We burst into another classical temple chamber. The columns in this one were lined up against the side walls, leaving a large empty space that stretched down to the far wall at the end, where a giant statue loomed with raised arms.

  “There they are. Go!” Serina pointed out the group of kobolds standing around the statue. They were humanoid monsters with lizard heads that walked upright. A few of them wore crude leather armor, but most had just the scales on their bodies.

  “For Lumus!” Zadina cried out. She raised her hammer and charged, her boots stomping over the stone floor. Gorian followed in her wake.

  A ball of flames shot out of Justin’s hand, streaking toward the cluster of kobold archers that stepped out of a column’s shadow on the right corner.

  Serina fired her arrow toward the other corner and a puff of smoke greeted the kobold archers that stepped out around that column.

  Polly took off just as Zadina and Gorian crashed into the line of kobolds. Sharp screeches clashed with the crunch of the hammer impacting scale and bone, and the ring of blades colliding.

  Everything was going according to plan, but a prickle of unease ran down my spine, a nagging sense of things not quite fitting together.

  I stared at the statue at the far wall with its arms raised. It looked like a regular white stone statue, nothing ominous about its plain, simply-carved face, or the robe that it wore. An attempt to identify it showed nothing, so it wasn’t anything special. At the far corners, two similar statues stood facing each other between the columns.

  My [Shadow Fingers] had combed through every inch of this chamber, so I doubt I missed anything, but still…

  “Something’s not right. Is there usually a gatekeeper or a boss here?”

  “No.” Serina lowered her bow, her eyes scanning the chamber. “But there’s usually a mimic in this room. However…” She squinted. “I don’t see a treasure chest here.”

  My eyes shot toward the left corner just as Polly jumped into the smoke. The caster behind the archers… the way he was holding his arms up felt off. “Is there… usually a kobold caster here?”

  Serina shook her head, firing an arrow at an archer that had scrambled out of the smoke. “No, groups with casters aren’t usually at this low a level.”

  “So, corruption. Something’s wrong here too.”

  “Yeah, can’t expect things to stay normal with you around,” Justin couldn’t help but interject as he sent a streak of flames at a kobold attacking Gorian.

  But I couldn’t shake off the sense that it was something more than that. The weight of it breathed down my neck.

  Polly chopped down an archer and leaped at the kobold caster in a blue robe with stars on it—an outfit that just screamed caster. It was almost too obvious. My [Shadow Fingers] moved in the shadow of the statue behind it, examining every detail of this creature that shouldn’t be here.

  The shadowy tendrils touched upon a thin translucent line that ran from the caster to the statue.

  The caster. It isn’t real. It’s a dressed up bait!

  My feet propelled me forward. A scream tore out of my lips as I sprinted down the length of the chamber. “Back, Polly! Get back!”

  “No! My Lady, you are still hurt!” Kamuel called out from behind me.

  “Joan, stop! It’s just a monster!” Serina shouted at me, but those words shot like lightning through me, driving me forward.

  She’s just a commoner. I knew that was what those nobles were thinking when they watched us get slaughtered from atop that hill. They abandoned me because that was all I was to them: a used-up pet.

  Polly buried his hatchet in the caster’s head. My scream reached him, and he tried to pull it back but couldn’t.

  “Leave it!” I hollered, pushing myself to go faster. But it was too late, the caster’s body jerked backward, dragging Polly with it. He was being reeled toward the statue whose stomach suddenly opened wide into a massive teeth-lined maw.

  Polly released the hatchet, but the statue’s stone arm swung down at him before he could drop away. Its giant hand sliced across his chest and came away bloody. Polly spun, crumpling into the ground.

  “No!”

  Once past a few columns, I had line of sight on the statue and could use identify on it.

  The stats didn’t look that strong but what my eyes saw told a different story; its sheer size combined with the power of its movements made it much more dangerous than what those numbers indicated. That thing also wasn’t just a Mimic.

  According to the handbooks, Mimics usually pretended to be treasure chests or tables, not huge monuments like a stone statue, and they definitely don’t try to lure in prey using magical bait. I know of a monster that did that in The Hundred Years War, an Angular Lutin. It would reel in troops that attacked its false image of an enemy, and devour them.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I was sure that monster had merged with the Mimic in this world, just like the Celtic Druidess… and just like me. When that lord had identified me, it probably only showed me as level 1, even though I still had the fighting instincts of a level 50 Divine Knight. It must be the same for this mimic as well. Angular Lutins gave Joan trouble even at higher levels.

  As if struck by my Identify, the statue swung to face me. It roared, opening its maw wide and then circled its arm in the air, twirling the translucent line that had been attached to the fake caster and lassoed it at me.

  The thought of firing a [Shadow Spike] flashed, but was immediately discarded. Lutins were fast creatures, and the blur of this one’s movements implied the same speed. I would never hit it.

  A waste of mana, especially at this level.

  I raised my sword, casting my newly acquired spell.

  [Shadow Shroud]

  Black tendrils rose up from the shadow on the ground and slithered up my legs. Shadowy lines crisscrossed and wove, forming first loose, flowing pant legs, and then wrapped my body and arms in dark, writhing fabric. The fabric crawled up over my neck, coalescing into a hood that covered my head.

