Theo hummed to himself as he hopped from one foot to the other. Content in how warmed up he now was, he turned to the rest of the party. “Ready for another go?”

  The others had collapsed outside of the dungeon. Yorick looked rather unwell, having survived being crushed solely by luck. He was propped up on a fallen log, holding his head between his hands. The amount of blood he had lost made his ruined armor look rusty.

  “No chance.” Dee stood with her arms crossed. “That wasn’t exactly a smooth process.”

  Theo glanced back at the dungeon entrance and pouted. “But the experience…”

  “We’re going back to the town and… I’m going with them.” She sighed and deflated. “You’re clearly outpacing us, and not all of us have the fortitude. It’s been fun, Theo, but… just stay safe, okay?”

  The vampire watched as the small group sheepishly nodded goodbye and made their way back to civilization. He couldn’t really blame them, and he didn’t feel bad about being left alone. Dee had been an affable enough companion while he got used to this world, but everyone had a limit of how much Outsider they could handle.

  His crimson eyes went back to the dungeon entrance, and he grinned.

  Diplomatic mission or not, there was nothing in the rules about having a little fun. Nobody was directly supervising his every move, least of all the use of his god-like powers.

  Sally stumbled her way onto a stone path, eyes wide as magical thread struggled to put her fingers back onto her hand.

  “What did you do?” Humphrey asked, concern in his narrowed eye sockets.

  “Best not say,” she whispered. “Who thought giving me god-like powers with no supervision was a good idea?”

  Being the Avatar of Life for Sanctuary wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Her ability to regenerate from damage was nearly unparalleled. Her zombie creation had improved tenfold. She could switch between being the team support and a powerful necromancer quicker than clicking her fingers, but there was an element of… chaos to the ability that she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of yet.

  While most abilities given by the System were written in stone, or had rules that could be bent a little, being an Avatar was more like a suggestion of a line of power. As long as her intention had something to do with creation or the continued living of something, she could at least get a finger in the pie. Or break an egg in the omelet - she couldn’t focus to draw on the correct metaphor.

  “A dwarven mountainhome?” Edward asked, squinting at the structure further down the torch-lit path.

  Sally watched the sewing thread patch her pinky back on before flexing her hand. Full house. She glanced up at what the demon was speculating over and had to admit that he might have nailed it in one.

  Built into the side of the mountain was a forty feet tall building of thick stone slabs. The large metal door in the middle had engravings completely covering it. Elegant in a very brutalist way. There were no windows, but there were several thin slats for firing arrows. The rocky mountain hung over the top of the structure, leaving the thick door the only entrance to whatever lay beyond.

  “Go knock, Pops?” Sally glanced behind to see how much time they had until the roaches caught up. “I can bust the lock, but I don’t want to explain later.”

  Humphrey nodded and took Party lead. The alchemist was currently mixing things together and muttering under his breath. Edward looked rather relaxed considering the situation.

  She sighed and shook some of the creeping mania from her head. Not even a day and they’d had to burn so many resources. Her zombies had all been cut down; she could tell. Oddly enough, the Radochs her horde had slain hadn’t risen as zombies under her control. Perhaps there was a valid reason she had no intention of eating the bugs.

  Even as the Death Knight rapped his metal fist against the large door, she was trying to think of the next plan. This short tunnel gave them a chokepoint to fight against the wave of cockroaches scurrying toward them, but how long could they really hold out for?

  Edward stepped up beside her as they waited for a response. “Almost a shame we can’t just wade through them all, like the old days.”

  Sally shrugged. “What we need is someone who can do mass damage. Specialized in executions and weakening large groups of enemies. Maybe something to reduce the roach Morale.”

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  “Theo, you mean?”

  “Sure, him too.” She gave him a soft smile. “Missing your bromance?”

  “Just imagine the smile on his face given the target-rich environment.” Edward’s eyes glowed a brighter blue. “Then the inevitable betrayal when I blah blah.”

  “You really are losing your touch, Eddy.”

  They turned as a metallic squeal came from the doorway. A previously hidden hatch opened up, and two dark eyes peered down at them.

  “Who goes there?” a gruff voice asked.

  Sally hopped over to address them before the Death Knight could come up with a way to explain. “Afternooon. I don’t suppose you have a prophecy about a group of five weirdos appearing and saving you from an invasion?”

  “No. We have one about the end of the world.” The eyes narrowed. “And there’s only four of you.”

  “Rounding error.” She clicked her fingers. “We’re only a few quips away from the monsters arriving at the gates. Care to give us shelter?”

  “How do I know you’re not the invaders?”

