By the time Olive finished her training and headed out of the arena to check on the others, the moon hung high in the sky and the tavern’s common room was empty. It wasn’t a surprise. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d made it back before they’d gone to bed.
That was fine. They had a big day ahead of them tomorrow. Rest was important. Olive trudged up the stairs and returned to her room, flopping into bed and not even bothering to change her clothes. The next day was only a few hours away, and she’d just be getting them dirty again anyway.
Every second counted. She needed what rest she could still wring from the night before the sun reared its head once more. Tomorrow, they would complete the new dungeon that had risen up near the city — and then the Grim Shadows would finally carve their names onto the annals of the kingdom’s records and be acknowledged by the Secret Eye.
The day started off well and the first three quarters of the dungeon fell before the Grim Shadows like wheat to a scythe. They cleared out the early rooms without so much as slowing. Even the first purple torch room went by without a single incident.
Olive didn’t let her guard down. She monitored her magical energy closely, using as little as possible. The others weren’t quite as restrained with their power, but that was half of what was allowing them to progress so smoothly.
They started to slow as they pressed deeper into the dungeon, but nothing arose to give them any proper challenge. Before any of them knew it, they’d arrived at a large hall leading into an open amphitheater. Purple torches flickered from the walls to illuminate empty stands and a sandy pit below.
“That’s creepy,” Jason muttered as they peered into the room. “Looks kind of similar to the training grounds, doesn’t it?”
Unsated, the blade found its home square in the center of Jason’s back. He lurched, driving his own sword up into the Golem’s chest. It pierced straight into the core, shattering it.
The golem pitched to the side and crashed to the sand, but Olive barely even noticed. She clutched the stump of her arm as blood poured from it in a thick river. Pain wrapped around her mind in a smothering blanket and she fell to her knees.
Bea sprinted past Olive, dropping to her knees at Jason’s side and pouring healing energy into his body. Olive didn’t pick up any movement. Thick clouds fogged over her vision and she swayed, her head spinning furiously.
Her fingers fumbled as she tried to stem the flow of blood. It was pointless. The flow was just coming too fast. She could hear her heart pumping in her ears and distant yelling. Then she pitched forward, falling face first to the sand, and heard nothing.