"What did you mean when you said that this was Ajay's canon event?" Kassandra asked.

  Shit, can't believe she still remembered that.

  Are you underestimating our Kassi? Demon Rey snapped. After everything you've seen her do.

  He had a point. The girl was smart and was like a bloodhound when it came to sniffing things out. Especially things that caught her attention, and he knew by her expression that this had more than caught her attention. And she wouldn't stop until she figured this out or got the truth out from him, which was the same thing in this scenario.

  Should I tell them the truth?

  He had been thinking about this, but he wasn't ready yet. For if they slipped up, it would mean the end for them, and excruciating torture for him, at the hands of Zalathar, who wouldn't stop until he got every last bit of information about the future out of him.

  Given the expression on Kassandra's face and the curiosity on others' faces, he couldn't outright lie to them either, so a half-truth would have to suffice.

  He sighed. "First, promise me that we will not speak of this outside of a dungeon, as these are the only places that we can talk freely without our cum stain of a patron listening in."

  "Really?" Filomena looked surprised.

  "I don't have the time to explain to you how a dungeon works. Just promise me that you will not speak of this outside of this place or…"

  Kassandra stepped towards him. "Or what?"

  "Or Zalathar will figure out my secret. He'll most probably kill you all and then torture me for years for information."

  That intrigued them even more. They huddled close to him, as if the Sovereign was listening in.

  "Your secret?" Ajay frowned. "That you can see the future. But we've been talking about that for months."

  Rey knew time was of the essence as the dungeon was perishing by the second, so he had to make it quick. "It's more than that. Just promise me that you all will pretend that this conversation never happened."

  "I promise," Kassandra spoke first, and the other two nodded in agreement.

  "On my travels, I met some people and learned some things. One of them correlates to everyone's fate. Without going into details, because I don't have time for that, as the dungeon is crumbling. Anyway, I learned that there is an event in all our lives that is key to our fate. Until I change that event, death will catch up to us sooner or later. You see, that is why the others died, because I failed to change their canon event."

  "And you think you just changed Ajay's?" Kassandra asked.

  Rey nodded. "I don't know for certain, but I think Ajay's canon event was him losing his leg." He looked to Ajay. "I think this event was directly linked to your death. You sacrificed yourself because if we carried you any further, it would've meant the death of everyone else. It would've meant the death of her." He motioned to Filomena. "Ajay, you changed after this. You weren't the same. You got really depressed, and even being with Filomena didn't cheer you up, as you thought you were nothing but a burden on everyone else. Tell me, you wouldn't have thought that if you had lost your leg."

  Ajay contemplated that for a moment. Rey could swear that he heard shrieking and wailing as the piranha hedge was disintegrated little by little.

  Finally, Ajay nodded.

  "That is why, I think it is your canon event," Rey stated, and turned to the girls. "As for you two, I don't know what your canon events are, but don't worry, I won't rest until I find them. I will not let anything happen to you. I promise you that. We don't have any more time. The dungeon is disintegrating, and if we don't want to be atomized, I suggest we head to the exit. And thanks, Kassi, we don't even have any time to find the treasure."

  She wasn't amused. None of them were. They knew Rey wasn't telling them everything, especially Kassandra.

  "Now, please, I beg you, do not speak of this outside the dungeon. We can talk more about this in the next dungeon we visit. Deal?"

  "Okay," Kassandra said.

  "Now, move!" Rey exclaimed.

  The star-crossed lovers moved for the exit first and walked into the portals together.

  "Let's go." Rey motioned for the vortex, but Kassandra stayed still. There was something about her gaze, and she didn't need to say anything. He knew what was going on in her mind.

  He went to her and took her hands in his. "Kassi, it's not that I don't trust you, and when the time is right, you'll be the first to know."

  She stared into his eyes, and it was a little unnerving to look into those green eyes of hers. After a few intense moments, she finally nodded. "Okay, and if you don't come through on this promise, Zalathar will be the least of your concerns."

