Of all the products of dungeon ecosystems the least understood is the phenomena of the core beast. Unlike other monsters, which are created through concentrated magical nodes spun off the core, core beasts themselves develop within that most vital component. Often there is very little warning that a dungeon core may house a core beast, as the symptoms look very similar to a dying core. Many experts believe this is the case because that is exactly what the core is doing; slowly dying off as it is hollowed out to feed the growing monster within. Usually the first indication that a core beast has been born is when its dungeon home collapses and it escapes to wreak havoc throughout the surrounding land. Of those who have witnessed the birth of a core beast, very few have made it out alive.

  -Excerpt from “Dungeon Delvers 301”-

  The explosion caught Joe right in the chest, propelling him backwards even as it peppered him with core shards. Unimaginably bright light blinded him, leaving his vision a mass of purple and black blotches. Joe hit something solid, but yielding which arrested his tumble. From the swearing it gave off when he hit, Joe could tell it was Micah. The minotaur sounded like he wasn’t doing much better than Joe either, but it was hard to hear exactly what he was saying due to the ringing in Joe’s ears.

  Joe managed to disentangle himself from Micah and get to his knees. Since he still couldn’t see Joe started patting himself furiously trying to identify where the core shards had hit him and if they’d left any nasty surprises in their wake. Despite how painful the impacts had been in the moment, Joe’s blind groping turned up nothing more distressing than sore spots and a few holes in his clothing.

  “Everyone ok?” The voice came from behind him and was just discernible through the ringing as Micah.

  “I dono,” Joe could tell he was yelling, but could barely hear himself. “I’m partially deaf and fully blind. How about you?”

  “Not doing much better. Jill? You there somewhere?”

  Joe managed to make out a muffled response, but couldn’t quite discern the words. Gotta find my potion bag. He thought as he groped around. Somehow during his brief flight the strap of the messenger bag he kept his dwindling stock of potions in had come off him. Where it had ended up, Joe wasn’t sure. It was while he was groping around for said bag that he encountered the hand. This new hand was nothing like the rough and calloused, or smooth and cool ones of his companions. It was small, about the size of a porcelain doll’s but was warm and soft. Joe tried to pull away, but its grip defied its size and Joe could not retrieve his hand from it.

  Joe stopped pulling after the third unsuccessful attempt and instead focused on trying to clear his eyes of the still obscuring colors. Whatever had ahold of him seemed content to sit and wait, doing no more than refusing to give him back his hand. Joe went back to groping around with his free hand, hoping to still find his bag. Eventually a new hand announced itself by coming down gently on his shoulder. This one was a familiar smooth and cool texture that allowed him to identify it as Jill.

  “Tip your head back”

  Joe could just make out the command and complied, looking up without really seeing anything. He flinched when he felt liquid drip into his eyes, but understood what was happening when his vision started to clear.

  “Turn your head to the side.” Jill said again, before dripping more of the healing potion into first one of Joe’s ears then the other.

  Now fully restored, Joe was able to identify the mysterious hand holder. It’s, the ghost girl? Joe blinked in surprise. Now that he could see, he found himself locked in a staring contest with the little creature. While the the face and shapeless dress looked the same as the ghost girl he’d seen before, the trimmings around them were different. The girls hair glowed a vibrant blue and waved back and forth like it was underwater. Crystal scales of a similar shade ringed her face and hands, becoming smaller and more delicate as they ran up her arms and disappeared into her sleeves. The eyes that stared back at Joe glowed like the hair, unfortunately giving the child a mildly possessed look.

  Core Beast Cub

  Type: Elemental

  PL:5

  New born core beasts will often take the shape of those it encounters as a form of camouflage and protection. Although small, core beast cubs are more than capable of defending themselves.

  A ‘core beast’? Joe thought as the little creature glanced down at the hand it was holding. It started playing with Joe’s fingers, seeming to forget for the moment that he was attached to them.

  “What the hell is that?” Micah appeared in Joes peripheral, still rubbing at his eyes.

  “Uh,” Shit, what do I do? I really want to know what happened but how do I tell them I know what it is? Joe made a quick decision. Fuck it, if I can’t trust them with the secret of my tutorial specs, then who can I trust?

  “It’s something called a core beast cub. It’s some type of elemental.” Joe didn’t have to look at Micah to know the minotaur was skeptical of his identification.

  “You’re pretty sure about that.”

  Joe heaved a sigh and removed his glasses. Somehow they had managed to stay in place throughout everything. Probably some part of the magic Joe thought idly as he handed them to Micah. The minotaur took them with a raised eyebrow. “These are identification glasses. If I look at something through them I get a little pop up message that gives me some information about what I’m looking at.”

  “Ye gods Joe,” Micah held them up to his eyes as best he could. His bull shaped head was not set up to wear the glasses properly, and he had to hold them some distance from his eyes to look through them. “And you’re just casually leaving these things running?”

  “Yeah? I didn’t know they had an off setting.”

  Micah gave a snort as he focused on first one thing, then another through the glasses. “So you just keep feeding it manacoins whenever you want to use it?”

