It took a while before we left the docks and even longer before we began moving in earnest. It was incredibly stuffy in the overly cramped room but the others made do with stories and general camaraderie while I went over the map we had been given and the notes I had taken during the meeting. There had been plenty of time to go over them last night, but I was nothing if not thorough.

  I was also exempt from storytelling, which was a plus until my wife decided that meant she got to go twice.

  The only indication that we were getting ready for battle was a ton of screaming from all around us. Some of them carried surprise since no one expected to be ready for combat just yet, but the majority were definitely excited and ready to go. Very few people wanted to be stuck on the sea for weeks. They were soldiers, adventurers, and a smattering of other things, but they weren’t sailors.

  All of us bristled as we felt a shift. The ship momentarily lurched as if suddenly going down a slope, causing Cojisto to have to reach out and steady Ferrisdae before she fell out of her seat. We all looked at each other when the water seemed to level out but become choppier in the process.

  “That’s the portal, then,” Ferrisdae stated as she moved back in her chair. She no longer sat with her feet up on Moose once Cojisto let her go, and she gave him a thankful smile.

  “Yup,” I agreed.

  Before I could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. I put away my notes as I stood up and opened it, map still in hand. Two women in Mage’s Guild garb were waiting on the other side, and the Human in front smiled down at me. “Inspector Badger and cohorts?”

  “Of course they are,” the Elf behind her scoffed. “Who else would have a moose?”

  “His name is Moose,” Cojisto chimed in helpfully.

  I waved at him to be quiet. “You two are?”

  “Dansa and Rateliea, here to teleport you both to the meeting place,” the Human answered, sounding chipper.

  “And?” I challenged, frowning at the lack of protocol being followed here.

  “And Justisius told us to tell you the badger digs for shelter,” Rateliea said, rolling her eyes before lowering her voice to a mutter. “Told you I should have taken the lead on this.”

  “Whatever,” Dansa shot back.

  I put my hands on my hips. That had certainly been one of the phrases Justisius had come up with to let us know when someone was a part of First Cell, even if I tried to veto it in the moment. It told me that they could be trusted, even if they acted like… this.

  “Come in. The sooner we’re off this boat, the better,” I said, urging them into the room. “Especially if you can do it before Dalsarel loses her stomach.”

  “I’m meant for caves, not the sea,” the Dark Elf complained with an arm over her abdomen and a hand over her mouth. She had been fine enough when the waters were relatively calm, but she took a turn for the worse after going through the portal.

  “Oh, yeah, she’s not looking too good,” Dansa stated as Rateliea closed the door behind them. “You want to take Moose the moose?”

  “Sure,” the Elf said, not bothering to argue. I wasn’t surprised he needed a wizard all to himself given how large he was. She walked up to Moose, who stood up, and visibly hesitated. “You, uh, good to go?”

  The healer stomped his foot once.

  “That means yes,” Cojisto translated.

  Rateliea gave him a strange look before putting her hand on Moose’s snout and casting her spell. The next moment, they were both gone.

  “Perfect. The rest of you, then,” Dansa said, putting her hand out and gesturing for us to do the same. All of us were tired of the boat, and there were no arguments as we were whisked away.

  Dalsarel wasn’t the only one who let out a sigh of relief when the ground beneath our feet no longer tossed and turned. The sun beat down on us, hotter than we were used to during this time of year, but the sea breeze was pleasant. I used the opportunity to look around.

  We were on an island with tall trees with their leaves growing out of the top. I couldn’t see it, but I could hear the ocean waves all around us as well as the sound of seabirds flying through the sky. We had been brought into a space that had been cleared out beforehand, and the ground had several symbols painted onto the dirt. Likely to help the mages teleport us in without any issues.

  The rest of First Cell was already here, including Justisius and the group of mages that teleported us in. Teladora and Vosvanya gave me nods when we met eyes, though Konishi was already checking our surroundings. Noknok Dor and his priests were almost all followers of Segrech, but I saw two holy symbols that didn’t match, one belonging to Baradon, the god of war, and the other to Zizaru, Gnomish goddess of health.

  Despite the House of Fate of Flame having a Lamia and Tiefling on their team and us having a moose, Zaylfor actually had the most diverse team. There was one other dwarf from the Mage’s Guild with him, but the other six were all different. I could almost taste the magic swirling around them from all the enchantments they were loaded up with.

  It didn’t seem like Justisius was ready to speak yet since he was fiddling with his Sending Stone, so I looked at my map. Now that we were here on the Southern Continent, my Dungeon Inspector abilities were working. I could see that we were on an archipelago on the northeastern side of the map a few miles away from the mainland.

