Sorin ran back across the woods to the trail to fetch Odric and Nemari. “Come with me,” he said as soon as he spotted them. “Rue went into a God damned ruin.”

  “Are you sure?” Nemari asked sharply.

  “Her tracks are in the area and someone went inside. I’m as sure as I can be,” Sorin explained.

  Nemari started cussing as she scrambled after him. Odric said nothing, but he didn’t wait for their team leader to get herself situated before he took off. For such a big man, he moved through the forest surprisingly quickly. Or rather, it was less that he didn’t get caught in the underbrush and more that he tore his way through, heedless of the damage it did to his clothes and flesh.

  It took the three of them only a few minutes to reach the ruin, and even that was only because a stray bark elemental got in their way, prompting Nemari to burn it to death so that they could continue. While they were running, Sorin pointed out spots where he’d marked Rue’s passage, including the cut vines at the empty archway in the ruin’s wall.

  “What’s in there?” Odric asked.

  I fucking wish I knew.

  But all he said was, “We’ll find out when we run into it. It’s Floor 1, so probably goblins or kobolds, maybe something stupider if we’re lucky.”

  “You didn’t read about this in your books?” Nemari asked.

  “There was no mention. I’m sure people know about this place, but the average climber is smart enough to stay the hell away. And I know Rue isn’t stupid, so why the hell did she go in here?”

  “Something made her?” Odric suggested.

  “It doesn’t matter why,” Nemari said. “What matters is we find her before it’s too late. Sorin, I know we’ve butted heads over the last few days, and I know we don’t agree on everything. But you’re the strongest climber on our team. What do we need to do to get Rue back?”

  Shit. It’s like that, huh?

  But while one part of his brain was having a bitter laugh over the irony of Nemari asking him to call the shots, the other part was already organizing what they needed to do, what they needed to watch out for, and what kinds of monsters were most likely to be lairing in the ruin. It probably wouldn’t be anything as powerful as that manticore, but there were certainly going to be a lot more of whatever it was. Ruins never held just one monster.

  “We’re going in with a tight formation. Odric, stay on Nemari’s flank. Keep a step behind her so she can throw firebolts without you being in the way, and make sure you watch our asses so nothing sneaks up. I’ll be on point, ten feet ahead of you two. I’m looking for signs of which way Rue went in addition to watching for ambushes, so try to help me out and keep an eye on what’s ahead of us, Nemari.

  “Anything coming at us from the front, I’ll get in the way. Anything from the back, I need you both to do a fighting retreat to me so I can intercept it. If there’s a lot coming from multiple directions, we find a wall and keep our backs to it. Nemari’s going to put some hurt down on anything with a bow or ranged ability. Odric’s job is to keep anything from getting close enough to chew on her. I’m going to try to keep things away from both of you, but I can’t be in two places at once.”

  It was a simple strategy that mostly boiled down to not letting anything get close and collapsing onto Sorin’s position if something tried. If they knew more about what they were about to fight, Sorin might have come up with something better. Then again, even the best-laid plans rarely worked out the way they were supposed to. That was why adaptability under pressure was a defining characteristic of a successful climber.

  They moved through the archway as a group, then Sorin took a few steps out into the lead while he scanned the crumbling rock for signs of life. Now that he was inside, he was completely sure the ruin was tower-forged. It appeared to be designed to look like a small village, but walls sometimes ran through places no rational person would build a wall at, including across the main street and into a house. Sometimes, little overgrown garden plots would be next to the houses. Sometimes they were in the street.

  The stonework was inconsistent, too. The outer wall that they’d passed through looked to be a solid two feet thick, but it was the only part of the ruin like that. That, more than anything, was the tip-off. For some reason, tower-forged ruins always had an outer wall, and they were always uniform. Everything else inside was like some jumbled fever dream, but not the wall.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  In this case, the inner walls varied in height and thickness. In some places, they were only a few feet tall. In others, they stretched up past Sorin’s head. Sometimes they had holes in them, sometimes not. A quick survey of the ruin even showed a few spots with metal spikes lining the tops of the walls.

  All of this was covered in a layer of moss and vegetation. Trees grew up through the middle of stone houses with no roofs. The fact that none of the leftover buildings were made of wood was another giveaway, not that Sorin needed it.

  What he did need was some clue as to what kind of monsters populated the ruin. He hadn’t spotted any tracks in the grass, which didn’t necessarily prove anything since ruins always had weird tower bullshit going on, but it was probably a good sign that whatever did live here didn’t use this part of the ruin. If they were lucky, they’d go in just far enough to drag Rue out by her hair and never find out what kind of fight they’d dodged.