  “No, they just kinda run on their own.” Joe responded blithely

  Behind the glasses Micah’s eyes bugged. Even the ever stoic Jill blinked a few extra times at that declaration. “What do you mean they ‘just kinda run on their own’?” Micah demanded, lowering the glasses to glare at Joe fully. “Are you seriously telling me you’ve never had to charge them?”

  “Uh, yes?”

  Micah’s eyes somehow got even wider. Words failed him as he glanced back and forth between Joe and the glasses in his hands.

  The whole time they had been talking, Joe had continued to let the little core beast cub play with his fingers, pushing them this way and that like she was testing the flexibility of his joints. “Papi?” The one word was spoken in a squeaky voice with an upward inflection at the end that made it sound like a question.

  Joe turned to look at the little cub instinctively. “Um, yes?” he said without thinking. The cub gave his hand a few up and down pumps like he was a water spout, but didn’t elaborate beyond that.

  “While the revelation that Joe may possess a magical item of perpetual energy is important.” Jill cut in, her monotone making it hard to detect any sarcasm, “we need to get out of here.” She pointed between them, causing both men to follow her finger to the sight behind their little tableau. Where the glittering dungeon core had once sat, there was nothing but cracked and broken crystal shards. The motes of light that once emanated from the core were gone, and with it the light in the room was starting to dim.

  Joe felt Micah’s hand land on his shoulder and bodily haul him towards the door.

  “Shit, we have to get out of here now!” Micah’s voice was colored with controlled panic as he pulled on Joe to get him to go faster. Instinctively Joe’s fingers closed tighter around the cubs, pulling her along behind him like a comet tail and forcing him into an ungainly stumble as he tried to match strides with the longer and shorter pairs of legs on either side of him. The resulting muscle strain at least had the silver lining of getting Micah to slow down long enough to let Joe pick up the little girl. Thusly burdened, the three made their escape from the core room.

  “So I’m assuming the core exploding is a bad thing?” Joe asked, puffing along with the silently staring little girl hugging tightly to his chest.

  “Put it this way.” Micah answered without turning. “Without that core at any moment, and possibly without any warning, the whole of local reality can simply collapse with us still inside of it.” Joe’s brain opened his mouth to seek clarification, however his body had already heard enough and shut it again. He redoubled his steps.

  It wasn’t until they reached the other end of the bridge that they realized they had a serious problem. Where the entrance to the polyp cave had been, there was now just a smooth wall of bone.

  “Shit,” Micah swore, giving the wall a good kick. “What do you think Jill? Risk a spell and hope we don’t make things worse?”

  “Unless you want to cease to exist,” Jill stated, running her hand over the gatekeeping wall, “I don’t think we have much of a choice. Please stand back.”

  Micah and Joe retreated back along the bridge to what they guessed was a safe distance. With his little cub still clinging tightly to Joe, he decided that it was better to be a little further back still and slipped in a few steps behind Micah.

  Up front Jill rummaged in her belt pouch for a moment before producing a coin. Even from as far away as Joe was he could see the silvery glint of it as Jill held the coin aloft.

  “Hey, are you-” Joe got no further.

  The coin flashed into vapor as Jill cast her spell. The same rippling wave of multicolored force she’d used on the ossuary guardian shot out of her hand and struck the bone wall. Joe was hit with a crippling bout of nausea and vertigo as the spell struck the wall and rebounded with a sound like the ringing of an enormous church bell. The reflected spell hit JIll hard in the chest and blew her to pieces, raining shredded leather and chunks of green gel all around them. Tearing apart the lamnotta woman did little to dissipate the fury of the spell and it claimed Micah next. The minotaur wasn’t torn apart like his companion had been, instead being bodily picked up and thrown off the bridge into the void below. With nowhere to go Joe braced for his turn, clutching his cub to his chest and crouching to protect her with as much of his body as he could.

  When it arrived the spell hit him like a bus to the face, knocking him over the edge and into darkness.

  <><><>

  Darkness surrounded Joe when consciousness finally figured out where he’d gone. He groaned, taking stock of his body. Ok, on my back. I can wiggle my toes though, so my spine isn’t broken. I feel pain in literally everything, but I don’t think I’m bleeding. Got a good weight on my chest, so at least the little one landed on something soft. Joe gave the girl a squeeze and felt her shift in his arms.

  “Papi?”

  “Yeah little one,” Joe’s voice strained from the pain of landing, “I’m here.” He squeezed her again and she responded by snuggling her face into his neck.

  “That you Joe?” The voice didn’t sound any better than Joe did, but he was able to recognize it as coming from Micah.

  “Yeah,” Joe called out, rubbing the little girls back absently. “ Are you ok? You took that spell right to the face.” Joe paused for a second as his mind replayed what had happened. “Is Jill,” he couldn’t finish the sentence, but Micah got the implications.

  “I don’t think so.” Micah’s words didn’t match with the worried tone that was in his voice. “Let me light up a coin and you can help me look for her. If we can find even one living lamnotti she’ll be fine.” Joe wasn’t sure how big the individual members of a lamnotta were, but the pieces Jill had been blown into by the ricochet had been worryingly small. There was nothing to be done now however other than to look and hope. Once Micah had a new coin lit, they set to work.

