When we arrived at the dungeon, the site was quickly blocked off with some easily put-up fences. The two signs that hung on the fence were clearly visible.

One stated the ownership of the dungeon, my guild “Wandering Pegasus”, and the sign-up sheet saying which party and the assisting guild, “Branded Shield”.

I would like to clarify that we voted many times to change the name, but we never got approval. Our guild master, Surge, is a total softy (though as a berserker who favored a battle hammer, so he didn’t look it) and thought it was best that we had a kind name. Despite the fact that it made it more obvious that our members’ rankings weren't all that high.

The other party was already at the portal. They were quite large in stature, and even with my inability to read people's faces well, I could tell they were not the kindest people.

There were five of them, three standing and two sitting on a large rock by the portal. The largest, with a great sword on his back (so I’m gonna say their Tank), traded his grin for a smile when they noticed us. The other two stood with him; one was an archer and the other had two one-handed axes. If they weren’t mercs they sure had a weird preference for weapons.

Chase waved at them as we walked over.

"Sorry, we're late."

The two sitting stood up at hearing this. One had a very disinterested look while the other seemed to find it difficult to stop grinning. The disinterested one was a swordsman like Valera, while the grinning one seemed to be an assassin type. He had two short blades strapped to his lower back.

The largest waved us over.

"Oh don't worry, let's just head in and clear it quickly."

Valera looked at the group, her hand playing with the hilt of her sword.

"You don't want to discuss how we split the rewards?"

The tank laughed softly, which seemed a little forced. and waved a hand as if dismissing her worry.

"I just figured whoever does the final strike gets the rewards if there is something, and we'll split the boss’s rewards."

Lyra glanced at Valera quickly, but her hand stiffly slid off her hilt.

"That should work."

"Great, let's head on in."

The tank turned and he and his party stepped through the portal first. We followed after giving them a few seconds of space.

Once inside, we heard the usual chime and I looked above to see the quest banner appear.

A glowing scroll floated ahead of us and slightly up in the air reading-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The War of Two Species

Completion Requirements:

Goblins 0/100

Ogres 0/100

Clan Leaders 0/2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking beyond the banner I could see a sprawling barren landscape with thick woods that led to mountains in the distance. The trees were bare but densely packed. There was an eeriness to the gray color of the soil and the fog, that seemed to be emanating from the forest.

The tank walked over to Chase and put a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Since there are two groups, why don't you take one and we take the other?"

Chase shoved his hand off, stepping back to gain some distance from the larger man.

"That will work."

The tank held up his hands as if to apologize, but there was something about his eyes that made me feel it wasn't one.

"Well there seems to be only one path, so let's head on it first."

Walking side by side with their party we headed into the woods.

Lukon managed to maneuver me so that I was furthest from the other party.

It hurt my pride that our support mage was being so considerate of me. But I couldn't say much, considering I was ranked lower than him.

I glanced around and saw how tense Lukon was clutching his staff. The other party seemed quite relaxed only glancing at our surroundings casually.

While dungeons weren't portals to another world, they contained Domains. They never seemed like it. It always felt like you could see off into the distance as far as you could in the real world. But walking through the woods right now, and only managing to see a few trees deep, was unsettling. The silence was also disconcerting—even in cave-type domains, there was some noise.

No one said a word and we soon arrived at a fork in the road.

Chase and their Tank, who had been walking side by side, looked at each other.

 "We'll take the left and you'll take the right. If all goes well, we'll see you on the other side."

The Tank led his party to the left without a response from Chase. He took his bow off his back and watched until they seemed to disappear.

"Keep your eyes out. I can't trust them, that was too easy."

We headed down the right path. Valera and Lyra had their hands on their swords looking at the trees around them.

There was a crunching noise, then a shriek. I turn to see a goblin leap at Lyra. She quickly impales it on her sword. Its head slowly looks up at her before coughing up blood and going limp.

Lyra pushed it off with her foot nonchalantly but then looked at it closer.

Lukon headed over, I tailed behind him without thinking and looked down to see that the goblin was already covered in injuries.

Lukon crouched at its side, getting a closer look.

“Do you guys think ogres would have let it go like this? And these injuries don’t seem to be from any weapons.”

Chase came over closer as Lyra and Valera took stances looking at the trees.

“No, something’s weird. The trial called it a war, but we’ve been walking for quite a while, and we’ve only seen one goblin.”

I felt a shiver up my spine and turned around quickly but I saw nothing.

Lukon stood up next to me.

“You, okay?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, it just felt like someone was watching us.”

I heard Chase take an arrow out of his quiver.

“I really hope the other party isn’t actually mercs.”

“Why would they kill us if there aren’t any rewards to steal? Wouldn’t it be more obvious?”

Valera sighed, taking a few steps down the path.