  But when did I ever get that lucky? Hell, the way things usually go, we’ll be fighting the whole damn ruin in one long, running battle.

  They made it fifty feet into the ruin, then a hundred, and still nothing moved. “Why’s it so damn quiet?” Nemari whispered harshly. Sorin shot her a warning look, but she ignored him. “What are they waiting for?”

  “Be quiet,” he hissed.

  He saw her knuckles tighten on her staff, but thankfully, she listened to him and didn’t say anything more. Satisfied for the moment, Sorin turned back to his inspection of the ruin. Either this place is absolutely huge and we’re in an abandoned part, or we’re missing something. On the bright side, though, I’m pretty sure that scuff in the moss is from the heel of a human-sized boot.

  He waved an arm behind him to get the others’ attention, then pointed to the scuff he’d spotted. Both of them knew what it meant right away, but their reactions were very different. Nemari brightened at having some sign to go on, but Odric just grimaced and peered ahead. Sorin caught his eyes and gave a sharp jerk of his head, then pointed over Odric’s shoulder.

  God damn it, man. I told you to keep an eye behind us. I know you want to find her, but focus on your job, and let me do mine.

  Sorin led the way down a relatively open side street—the houses on either side had collapsed without spilling rubble out into their way—to a misshapen representation of a market square. For one thing, it had three fountains scattered around instead of a single one in the center. For another, there was a yawning pit filling the northeast corner that revealed some sort of tunnel running under the cracked pavestones.

  Vendor stalls lined the west side of the square, three deep and crammed so tightly together that they made a barrier cutting the square off from the street. Rue might have been able to squeeze through, but it was easier to just go around, so Sorin couldn’t think of a good reason why she would.

  This would be a lot easier if he knew what she was after. At least that way, he’d have a clue of which way to look. On the other hand, it was pretty easy to guess. Rue had gone into a ruin for the same reason any climber did: loot and anima. There probably was no specific purpose, which meant she was just exploring randomly to see what she could find.

  Or it means whatever lives here is intelligent, roams outside the ruin, captured her, and brought her back. But no, if that was the case, who cut the vines over that archway? That dumbass came here on her own.

  They didn’t find the first trap until they were past the other side of the square. It was some sort of scrap metal plate, crudely sharpened all the way around and loaded on a wooden throwing arm. The trip wire had been kicked, releasing the arm to snap forward. There was blood on the metal, a gouge in the stone wall nearby, and a deep scrape across the dirt from a foot.

  So whatever lives here can get materials from the forest and knows what to do with them. Shit, it’s something smart.

  Rue getting hit meant they needed to find her quicker so that Odric could heal her before she succumbed to the injury, either by blood loss or by simply being too weak to fight off an enemy. But it also meant it was easier to follow her trail, since Sorin could easily pick out the blood among the fallen leaves and moss-covered stone.

  When Nemari and Odric saw why Sorin had stopped, they exchanged silent glances. Nemari opened her mouth but stopped herself from speaking and just turned to Sorin. He shook his head, pointed at his eyes, and then up to the empty houses around them. Many of them were still standing and had two floors. Shadowy windows could be hiding anything up there, and they likely wouldn’t know until they were under attack.

  He also pointed to the trip line and held a hand down by his knee. The thing was made out of some strong material, almost metallic, and probably magicked up by the tower. It was helping whatever lived here, which never boded well for the climbers stupid enough to intrude.

  Before he could start moving again, a flicker of motion in his peripheral vision had him turning his head. With only an instant to react, and not even fully conscious of what he was seeing, Sorin threw himself to the side just in time to avoid some sort of crude spear with a tip made of chipped stone. It hit the pavestones and shattered into pieces, peppering him with wood splinters.

  “Oh shit!” Nemari yelped. Her hand came up to point in the direction the spear had come from, but there was nothing to see except empty windows.

  “Fucking great,” Sorin said. “Guerilla tactics. These assholes are at least close to human-level intelligence. We need to find Rue and get the hell out of here before whatever that was comes back with some of its buddies for another run at us.”

  “You didn’t see it either?” Odric asked, his voice tight.

  “No. I barely saw the damn spear. By the time I looked up, whatever threw it was gone.”

  “It could still be in the house,” Nemari said, her eyes flicking from window to window. She pointed the tip of her staff at one. “I think it came from there. We should look inside.”

  “Hell fucking no. Probably boobytrapped all to shit. We’ll follow this blood trail to Rue, get her patched up, and scram.”

  And then when we’re safe, I’m going to kill her myself. Stupid kid. What were you thinking going into a place like this alone?