Jeremy checked his HP as he stood. He peered into the darkness surrounding them with wild eyes, looking for any signs of Belgrate.

He saw no signs of their missing member. Since Belgrate was watching their left side, not their rear, someone should have seen him leave or be attacked. The rocky cavern floor was poorly suited to tell the tale of his disappearance. Where Belgrate should have been was, for lack of a better word, clean. No blood trails, no overt signs of a scuffle. He was just… gone.

“Did anybody see anything? Where is Belgrate?” Jeremy asked as everyone sat around, either catching their breath or too defeated to move.

Nobody responded. So, he raised his voice, his mounting frustration evident. “Did. You. See. Anything!”

Em responded as she laid a hand upon the Carapce corpses, causing them to shimmer and vanish. Meriah, who was stabbing the corpse over and over again, flopped to the ground as she was on top of it. “I was focused on the statues. Some of you did not listen to instructions. I said to keep your eyes on them at all times. They struggled out once I had wrapped them within my webs, as nobody had eyes on them.”

Em grabbed the loot and shoved all of it into Meriah’s chest. She looked around at the squad with focus, taking in their appearances, and came to a decision. “This is disappointing. You’re all disappointing.”

Jeremy opened his mouth for a retort but was cut off by a loud, deep, reverberating rumble from off in the distance dark. Everyone quickly swiveled and stood ready for the unseen threat, but after a minute, Em eased and began walking off into the darkness.

“What are you doing?!” Jeremy hissed out—the emotional rollercoaster of the last few minutes taking their toll.

“You need not know. Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.” Em said, eyes sharp and focused on something within the darkness.

Jeremy ordered everyone to return to their previous formation while waiting for Em to return. If she didn't return within three minutes, Jeremy would lead them back to the surface to plan their next delve—the delve to search for Belgrate. Em could handle herself; she could make her way back with ease.

Jeremy, Meriah, and Kendri heard the sounds of toppling stones for a few seconds before silence reigned supreme. An oversized silhouette entered the light of their torches, revealing Em. A single line of blood ran down each of her pale cheeks as she strode past their tense and waiting group. She held a stone in her hands, gripping it tightly as she passed.

Kooco chirped and whistled, causing Em to slow and glance at her. “Let us return. Adventures aren’t as grand as I imagined.”

Jeremy quickly gestured for everyone to follow Em’s lead. He wanted to return immediately; the longer they waited for their return delve, the longer Belgrate would be alone down here without help. They could come back, find him, and make it back to safety, but Kendri stood still. He had a white knuckle grip on his battered spear as he took shaky, deep breaths. “Is that him?”

Em continued onward, not responding or reacting at all. Kendri haphazardly tossed his spear at Em, not in an attack but out of frustration. The shaft bounced off her metallic frame and caused a loud clang to erupt in the silent cavern as it hit the floor. “Is that him!?” He screamed.

Faster than anything Jeremy had seen thus far, Em sprinted toward Kendri, reached him in less than a second, and gripped his throat with one hand. She raised him into the air with ease as she kicked her fangs outward, a hiss filling everyone's ears. “Make a move toward me again, and I will end your pathetic excuse of a life. I am in no mood to babysit a child throwing a tantrum.”

Jeremy watched the horrific scene unfolding before him. His ever-mounting dread spiked as Meriah thrust her daggers into Em’s spidery abdomen. They bounced off helplessly, but Meriah screamed and went in for seconds—undeterred by her ineffective strikes.

Em casually released her grip on Kendri's throat, dropping him to crumple on the floor as she turned to face her new attacker. Em looked on dispassionately as Kooco chirped and flittered around, obviously trying to calm Meriah.

The repeated ineffective clangs of metal on metal rang out around him. Jeremy could only watch in horror as his squad slowly lost their minds, attacking the only person with them who could keep them alive. He knew they weren’t proper soldiers, but they weren’t fucking idiots. Why? Why would they do this?

Em lazily wrapped metallic webs around Meria’s wrists, ending her fruitless attacks. She spared a glance at Kooco as spoke judgement. “Little bird, I warned you before. Comfort her in these trying times.”

Em yanked down a fist full of webs, causing Meriah to flop to the ground while releasing a short, bloodcurdling scream. She screamed hoarsely and flailed around on the ground an agony before slowly passing out. Jeremy watched as Meriah’s hands rolled across the cavern the floor, separated at the wrists. Both of her daggers still held within their grasp.

Kooco’s little beak opened and parted in shock, but to Jeremy’s surprise, Kooco looked to the floor in shame.