  He smiled. "Now, can we go? Or do you want to get disintegrated like two lovers who couldn't be together because the girl was from a rich family and the boy was poor, so the girl's father wouldn't let them be together, and they decided that they would be together in death."

  She cocked her head to the side. "That is very specific."

  He shrugged. "I used to write tragic romance novels in my free time."

  She chuckled and shook her head. "I had forgotten how most of your words are utter nonsense."

  "Someone had to keep everyone entertained. Now, let's go."

  ***

  Rey moved absentmindedly towards a grove that they saw in the distance. His mind was on other things, mainly going through all the memories with significant events moving forward that could be the canon event for Filomena, as it was her turn next.

  The grove was a patchwork of mossy ground and about three trees that provided some shade, perfect for sleeping under, as it would be relatively cool. There was also a small stream passing through on the other side of the grove, which would be perfect for all the water that they needed. After all, it had been two days since they exited the dungeon, and they had been walking nonstop since then.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  The dungeon practically squatted in the middle of nowhere. They had just run into it by happenstance last time, and it seemed to happen this time as well. The grove grew closer with each step, and he wasn't any closer to identifying Filomen's canon event.

  There was nothing as significant as Ajay losing his leg or Rey literally getting backstabbed by his so-called ally and friend. This made him want to rip his hair out.

  Rey walked right into the grove without giving it another look. He didn't even notice the others' hesitation until he realized he was the only one standing on the mossy grass, in the middle of the trees.

  He turned to look at his friends, frowning. "What? It's just a bunch of trees and some grass. They're not going to eat you. The things hiding in them might."

  "No," Kassandra replied. "But who this grove probably belongs to might."

  Rey frowned. "Who? The Tigermen?"

  More than one head nodded at that.

  "Oh, don't worry about them." Rey waved a dismissive hand. "I took care of them."

  Kassandra squinted her eyes. "What do you mean, you take care of them?"

  "Just that."

  She took a tentative step forward, but remained far enough away that she hadn't truly entered the grove.

  "I killed them all. Well, not all. I killed three that came to the blacksmith's shop where I was apprenticing. Then about…" He counted on his fingers. "About four or five of them, if I'm remembering right, and the rest probably perished at the hands of the demon horde that came for their souls. So, all in all, we don't need to worry about the Tigermen. They're done and dusted."

  None of them said a word, nor did they move. They kept staring at him.

  "Why are you all looking at me, like I fell into demonhood early?" Rey asked. "Wait, is my boner showing?" He quickly checked and sighed in relief when it wasn't.

  "I don't know if you're joking or if this is another one of your nonsensical ways of getting us to calm down," Kassandra said.

  "He's obviously joking," Filomena said. "We barely took down two of them. How could he take down three times that, all by himself?"

  Even Ajay, who still had two legs thanks to Rey, doubted him. "Rey, this is not funny. We should move on, before the tigers come back."

  Rey hung his and did the most natural thing that came to him. He walked over to a small bush, turned his back to them, and pissed on it. He had to relieve himself anyway. He couldn't see their reactions, but he was sure he heard someone gasp a little.

  "There, as per the rules of the Baaghrors, this is my grove now," Rey said, as he tucked his boy back into his pants. He turned to see faces frozen in horror, as if he'd just signed their death warrants and framed them nicely.

  Now, where have I seen this look before? Ah, Gloria! He mentally snapped his fingers. She looked exactly like this when I went about killing her coworkers. He chuckled. Good times.

  Ahhhh Gloria…Moaned Demon Rey.

  "What the fuck—" Filomena began, but Rey cut her off.

  "As I said, I've killed the Tigermen, so you can either believe me or sleep out there." Rey looked at the biggest tree with the greatest shade and walked over to it. "This is my tree now. Pick your own tree in this grove Airbnb, or you can have the deluxe sand-in-your-teeth experience."

  Rey plopped down. The others looked at each other and then shrugged one by one and followed him into the grove.

  Rey smiled. “Mi casa is su casa. Pick whatever tree you like. That bush where I pissed is the toilet. Other than that, make yourself at home. It's temporary, like our life expectancy."