  The translucent line shot through where I had stood, lassoing nothing but air before hitting the ground.

  I stared at it, unable to comprehend what had happened. The hoop was sitting on the ground at my feet. No, it was sitting underneath the ground. Looking at everything around me, I realized I was the one standing upside down underneath the ground. But that wasn’t right, either; I wasn’t staring at the dirt or rocks under the ground, instead I was in the shadow.

  Am I inside the realm of shadows, the shadow dimension? If so, the vague description had completely undersold the most important part of this spell! How can you call this just ‘hiding’ in a shadow?!

  I stepped around in the plane of the shadow. My body felt weightless, meeting no air resistance. No obstacles stood in my way. A few steps took me instantly to any point where this shadow lay, and it was a long one. I was currently in the shadow stretching forth from the column beside the statue.

  The Mimic Lutin scanned the area for me, swiveling its large stone body about, probably just as confused as I had been. After a futile search, it turned its attention back to Polly, who was pushing himself back up on quivering hands and knees.

  It stomped toward Polly, stone feet shaking the ground as it passed overhead. I willed myself to rise, and my body rose out of the shadow, a black, writhing mass, swinging a pitch-black blade at the looming monstrosity’s back.

  The statue pivoted on one leg, moving faster than any stone of that size ought to be able to. My blade glanced off its arm, chipping a section off, and drawing out a trail of green ooze.

  “Aaayyeeee!”

  An inhuman, mechanical sound screeched out of the jaws splitting the stomach of the statue. Its hands turned to spikes and stabbed at me, skewering only the shadowy tendrils around me.

  I barely had to dodge, even against the Lutin’s phantom speed.

  This spell felt rather… overpowered?

  Dropping into the shadow, I ducked under another spike stabbing at me. The creature searched for me in bewilderment, and I popped up out of the shadow on its other side.

  My blade scraped across its arm in another glancing strike, sending more chunks flying. Trails of green riddled its stone surface.

  By then the others had cleaned up the kobolds and they came rushing over.

  “Come at me! Vanguard’s Cry!” Gorian shouted. Something in his voice gripped the Mimic Lutin, jerking its attention toward him.

  It froze for only an instant, which was all that was needed. Zadina’s hammer caved in its head and my blade stabbed into its maw, punching through to the other side. Green blood gushed out of its jaws, along with a strangled gurgling sound. The stone became flesh and sagged into a disgusting pile on the ground.

  I pried my sword free and ran to Polly, still struggling to get up. My arm reached under his, supporting him as he staggered onto his knees.

  “Polly, take it easy. Just…”

  The deep gash down the length of his chest confronted me. All of his fur was stained a deep crimson red. He had lost a lot of blood.

  After so many lifetimes, I should have been inured to this by now. But it was never easy. Not when the one you had sent forth was bleeding out in your arms. All because of you.

  Pollichon, how many times had he died in my arms? I didn’t want to count and remember.

  And now, Polly was dying. No words were spoken, just a soft, accusing whimper from his lips.

  My eyes found Kamuel’s and he shook his head. I looked over at Zadina. “You can heal him. I know you have the power as a paladin.”

  She shook her head as well. “My faith forbids me from healing evil.”

  Screw your faith! I wanted to shout, but I knew, better than most, what being bounded by faith is like. I’m still [Virtuous] after all.

  There was one last thing to try. I didn’t know how well it’d work in this world, and I had been hesitant to show Zadina my abilities. But she had already seen my shadow spells, and now I was sure she was scrutinizing the writhing black robe that surrounded me.

  What mattered now was saving him. I’m not leaving anyone behind. I have to at least try.

  I cupped Polly’s long jaw in my hands and looked into those large round eyes, still whimpering with pain. “Polly, listen to me. Live. We’ll go on together… Allez! Tiens bon!” Go! Hold fast!

  I infused the [Voice of the Maiden] into my voice and felt the power pouring out through my words. In The Hundred Years War, the ability cleared wounds, fear and exhaustion from troops. I wasn’t sure what it would do here, but healing had to be the equivalent of clearing wounds. It was a powerful ability, but one I could only use once every battle, so I had to use it judiciously. I judged this was the right time.

  Polly’s eyes blinked. His breathing steadied, becoming less ragged. The whimpering stopped. I examined his chest. The gash was still there, but it didn’t look as moist; the bleeding had stopped.

  Polly’s snout nuzzled against my hand and a different, more playful whimper sounded.

  “My Lady, what did you do?!” Zadina exclaimed, standing over me. She was examining a gash on her arm which seemed to have clotted over. “You healed me?”

  Gorian flexed his arms up and down. “Hmm… I feel invigorated.”

  Justin pumped his fist. “Hell yeah! I feel like I’m ready to go again!”

  Kamuel frowned as he looked over himself. He glanced over at Serina who was flexing her arms as well. “You rejuvenated us? But your voice there, the way it flowed through me felt almost…”

  “Divine.” Zadina finished for him breathlessly. “My Lady, that power. What are you?”

  I was rescued by the image of Tomas popping up over my field of view. He was contacting me through the [Mind Messenger]. An “Accept” was blinking incessantly over his face.

  “Can all of you give me a moment of privacy. Someone important is… messaging me?”