Amy''s report of a massive number of lizardmen converging on their position reignited the arguments from before they''d spotted the waves of powerful flames. Cruella hadn''t been among the new batch of freed prisoners liberated by the groups they found in the building beneath the phoenix egg, but another person from Infinite Innovation Solutions had been, proving that there were more of them out there.
"We should run," Yvonne said.
"I agree. We can''t stay here," Eli said, "but we should not be running away. We should be going down the giant set of stairs."
"Go down? Are you insane?" someone in the group shouted.
"The monsters are going to be even stronger if we go down. We''re barely surviving on this floor," Yvonne countered.
"We have to rescue Cruella," Eli said. "She has to be around here somewhere."
Yvonne stood still, getting a faraway look for a moment, before she blinked and refocused. "I just received messages. Two of the other groups were asking me what to do. I messaged the third, but I''m not getting a reply."
"Where are they?" Eli asked.
"Somewhere a little closer to the staircase," Yvonne said. "Not far from where we fought the goliaths."
"I say we go down," Eli repeated, then stepped away. They all knew his position, but he could not decide for all of them. The others would need to make their voices heard as well, but they had to do it quickly.
Eli received a message himself.
Stu: Uh, hello?
Eli: Stu? You OK?
Stu: Eli! This is so strange. Sending texts by thinking them.
Eli: We''re sort of in the middle of something here, Stu. Are things well at the office building?
Stu: Well, yes and no. Mostly yes. Or no, maybe.
Eli: Stu...
Stu: Okay. So we have a lot of goblins here already and more are arriving all the time. We''ve given them a couple of floors and the small ones are having fun with the elevators.
Stu: But we''re seeing these monsters in the distance too. I think they''re the lizardmen from the dungeon people are talking about?
So he''d been right. The lizardmen were reaching the surface from the tunnels beneath Glimmer Bastion.
Eli: How many? Can you hold them off?
Stu: Not really. We don''t have very many people who can fight. They''re all with you. Can you have some return here? I really don''t want my crops destroyed again.
Stu: Wow, that was quick!
Eli: What?
Stu: A bunch of people just arrived here. They''re looking a little worse for wear, but they''ll do!
Eli sighed. That meant people had run away from the Temple of Rizari, and their own forces down there had just diminished. At least the building wouldn''t stand undefended now.
Eli: Tell them about the lizardmen and have them guard the building.
Stu: Thanks, boss!
Eli tuned back into the increasingly heated argument between those who wanted to fight and those who wanted to return to the surface. He understood their apprehension at continuing on. People had died. It was a miracle really that more hadn''t fallen in the dungeon, with how ferocious and sturdy the higher-level monsters turned out to be.
The loudest contingent of those who wanted to fight on were the prisoners they''d already rescued—people, humans from this world, and a few goblins. The goblins were mostly quiet and kept to themselves, but the humans desperately argued for continuing the search for their loved ones.
Eli wished he had more time to speak to them, to learn from them about the world in which they found themselves.
Amy''s clear, loud voice rang through the din of raised voices. "They will be here in one minute. Maybe less!"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"We move," Simon barked, speaking over Yvonne''s protestations. "Everyone toward the staircase."
Yvonne''s face turned red from what Eli assumed was anger, and as people began streaming out of the building, he walked up next to her. "We need you. We can''t do this with only one healer."
She shook her head. "We can''t do this with two healers, either."
Those words hung in the air as she fell back, but continued walking with everyone else. She and her group, at least, hadn''t fled to save themselves. They could see the lizardmen coming down a long, straight boulevard—a great big number of them—and Eli felt his knees weaken a bit when he spotted several goliaths towering over all the other lizardman types.
They could do this, couldn''t they?
Simon walked at the front with people streaming out of the surrounding buildings.. The Crusader''s shoulders were squared, his back straight, his head held high, and his hand firmly clasped around the leather strap of his shield as he unsheathed his sword.
He, at least, was determined to see this through. Eli cast Sigil of Light, placing it right behind Simon, healing everyone who passed through. All in all, there had to be over a hundred of them in this one group at this point, with more spread out through this floor of the dungeon—still a drop of humanity in an ocean of monsters.
As the distance between lizardman and human went from short to none, arrows flew over Eli''s head, raining down upon the lizardmen. Spells joined in, doing massive damage and killing plenty, but each hole left by a dead lizardman was quickly filled with another.
