“Two to go?” Jeremy questioned. He had said they were aiming for five.

Em snapped her head around toward him as her serious, piercing, blood-red eyes fixed on his form—obvious disappointment radiating outwards. “Do not watch me. Watch your surroundings.”

Jeremy swiveled his head as he dropped into a long-forgotten trained guard position. On the outskirts of a thrown-away torch, Jeremy instantly saw two faint silhouettes. Both were similar to the tall and slender statue Em had just destroyed. They were mid-crouch, hunched over, and stalking.

His heart beat rapidly in his chest. Already, they had almost been caught off guard.

Jeremy never took his eyes off them as he heard Em’s unique and distinct sounds of movement grow closer. She paused next to Jeremy as her eyes pierced the darkness around them. “They are swift. They traveled what must be two hundred feet in less than seconds. Watch your surroundings. I cannot see in every direction.”

Em scuttled forward and dispatched the next two statues with her metallic webs. Once again, she crushed their sliced-apart pieces into rubble underfoot.

Once finished, she rejoined their group and scanned each member. “Where should we go? Into the buildings?”

Jeremy fearfully scanned the pitch-black darkness surrounding him. He was out of his depth. False bravado and confidence could only stretch so far. He couldn’t lead when he couldn’t even see the path before him. “You lead the way. You can see where we’re going, and you’re the highest level. Two more statues, and we are going to leave.”

Jeremy could see Em smile from the corner of his eye as she responded. “Into the city!”

Thankfully, Em plodded along at a pace they could all follow. They left the flaming torches on the ground behind, a beacon for their exit if they lasted.

Once they arrived at the building from which the first statue appeared, Jeremy got an idea about their surroundings. Mathew was right. Very old dilapidated stone buildings littered the area. Shingles washed of their previous color lay cracked and broken across the rocky ground, and the doorways for the buildings were large, fit for beings taller than normal.

Jeremy didn’t need to think much about who used to live here. He didn’t know much about Thexian history, but he definitely knew more than most. Dark Elves once lived upon their lands, deep underneath the ground, before they were exiled due to their barbaric nature. They were tall, bloodthirsty, and ruthless.

They were also friends of Lee.

Jeremy crunched something underneath his food and slowly looked down at a chunk of stone. A blank, pupilless eye stared back. He leaned into his weight and crushed it.

From what he remembered, Dark Elves lived upon their lands hundreds and hundreds of years ago. For there to be statues of them down here either meant that they still lived beneath them—which was unlikely to the extreme—or that they have been statues down here for centuries.

He wasn’t very religious, but Jeremy gave a small, silent prayer toward Death. Praying that these people have been sent to the afterlife and not trapped in stone bodies for Gods knows how long.

The next few minutes were nerve-wracking as they traversed the shattered, old, broken, and forgotten city. Nobody spoke as they scanned their surroundings, each inspecting what came slowly into view of their torchlight.

It was almost like a nightmare. From right to left, new buildings entered their light as what they passed exited their vision—a never-ending slideshow of fearful discovery.

Em spoke aloud, causing everyone to jerk in fright. “These people lived good lives.”

Jeremy dared a single glance toward Em, spotting her forlorn face as she scanned what he could not see. “What makes you say that?” He asked.

Em’s face slowly turned to the ground ahead of her, right out of range of her torch. “They loved each other.”

Em took a few steps forward as she lowered her torch, revealing two skeletons. Each of them lovingly embraced one another in their last moments together. Their clothes and flesh were lost to time, but their final moments were captured here for them to see.

Em snapped her head around and ‘tsked’ as she locked onto something behind them. Jeremy turned around, following her line of sight, and he spotted Meriah doing the same. Feet away from her was a statue crawling low upon the ground. Head tilted upwards, and pupilless eyes open wide while grinning.

“Distractions are deadly.” Em said as she pushed her way through their small group to dispatch the statue. Midway through, she paused and glanced around them. A frown grew on her face as she began to twist and turn in every direction. “Light more torches and throw them. We are surrounded.”

Jeremy, Meriah, Belgrate, and Kendri didn’t need to be told twice. Instantly, Meriah pulled out a bundle of torches and began lighting them. In a few moments, they were surrounded by light, finally able to make out most of their surroundings clearly.

What they saw made a chill go down their spine. Over a dozen statues were perched atop the nearby buildings, gazing down upon them with varying emotions. Some grinned, some frowned, some smiled jovially, and some were simply blank-faced. This time, there were statues of both elves and humans. Likely previous adventurers who delved into the depths as they were currently doing.

