Eli and Simon pressed on. The lizardmen paid the two of them no mind and only kept pushing to escape with their victims. Those closest to Eli didn''t even carry anything, yet they did not turn around even as Simon tore into them with his blade, slicing into their backs and severing their spines.


    Finally, after more than ten of them lay dead or dying on the tracks, the lizardmen realized their error and ponderously turned around to face the threat. The tunnel wasn''t much wider than the carts that ran in them, and the ground was treacherous, with the rails resting on gravel. Simon almost tripped several times. It took them far longer to push forward than Eli wanted, especially after some lizardmen decided to fight, and they saw goblins disappearing into the murky darkness in the distance. There was nothing they could do to stop the monsters.


    Even with his increasingly high level from going through the levels in the temple of Rizari, Simon was getting tired, and his stamina kept draining to reflect this exhaustion. Or perhaps it was the other way around—his stamina drained, therefore he was exhausted. In practical terms, it didn''t matter which, just that Simon couldn''t go on forever. And the store of stamina potions wasn''t endless either.


    Dana: Come back, Cruella! We can''t even see where you went!


    James: Cruella, come on now.


    Cruella: I''ll be back in a moment. I''m thinking maybe I can collapse the tunnel to stem the flow.


    Eli: That wasn''t part of the plan. We should be pulling back.


    Cruella: Oh, is that what you''re doing?


    Eli looked at the tired Simon and then at the silhouettes of a seemingly endless line of lizardmen in front of them. He nodded to himself.


    Eli: Yes, that''s what we''re doing.


    "Come on, Simon, we have to back off."


    There wasn''t anything they could do about the kidnapped goblins. Not from here. They knew where the prisoners were going. That would have to be enough. Once they''d helped with the evacuation, they would join the others on the fourth floor of the Temple of Rizari and put things right.


    Simon backed away slowly at first, but the lizardmen did not follow. Instead, they turned around again and kept going down the tunnel. Apparently, their task in Glimmer Bastion was completed.


    Eli cast Warp, sending them both to the goblin hospital. It would be faster than walking back, and Eli figured Simon deserved a shortcut.


    The streets were full of goblins—going, pushing, screaming, forcing their way forward to reach the large cavern exit. Lizardmen were mixed in among them. Killing and taking. Their presence proved the party''s attempt at stemming the flow had failed. Simon heaved a giant breath, then set off down the street to help the closest goblins from the being taken. Eli hurried to follow.


    Eli: Lizardmen are out. You should pull back now and help back here.


    Amy: I left Princess to hold the line. We''re on our way to James and Dana.


    Samantha: Can''t back away from here or Cruella won''t be able to make it back.


    Cruella: Actually, I''m a little turned around in here. I''m not entirely sure which way is back.


    Eli: Cruella…


    Cruella: I''m joking, I''m joking.


    James: So you are on the way back?


    Cruella: Yes, but actually, no.


    Dana: I swear I''m going to leave you here if you keep messing around.


    Cruella: Hold on. There is suddenly a shit ton of cursed lizardmen around here.


    Eli and Simon arrived at the entrance James, Dana, and Cruella were supposed to guard, but it was empty. They pushed in and soon caught up to Amy and Sasha. A little while later, they found James and Dana back where Eli had met the mining foreman.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Which way did she go?" Eli asked.


    James used some type of area-of-effect skill, and a bunch of shields materialized in the air, slamming into a group of lizardmen and crushing them. He turned around, obviously tired and more than a little exasperated. "I don''t know. She just left. I don’t know where she is."


    "She could be in any of these tunnels," Dana added.


    Cruella: Guys, I''m in trouble.


    Eli: What kind of trouble?


    (Silence.)


    James: Cruella?


    (More silence.)


    Dana: Cruella, I swear to god.


    Cruella has left the party.


    Samantha obliterated a large group of lizardmen with her new bomb-like area of effect spell, then slumped down in the foreman''s chair. "What do we do?"


    Eli attempted to message her, but found that he could not. "She wouldn''t have left the party of her own volition. Something must have happened to her."


    "Do we go in after her?" Simon asked, a resigned look on his face.


    "No," Eli said, rubbing at his eyes, immediately regretting it as his fingers were dirty with blood from some unknown source. "We won''t find her here. They''ll take her to the same place as the others. The Temple of Rizari."


    "What if these ones weren''t taking prisoners?" Amy asked.


    "Then that notification means she’s already dead, and there’s nothing we can do anyway."