Simon, James, Charlotte, and even Roy, along with a host of other human fighters, locked blades with the monsters.
A wave of power—for that was the only way Eli could describe it—an invisible force running through physical space without affecting it or ruining anything, came cascading out from a spot in the center of the city. He could see it approaching, but it was too quick for him to react at all. It touching everything and everyone, but left no mark. Eli knew where it had come from—it had come from the staircase.
The fighting stopped, not because of the humans ceasing their attacks, but because the lizardmen did. They dropped their weapons as soon as the shockwave touched them and turned toward its origin.
"Hey! Where are you going?" someone shouted behind him, and Eli turned.
The rescued prisoners had all turned toward the source of the wave of power. Their eyes looked blank, like the light was on, but no one was home. A dark green light glowed on the arm of each of them, and Eli realized it was the tattoos. As one, they dropped their weapons and walked off, just like the lizardmen.
Before Eli had a chance to ask what the hell was going on, another message arrived.
Cruella: Eli, I think I''m in trouble.
Eli: Cruella? Where are you? Are you OK?
Cruella: I don''t know. And no, I''m pretty fucking far from OK.
Eli: We are in the dungeon and trying to find you. There are a lot of cells on the fifth floor. I think we''re on the fifth floor, but something strange just happened. You''re not mindlessly walking, are you?
Cruella: I''m on my back on one of those raised ritual platforms. There are a bunch of those acolyte bastards around, and a bunch of other people stuck here like me. I really need you to get me out of here before I lose my shit.
Eli: Can''t you blink? That lightning thing?
Cruella: I can cast it, but it won''t let me move. I have another escape skill, but everyone is out of range.
Eli: Out of range?
Cruella: Eli, I''m in the middle of some huge ritual. I don''t want to turn into a lizardman, Eli. Please come.
Eli: I will! We will!
Cruella: I think they''re starting. Hurry! I see a stupidly huge set of stairs in the far distance.
Rather than shout, Eli turned to their party chat.
Eli: Cruella just message me. She''s fine for the moment, but she''s in one of those ritual turning people into lizardmen. We have to hurry.
Amy: Oh no.
Simon: Where is she?
Eli: Downstairs. We have to hurry. She said it''s starting already.
James. Then we hurry. At least we won''t have to battle our way there.
Dana: Just walk among the zombie lizardmen.
Simon raised his voice and bellowed out an order so everyone heard him.
"Move out! To the stairs!"
The group of humans was much smaller now that all the rescued prisoners had wandered off. Some had tried to hold them back to keep them from leaving with the lizardmen. In those cases, they''d just stood there until whoever held them let go, and then they''d walked off. The immense crowding in the street from all those lizardmen trying to leave at the same time meant plenty still remained. James poked a cursed lizardman mage in its side with his word, but it didn''t react at all. When he swung and lopped its head off without any resistance, no other lizardmen retaliated.
"I''''ll catch up," James said. "This is a good opportunity to cull the priests and mages, so we don''t have to face them later."
"I''ll come," Dana said, drawing a short blade.
He looked her up and down, then smiled gently. "Let''s go."
"Don''t go too far, and meet us by the stairs," Simon said.
With that, they all set off running, going around the army of lizardmen rather than trying to squeeze past. It didn''t take them long to reach the massive spiral stairs down.
Light''s voice suddenly thrummed in his head.
You should not go down there.
Eli glanced at Simon and Samantha, who were both looking over at him. They''d heard it too.
You''re watching us? Eli thought the words back, rather than say them.
You are my champions. Naturally, I am watching you. That which is waiting for you below is beyond your strength to handle. This is not the purpose I tasked you with. Leave. Now.
There was a forcefulness behind those words, an expectation for the command to be followed.
No.
He was not going to just let all these people wander off and probably end up as lizardmen, and he was not about to abandon a member of his party. That was not what he signed up for. A general sense of frustration and perplexed confusion emanated through the strange bond he''d formed with Light, but she made no further attempts at swaying his decision. From the look of Simon and Samantha, they, too, had refused Light''s order to leave. Grim determination set Simon''s expression and a sort of amused rebelliousness painted a toothy smile on Samantha''s face.
The three of them, along with everyone else, would see this through, no matter what.
Together, they raced toward the stairs.
Eli: Hold on, Cruella. We''re coming.