The sound of falling rubble caused Jeremy to jerk his head fearfully to the side, revealing an elven statue with arms folded behind his back, a knowing smile etched upon its stone face. Unwillingly, Jeremy took a fearful step back as his heart began pounding in fear.

Then, a deep chittering could be heard from beyond in the darkness. Jeremy could hear his squad shifting in anticipation as Kendri spoke quietly. “Carapces. They’re coming.”

Em slung her hands outwards, sending her metallic wires outwards and wrapping them around each of the statues atop the buildings. “I will take care of the statues. Keep them within your sight. I leave the Carapces to you.”

She turned her head to Belgrate as she continued on. “Those will give experience. You can get a class. Scream if you need assistance.” She finished by yanking her webs, causing the statues to topple off the surrounding buildings.

Meriah was hyperventilating. Kooco sat atop her head and cooed gently, doing what she could to calm her emotions.

A chittering screech and countless pattering feet announced the arrival of the Carapces. Two of them, to be exact. Jeremy had heard of them before but never knew what they looked like.

They were long, thick, millipede-looking insects—A foot or two wide and ten feet long. Instead of interlocking chitin, they were made of rocky and jagged stone. Numerous black soulless eyes extended out from their heads in disgusting bulbous stalks, seemingly capable of seeing in all directions as they charged toward their prey.

Jeremy shifted into his defensive stance. His shield was up, and his sword rested flat on top of his shield, poised to strike.

The writhing Carapce’s charged forward, uncaring for their own wellbeing. Slithering and raking the tough ground as they surged for their prey.

Jeremy used Identify.

Jeremy strode forward and braced himself for impact with his trained skill, Shield Wall. He had never used it before in actual combat, so all of his previous training was being put to the test. Here and now.

Within moments, the barreling form of the Carapce slammed into his shield. Its long rocky segments compounded into one another as Jeremy stood unmoving. The full weight of the monster collapsed into itself. It released a sickening squelch and an ear-piercing screech as it whipped its tail end forward, swatting Jeremy to the side.

Jeremy rolled across the rocky earth and gasped, trying to fill his now empty lungs with air as he hastily righted himself. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he adopted a defensive stance once again. The second Carapce was charging forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kendri skewer, the first writhing Carapce in the mouth with his spear. Kendri’s grip was mere inches from the clanking mandibles, which were attempting to snap the shaft of the spear.

Jeremy was rocked back, barreling head over heels as the second Carapce slammed into his shield, only stopped by slamming into one of the buildings nearby.

His mind flashed white as his head slammed into the stone, but his instincts for survival drug him back to his feet. Thankfully, the second Carapce was screeching and twitching where they had made contact. Its fierce mandibles clacked in pain as one of its bulbous eye stocks appeared to be demolished—smashed and leaking yellow pustulant ooze.

Meriah screamed bloody murder as she launched herself forward, both daggers drawn and ready. She leaped upon the first writhing Carapce, nearly mounting it, and sank her daggers in between the rocky segments of its body. She jerked back and forth, ripping entire segments of rocky armor away, causing yellow ooze to pour from the wounds.

While the damage wasn’t significant, considering the Carapce had well over fifty rocky segments making up its exoskeleton, it shrieked in abject terror as Meriah screamed, stabbed, and pried off parts of its body.

The second Carapce righted itself and, with pure hatred and bloodlust, beelined for its nearest foe—Kendri.

Jeremy surged forward with all the speed he could muster while taking ragged breaths and sliced his sword at the one remaining bulbous eyestock. True to their description, it saw it coming. Jeremy had but a moment to hastily raise his shield to block the stone-crushing mandibles from snapping him in two.

He was knocked flat once again, but this time, he wasn’t separated from his foe. The Carapce bore its total weight upon Jeremy’s prone form. His shield was pressed deep against his chest, and his connected arm felt like it would snap from the pressure.

As he screamed in pain and terror, the Carapce was eviscerated by cascading metallic webs. The segmented body was just that. Segmented. Numerous cleanly sliced pieces of Carapce rained down on top of him, along with a flood of yellow vile-smelling ooze.

A pair of strong arms yanked him off the ground and righted him in place. Then, a soothing feeling encapsulated his entire being. The pain, which was beginning to rear its head through his rushing adrenaline, was dampened, and his throbbing head was dying down in intensity.

“Tell me if you need more healing. I’m not Lee; I can’t see what’s wrong.” Em said as her stern, ruby eyes drilled into Jeremy’s muted blue. Her face was not one of excitement or happiness for adventure but one of sadness.

Meriah was still screaming, crying, and stabbing the dead body of the first Carapce. Kooco sat solemnly on the ground next to a beaten, panting, and disheveled Kendri.

Belgrate was gone.