Blue magic shimmered around me, locking in the black dust as the tree slammed into the side of the carriage. The barrier held, but likely because the majority of the tree had missed.

  "Was it aiming for us?" I coughed, not quite understanding what was going on.

  It wasn't, but the dungeon was.

  The black dust dissipated in the wind.

  "The dungeon?" I whispered, looking at the tree that sat a couple of feet from the carriage where the shield had stopped its descent. The tree had splintered when it hit, pulverizing into a leaf and splinter nightmare.

  The fights and arguments within the carriage had halted before the destruction of the tree.

  "Cole, can you get in here without leaving the shield?" Tandy's voice was unnaturally calm. The blue magic crackled as sand, splinters, leaves, and other debris peppered it. There were a couple of feet to navigate, so I could probably wedge my way in.

  "Yeah." I coughed black dust out of my lungs. "I'll be there in a second."

  I twisted around, standing on the cab to get a good look at the funnel. It was huge, probably as wide as our caravan was long, and it was headed right for us. Like the tree, it seemed to have a purpose, like it was a predator with a mind, not some random act of nature.

  I shook my head. What was I even thinking? Funnels and Heltenic aspens didn't exist in the desert.

  I hopped down and shimmied sideways, cracking the door open and joined the party. Two things immediately slapped me. The perfume of western nobility, and cool air. My [Heat Exhaustion] stopped immediately, now displaying a timer until I downgrade to [Heat Cramps].

  Two ladies, I couldn't think of another word to describe them sat unhappily next to Argin and her grandfather, while Tandy, Ash and Meredeath sat on the other bench. Richard dropped onto Meredeath's shoulder and wiggled his tentacles imploringly. I reached out and scooped him up, my knees cracking as I kneeled between the two benches.

  "We demand that you leave our carriage!" The lady sat primly in a blue dress with a white bodice. A high beaded white collar elongated her neck and lifted her nose, threatening to strangle her if she gave an unpropitious slouch. The poise and azure color of her dress gave me the impression of a judgmental tortoise.

  Her companion, equally starched in an impractical emerald frock, sat with the same terrapin sneer. They were undoubtably sent to the Hunt to find proper suitors. By the haughty expressions on their faces, I doubted they were successful.

  "So you could what, sit here and die?" Meredeath asked, staring out the window at our impending doom.

  The lady in the stuffy green dress responded with flashing eyes. "Our chaperone is in the car in front of us. I'm sure she'll be along shortly." Her eyes flicked to me, no doubt seeing my frown. The wagon in front of this one was almost pulverized last time I'd seen it. "Or, we'll just put the carriage on autopilot!" She delivered the last words with an uplifting, triumphant expression.

  Ash snorted, earning the ire of both ladies.

  "The shield's going to cut out in ten minutes," Ash said, glancing at me. "And then I'll have to add another fuel rod. There's only one left. That's not enough energy to get you anywhere, even if this bucket of junk had an autopilot, which is doubtful. I don't think we have enough fuel to manifest the ghost horses to draw this carriage at this point."

  I shivered, remembering the otherworldly horses that powered the carriage. They were constellation horses, not actual ghosts but magic held together by pinpoints of light.

  "How come there's so little fuel? How were they going to make it out of the desert as is?" Tandy jumped at the illogic of the situation.

  Ash carefully avoided looking at me as he spoke. “I think someone used the fuel in a… poorly planned attempt to shoot a fireball at the funnel cloud or something.” A stab of guilt ran through me. I had hit random buttons. "Either way, the offensive magic completely drained an entire stack of fuel rods. I added a few, which burned out when the tree hit. We've gone through most on hand."

  The girls, for the first time, looked worried.

  "Alright," I said, trying to calm my own racing heart as another thump sounded against the shields. "Anyone got any ideas about how we're going to get out of this?"

  "Maybe it'll just pass?" Argin was so hopeful, cradling her grandfather, who'd thankfully passed out.

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  Tell them.

  "It's not going to pass." I shook my head. "The storm's hunting us. The tree was aimed in our direction, and the funnel has been tracking straight toward the caravan. I don't know if this is some rogue magic or, like Richard says, a dungeon hunting us. It’s not going to be satisfied until we're all dead."

  It’s hungry. Richard intoned creepily, eyestalks twitching. I slapped at him, no need to scare everyone more than we already were.

  Silence settled on the crowd, my statement cutting through all arguments. The girl in the emerald dress had started sniffling completely buckling under the reality of our situation. To her keeper’s horror, she wiped away her corpse-like makeup with a sleeve, revealing a much younger face. I realized she was a few years younger than my sister, Share.