  They went about setting up the camp. They must've bought some bedrolls in the city and stored them in the satchel that Rey had taken from Gloria and given to Ajay. So, Kassandra had used her big brain energy and prepared for life on the run.

  It was only too bad they didn't bring any extra for poor old Rey, but he wasn't worried; he had borrowed things from Grixi with the intent never to return them. After all, he had paid the demon so much money that snooping around the house felt less illegal and more strongly encouraged.

  But Rey paused and stared when Ajay produced two round, perfectly smooth rocks, the size of bowling balls.

  "Is that…" He trailed off as he got closer to the orbs and used Identify on them.

  [Fireball of Zorina – Imbued with the essence of heat and fire. These rocks can perpetually burn when lit. Their fire will not burn out unless doused with water, sand, or another source. They are perfect for using as lamps or as a bonfire or to chuck into enemy camps.]

  "How the hell did you get that?" Rey cried.

  To say that these things were super rare in Purgatory was to say that succubuses were fine as all Hell. These things were made in the Kingdom of Sun. Unfortunately, not the real sun. The sun in Hell was the planet's core, which might as well be as hot as the sun. One couldn't even survive there if they didn't visit a certain demon first. Rey was so happy that she wouldn't remember him this time, because he owed her a fuck and a shit ton of money.

  And there is no way I'm sleeping with that hag…again or admitting that I ever slept with her in the first place.

  Ajay grinned. "Gloria took us to this smuggler. By then, word had spread that Gloria's friends had taken down the Black Hand. He thought it was us. He was so happy that he wouldn't have to pay protection money that he gave one of these for free."

  "Then why did you buy the other one?" Rey practically snapped. "One should've been good enough. Hell, you're a fireball of Zorina yourself."

  "Oh, he gave us a discount and also, because, well, if we ever ran into a situation like with the Tigermen. We try not to use both at the same time. I just wanted to show them to you."

  "Must be some smuggler to have smuggled those things in," Rey mused.

  "You didn't know about him?" Filomena asked, unfurling her bedroll.

  "No, unfortunately, I didn't pick the omniscient Element."

  "Only the omni-annoying Element," Kassandra commented as she laid her bedroll under his tree.

  "Hey, that's my tree! Get your own."

  "But I like this tree."

  "So do I. Besides, there's more than enough space for both of us." She patted down her roll and sat down, as if the matter was resolved.

  Rey crossed his arms. "Well, I snore. So, enjoy the music."

  "Stop pouting. It's almost nighttime, and we should rest. Who wants to take the first watch?"

  "Watch? Watch for what?" Rey asked.

  "Wait, don't tell me you've been napping wherever you wanted."

  Rey smiled. "Yep. Besides, I've got a fly trapper."

  They all frowned.

  "And you were never attacked?" Ajay asked.

  "Nope. In fact, I had a nice little meal waiting for me whenever I awoke."

  Filomena sighed. "This guy never makes any sense."

  They all looked to him rather impatiently and a lot more confused than they had any right to be, so Rey illuminated them. The truth was that he would activate Gravity's Domain, crank it up to a comfortable fifty percent, and go to sleep. When he awoke, there would usually be two or three demons caught in his trap, struggling to escape, but they never did. This was how he never ran out of food. However, this absolutely suplexed his sleep schedule into a shallow grave. Instead of having one long eight-hour nap, he had two smaller naps.

  "I'll just show you. Trust me and go to sleep. When you wake up, we'll have more than we can eat."

  They were skeptical and looked to Kassandra, the group's leader.

  "Okay, but if we're attacked in the middle of the night, I'm going to shoot you first."

  "Oh, we'll most definitely get attacked, but don't worry, they won't be able to do anything." He lay down on his little mat that served as his bed back in Grixi's shop. "But the demons won't be able to touch you." He winked at her.

  With that, he activated Gravity's Domain in a moat-like fashion all around the grove, making sure it was safe from attack on all sides, even the stream. After all, it didn't say that he could only form a circle with Gravity's Domain.

  He shut his eyes. "Now, go to sleep, kids, tomorrow, we start your training."