The door opened a crack, and Colt appeared, his face a mess of bruises and cuts. He stepped inside, walking in a shambling manner, much like the zombies, unnatural and stiff. His eyes widened when he spotted Luke, but he didn’t come forward. Instead, he shuffled to the side to allow Mateo to enter.

  He was in a similar state, injured, bleeding, and beaten. Penny didn’t look much better. Blood clung to her hair, matting it against the side of her skull, and her blue robes were torn apart to reveal her cheerleader's uniform beneath. Hannah's left arm hung limp at her side, and her nose was broken, blood still dribbling down over her lips. They all walked like that. Stiff. Beaten. They arrayed themselves inside, back by the front door, just standing there, not saying a word.

  But their eyes. Their eyes screamed.

  "What have you done to them?" Luke asked, launching himself from the chair and hurrying up to his friends.

  Relian followed, hands clasped behind his back, posture stiff, shoulders squared, and his head tilted up, like he was looking down at ants.

  "My knights occupied them for a little while."

  "You just said you wouldn’t hurt them," Luke said.

  "I didn’t. My knights did. As a healer, I’m sure you are well aware that none of them have sustained any life-threatening injuries."

  The door creaked a little, as if buffeted by a gust of wind.

  Luke turned and shouted, pointing at Relian. "Stop whatever it is you are doing to them! You’re holding them somehow!"

  "I am a shepherd tending to my flock," Relian said. "It is my prerogative. Or would you rather have them in piles on the floor, mixed up for you to puzzle together?"

  "Don’t!" Luke said.

  "Then you will allow me to accompany you out of this dungeon," Relian said.

  "How would that even work?" Luke asked. "The quest says we have to kill you, and the portal disappeared the moment we stepped through."

  "Just a little trick on my part. The portal is still active. Nothing is stopping you from leaving. Since I am exiled, I am unfortunately not able to leave the dungeon, even during a dungeon break."

  "What is a dungeon break?" Luke asked, glancing to the right, then keeping his gaze focused back on Relian.

  "Oh my, you are new," Relian said. "A dungeon break occurs if a dungeon has not been completed within the allotted time. In most cases, 48 hours. After that, the monsters inside can leave. It is… let’s say, not a good idea to let that happen."

  "If you’re so old, do you know what this is all about? The System? Integration?" Luke asked. "Guide said we were supposed to grow stronger for a fight."

  "All in due time," Relian said. "I have much I could teach you about your new circumstances and about the powers you wield. Like I said, some aspects of them are similar to mine. But first, you must take me with you."

  "How am I supposed to do that?" Luke asked. "You said it yourself, you’re exiled."

  "Simple," Relian said, holding up a hand. "You invite me to your party."

  "Couldn’t you just have left with one of the previous parties?" Luke asked.

  "Let’s just say I was looking for something here, and waiting for the circumstances to line themselves in a way to make this special little dungeon break possible."

  "Our party is full," Luke said.

  Relian raised an eyebrow. "Is it? I count five."

  "Number six is right here. Nice to meet you!" snarled a voice.

  Relian’s throat opened up, blood gushing, his eyes widening as he brought a hand up, trying to stem the flow, failing. It poured out like a small river, pooling on the floor. He collapsed, his body cracking, bones breaking as he turned into a mound of writhing flesh for a moment, before going still.

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  In that same moment, the invisible bonds holding his friends dropped away, and they cried out in a mix of pain, exhaustion, and relief.

  System Message: Quest complete: The Fallen Shepherd has been slain.

  Reward: You are now able to select a profession.

  Luke looked down at the now dead Relian, disbelief in his eyes, as Ray materialized in front of him.

  "Well, that was easier than I thought," his friend said. "Can't believe I said 'nice to meet you', such an awful line."

  "Where the hell did you go?" Luke asked. "Before, with the knights?"

  "What just happened?" Hannah asked. "Why is my quest completed?"

  Luke spun around to the others. "You didn't see?"

  "No," Colt said, wetting his lips and looking around, still a little dazed. "That damn knight beat me. And then everything went black. I thought I died."

  "Me too," Penny said. "It was horrible."

  "Well, he's dead. You were all saved by the best assassin in the world," Ray said.

  Hannah looked up. "Something's coming!"

