Sulika was glad they waited until nightfall before attacking the warehouse. They didn’t need any civilians getting involved in this mess. Especially with the last cultist running the streets. Who knew what he would do in this situation - he could take a hostage, hold up in some back alley where no one could find him, or even flee the city under the cover of darkness.

Sulika only knew one thing for certain. If he got away tonight, he would try again. And next time, they might not have enough warning to do anything about it.

“There!” Zarud whispered, while running along behind Sulika and the others. His great height gave him a much better vantage point from which to see the cultist hiding beside the dumpster in a nearby alley.

The cultist reacted to Zarud’s warning and immediately made a run for it.

“Oh, no you don’t - Divnas: Trace.” Sulika pointed her wand at the cultist’s back at the exact moment she finished her spell. A violet light spring forth from the tip of her wand and splashed against the cultist’s hood.

The cultist reached the end of the alley and sprinted round the corner, temporarily vanishing from sight. But Sulika only smiled. As the cultist ran, he left a visible trail of violet light hovering in the air behind him. The light was only visible to the caster of ‘trace’, so it was the perfect spell for hunting down elusive jackasses - both humanoid and donkeys alike.

Unfortunately, the trail wasn’t permanent. They had a ten-minute window in which to catch him or refresh the spell, otherwise the light would disappear, and they can lose him amidst the sprawling city of Azuris.

The chase led them a few miles from the warehouse. Which surprised Sulika; most spell casters didn’t take care of their bodies and ended up with far less stamina than the average adventurer - and in most cases, the average civilian.

Sulika was a bit of an anomaly in that regard. But her ability to run had more to do with her race than with her training regimen. Her people love to run, to be free. As a child, she would run for hours through the fields and forests of her home with the other children of her family... But that was impossible now.

After what felt like twenty minutes of sprinting like their life depended on it. Sulika noticed the cultist was no longer running as fast. Which was good timing, since Derrick, with his stubby dwarf legs, looked like he was about to keel over at any second.

The cultist rounded another corner - Sulika heard a crash, which was immediately followed by the sound of glass being broken.

“No!” she heard a man shout.

Sulika put her head down and sprinted as hard as she could. She reached the corner in only a couple of seconds and rounded it to find the cultist on his knees. And by looking over his shoulder, Sulika could see the purple orb shattered on the ground in front of him - a dense purple smog was pouring out of the orb and collecting in the air above the cultist’s head.

“What have you done?” Sulika asked the cultist while staring at the portal that was forming before her very eyes.

The cultist flinched at her tone and pulled his hood down tightly over his head. “What have I done? What have you done!?” the cultist hollered in a demented tone. “A year of planning, gone, wasted.”

“You need to stop this, now-”

“I can’t stop it!” The cultist shouted while climbing to his feet and stepping towards the portal. “The ritual you interrupted was so we could control the portal. With it, not only could we control when and where it opened, but this orb was meant to allow us to control which dungeon it connected to. Now that it’s broken, and the ritual left incomplete, there’s nothing I can do... There’s nothing you can do either.” He said, his voice breaking as he finished speaking.

He stepped into the portal without looking back.

“Don’t!” Sulika shouted, but it was too late. The cultist had already gone beyond the threshold and entered the dungeon. “God damnit.” Sulika kicked a nearby trashcan out of frustration and rounded on her team. “We need to go after him. And if we can’t talk him into closing the dungeon on his own, or if he’s really unable to, then we’ll need to shut the portal down ourselves. Are you guys with me?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Derrik asked with a white knuckled grip on his hammer.

Sulika looked at Ralocan, then Zarud. And wasn’t surprised when both of them nodded their agreement. She had a feeling they would’ve gone with her even if she didn’t ask, but she also would’ve felt guilty if she hadn’t given them an out.

“What about Oladi?” Zarud asked.

“Ralocan will leave a message for her on that wall.” Sulika pointed to the adjacent wall. “Tell her not to follow us into the dungeon. Instead, she should return to the Guild and let them know a dungeon break is happening. Hopefully, they’ll listen to her.” Sulika said, though she grumbled the last part under her breath.

She drew her sword and her wand once again and stepped towards the portal. As she approached, the color of the portal changed from purple to black, and her stomach dropped into her feet. “If anyone out there is actually listening... We’re going to need a miracle to make it through this alive. Please, even if I don’t make it back to this side, let my team return safely. They don’t deserve to die just because they followed me.” Sulika said, praying to whatever god would listen. With one final breath of fresh air, she stepped past the threshold and entered the dungeon.