The moment the seal was broken, a rush of magical pressure swept through the air, causing the guards to freeze momentarily before the bosses’ grin turned wicked. With a sudden roar, monsters emerged from the dungeon, charging out. With his maniacal grin, the boss took the sword away from my throat and slashed the ogre in front of us, blood falling everywhere. The other two guards jumped in as well, attacking and cutting up the monsters left and right before me.

I stared, my eyes trembling at the sight as bile rose from my stomach. Summoning a cleaning towel from the book, I cleaned my face before I was suddenly yanked by the guards. All the monsters that had emerged from the sudden charge were killed, and now I was being dragged into the dungeon itself, the guards far too excited for the danger they were in for.

“Let me go!” I struggled, tears emerging from my eyes. I had done enough now, hadn’t I?

“Not yet,” the boss spoke up, grinning from ear to ear. “We need you as insurance, in case things get ugly.”

This was not how I wanted this day to go.

Shoved up front with swords at my back, we entered the dungeon. Outside of the initial charge, only a few monsters remained here or there, but they were easy work for the guards to deal with. I was careful with every step I took, the guards always having their eye on me as we trudged forward. At this point, I was out of options, all I could do was clutch my book and pray for my own survival.

We were making decent headway, the entrance away from sight when we reached our first fork in the road.

“Which way boss?” One guard asked as we stopped.

“Let’s-”

“What’s that?” The other guard interrupted, pointing to the glowing gemstones on the right path.

The boss smirked, “The money load. Boys, we’ll be taking the right path.”

The guards nudged me forward with their swords, but I didn’t move. I was frozen in place.

“Those aren’t gemstones,” I muttered, frozen in fear as I stared ahead. 

Turning back to the glowing gemstones, the guards watched as they suddenly blinked. Jumping back, we watched as they rose from their place, a large paw stepping forward as several more eyes appeared in the darkness. Panic arose in my chest, the encounter with the Altalion yesterday flooding back to me. The guards however, were unfazed by the sudden opponent.

“Not bad, had me fooled, but you’re not so scary,” the boss laughed, stepping forward. Raising his sword, the boss surrounded it in his magical aura as he prepared for his attack, the other two following suit. With a swift charge and a swing of their blades, they released powerful bursts of magic, slashing at the beast. 

However, the moment their swords made contact, they shattered into pieces. The guards all froze, the beasts towering over them, baring its sharp teeth. The beast roared as the guards stood there, its roar ringing in their feeble ears.

Defenseless, the guards bolted with their tails between their legs, knowing they were no match for this monster. However, before running out, they made sure to throw me towards the beast as bait.

“Here you monster! Eat this!”

I cried out in surprise, landing in front of the large wolf as it raised its mighty paw. On instinct, I covered my head with the book in my hand, the giant wolf’s claw instantly reflecting off of the book’s indestructible magic. I blinked in surprise as the wolf was knocked back, before coming back to my senses, getting up and quickly running towards the exit.

Get out. Run. RUN! My mind reeled as I ran, running as fast as my legs would carry me. While I had knocked back the bigger wolf beast, I could hear the smaller ones still on my tail. My lungs burned as I ran, but I didn’t dare look back even though I knew they were closing in. Four legs against two, I knew I was in trouble, but I still hoped. Squeezing my eyes shut, I braced myself for the incoming attack as I felt them close in. 

However, there was one thing I had forgotten. Back when the guards still had me pinned with their swords, I had quietly turned on TTS and asked the book for a way to get me out of this mess. I originally thought it didn’t work, but as it turns out, to my surprise, it did work.

“Heads up!”

Opening my eyes in surprise, I ducked before turning behind me towards the new voice. The wolf monsters whined as they were blown back, the man in front of me having beat them away with his heavy metal bat.

“Sorry, I guess I meant heads down,” the blonde guy laughed to himself as he turned to me.

The man before me wore an orange T-shirt and a brown cargo pants alongside some light leather armor. He had messy, dirty blonde hair, tan skin, and bright orange eyes.

“You alright little miss?” He asked cheerfully despite the situation.

I nodded amidst my shock as the blonde man grinned, “Sweet!”

Suddenly, the smaller wolves jumped behind him, seemingly ganging up on him as they pounced.

“Look out!” I cried, but the blonde guy wasn’t fazed.

In an instant, they were cut pieces as another man suddenly stood behind him. He looked about the same age as the other man, both looking to be in their early twenties, and wore a similar outfit to the other, only black and red in color instead of brown and orange. The biggest difference however, was his neat brown hair, darker skin, and piercing red eyes. His weapon of choice was surprisingly a small black knife, a stark contrast to his ally with the heavy metal baseball bat.

“Takeo, don’t forget to be aware of your surroundings,” The darker haired male scolded, casually slashing the enemy next to him.

“Sorry bro, I just had to make sure- the little miss- was all right,” Takeo spoke between his strikes against the wolves.

I stared frozen in place as watched the two fight. Even after everything that has happened in the last forty-eight hours, I still couldn’t believe what was happening. Here I am once again, two out of six of my main characters standing before me, alive.

“James! There’s too many, and the big ones coming back!” Takeo yelled.

“It’s time to move,” James answered, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the exit.

Takeo followed behind us as we ran towards the exit, the light of which was now within our sight. Thankfully, due the larger wolf’s size, it couldn’t move as fast within the tight space as the dungeon cavern grew smaller and smaller as we headed towards the exit. The little wolves and monsters were no match for Takeo and James, the both of them easily beating them back as we passed.

We were so close; the entrance was just a few steps away when- Bzzt! I crashed, face planting hard onto something as I bounced back from the force, losing James’s hand as I fell back.

Takeo and James stopped, looking back in surprise, confused as to why they lost me. I looked up to see what it was I run in to, and to my surprise a magical field sat there glowing menacingly. I stood up and tried to walk forward only to be blocked once again.

I couldn’t leave.

“Miss!” James called out, throwing his blade at the monster approaching me. Takeo and James quickly ran back into the dungeon, swiftly batting away the smaller monsters approaching me. 

“James, we need a new plan!” Takeo called out.

“Working on it,” James growled back, his nerves showing.

Suddenly, a roar echoed in front of them as the sudden barrage of smaller monsters stopped. The dungeons walls cracked and crumbled as the larger wolf from before tried to force its way through. The beast fought like a cat swiping through a mouse hole, digging and pawing at the dungeon wall to reach us. The boys stepped back on instinct, trying to figure out what to do as I backed against the barrier.

However, the moment the boys moved; the beast swiped its mighty paw. The two were thrown back, and out of the dungeon as they crashed into the dirt behind me.

“Takeo, James!” I called after them. The two got up quickly, but as they did, they frozen in their tracks, their eyes widening as they stared back at me.

“Miss!” They screamed.

I turned around, time seeming to have slowed, and I watched the beast’s jaw close in. I stared at the beast’s mouth, ready to accept my fate, when suddenly, a blur of black and purple crashed between us. I closed my eyes and covered my face on instinct, as waves of magical energy blew in front of me.

Familiar magic energy. Opening my eyes, I practically cried at the sight. Familiar black ears twitched as her hair and tail swiped against wind. She smiled, her sharp toothy grin as Fauve grinned back at her prey.

“Ehehe! Time… to HUNT!”