We made it to the next safe zone first.

  This time I was right behind Gnasher as we crossed the finish line. One of the stones on the right side of the wall flashed blue and Arwel slapped it with her hand.

  “Keep an eye on the other door!” She pulled out her sword as she charged into the circular boss room behind Corbah.

  A pair of green lizards rose out of the floor on the other side of the room. They were so large that I could walk underneath them and wouldn’t hit my head. Rows of hungry teeth lined their open jaws as the monsters scampered towards us.

  “Gnasher and you on the right!” Arwel ran behind Corbah as they angled for the one on the left.

  “IT’S TIME TO DIE!” Gnasher howled with glee as he ran towards the giant lizard.

  I pulled out my sword as I moved towards it. The lizard’s head snapped out almost faster than I could follow, but my Gnoll companion rolled out of the way and got under its belly. He howled with glee as he lodged his ax in the knee of the back left leg.

  ROAR!

  The monster kicked out with its leg, but the legs weren’t as fast as the head. It became a dance where Gnasher moved with the body and was able to stay one step ahead of each swipe while also staying safe from the mouth.

  Until the monster belly flopped.

  I was near the back left leg when the lizard smashed Gnasher into the stone floor. He cackled with glee even as he was being smashed. He wheezed as the monster stood up, only for the Gnoll to bite down on the back right foot.

  I ran closer, slicing the joint of the left leg where Gnasher had gotten a solid blow earlier. The lizard hissed as the leg buckled and gave way, sending the oversized monster toward me. I dove to my right but still got slapped in the chest by the tail as the lizard fell on its side. I tumbled away, thankful that the blow hadn’t knocked the wind out of me, but regretting taking a breath as I stopped my roll and stood up.

  Gnasher staggered to his feet as the lizard scrambled to get up. The monster snapped its jaw as the front two legs clawed at the stone, moving it in a tight circle towards us.

  I eyed the tail as I stepped back to stay out of its reach. My chest burned, but I’d managed to keep a grip on my sword. I rotated to my right as the monster moved to my left to chase the Gnoll.

  “CAN’T CATCH ME! HE-HE-HE!” Gnasher laughed as he ran in a circle with the monster scrambling behind him.

  I walked over to where his ax had fallen and picked up the weapon. “Here!” I tossed the ax towards the Gnoll.

  “IT’S KILLING TIME! HE-HE-HE!” Gnasher sank the ax into the lizard’s belly.

  The monster roared, slapping at the embedded weapon, which Gnasher left in the monster’s side as he danced away from it. The lizard bit at the weapon, pulling it free, and then it swallowed it.

  Anger filled the giant lizard’s eyes as it turned its attention to the two of us.

  “It just ate your weapon.” I tightened the grip on my sword.

  “Good thing I’ve still got THESE! HE-HE-HE!” Gnasher flexed his fingers, showing the sharp nails at the end of each one.

  “I don’t think—”

  “IT’S KILLING TIME!!!” The Gnoll charged.

  He’s got a death wish. I shook my head.

  “Runners have to keep moving or they lose. You follow your instincts and keep pressing forward. The clock is against you and you never know when something is going to get you from behind if you slow down.” Grandpa scolded me. “You can handle this lizard, so get in there and finish it off!”

  I glanced over at the other two and watched how they were both pressing their attacks. Each dodge was the beginning of a counterattack. Each strike was chained into the next one. It was a dance where they were always moving into the next attack. I wasn’t sure that I could match their tempo, but it gave me an idea of what I was working towards.

  I bounced on my feet, then charged at the lizard.

  Gnasher was harassing its front legs, keeping one step ahead of the snapping jaw while also dodging the swiping claws. His own claws were barely doing any damage, but the laughing Gnoll was keeping the monster’s full attention.

  I ran around to the back left side of the monster. Its left leg was lying limp to the side as it dragged its butt around with the other leg. Its inability to protect that side gave me the perfect opening to run up to it and plunge my sword in its side.

  ROAR!

  “Too low!” Grandpa rebuked me. “There’s nothing vital just above the back hip!”

  I pulled the sword out and jumped over the tail that swept across the floor.

  It’ll die from a gut wound! I took a step back as the good back leg kicked out at me. It kept kicking out like it was trying to scratch its belly to keep me away from it.

  “It takes hours, sometimes days or weeks, to die from a gut wound!” Grandpa fumed. “Go for the heart or the lungs or the throat!”

  Kind of hard to do with this foot in the way! I angled the sword so that the next kick of the foot drove the tip of my blade clean through the foot.

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  ROAR!

  The monster yanked its foot away from me, but I kept my grip on the sword, which tore the weapon free of the foot. The monster turned its head to glare at me, but that distraction gave Gnasher an opening and the laughing Gnoll leapt onto the side of the monster’s face and bit down on the left eye.

  ROAR!

  The giant lizard thrashed its head back and forth as it tried to claw at the giggling man. Gnasher kicked off the monster’s face and vaulted over the clawed hand onto the floor.

  I didn’t let the distraction go unused and stabbed my sword into the monster’s chest just behind the right front leg. I wiggled it back and forth trying to make the hole as large as possible while also fishing for a vital organ. I felt my sword scrape against something, then the monster vanished in a puff of smoke.

  Gnasher’s ax clattered on the stone floor.