  Edward cleared his throat. “There’s a trigger to open the gate out here on the fifty-third brick of row seventeen. We’d much rather build trust than assail you.”

  The eyes within the gap darted between each of the Outsiders, before the metal slat snapped shut. Barely a second of silence passed before a deep groan vibrated through the floor, and the door began shifting.

  Sally took it as a sign that the demon’s eyesight had returned, and that the occupants of the fortress believed they had good intentions. The fact that they were an odd group hadn’t been questioned, other than being down a member. Now, all she had to do was stop herself from gobbling up all the dwellers within.

  Bully lobbed a potion down the end of the path. Once it shattered, a blob of green slime started expanding, before moving out of sight. The bugs were close, but not quite close enough.

  The Party dashed inside the fortress as the door opened up, and immediately slid to a stop.

  Standing on a raised platform by the now-closed viewing port was the dwarf who had let them in. He eyed the group warily as the metal door groaned back closed.

  Sally struggled to find her tongue as torch light flickered along the polished stone walls. “You’re… a skeleton?”

  More of a rhetorical question than anything. Other than a tuft of beard clinging to his lower jaw, the beady eyes still in his sockets, and a metal cap on his head, the dwarf was nothing but bones.

  “Aye, but you don’t hear me braggin’ about it.” The dwarf stepped down from the platform and picked up a lantern. “Name’s Kerrin. We’d best go meet the others in the hold before this door gives way.”

  The skeleton led them with a gesture and walked down the brickwork corridor. Surprisingly, it was a slight incline rather than flat or a descent into the mountain. At around seventy feet in was a second gateway, and this one looked twice as secure as the first.

  “Two layers of defense. The second gate is where you make your true stand.” Humphrey nodded.

  “Right you are, metal man.” Kerrin turned his head, skeletal mouth grinning. “Whatever bastard dares their way through the first has to stroll their way through this narrow corridor.”

  Sally could see the effectiveness of it. Even more than the cavern mouth, this was a chokepoint, or… more like the end of a loaded barrel. No doubt the dwarves had an array of deadly traps or weaponry down by the other door, making the slog up the slight hill to the second door all the more troubling.

  Still, there was something bugging her even more than taking in the potential defensive options.

  She leaned forward closer to the dwarf. “Not to be rude, but why are you a skeleton?”

  “It’s rather simple, lass. We wanted to survive the end of the world, so what better way not to die - than to die and still persist. I can imagine you know that all too well.”

  So they had imposed some self-necromancy of a kind, so that they could live on as undead in their fortress without need of sustenance or light. It made sense, in a way.

  “I’m thankful you let us in then.” It would be too easy for them to keep to themselves.

  The dwarf grunted an acknowledgement. “Although we don’t see far from the fortress these days, we did watch you fight in the forest. You’re no friends of the swarm, that’s for certain.”

  With a heavy thrum, the second door opened as they approached, revealing more skeletal dwarves assisting the mechanisms.

  Kerrin thanked them before gesturing with his lantern back down the corridor. “Lock it up tight, lads. Man all stations as the enemy is here.”

  Sally grinned as she eyed the surroundings. There was something about being surrounded by the dead that made her giddy. There were at least a dozen skeletal dwarves moving around this wide chamber. Some were loading crossbows or hauling barrels around. This wasn’t the extent of the population either - she could tell.

  On this side of the gate, she could better see the defenses the dwarves had set up. Funnels for pouring liquids down into the sloped corridor. Hatches that could open for at least six crossbow postings. A blocky panel had several buttons that she was desperate to press.

  It was much more impressive than she had expected, and now only slightly disappointing that her stomach would go empty for a little longer. Her zombie-sense didn’t even consider the dwarves food, whether they still had brains or not. She had competent undead allies, and for now… they were safe.

  For a moment, she was mesmerised by the industrious and prepared skeletons. Such a stark contrast to both her mindless zombies and often soulless System-created. She wanted to save them and take them back to Sanctuary, if they wanted to. Ideas swam through her head.

  Her wide-eyed gaze went over to a new dwarf, who was now arguing with Kerrin.

  “Let’s talk about ramparts,” the helmet-less dwarf requested.

  “For the last time, Rocky, focus on what I’m telling you.” Kerrin scolded him. “Grab the box of caltrops and get to the top with Falci, you can ask him anything there.”

  With a sigh, the dwarf turned back to them as the wide gate closed shut.

  “Anything we can do to help?” the zombie offered.

  Kerrin glanced between the four of them with his dark eyes before grinning again. “Aye, I think I know something you can do, lass.”

  Plan three: Operation Bug Trap