I don’t know if Mord locked them for extra punishment. I was the first in the cave, and I waited for a long time. It was almost half a day later when the first of them arrived. Shy portaled in with the cat-girl, Lelya close behind.

  Both of them looked a little worse for wear and began to complain immediately.

  “What the hells was that?” Screeched the cat

  “Was that training? He just stalked me like I was nothing. He had no respect for my station.” Complained a slightly limping fox. I don’t remember Mord doing much beyond an all too familiar poke. I’m betting she pulled a muscle falling on her tails. I couldn’t voice any of this as I was going the innocent route. It was time to play servant.

  “Mistress, are you ok?” Despite her size and lack of combat ability, she could generate a sizeable slap. It stung… barely. I did my best to look ashamed with a muttered ‘apologies, mistress’.

  “Lelya did you at least get anything good?”

  “I got a fantastic bow. It collapses down into two bracelets, see? One is the bow and the other the string. It shoots magic arrows!” The cat-girl was beyond pleased with her treasure. I was surprised that Mord allowed them such bounty, but I chalked that up to ‘rules’.

  “Good……..and from the kiosks?”

  “I restored my potion supply and got a new piece of armor. I’ll need it sized before I can use it, though.”

  “Also good. Give me one of the healing potions.” The Fox ensured it was not a request.

  “But…”

  “Now!” the fox was angry and not showing her wares. She drank the reluctantly proffered potion without hesitation, tossing the bottle to the ground.

  A scuffle behind us alerted us to the return of the cow and rhino.

  Graygorn was sporting a wicked-looking axe, and as he waved it, it looked to upset the rhino.

  “Watch axe. Almost hit me.” The pachy was not as pleased with the minotaur’s new toy as the minotaur was.

  “Meh, it might only scratch your armor. Wait, where is your armor?” The cow’s astute observation caught him up with the rest of us. The once uparmored rhino was now somewhat bare. The armored plates bolted to his skin were gone; only the bolts remained.

  “New armor. Is magic. See.” He flexed a little, and a blue field erupted from one of the bolts.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Magic armor. That is a good find, my friend. It suits you well,” Petior’s voice was calm and measured. He continued on.

  “I do believe that this completes the dungeon. If our new associate is to be believed. He mentioned a cave with stairs, and the stairs are quite apparent. I, for one, wish to be out of this place.” He looked hostile at Shy and Graygorn.

  “While we shall no doubt discuss our rewards, I think haste will be in our best interests as I do not wish to walk more than is required after this mess.” Despite not being the de facto leader of this group, his voice broached no appeal.

  “How far is it, human?” Leyla asked in what was the most pleasant voice she had used with me thus far.

  “Just a little over five thousand steps. Couple of miles at max.” My reply made it look like she was going to cry.

  Both Shy and Pete motioned for us all to go. I was caught between a precarious decision: how to appear weak without falling behind. After the first few hundred steps, it seemed that I was worried for nothing. I could hear the others a little way ahead of me when I came across the crumpled pile of a cat. She was alive but very much hating life. She looked at me with pleading emerald eyes.

  “The dungeon hurt my knee, and Shy took the only healing potion I was able to buy. I’m not going to walk these steps. I can’t. I just can’t.”

  I’m a fucking softie. I was cursing myself as I picked the cat off of the ground and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. We began our slow stumble upwards. I could feel that her knee was okay, and she was using me for some plan. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I didn’t like it. It was ok, though. I could play along and make us take plenty of breaks. Right now, she was a key to a door I needed unlocked.

  I didn’t even need my aura senses to see her extend he claws and push them into the small of my back. The way I had her supported would require some extreme flexibility to disentangle my arm to get away. That or rip her arm off. I could have managed both. Her plan was about as subtle as the claws gently pressing against my spine, enough to notice but not leave a mark. Too bad for her, it was just as effective.

  “Give me whatever you got from the machines. I saw you get the special coins. Now I want what you bought.” She pressed harder with her claws to accentuate her statement.

  “Sorry, sister, but the sly, shy fox beat you to it. She fleeced me of them before we left that room. Her threat was a little more real, though. I mean, what was the plan? Slash my spine and say I fell?” She stiffened, so I knew I had hit the mark. To be honest, this was a positive mark for her in my book. She was so bad at it that it had to be her first time.

  Somewhat miffed by her failed mugging, she shirked me off of her. Her knee was suddenly better as she hit the stairs at a sprint. Well, a sprint for her, my light jog. That left me a moment to think about what had happened. Not the mugging but the shirk. There was real hate for humans in that shirk, like she was disgusted even to be touched by me. It made me wonder if some of the harmful cat-girl tropes from harem novels were a dark reality here.

  Alone with my thoughts, I took my time on the stairs. I’d been here for so long that I didn’t remember when it became my home. I knew these steps by pure feeling now. I took them slowly, languishing in the coarse texture beneath my feet. I had completely forgotten boots. And I was about to go out into the world. Fuck my Life.

  The rest of the party was waiting for me at the top. Given the size of the boys, it was a little crowded. I was about to chime in and thank them for waiting, hamming it up a little, when I heard the audible ‘click’. The door I had hammered against and more often fell asleep against swung open.