  “I need that!” The Gnoll ran over and picked up his weapon. The fluids that had been matting his fur evaporated when the monster died, leaving it still sticking out in clumps but no longer looking sticky.

  “You good?” I took a deep breath.

  “It’s all good! He-he-he-ha!” Gnasher ran towards the other monster, but before he got halfway there, it vanished in an explosion of smoke.

  “HA! Too slow!” Gnasher stuck out his tongue at the other barrier.

  I turned around to see a group of Dwarves on the other side. The lead one slammed his fist on the red barrier.

  “Too slow?’ I jogged beside him as we headed for the exit.

  “They didn’t make it! Ha-HA!” He howled with glee as he sped up.

  What does he mean? I focused on ignoring how sore I was.

  “The runner-up can walk in just before a killing blow is landed.” Grandpa laughed. “If they time it right, they don’t trigger the ‘helper’ status but also don’t have to fight the boss themselves. Then it becomes a race to see who can get their whole team across the finish line first.”

  So they watched us do all the work and tried to use our kill to skip the boss fight themselves? I sighed. I could see how it would be a viable strategy, but only if they trusted the other team not to kill them. I swallowed as I looked at the three people in front of me. I knew they had no problem killing other runners. And while I had killed one myself, that had been self-defense, while the more I thought about the order Arwel gave just before we went in, the more I believed that she had wanted them to attack us so she could steal their gear.

  “That’s definitely what one-up means.” Grandpa grumbled. “It’s dishonorable to do it without a challenge, but if you can get one of the other team to accidentally hit you, then you are free to defend yourself. Which is why most runners won’t jump in to help another one. It’s too risky and if the other team dies, you can walk in at the last minute, get their gear, and start from the damage they’ve already done to the boss.”

  So you’re telling me that it’s every man for himself out here? I eyed the rest of my team. What about killing teammates?

  “Your share of the winnings is nullified if you die. Conflict within a team is considered an internal matter and they’ll get to keep your gear as well.” Disgust filled Grandpa’s voice. “Word gets around, though, and no one will work with you if you start killing off teammates to get a larger reward from a single dungeon.”

  At least there’s that… My thoughts trailed off as I wondered how much I could trust the people running ahead of me.

  “Oh, definitely don’t trust them.” Grandpa admonished me. “If you die in the final boss fight, they get to keep your runner token since that’s part of your gear.”

  You’re telling me that they’re probably going to try to kill me once we get into this next fight? I slowed down just a little. Why should I go in there with them?

  “They might not, but I want you to be aware of the possibility.” His voice filled with pride. “Runner tokens are expensive, so very few individuals have them. Most teams are sponsored by a corporation. Those teams make even less than what Orina offered you.”

  “What about the Thizzers?” I kept my pace at a steady jog. “Wouldn’t Arwel get their token?”

  “If they were backed by a corporation, then the handler would be the one with the token on them. If they are a private team, like you, then as the team leader, you get to decide who gets loot like that.”

  My heart sank. The more Grandpa talked, the more I wondered why he’d pushed me to join up with this team.

  “I’m not trying to get you killed.” Grandpa grumbled. “I’m pretty sure that Elf wants to jump you, so I doubt she’d give the okay for Arwel to off you in this run.”

  That doesn’t help me feel any better. I slowed down even more as the finish line came into view. All the others were already across the line and the fury on Arwel’s face didn’t encourage me to want to walk over the line.

  “We didn’t make it.” The purple Elf spat as soon as I got in earshot.

  “What?” I looked at where she was pointing. There were three lit stones on the wall here, though the one closest to the red barrier was a dull gray instead of a shining blue.

  “The cats got first place! He—”

  Arwel grabbed Gnasher by the throat, cutting off his laugh. “I’m not in the mood.” She shoved the Gnoll into the wall on my left.

  “She’s mad.” Gnasher whimpered, moving behind me like I would be able to shield him from Arwel’s fury.

  Having the Gnoll behind me didn’t help me feel any safer, but now that we weren’t going to get first place, I began to have hope that I’d survive this run. Note to self: figure out how to not work for Orina anymore. I resolved that I’d run solo until I could find a team that I could trust.

  “Boss, they’re not going to make it.” Corbah pointed at the fight. “The female just died.”

  My heart sped up as I pushed forward to see what he was talking about. A pit formed in my stomach as I realized that the Cat Sith team was fighting a giant black snake. I felt a small shred of relief as I spotted the tan female from before, but one of the other males was injured and it didn’t look like the other two had done much damage.

  “That’s a wurm, not a snake. A pretty big one too, by the size of it.” Grandpa corrected me. “This thing has teeth all down its throat and scales not much weaker than a dragon.”

  I touched my sword’s handle. How are we supposed to kill something like that?

  “It’s got an inverted scale over its heart; the trick is to get it to rear up so you can stab it.” Grandpa laughed. “This one time, I threw a glove up into the air to get it to snap up at the ceiling. I couldn’t get close enough to stab it, so I had to throw my sword at it to pierce its heart!” He laughed. “Those were the days!”

  Yeah, I’m not accurate enough to do that.

  “True…” Grandpa thought for a moment. “I suppose you can let them all die, then choose the second-place monster. There’s no shame in admitting when you’re in over your head.”

  I watched as the tan female ran from the mouthful of teeth. Watching her die wasn’t something I was comfortable doing.

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