  Setting the map on the ground and squatting over it, I pinched my fingers where we were to zoom in. There were dozens of islands with the largest being less than a quarter mile in length, and four other ones were inhabited by green dots. I recognized that as a sign that they were friendly, and that I had accidentally discovered just how many special groups there were.

  Tabitha put a hand on my shoulder and I quickly fixed it before standing up. “There’s no DTER,” I stated, checking my emotional state.

  “Absolutely right, Badger,” Justisius said, not looking up from his Sending Stone. “This archipelago was cleared of its dungeon moments ago in an attempt to keep CC away from us long enough to send you all on your way. The ships should be landing on shore soon where the director himself will shut down any dungeons while everyone else storms the beach to secure the area.”

  “Your Director Ortaephaen?” Zaylfor asked, stroking his beard. “With him on our side, I suppose that battle is as good as won.”

  “That one, yes,” Justisius agreed with a nod and furrowed brow. “With all the firepower we have in the field, he’s going to be taking care of the defense of headquarters once we set it up.”

  “He’s not going to be doing any fighting after the first push?” Teladora scoffed, crossing her arms. “I know you all brought in a bunch of big name teams, but he’s one of the biggest names of them all. He can’t go venturing into the wilderness alongside us?”

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  “Generals only fight on the front line when it has been pushed back far enough to warrant it,” Noknok Dor spoke. “I only just learned of him for this crusade, but it sounds to me like he will be providing a safe haven for our side to return to. That, too, is just as important as the pure destructive intent we have been called in to provide.”

  “Exactly,” Zaylfor agreed. “You adventurers might be used to going into dungeons day after day, but even you must rest occasionally. Soldiers are no different.”

  “Plus, it’s good for morale to have someplace safe to return to,” Tabitha added.

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Teladora said, waving her hand dismissively before casting a spell. She floated upwards so that she was level with Vosvanya. “So, what’s the deal now? Everything seems to be going smoothly enough. We’re waiting for First Cell’s surprise fifth team or something?”

  “There’s a fifth team?” Noknok asked, tilting his head in surprise.

  “No, Teladora is just impatient. Sorry for her,” Vosvanya answered, giving the Gnome a look. “We’ve already waited this long, so it’s no trouble waiting a little longer.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” she muttered, barely chastised by her healer.

  “Sorry, everyone,” Justisius said, holding up a hand but still not looking away from his Sending Stone. “We’re having a slight delay, and that’s all I’m able to say on the matter. You’ll be on your way soon enough.”

  “Is that something you need to be dealing with when we could be working, Inspector?” I asked.

  There wasn’t any challenge in my voice, but I knew the other man well enough to know that he would do his best to help someone else even if it meant putting his own duties aside for a moment. Now wasn’t the time for it.

  Slowly, he shifted his attention from the Sending Stone to me. I received a few glares from the other teams, as if I shouldn’t be rushing the man, but I ignored them. They meant nothing.

  “I seem to have forgotten myself,” Justisius said with a winning, though apologetic, smile. He lowered the Sending Stone, but didn’t put it away. “Badger, you’re right. Now’s not the time to delay.” The magical slab in his hand buzzed and it was clear that he wanted to check it, but he resisted the urge. “Now that we’re here, I’m going to hand out the ritual required to destroy the dungeons you’re going to come across. This can be done by anyone, not just those of you who possess magical powers, but I must insist that you do not deviate from the pattern. Strange and dangerous things have been known to happen.”

  The other team leaders went to collect the three scrolls that Justisius pulled from his Dimensional Pocket before returning to their groups. There were three people in our group who had this memorized, and Moose could apparently do something similar after seeing me do it once, so we hadn’t been concerned about getting one for ourselves.

  Plus, we had another way of destroying dungeons, one that no one else but Justisius knew about. The less the knowledge of the ritual spread the better, but I wasn’t chancing this getting out at all.

  “That ritual isn’t picky about how you make it. Do it in the sand, or on a big rock with some chalk, or however you prefer. I would be wise to caution you that you should kill the dungeon owner and all of the denizens before using it unless you find yourselves in dire straits,” he continued, speaking more to the others than us. “It will send a pulse of energy throughout the entire dungeon that it’s being destroyed and, depending on how many denizens are left, everyone will come running.”

  “What will happen if the ritual is impeded in some way?” Vosvanya asked, the tip of her tail drawing in the sand beside her as if practicing. “Is it harmful?”

  “You won’t have to worry about catastrophic magic failure,” Justisius answered, and some of the mages relaxed. “If you start the ritual and fail, then the dungeon hardens in response.”

  “Wait, like a living thing trying to stop a parasite?” one of the Mage’s Guild members under Zaylfor asked.

