Daniel Shen was going to die, alone and bloody in a stinking hole in the ground. He'd just wanted to get out of the noise of town for a bit, go for a ride with Thomas, and clear his head. And then the world went upside down as monster from the hills killed his horse right out from under him. One of his legs was broken at the very least. His head was throbbing, and he'd been in and out of consciousness. He'd vomited at least once, though whether that was because of the head trauma or just the smell, he wasn't sure.

The cave he found himself in was actually fairly roomy, but it wasn't nearly big enough to make him feel better about sharing the space with four bugbears. The beasts were easily eight feet tall, with gangly long arms that came all the way down to the ground. Hair, matted with dirt and blood, covered their entire bodies, save for their gnarled, almost bat-like faces. And their eyes. Daniel was never going to forget those massive, golden eyes with their unsettlingly beady pupils.

He could still hear them crunching on pieces of his horse they'd taken along with him. He was next, he knew. The thought made him cry. Then he realized he couldn't hear them chewing anymore.

"Oh dear," a voice echoed in the darkness. "They've noticed us."

"Seriously? After all that talk about approaching carefully?"

"I did say this could happen."

"Dr. Siren, we can't fight if we can't see!"

One of the bugbears let out a low growl and barked at the others, who snarled in turn. Daniel heard movement, but it was too hard to see what was happening in the dark.

Then one of the voices from earlier shouted something in a language Daniel didn't understand, the entire cave lit up like daylight. The light hurt Daniel's eyes and gave him a splitting headache. The last thing he saw before blacking out again was three figures, rushing into the cave with what looked like a tiny sun behind them.

Daniel knew for sure he was dead then.

As the light of his prayer, illuminated the cave, Arden took in their situation, and began to shout commands.

"Valerie, List, wait for me to draw their attention, then circle around to protect the boy!"

Unfortunately, he only got as far as "attention" before List gave a battle cry of her own, and charged straight ahead. Valerie shot him an apologetic look as she loaded her wristbow, and Arden sighed. If nothing else, at least he would get to see how the girl fought for himself.

List was a whirlwind with the whip, lashing out at the bugbears as she tried to stay out of their own considerable reach. She caught one across the bridge of its nose, used her other hand to redirect the whip into another's chest, and then leapt out of the way of a third's attack while swinging wildly. So wildly, in fact, one of her backswings actually struck Arden's hat, but he managed to catch it before it tumbled out of reach.

She had the bugbear's attention, but had left little more than welts or minor gashes in their hides. But then her tattoos began to glow, and red lightning spread across the length of the whip.

List faced the closest bugbear charging her down, and with a crack that sent red lightning arcing through the air all around her, she sliced one of its arms off at the elbow. A victorious grin spread across her face, replaced by panic an instant later as the bugbear kept charging, and slammed into her with its entire body.

She fell to the ground, and had just enough time to register the maw of teeth looming over her before a beam of golden light lanced through the air, vaporizing the creature's head from the neck up.

List met Arden's eyes from across the cave, and the scholar gave her a small smile. She did not return it.

Valerie rushed along the edge of the battle, trying to go unnoticed as she made her way toward a—hopefully—unconscious Daniel at the back of the cave. When she was halfway, one of the bugbears noticed her, and ran for her, thundering along as it propelled itself forward with its arms.

She put a wrist bolt through its neck without slowing down, reloaded, and took another shot. The second missed her target, taking off the bugbear's ear instead of piercing it between the eyes. She groaned, frustrated, and reloaded her weapon one last time even as the monster beared down on her. She was fast, but so was the bugbear, and by the time she had her wristbow's arms locked back, the creature loomed over her. She shot at point blank range, sinking a bolt straight into its eye socket. She'd still been aiming for between its eyes, but when the beast fell over dead anyway, she didn't complain.

She caught sight of List on the other side of the cave, her whip wrapped around a bugbear's throat, clinging to the monster's back as it thrashed and clawed at her.

"If either of you want to shoot this thing, I won't stop you!" List shouted.

Valerie reacted, sinking a bolt into its collar bone. It didn't kill the bugbear, but List seized the bolt, ripped it free of the monster's hide, and started stabbing.

Arden stayed back, watching the girls work until one of the bugbears peeled away from List and came for him. The priest shook his head dismissively as the monster came. It swung for him, and he ducked beneath the blow. Its next swipe, he leapt back and out of the way of. He didn't give it a third attempt, bringing the head of his cane down on the creature's head, then against its jaw.

The blows left the creature dazed, and Arden took the opportunity to speak a prayer for strength. When he drove his cane forward, its end punched straight through the bugbear's chest and pierced its heart. The bugbear's roars died out in an instant, and it collapsed to the ground in a heap.

List's last bugbear took an inconsiderately long time to die for something with a dozen holes in its neck, but eventually, it too went crashing to the ground.

"And stay down!" she spat.

Arden watched as she stood panting over the body, the light from her tattoos long gone, stray sparks dancing across her skin, and a smile on her face. She looked like she'd just finished some particularly rewarding exercise.

She was sloppy, uncareful and unaware of her surroundings, and she desperately needed a proper weapon. But she took to violent, life and death situations like a fish to water, to the degree she seemed to outright enjoy them. Even he only typically felt a sense of quiet satisfaction after a battle was over. And that power she wielded. For a moment, she'd turned a whip into a weapon more lethal than a sword.

After observing List in the fight, Arden was reminded of Valerie. So much untapped potential.

And so much to be afraid of.

"Dr. Siren," Valerie called, already at Daniel Shen's side. "He's still alive, but he's hurt pretty bad. He's going to need healing to make it back to Shadefall."

With a word from Arden, healing power washed over the boy, treating the worst of his injuries and bringing him to stable condition. He could have used a more powerful prayer to restore the boy completely, but for now, Arden was satisfied with getting him out of danger. Even he could only channel so much divine power before it began to strain his body, and even though he hadn't neared that limit, it was important to pace himself.

"Keep an eye on him," Arden instructed.

"Shouldn't we just get him out of here?" List asked.

"You forget," Arden said, "we are researchers as much as hunters, and I'd prefer to examine as much of this place. The boy will live, though you can always take him out of the cave if you'd prefer."

List shook her head, marveling at the detachment in Arden's voice. She didn't even consider herself all that considerate a person, and even she would have thought the priority here would be getting Daniel as far away from here as quickly as possible.

But she wasn't in charge, so she left Arden to his work, and joined Valerie looking over the still unconscious Daniel.