  The back of the house crashed down, wood splintering as fire gushed in, an explosion rocking the entire place, throwing everyone to the floor, and the ceiling above them groaned, on the verge of collapse. Hannah's shadows shot away from her, reached the ceiling, and held like a support pillar.

  "Get out of the house!" Luke shouted.

  They rushed through the front door and out into the square. Dawn had swept away the darkness by now, and they turned to see a horde of undead rushing toward them in the distance. Zombies, skeletons, and several undead mages. Another fireball arced in the air, crashing down into the building, smashing it to bits, and burning everything within.

  "Hey, we didn't get to loot the corpse of the boss!" Hannah complained.

  Just then, a portal opened up on the raised platform in the center of the square. Just as huge as before, but this time, it shimmered in shades of green rather than pink.

  "My friends, we have bested the dungeon!" Mateo cried. "Our quest came to an abrupt end, but end it did! Now we must escape, with our lives still intact!"

  Luke looked back into the house, still in disbelief. Relian died with so little resistance. Just a slash across his throat. But his quarterstaff hadn't even been able to touch the Fallen Shepherd. Was Ray's dagger that sharp, or had he used some special skill, perhaps?

  The quicker skeletons approached the village, and the group ran, heading for the portal.

  "There was a monster underneath the platform!" Luke shouted as they ran. "Be careful!"

  Just as he said it, tendrils of writhing flesh reached up from under and toward the portal, like it was attracted by the green light. Colt slashed at it, cutting the tendril off before vaulting up onto the platform, slicing into another one. Luke followed, reached down, grabbed Penny’s hand and hauled her up, then Hannah’s. They both moved as if through syrup, their movements slow and stiff due to their many wounds. Luke urged them forward. The healing would have to wait until they were out of the dungeon.

  In the distance, the undead mages were charging their death ray, and the skeletons had already reached the square, the bones in their feet clacking against the stone.

  "We have to leave now!" Luke shouted, pushing everyone toward the portal.

  Then another tendril reached up and stabbed through Ray’s shoulder with enough force to punch all the way through. Ray cried out and slumped to his knees. Colt and Mateo were there, cutting the slithering tentacle of flesh off. Luke heaved, trying to pull the still writhing tentacle of flesh out of his friend, but it was lodged in there. Shadows from Hannah reached up and pulled it free with a slick sound that made Luke wince as Ray cried out in pain.

  Ray stumbled to his feet, supported by Hannah and Colt, and the group moved as one through the portal, hurling themselves through. They came out into a cool night, and the portal winked away behind them, leaving them panting and groaning in the grass of Lazarus Park.

  Police tape sectioned the area around the gateway off, but Kirk stood within its bounds.

  "You did it!" he shouted, clapping his hands. "You made it out!"

  "…barely," Ray croaked, holding on to his shoulder.

  A few police officers stood guard outside the area, and some spoke into their radios, staring at them. Other than those people, it was empty.

  "Where is everyone?" Luke asked.

  "It's early morning. You've been gone for quite a while," Kirk began. "Most are home, asleep, but I didn’t want to leave until I knew you were safe. There are some people from the Department of Integrated Affairs waiting for you for a debriefing."

  Luke groaned. "Of course there are."

  "Hey Luke," Ray said, his voice a hoarse whisper, "a little help?"

  Luke turned and saw the hole through Ray’s shoulder. "Right. I’ll fix you right up, don’t you worry."

  He used Threads of Mana to reach and make use of Ray’s mana channels, drawing from his patient to heal him in a surge. At first, it felt almost like Ray’s body resisted his healing, but then it worked, and Luke just figured it was his exhaustion playing tricks on him.

  Luke healed the group in his brute-force way, stealing their mana to do it. He didn't have the mental capacity to do it with Needle of Life, and he didn’t want to deal with complaints about pain.

  Kirk brought them water and sandwiches he'd bought at a gas station, and said his goodbyes after exchanging numbers with everyone. Cops packed up their things and left as well, several DIA officers taking their place.

  "Not the heroic return I imagined," Hannah muttered.

  "The hour is late," a DIA agent said, "and I apologize for this, but we must learn more about this dungeon and what we can expect going forward. Please come with me."

  Luke’s phone buzzed, then again. Having left the dungeon, his cellphone reception had returned, and with it came a long line of texts from his sister.

  "Oh no, Milla. What did you do?" Luke groaned.