Em wrapped another metallic web around Meriah’s feet and roughly dragged her across the floor as she departed. “Come if you wish to live. Stay if you want to die like Belgrate.”

Jeremy’s knees gave out as Em held aloft the stone head of Belgrate. His face contorted into grim visage of agony and horror. Em spared him a glance, her frustrated and sharp features softening just a tad. “He was given to us. I do not know why. If it were me, I would wish to be destroyed…”

Em turned back to glare into the darkness. “Something devious is happening down here—something we are not equipped to deal with. Let us be off.”

Jeremy and Kendri followed Em in various states of shock and sadness as they returned to the entrance to the depths. Kendri's throat was purple and blue from Em's iron, immovable grip. Kooco flittered next to Meriah as she was being dragged across the rocky ground, two trails of blood trailing from her wrists marking their path.

Em scaled the rocky wall, easily dragging up Meriah’s unconscious form along with her. Kooco rode on Em’s back, as she could neither use the rope nor fly upwards. The adventurers stationed at the exit didn’t seem fazed by their arrival, giving each member a pitying glance and nod as they made their way to the surface.

Jeremy knew he wasn’t the best squad leader. He knew he was just filling a role that needed to be filled and that he was the best choice given their group. That didn’t mean he was actually well suited for his role, though. He replayed the events of the depths over again, trying to find out where he would have acted differently. Sadly, his thoughts revolved around other people's mistakes, none of his own. It might have been ego, but he felt he did what he could do with what he was given—he wasn’t given much.

If he had to point out one mistake, it would be taking up the mantle of responsibility. Kendri was right. Ultimately, it would have been more responsible for them not to bother with helping, as they were… useless. They destroyed a handful of statues and two monsters. In the grand scheme of things, that was utterly pointless. The price for such was a life and their groups' relationship crumbling to dust.

Lee… would not be happy. Kendri’s outburst was out of grief; it wasn’t appropriate, but it wasn’t inexcusable. Jeremy understood that Em could have killed him without much effort, but she also understood the emotional outburst as he did. She wasn’t a monster; she was a person—a person who had feelings. The two bloody tears were enough for him to understand that fact. Kendri could make amends.

Meriah could not.

She had problems. The type of problems they were incapable of dealing with. Those that put them in harm's way all too often. Jeremy could sympathize with the woman, but that didn’t mean he had to put up with the effects of her obvious trauma. There was a limit to how lenient someone could be, and they were past the point of dealing with her issues.

As a noble, there were times when he had watched his father dish out severe punishment. While you could sympathize about having to steal to survive, stealing was a crime with punishments similar to the punishment Meriah had just undergone—the loss of a hand.

Empathy was a powerful emotion. An emotion most people had and an emotion a lot of people abused. The ‘beggar’ on the street who pleaded for spare coin, knowing all too well that he was abusing the emotions of others to get more money, was a common scam in most cities. He didn’t think Meriah willingly abused the empathetic bonds she formed like such ‘beggars,’ but perhaps she was doing so unintentionally.

All in all, she wasn’t fit for the military. If she had been watching their surroundings instead of savagely falling into her fight-or-flight response, Belgrate could still be alive and well. His future report would detail this fact, and he would do his best to get her moved or dismissed. They didn’t need her as much as she needed them.

Once they exited the mineshaft and entered the sunlight, Em withdrew her webs from Meriah’s legs and left her on the ground out in the open. She glanced at each remaining member of their squad and spoke with conviction. “Better yourselves, for I will not save those who wallow away in self-pity or refuse to change their way.” She sternly glanced at Kendri, then scowled at Meriah’s unconscious body.

“Your companion is dead. Dead because you’re all weak and incohesive. His death is not because of monsters. It’s because of all of you.” She slammed her legs into the ground so hard that Meriah’s body lifted off the ground from the force.

“I know you did not ask me to join you. But from now on, do not ask for my assistance. You do not deserve it. You lashed out at me because you’re incapable of realizing your own failures.”

Em then spoke toward Kooco, who was perched next to Meriah. “Next time your friend lays a hand on me, I will kill her. It will be swift, and I will feel no remorse. I will end her life in the blink of an eye before you can chirp your last goodbye. I am done with dealing with her outbursts.”

Em sauntered forward, then shoved Belgrate's stone head into Jeremy’s chest. “I will speak to Lee about what has transpired. Begone until nightfall.”

Jeremy looked at Belgrate’s grim visage etched in stone as Em scuttled away, leaving them behind.