The next morning, the sun barely crept over the hills when the group set out from the Broken Horn Tavern. The chill in the early air bit through their cloaks, but the road ahead was clear—at least until the edge of the forest where the dungeon awaited, hidden beneath layers of root and stone.
Rowan walked at the rear of the group, a modest pack slung over his back. The morning mist curled along the trail, rising around their boots like smoke. Noah led the way, his axes glinting against his broad back. Alice, the archer, kept scanning the tree lines as they passed, ever alert. Lucius marched in silence, his shield strapped firmly across his back, while Robert occasionally scribbled notes into a weathered pad. Jasmine, wrapped in her sage-green cloak, walked close to Ron, the quiet swordsman with a gaze as sharp as his blade.
At first, conversation was light.
"So, Rowan," Alice said as she walked beside him, "how'd a kid like you end up waiting tables in a place like that?"
Rowan smiled faintly. "Same way most people end up somewhere, I guess. One choice after another."
"That's cryptic," Noah said with a chuckle.
"I like cryptic," Robert said. "It makes people harder to read."
"And you enjoy that?" Jasmine asked, raising a brow.
"Helps in dungeons. Or taverns," Robert replied.
Lucius grunted. "I don't like puzzles. I like shields. You know where you stand with a shield."
Ron spoke for the first time. "Unless the thing hitting it is bigger than you."
"You've clearly never seen me use mine," Lucius said.
They laughed, the tension easing as they crested a low ridge. The air here was colder. Still. Unwelcoming.
By the time they reached the dungeon's edge, the sun hovered past noon. The forest had opened into a clearing, where shattered stone and overgrown ruins surrounded a collapsed shrine. At the center, a dark stairway yawned open beneath a cracked slab of granite.
Broken statues lined the entrance, faces worn blank by time. A chill lingered in the air here—different from the morning cold. Older. Hungrier.
Rowan slowed as he approached, eyes narrowing.
"That's it," Robert said, snapping his book shut. "The map ends here."
Noah stepped forward. "Everyone ready?"
No words. Just nods.
They descended into shadow.
The First Floor
The first floor of the dungeon greeted them with unexpected calm. Stone corridors stretched out before them in eerie symmetry, lit faintly by glowing moss along the walls. Drips of water echoed through the silence. Every footstep was a whisper.
Rowan stayed toward the back, eyes sharp. Something gnawed at his instincts—something quiet, something wrong. The silence wasn't peace. It was waiting.
"No monsters?" Alice muttered, lowering her bow.
Ron glanced back. "Don't jinx it."
Rowan walked near the back, his gaze scanning every crevice. He could feel something—not sight, not sound—but presence. Like someone was watching from the shadows.
They moved deeper. The walls grew narrower, and the floor sloped down slightly. After nearly two hours of walking in near silence, Jasmine spoke.
"Is it just me," she said, "or is it getting… warmer?"
Everyone stopped.
Now that she'd said it, they felt it. The temperature was rising—not gradually, but steadily. A heavy heat clung to their clothes, creeping against their skin like an invisible fog.
Noah cursed under his breath. "It's not just you."
The walls were glowing faintly now, pulsing like veins. Beneath their boots, the ground rumbled.
Then—
Boom.
The floor shattered.
With a roar that tore through the cavern, a colossal form erupted from the depths—a monstrous earthworm, its body the size of a wagon, plated in scorched stone and veined with molten cracks. It twisted in mid-air, a grotesque coil of fire and rock.
"DOWN!" Noah shouted.
The worm reared and belched a torrent of flame. Lucius lunged forward, slamming his shield into the ground just in time. The fire washed over him like a tidal wave, but the shield held.
"Barrier!" Jasmine shouted, her staff glowing as a shimmering dome wrapped around them. Though she was only a healer, her staff also acted as an artifact that could cast barrier magic. Healers are vulnerable while healing others. That's why this staff comes in handy during situations like this. The flames hissed against the magic, barely held at bay.
"MOVE!" Robert barked.
The group scattered as the worm lunged again. Arrows from Alice bounced harmlessly off its rocky hide. Robert hurled fireballs, but they fizzled on impact. Ron's blade struck sparks off the beast's side, but no blood spilled—only molten cracks.
"It's not taking damage!" Robert yelled. "Its outer shell is too thick!"
The worm dove back underground, and the tremors silenced.
"Don't stand still!" Rowan shouted. "It's hunting by vibration!"
Seconds passed.
Then it struck again—this time from behind.
Alice didn't see it.
But Rowan did. He moved.
Faster than instinct, faster than fear. He lunged, tackling Alice to the ground just as the worm's jaws slammed into the spot she'd been standing. Heat scorched the air.
They hit the floor hard. Rowan's hand closed over a nearby blade—abandoned, old—but still sharp. He rose and drove it toward the worm's face. It screeched and recoiled, reeling back just enough for Lucius to bash into its side, knocking it off balance.
Noah came in next, twin axes slicing into the soft joint where scales didn't meet. Ron darted under the writhing coils, plunging his sword up into its exposed underbelly.
With a final, piercing shriek, the worm collapsed in a steaming heap. The fire in its veins flickered and died.
Silence.
Their breaths came heavy. Clothes scorched. Faces cut. The heat still lingered in the air, but the threat was gone.
"First floor?" Jasmine whispered. "That thing was the first floor?"
"We were almost gone," Said Lucius.
Everybody was panting except Rowan.
"We rest here," Noah said, sliding to the floor. "Heal. Regroup. We move tomorrow."
One by one, they slumped down. Rowan sat apart from the others, quietly wiping ash from his face. Alice walked over, her voice low.
"You saved my life."
"I reacted," Rowan replied. "Anyone would've."
"No," she said softly. "Not like that."
Before Rowan could answer, Noah and Robert approached.
"That wasn't luck," Robert said. "You moved like someone who's trained."
Noah crossed his arms. "Ever think about joining a guild? A hunter academy? You've got the skills."
Rowan looked at the flickering fire. His voice was quiet. "I don't want that life."
"Why not?" Robert asked.
"I'm not looking for glory," Rowan said. "Or power. I just want to live quietly. Maybe help someone if I can."
They didn't speak for a moment.
"That's rare," Noah said finally, then turned away.
Alice followed him.
Rowan sat in silence, alone in his thoughts. His eyes drifted, and for a moment, he wasn't in the dungeon anymore.
He was suddenly on a battlefield, where dead bodies were piled on the ground. Amidst the dead silence, a boy knelt in the dirt. And a man clad in armor lay in his lap—tired, bleeding, but proud. Almost at his end.
"You are… my legacy, Logan. Not my vengeance. Live—for both yourself and me."
The memory faded like smoke.
Rowan said nothing more. He only leaned back against the stone, eyes half-closed, and listened to the fire crackle in the darkness.