  “Similar, but remember that a dungeon is not a living thing, it’s attached to the will of its owner,” he explained. “And, when threatened, most people try their hardest to make it through without pain or death. Badger, as the Dungeon Inspector with the most subjugations under his belt, would you like to take this one?”

  I grunted and looked away, working up the words when Ferrisdae stepped in. “I can answer that,” she said with a smile.

  “By all means.”

  The Forest Elf nodded. “One of the first things I was taught about subjugations is that dungeon owners don’t take kindly to having their dungeon-granted immortality ripped away. They tend to act desperately when they figure out what’s going on. Now, it’s our rule to make sure they know what’s coming so they have a chance to answer for their crimes whenever a subjugation happens, but I doubt that applies here.”

  “It doesn’t,” I said.

  Ferrisdae nodded again. “Right. This desperation continues even through death, thanks to that conditional immortality. Every dungeon owner has a bit of themselves floating around until their body reconstitutes. Normally, no denizens, including the boss, can revive when people are inhabiting their space unless you’re in possession of a DoD badge and the enchantments it carries.”

  “But it’s different if we fail the ritual?” Zaylfor asked, clearly interested in the subject matter.

  “Yes,” my junior answered. “There are failsafes built into the ritual as it is now to prevent it from happening, but if those are bypassed, like through an interruption, then the dungeon hardens like Justisius said. It will start reviving the denizens quickly, and even provide a boost in power to every one of them in an effort to continue existing. Subjugations are dangerous work, but one that fails part of the way through is even more so. I’m honestly happy to say I haven’t been a part of one.”

  I nodded. It had been a long, long time since I had messed up a subjugation, and I was proud of my track record.

  “Sounds easy enough,” Teladora said, rubbing her hands together enthusiastically. “Kill the boss and their denizens, don’t mess up the ritual, destroy the dungeon to starve out CC, and then move on. Are we missing anything?”

  Justisius smiled. “That is the gist of—”

  An explosion far to the south of us sent a shockwave that caused some of the Mage Guild transporters to fall to the ground. The rest of us, already tense from our jobs, started drawing weapons and casting spells. One of the islands now had a large pillar of smoke coming from it.

  “Liddy,” Justisius whispered, which I barely picked up over the commotion. He shook his head and raised his hands. “Everyone, stop. We have to get you onto the mainland. Tanen, have your mages prepare the portals.”

  “We can help them,” Teladora all but growled as she floated higher, trying to get a glimpse at what had happened from over the trees.

  “Everyone on these islands are just as strong as you are, and we have a job to do,” the other Inspector argued as four of the mages left the pack behind him. Three of them retrieved scrolls to cast with while the last one appeared to be able to do it on their own.

  “Are you sure?” Zaylfor asked, hesitating. His fists had frozen over and were misting in the heat, fitting for an ice mage.

  “Yes. Now go,” Justisius ordered as the mages finally cast the spells.

  While they were doing that, I retrieved my map again and zoomed in. I grit my teeth when I saw that one of our groups, the one in between two of the other ones, had lost half of their members. There were no red dots, though, only green. That didn’t make it better.

  “Cojisto, lead the way,” I commanded as I ran to my fellow Inspector.

  “On it!” he replied quickly.

  “Badger, there’s no—”

  I cut him off and shoved my map into his face. “Second group, is that Liddy’s?” I asked quietly as the other teams started going through their portals.

  “Fuck,” he whispered, running a hand over his bald head. His reaction gave me pause, and I tried to remember the last time I heard Justisius swear. I came up empty. “Thank you, Badger, but you have to go. Now.”

  A part of me wanted to stay and help, especially because this was clearly Liddy’s group whether she was in the same position as Justisius or leading her own team, but I knew I couldn’t. I rolled the map up and ran towards the portal. Both Tabitha and Ferrisdae had waited for me while the other three went ahead. I urged them through before I could get there.

  The area on the other side was blisteringly hot, making me glad that I had a jacket with the enchantments for temperature regulation, and my shoes sank into the damp moss. I recognized the earthy, rotten smell of a swamp all around us, and even picked out some of the flora that we had in similar regions back home.

  Everyone was quiet as the portal closed behind us, leaving us stranded deep in enemy territory. They stared at me as the last one to come through. I could tell exactly what they were thinking.

  “Justisius will send word when he can,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Until then, we do the mission assigned to us. Any complaints?”

  “Several, sir, but I suppose they can wait until later,” Ferrisdae replied, clearly trying to mask her discomfort with a joke. No one laughed, and she sighed.

  “Good,” I said, unfurling the map once more to get a better look at what was ahead of us. “We’re supposed to head north from where we dropped, so let’s see exactly what we’re up against.”