee from Strange. He jumped up and down a few times. “Added Stats.”

  [Strange, Bonded Baby Compy, Level 43, Bonded]

  “You did good, little guy.” I moved a little closer, smiling at Strange before looking at the Hunter. “What are you making?”

  “A new body,” said the Hunter. “My old one was destroyed, so I am creating a new one. Though, I need more metal. If you want another quest, since you killed my pets, I have one available.”

  “Quest!”

  [Strange has accepted a quest: Bring the Hunter 5 ingots of metal from Prancers.]

  “I feel like I should warn you, the little one is under leveled for the area you need to go.”

  “Is it still in the adolescent area?”

  “The ruins are a grey area, as most never find this path. It can be a speed run of sorts, to get someone up to level with the rest of their party.” The helmet nodded at Strange. “The little one fits the definition, yet I don’t think that’s all.”

  The two glowing eyes stared at me and Dengu, and for a split second it felt like Noseen stood before me, studying me. Then it was gone.

  “Not all at.” He shook his head and turned back to the large red fire. “Guard the little one and complete your quest. It should get him to the minimum to go have fun at the academy.”

  Strange leaped off the stool and padded over to the both of us.

  The location for the quest stretched at the back of my mind. It didn’t feel far, but it felt far. I didn’t know how to describe it.

  “Alright, let’s do this.” Yet, as we exited the room the same way we’d entered, the area changed.

  Hot sand radiated warmth from below as the purple sun pounded down from above. Spiky plants dotted the landscape here and there like jagged crystals reaching toward the purple sky.

  In the far distance a big rock was our target.

  [Home of the Prancers.]

  First, we needed to cross the harsh sands. My boots absorbed the warmth from below with ease, but Strange couldn’t touch down on the hot sand without his feet getting toasted. So, he rode in his sling.

  Dengu kept pace with me as we traveled fast, but not too fast, across the desert.

  My face felt warm, along with the rest of my exposed skin, yet I didn’t burn. It just felt warm. Then I noticed the scales covering my bare shoulders. Clearly, my enhancements were helping in ways I hadn’t even guessed they would.

  My mouth snapped shut as we hiked across the area, coming closer to one of the tall crystals stretching to the skies.

  It wasn’t crystal like Lenna’s world's crystal. It didn’t have a presence, but it sparkled. The crystal continued around the base of the area, like the sand turned to stone.

  [Crystal Spike.]

  So very weird.

  Then something moved inside the crystal, heading toward the opening at the top.

  The hair on the back of my neck warned me to get the hell out of there, so I danced back and away. Dengu followed.

  We crept away back to our course toward the big rock. A few moments later, something spilled out the top of the crystal and splashed on the sand below, sizzling.

  “What the…” My brain screamed acid, which was one of those things that spooked the hell out of me. You couldn’t fight something like that if you fell in it. Only a slow and terrible death seemed likely.

  I shivered and sped up, making sure to keep us away from the towering crystals. Yet my brain kept focusing on them. Where did the acid come from?

  The rock grew larger as we approached and it felt full of creatures. Creatures like the Hunter’s pets we’d dispatched.

  As we approached, they must have noticed, because a wave of five creatures headed our way, claws snapping. All were around level 65.

  Dengu leaped to meet one, tearing off its shocking claw in the process.

  My stealth didn’t work under the hot sun, and I dodged a claw while slicing at another.

  Strange leaped from his sling at a different one, easily keeping out of its reach since it was so big compared to him. The creature went crazy trying to attack him.

  Another claw reached for me with electricity arching between the openings. My spear tip took it cleanly off as the creature screamed, stabbing wildly with its giant tail.

  It missed me, but hit the second one trying to attack me. Its tail smashed into the other’s face, breaking its mandibles. While the first was distracted, I stabbed into its side with my spear blazing an icy white.

  I pulled back and then flattened myself on the ground as it twisted about with its claws. The electricity on this one glowed brighter. My spear shrunk down into its knife form.

  It barely missed me, but it felt like it singed the air somehow.

  I stabbed upward into its body right under its head, then yanked back and rolled. Gook sprayed out everywhere.

  Something slammed into my thigh, but I kept going, tanking the damage. While it hurt, it didn’t hurt enough to stop. I paused notifications as the one creature died, turning to focus on the other.

  These creatures were fast. A few others raced in our direction, and I picked up my speed. We needed to thin the ranks more. As I thought it, Dengu’s creature fell, along with the one Strange had tackled.

  I didn’t have time to find out what happened as I took out the last one attacking me. It’d already lost a claw, and its tail had damage from where it hit its friend. It launched at me, but missed as my spear took it right in the face.

  The fifth one waited outside of reach, watching the fight, which unnerved me for some reason.

  [Lightning Prancer, Shocking Lunge, Level 70, Predator, Unknown.]

  As soon as the last one facing me fell, the larger one's tail pointed at me, lightning sparked at the tip and then dashed through the air in my direction.