Countless victims fell to what Synexus found out to be a Finspine Panther. It was clear the one the party faced was of a high level and had been living on the surface of the floor for a long time. Whole skeletons were pulled from the dilapidated building.

  Pioneer laid flat by Zuls and gave off a slight whine mixed with a soft cackle anytime the odd bones of his fallen Pathfinders were pulled from the pile. Somehow the strange creature could tell, and it showed how intelligent his species truly were. Synexus and Kumo took the time to gently remove them and put them in a separate pile to be respectful.

  A few humanoid skeletons were found near the bottom of the pile, and they could tell they were older than the rest. Perhaps they were the natural inhabitants of this world or maybe they were just the people who made the small building.

  All in all, it took two full days to remove all the bones and then use Kumo’s wind to get all the bone dust off the floor and walls. There was minimal furniture that had fallen apart or rotted from age. Two chairs, a table, and some sort of storage cabinet. Along the wall were scratches that looked more purposeful than a beast clawing at the wall. Shell said they looked like the markings pirates made on the side of their ships to count the days of their journeys.

  Once they got all the dust out, Synexus noticed a small difference in a few tiles using his extremely high perception and then verified there was something under it by using Mana Perception. A glow of mana was coming through the cracks. Instead of opening it up and jumping down recklessly, the party waited for Zuls to heal back to a hundred percent before delving into the unknown.

  She woke up the day after the incident, but she was quiet and distant only speaking when it was important for her to answer. She wasn’t her normal self. There were no jokes or quick-witted comments. The rest of the party gave her the space she clearly wanted. Only Pioneer and her bonded were allowed to spend time with her.

  Two days later, she was back up and moving around doing a little better with communication. There was still something holding her back, but no one pushed.

  On the fifth night, she finally opened up again.

  “I’m sorry, everyone. I put your lives in danger because I got distracted.” She said. No one else said anything.

  “I make jokes a lot and I’ve gotten a bit overconfident ever since my trial. That was the first time I had to get through anything alone and when I did, it felt amazing. I felt powerful and in control. Then we traversed the mountain without any real injuries with the exception of Synexus’ arm with the birds and captain’s brush with death during the fight with Plague. Perhaps it made me a bit careless.”

  Vorin finally spoke. “None of us blame you, Zuls. We all need that tug back to reality sometimes. Another curse of being a class chosen. We gain power and our levels go up and up for all the work we do. It can be almost intoxicating. You didn’t do anything wrong the other day. That panther was just incredibly fast. We are just glad you came out of this with your life. The beast sobered us up a bit and now we know that we need to push even harder to survive in this twisted world.”

  A tear fell from her cheek and sizzled when it hit the fire. Everyone was nodding towards her and Vorin saying they agree.

  “You’re always positive and that helps to keep us all going. It’s why you have an aura that aids us. Even System knows you single handedly keep our morale high.” Synexus added while putting his hand on her shoulder.

  “I’ve absolutely missed your jokes the past few days. Synexus tried to make one the other day about how the building was bone dry. I almost struck him with a bolt of lightning.”

  Zuls laughed with even more tears streaming down her face. Shell started to play Zuls favorite song on her ocarina. Prith started to share tales of Zuls’ amazing feats since they had started adventuring together. Her bonded all came out and were doing the most to cheer her up while also inspecting Pioneer curiously. It turned into a night that the party would always remember. A night that ended with the strange sunlight streaming through the depths of the ocean above.

  As one, they all got up from their tents and moved toward the small building with ancient walls barely standing. Synexus, Kumo, and Prith had to use rope to get enough force to open the hatch. With the opening, air came rushing out equalizing the inside and outside. Stairs led down into a dark hallway. Synexus grew some of his bioluminescent flowers for everyone and made them the kind that they could pour mana into to brighten.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  After the conversation around the fire the night before, Zuls decided that she would stay up top guarding the building with her bonded since Pioneer couldn’t fit in the building or the hatch. Gene would sit at the top to relay any important information. Shell would sit at the bottom of the stairs to be available for healing above or below ground. Vorin would lead Synexus, Kumo, and Prith deeper into the underground passage. Synexus would also grow a trail to follow them if something were to happen and Gene needed to find them.

  “How do we keep ending up underground?” Kumo rhetorically asked as they moved through a narrow hallway lit only by the soft glow of Synexus’ plants.