    "More of them are coming," Samantha said. "Hold on. I think I have a skill for this. Just let me pick it." Her eyes went blank for a moment, and when her gaze focused again, walls of light appeared, blocking the three tunnel exits.


    James, who was standing right by them, poked at the light with a finger, then gently slashed at it with his sword. It didn’t make a single sound, but it held solid. "Neat," he said. "How long does it last?"


    "If no one breaks it," Samantha said pointedly, "it can last almost a full hour at rank 1."


    "That skill would have been pretty nice to know about an hour ago," Dana muttered.


    Samantha shrugged. "I’m not exactly getting a lot of time to peruse my skill list, and I forgot this one existed."


    "Eli should have it too," Samantha said.


    "I don’t, unfortunately," Eli replied. "What’s it called? Let me guess," he added dryly. "Wall of Light?"


    Samantha nodded. "Imaginative."


    Eli pointed back the way they''d come. "Samantha, why don’t you take James and Dana with you and go put up barriers at the other entrances? The rest of us will go to the cavern entrance and help however we can on the way."


    Samantha shook her head. "Three is my maximum at rank 1. Can’t put up any more."


    "Figures," Eli said. "Oh well. Let’s just move out, everyone. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to Cruella and kick her ass for being so stupid."


    The entrance to the mining operations was at the back of the cavern, almost at the furthest point away from the entrance. But there were still goblins hurrying about right outside. The party pushed them toward the entrance, moving forward and helping as they went. Plenty of lizardmen were still roaming the streets, and those met with hasty ends. Thankfully, the lizardmen hadn’t reached the cavern entrance and the part of town out in the open, which meant they could set up a post there to make sure no monsters made it beyond, while still sending some of the party back into the cavern to scout for more goblins in need of rescue.


    More than an hour later, they''d seen neither goblin nor lizardman inside the cavern for almost 20 minutes. Outside, in the distance, at the other side of the town near where the field of grass began, a sea of goblins hurried away from their home and toward the unknown. Newly minted refugees.


    The party of seven warped back to the office building and Eli headed outside. He was glad to see Stu tending his fields, a mountain of potatoes sitting in the grass while one of the crafters was building what looked like some kind of food cellar next to them.


    "Hey Stu, got a minute?"


    "Eli," Stu replied. "Of course, of course."


    "Pretty much every goblin from the goblin city is heading over here," Eli began, before he noticed Stu immediately going pale. "No, they''re not coming to attack us," Eli clarified. "They have been attacked by lizardmen. They''re coming here as refugees. Can you please see to it that they are situated? It will probably be several hours before they arrive, so maybe you can find them some floors—well, quite a few floors—where they can stay until we figure this out?"


    Stu''s face recovered some of its color, and he nodded. "Sounds like the decent thing to do."


    Eli looked around. "Where''s Charlotte?"


    "She decided she couldn''t sit idly by when everyone was off fighting in the dungeon. So, she headed over there with everyone else," Stu explained.


    Eli nodded. "Good for her," he said, though he found himself a little worried. If Charlotte lost her calm again, it could mean people dying when the stakes were this high. He decided that he''d trust Charlotte to handle herself. Mostly because what else was he supposed to do? She was already gone. But also because the Barbarian made a choice that showed determination and grit—both of which she''d lacked before. It was a good sign. Time would tell the outcome, but Eli had an inkling it would all work out in the end for the one who named the Ravenous Barbarians.


    When Eli returned to the foyer, having briefed Stu with all the information he could think of, the others were just coming down the stairs.


    "Everyone has gone," Samantha said. "Even the apothecaries. Only a few are still handing around here. Crafters, most of them, and the cowards who are still level 1. They just sit around here and cry."


    Simon gave Samantha a look. "You shouldn''t chide them. It isn''t strange for people to fold under the sort of pressure we find ourselves under. I have seen grown men cry for less."


    "Is that the way you want to tell us that you''re a giant crybaby?" Dana asked, a smile on her face turning the needling comment into a teasing one.


    Simon pretended not to have heard her.


    "So that''s it then?" James asked. "We''re going back to the temple?"


    Eli nodded. "It''s time we root out the lizardmen scourge once and for all."


    "And rescue Cruella," Simon said.


    "And banish a god," Sasha added.


    Amy nodded sagely. "Let''s kick some god butt."


    "Everyone ready?" Eli asked.


    "Ready!" everyone shouted in unison.