  The so-called ‘lady’ hiccupped and raised her hand. I gave a head bob, encouraging her to speak.

  "Who's Richard?" she asked meekly.

  Tandy pointed at Richard, who encircled my shoulders like a slimy scarf.

  "We're taking advice from a slug?"

  We can let that one die.

  I ignored both of them.

  "I've got an idea," the least likely person in the carriage spoke up. All heads swiveled to the teal-haired [Death Knight], whose eyes hadn't left the desert landscape. She turned her head to look at me. "Cole, I'm going to need your help."

  We shimmied out into the storm. Clouds had billowed out over the landscape, the temperature had dropped, and the wind whipped around us even harder. My heat intolerance status had decreased to [Heat Cramps], thankfully.

  She'd refused to tell her idea to the group, waiting until we were outside, so we sat in the cab with the sandstorm wild around us to have a heart to heart.

  "WHAT'S YOUR IDEA?" I shouted.

  Meredeath shook her head, pointing to the pass through. It was open, and at least two pairs of curious eyes were staring out at us. I slid the separator closed.

  The day had taken its toll on Meredeath. Her hair was greasy with sweat, her black clothes were looking tan, and she'd picked up a fishnet farmer's tan baking in the sun. Her eyeliner was on point, though, as she leaned in to whisper to me.

  "I can raise oxen to pull the cart, I just need you to harness them up."

  I knew it! She wants you in a harness.

  Shaking Richard’s comment off, I fought hard against the horror that crept along my bones.

  "You're a [Necromancer]?" I whispered, unable to hide the horror in my voice.

  Meredeath looked at me as if I were being a complete idiot.

  "No, I'm a [Death Knight]." She said it in a way that made it perfectly clear that I was a dumbass. "The class just has certain perks."

  I sat on the driver's bench with my crush in the middle of a deadly sandstorm bent on killing us as she admitted she had a forbidden skill. Meredeath leaned forward, her lips pursed as she looked into my soul with her fiery green eyes. Murderous leaves arced across the blue haze of the shield as my gills caught as she traced a line from my temple to my jaw with her cool fingertips.

  Richard stared at me in horror.

  [Necromancer] or not, she made me feel alive. I leaned in when she used her index finger to close my open jaw with a click.

  "Look, I didn't choose this anymore than you chose to be Richard's pet." Considering I had, at the end of the day, chosen to be Richard's pet, her argument wasn't terribly compelling. My thoughts must have been obvious because she kept explaining. "I needed a [Sponsor] and Rhi offered me two classes, [Necromancer] or [Death Knight]. They both have death powers, but [Death Knight] does not have the control over undead like a [Necromancer]. I'm not summoning their souls to do my bidding. It's more like creating bone minions with my will."

  "Bone minions?" I gazed at the funnel, my mind racing to find any other solution. My heart was ripping in half. [Necromancy] was anathema to those under the Everbear's gaze. If I agreed to this, I would be a participant in a crime. We all would.

  "The tornado is going to rip through this flimsy carriage in seconds. Cole, we need to do this now." I finally raised my eyes to hers, seeing the green flare of magic.

  "I just don't—"

  Meredeath cut me off, waving at the side of the wagon. Two oxen trotted up, eyes green, deep gashes along their sides. The blood was congealed, no longer flowing. They moved like oxen, but something was off. One of them looked at me with glassy eyes, just like a real ox might. Then it eerily, gave me a grin, blocky teeth flashing behind sagging gums.

  "What do you need me to do?" I asked numbly, if I am already complicit, I might as well survive the attempt.

  That's my boy. Anything to survive, am I right?

  "I need you to harness them in place," Meredeath directed through gritted teeth as the ox unnaturally stepped sideways into place. One of them got hit by a giant aspen leaf. Even as an ear was sheared off, it didn’t blink.

  That's when it hit. They looked odd moving because it wasn't the muscles controlling the movement anymore. It was the bones through threads of magic.

  I jumped down, realizing why she needed me. The storm was raging, and the whirling debris hadn't stopped. The shield we were under didn't protect the oxen.

  Richard practically dove onto the floorboard before I was too far away. I believe in you, big guy!

  His tentacles bobbed in what I could only assume was a “thumbs up” in slug.

  One stamped its hooves as though it were impatient for me to get started. I glanced up at Meredeath, and she winked. Resolutely, I grabbed the first harness, loosened it up to fit the first ox, took a deep breath, and sprinted into the storm.

  We’re rooting for you! I looked back over my shoulder to see Richard watching me from the top of the dashboard like a glorified hood ornament. His two fangs shined in crackling blue light.

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