Horus and Wally entered a widened cavern with raised weapons. They had reached the end of the second floor road, and now it was time for their final battle.
Shiv's map marked this place as a store for excess food brought in by the Firespitters. Mana-rich things were brought in to be fed to the Dungeon core, and the blood and flesh of what was left behind was ground up by the monsters for reproduction.
But sometimes they didn't need everything at once.Carcasses and glowing plants were piled up in different sections. Some of them rotting after days of lying around.
Once Horus confirmed that the Firespitters guarding the room were still far away, he turned and made a hand sign to Wally.
There were only two monsters, but they were Scouts with strange horns that could communicate with other Firespitters.
They still sensed prey through sound, though; if they sensed only Horus and he ran away, they would follow him.
That was the plan Shiv had suggested. Horus distracted the monsters while Wally got in there, extracted cores and grabbed anything valuable.
There was a second entrance to this cavern. Horus would go out that way, then circle back using one of the tunnels, and they would meet back on the second floor road.
He moved without hesitation, running towards a pile of leaves, grabbing one before sprinting to the second exit.
The Firespitter scouts felt his footsteps and rushed towards him, blazing like flamethrowers.
He was slightly faster. The fire cooked the air behind him as he shot out of the second exit. Sparing a glance he found that Wally was already drifting in.
The Firespitters were like hounds in the dark, drawing closer to him despite their heavy bodies.
His instincts sparked and told him to turn and kill both the monsters, but that wasn't the plan. The tunnel was just a few meters away, he could kill them before he entered, since he wasn't sure he could outrun—
Something exploded behind him, rattling the entire dungeon. Horus spun around with horror in his eyes.
Dust rained from the roof and billowed from the storage room he just left behind.
Wally.
The Firespitter scouts were stunned by the explosion and the noise, and vibration disturbed their perception of the world.
Horus leapt onto the back of the first one and dispatched it. The second Firespitter shot flames all around it in confusion, unable to properly sense the enemies.
Before his blade sank through the monster's back, it managed to let out a shrill whine. Its horns vibrated, and Horus felt its ringing in his bones.
It's calling reinforcements.
He rushed back to the storage room, coughing as he batted the smoke and dust from the air.
"Wally!" he shouted, searching the smoke. He thought he saw something moving through the smoke but nothing was there; he once again felt that human presence, but his mind was dragged by something else.
The smoke cleared and revealed a massive hole in front of him. His eyes widened as he stumbled at the edge, heart racing.
It led deep into the dungeon. Did Wally fall, and if so, was it even possible he was still alive?
No. He was down there, Horus was sure of it.
"Wally!" He yelled down the hole.
He reversed the grip on his sword and braced himself to start climbing. He had to get down and see for himself.
But then a bone-chilling sound shook the dungeon.
The sound of Firespitters running towards this room in numbers he couldn't even fathom. The reinforcements were here, and unlike him, they could climb faster than he did.
He stood at the edge of the hole. Helping Wally would mean death, but if he ran now, his friend could slowly die in the rubble.
A shaky breath rattled his body before he turned and ran.
He had to make it to the oasis before they caught him. He stormed down the road at maximum speed, but he could hear Firespitters flowing through the tunnels in the wall.
He wouldn't make it before they cut him off.
His grip tightened around his blade. Even now, the thought of death was silenced in his mind. Everything always ended in a fight after all.
Ten Firespitters dropped from holes in the ceiling, their weight crushing the stone beneath them. Horus could see the holes in their iron bodies glow with incandescent flame.
He prepared to jump and fade through the flames, but after that, he wasn't sure. He couldn't dispatch ten Firespitters before the other caught up and swarmed him.
But then a tune filled the room. A quick, scathing song played from a Gittern that ended on a sharp note.
All the Firespitters paused, the air above their bodies vibrating as the flames building in them faded.
Horus jumped over the stunned beast and saw June waving at him frantically. Before she could say a word, he was in front of her, dragging her away.
The footsteps of other Firespitters still rang in his ears, warning that not all of them heard June's song.
They both ran into the oasis, and Horus glanced at the entrance and the clear pool of water.
"Get in."
June looked sick in the green glow of the room and very unwilling. "I can't swim."
The Firespitter rushed into the room, squeezing past one another, fire erupting from the mass of steel and legs.
Horus grabbed June and jumped into the water. He swam, pulling her down as she buried her face into his chest.
The depths of the oasis were illuminated by the Firespitters, and the water bubbled and grew warmer till they got to the bottom.
In the light, Horus could see something, an underwater tunnel that led to another chamber completely submerged.
The chamber was shrouded in darkness, but he could see a mark carved into the wall and large shapes swimming through the murkiness.
Thankfully, they didn't seem to be coming here, but they had more urgent problems.
June was hitting his chest, struggling with her eyes wired shut. She couldn't breathe. But above them, the fire hadn't stopped.
In a moment of haste, Horus restrained her petite frame with one arm and clipped her nose with the other.
Then he laid his mouth against hers and shared his breath.