They stood at the mouth of the Stonefang tunnels, the morning wind cold against their faces. Kaelen cracked his neck, rolled his massive shoulders, and grinned down at Jason with those yellow teeth.

"Ready, little meat?"

Jason tightened the strap on his borrowed cuirass. "As I’ll ever be."

That was all the invitation Kaelen needed.

The reptile charged into the darkness like a madman—no hesitation, no caution, no plan. His twin axes were already in his hands, gleaming faintly in the torchlight that lined the tunnel walls.

His claws scraped against the stone floor as he ran, his tail thrashing behind him.

Jason stared after him. "Is he always like this?"

Helga sighed. "Yes."

Then she jumped.

The dwarf launched herself onto Kaelen’s back, her thick legs wrapping around his waist, one hand gripping his scales, the other raising her warhammer high. She rode him like a horse—a very angry, very scaly horse that was sprinting toward unknown danger.

"HYAH!" Helga shouted, smacking Kaelen’s shoulder with her free hand.

Kaelen roared with laughter. "FASTER, DWARF! FASTER!"

They disappeared around a bend in the tunnel, the sound of their footsteps echoing back like thunder.

Jason blinked. "Do they always do that?"

Mira stepped past him, her daggers already drawn, her amber eyes half-lidded. "Yes."

"Should we... follow them?"

"No." Mira didn’t slow down. "They’ll clear the first chamber. We’ll catch up."

Jason glanced at Ylva. She shrugged, her ears swiveling, her nose twitching at the stale air.

They walked deeper into the tunnel, the torchlight fading behind them, replaced by the dim glow of phosphorescent moss on the walls. The air grew colder. The silence grew heavier.

And Jason began to understand why Kaelen had all those scars.

"He rushes in. Every time. No plan. No fear. Just axes and rage."

Jason thought to himself.

Mira stayed a few paces ahead of Jason, her movements fluid, her tail swaying. She didn’t look back at him, but Jason could feel her gaze through his peripherals. She was watching him, studying him.

Jason kept his eyes forward and his mouth shut.

He knew he had to be careful. One wrong step, one moment of panic, and he would become a casualty. The goblins wouldn’t care that he was new. The spiders wouldn’t care that he was trying his best.

But Mira was watching.

He wasn’t sure if that made him feel safer or more exposed.

"The thing about goblins," Mira said, her voice echoing off the damp walls, "is that they’re one of the few races outlawed."

Jason frowned. "Outlawed?"

"No rights. No protections. If you kill one, no one cares." She glanced back at him. "They have no regard for life. Their own or anyone else’s. And they’re very aggressive."

"Intelligence?" Jason asked.

"Low." Mira turned back around. "Very low. You could almost think of them as complex insects. They bite. They fuck. They die. That’s all."

Jason nodded slowly. "So we’re killing bugs."

"If it helps you sleep tonight, yes."

Ylva, walking beside Jason, suddenly stopped. Her nostrils flared. Her ears went flat against her skull.

"This place," she muttered. "The smell..."

Jason sniffed the air. It wasn’t pleasant—damp, rotting, faintly sweet in a way that reminded him of old meat. But Ylva looked like she was about to vomit.

"Mira," Ylva said, her voice strained. "What is this?"

Mira stopped and turned. "The tunnels were crafted to keep people like you out. This the haven of those little shits." She gestured at the walls, the moss, the faint runes carved into the stone. "There are deterrents. The very air is polluted with feces among other things, that mess with your senses."

Ylva gagged. "You could have warned me."

Mira shrugged. "You would have smelled it anyway."

Jason stepped closer to Ylva, placing a hand on her back. "You okay?"

She shook her head but kept walking. "Fine. Just... fine."

Jason turned to Mira. "You should have told us earlier. Are you with us or against us?"

Mira didn’t give him much attention. She just kept walking, her daggers swinging at her hips.

"You’re here now," she said. "Complaining won’t change that."

Jason bit back a retort.

They reached a junction where the tunnel split into two paths—left and right. Both were dark. Both were silent. Both smelled of rot and old blood.

Mira stopped.

Her tail went still. Her amber eyes narrowed.

"That’s strange," she muttered. "This wasn’t here the last time."

Jason looked at the two paths. "What do you mean it wasn’t here?"

"I mean it wasn’t here." Mira crouched down, pressing her palm against the damp stone floor. "The tunnels don’t change. They’re static because there are structures. But this..." She traced her fingers along the edge of the left path. "This is new."

Helga and Kaelen were nowhere in sight. They had taken one of the paths—or maybe neither. The echoes of their footsteps had long since faded.

Jason looked at the ground. The stone was damp. Wet. Almost slick.

"It hasn’t rained in days," Jason said. "Why is the floor wet?"

Mira’s hand froze.

Her amber eyes snapped to Jason’s face. Then to Ylva’s. Then to the two dark tunnels.

"Be on guard," Mira said, her voice low and sharp. "Something’s wrong."

Jason’s heart hammered. "What kind of wrong?"

Mira stood up slowly, her daggers sliding into her hands. "The kind that means we might have to split up."

"Split up?" Jason’s voice cracked. "Are you insane?"

"The left path is drier," Mira said, ignoring him. "I’ll take it. You three take the right. If you find Kaelen or Helga, stay with them. If you find anything else..."

She didn’t finish the sentence.

She didn’t need to.

Mira turned and disappeared into the left tunnel, her tail the last thing Jason saw before the darkness swallowed her.

Jason stared at the empty space where she had been.

"I hate this," he muttered.

Ylva grabbed his arm. "Move. Now."

She pulled him into the right tunnel, Thalion and Mae following close behind.

The darkness closed in around them.