  A line of torches was on one wall, but it was decided that lighting a fire in each would be a waste of time and may give them away to anyone further down the hall. A hall that started to take sharp turns as if it was a maze with only one path. Every twenty feet had a strong metal gate hanging above embedded in the ceiling waiting to fall at a moment’s notice and block the path. The four decided that it was unlikely it was some elaborate trap and pressed on keeping a close eye on the gates.

  “We have light ahead. Looks like the tunnel opens into a room.” Vorin whispered back down the line.

  Footsteps softened and slowed until the party was creeping towards the light that Vorin had seen. Inch by inch. Foot by foot. Each of them dimmed their flowers in the final stretch and Synexus activated his Mana Perception.

  “Magical fire. No other mana signatures.”

  Vorin nodded and then gestured to stay while he went forward.

  He found himself in a room with a flickering fire above in the middle of a metal ring. Two skeletons laid in the corner; parts of their bones were already dust. A rotted table was knocked over to the side of the room. Dust clung to the air making it harder to breathe. He put on his plague doctor mask to prevent himself inhaling the particles.

  “All clear.”

  Prith moved forward followed by Kumo and Synexus. The three scrunched their faces at the sight of the two skeletons, but then Synexus noticed something odd.

  He approached and stuck his hand into a dust pile that was once three of the ribs of the skeleton. When he pulled it back out, he had a bag sitting in his hand. Upon further inspection it was dimensional.

  “Moderately big and made for non-specific items. A couple of chairs, quite a bit of food, barrels of water, clothes, personal items, and what looks to be a note.”

  “Read the note. It may have answers.”

  Taking Vorin’s suggestion, Synexus started to read the note aloud to the party.

  “Whoever finds this note, listen closely. We were assigned this guard duty on 20D3 of the 42nd rotation within the fifth cycle. Prison planet 333-1, also known as The Bubble, was supposed to be a quiet post. A way for us to live out our lives relatively peacefully. My wife and I both agreed.

  We lived our lives in our modest home staring up at the peaceful water casting wavy shadows down on us for twelve rotations. Our children were just starting their lives and enjoyed running along the surface of the main pole. We never watched them. With the gravity the pole created, it was impossible for them to fall off. We regret not keeping an eye on them.

  Screams carved themselves into our minds that day. The screams of our children when the strange gate opened. Monsters of all shapes and sizes stampeded out. Flying beasts with deadly pincers, strange oxen, insects with terrifying stingers. But none were as terrifying as the moving forest.

  They were almost home.

  We could see them from the doorway.

  I ran to grab them. The forest was faster.

  They were almost home—when the panther’s quills bit into their legs. I still ran to grab them, to help them up. It was too late—the cat looked satisfied as it tore through them like they weren’t people. Meat. Flesh and meat. That’s all they were. Then skeletons. All in the flash of a second.

  My wife put her arms around me and dragged me back into our home. We hadn’t built a door, why would we?

  She pulled and pulled until we were under the tiles. Our magic sealed it closed. We could still hear that damned cat feasting above us. Claws tapped above us as they bit into the tiles. Bones and bodies were dragged across the floor. The thought of the beast using my son’s bones to pick its teeth almost made me break the seal and fight, but there was still the mission.

  The mission. The reason we were on this rock.

  I—no we needed someone to know our story. Know of us, know of our family. Su^Skix, my wife Mi^Skix, our son Sv^Skix, and our daughter MJ^Skix. She was only six rotations when that cat caught her.

  If you found this letter, then you found our belongings. I ask you two things. The first is that you return our personal belongings to my brother on Planet 2877 or as we liked to call it, The Gem of Farrow Greens. He is known as St^Skix. You will probably find him living in the Swaying Reach. A neighborhood in the city of Sunglow that he was quite fond of.

  My second request is to ensure our mission is still completed. Following the tunnel further will lead you to the prison cells. Make sure they are still locked up. Sustainment magic was used on the bars and pods to keep them barely alive. Even if it’s been decades, they may still be. Check on them, and check that the bars are strong. Contact the Creation’s Coalition to send more guards here.

  These are our final words. Keep them safe. Keep yourselves safe. And most importantly—yes, most importantly, keep the ones you love safe. Thank you.”