  Finding Jill wasn’t hard, which was in fact the issue. Lumps of the woman lay scattered around the area, like some jeweler had dropped their entire stock of uncut emeralds. Some of the pieces lay completely inert, slowly sweating a clear liquid as they deflated. Those ones Micah said to leave alone, as the lamnotti that made them up were either dead or dying.

  “That’s really the other edge of the sword.” He’d said as he picked up a walnut sized chunk of his partner. The lump wasn’t sweating, and still held its shape as it rested in his hand. “Lamnotta can survive a lot of things that would kill any other species. Stab them, cut them to pieces, crush them, it doesn’t matter. So long as one member survives the lamnotta as a whole will.” The gooball in his hand reached out with tiny pseudopods, seeming to react to the warmth of his skin. He extended a finger out to it and the little clump latched on. “But for all that, they are really fragile. Swords cut deeper, arrows penetrate further, hammers hit harder. They’re easily torn apart by forces that others would be able to walk away from.”

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  Joe paused in his collection to watch the minotaur talk. There was a genuine love and respect for his partner that Joe could pick up in his tone. I’m not surprised really Joe thought, turning away to give Micah some privacy. They always seem so in sync on these delves. Honestly if I’d found out they weren’t a couple I’d be more shocked. What did Jill call him earlier, ‘my idiot’? Sounds about right. Another wave of incoherent nausea brought Joe back to reality. Whatever that is, it can’t be good. He redoubled his efforts, lighting his own coin to aid in the search. The rolling nausea must have hit Micah too as the minotaur turned to as well. The space they were in mirrored the theme of the walkway above, with glistening fleshy walls and tonsil stone studded floors. Gods I’m glad I didn’t fall on one of those Joe thought, eyeing a particularly sharp looking boulder of feted material. Between them they managed to recover a soccer-ball sized mass of still living lamnotti.

  Micah tucked the remains of his partner under one arm and held his coin aloft. “Do you see any more?” When Joe shook his head Micah set off towards the far wall. “Ok, we need to move out then. Hopefully there’s a way back up. If not I’m going to have to chance another big spell to get us back onto the bridge.” Joe wanted to ask how being on or off the bridge would matter if they way back was closed, but he was saved from asking when they found another sphincter-like door a few minutes later. It didn’t respond in any way when they tried to open it, causing Micah to lose patience and get the job done with the help of his great sword. The corridor beyond the door looked like something out of a fantasy tavern, all bright brass and chocolatey wood.

  “What the hell?”

  “Doesn’t matter, come on” Micah cut in as he started loping down the hall. “We’re not exploring any side doors. Just follow the hall until it either dead ends or transitions into another room. If we need to double back, we hit one door on each side until we find another way to go. Got that?”

  Joe gave a nod and fell in behind him, holding his little cub closer to keep her from being bounced too much.

  “Papi” The little one said before snuggling back into Joe’s neck and heaving a sigh. Despite their dire situation, Joe felt his heart melt as he felt her relax into him. He didn’t have long to savor it though, as halfway down the hall the rolling nausea hit again. This time it was worse. It felt like his body was trying to invert itself, one cell at a time. Joe’s vision swam and it was only by sheer luck that he kept his balance. When the feeling cleared, they were no longer in the tavern hallway.

  The walls were now made of smooth black glass, and the air was filled with a sulfurous smell. As they ran, the heat steadily grew until Joe was sweating through his shirt. The hall dumped them out into a large magma chamber that would have looked natural, had it not been for the ruins floating incongruously in the middle of the boiling lake. Their path led them along a crumbling causeway that snaked through the structures mere feet above the roiling magma. Most of the ruin was beyond exploring, either too far gone to be safe to enter or separated from them by pools of magma. Not that either of them were in the mood for sightseeing. The pair avoided all side streets or alleys, doing their best to pick the shortest route to the other side of the massive chamber. It wasn’t until they came upon a tumbled down square near the center of the ruins that things got worse for them.

  Joe had been wondering about the lack of monsters impeding them, and whether their absence had something to do with the dungeon collapse, when the ground under them began to shake and he got his answer. The air was split by a bellowing cry, like someone having a heart attack on an organ, before the buildings on the opposite side of the square exploded in a choking cloud of dust and rock fragments. Out of the dust rose a massive creature. It looked like someone had attempted to make a giant harvestman by forcibly crushing other creatures together. The result was a vaguely spider-shaped whole composed of writhing, partially fused creatures who screamed, bit and scratched at each other trying to escape from the mass. Occasionally the whole towering abomination would flicker like a badly tuned tv, causing the screams of its constituent parts to redouble whenever it happened.

  Dakafae#(&^QEW

  Type: $UUS(*^?.Sfsdd

  PL:0000000000000000000000000

  lja afafjoieja f'kmadmflkajnguafgpaojpfokmalkng jkhgoaijpoiamf ajfp kanfj aou 390ri jfa'f

  dmv'ampajgr[gua[rhg

  “Well that’s going to be in my nightmares!” Micah yelled over the noise it was making. They angled away from the creature who, for the moment, seemed unaware of their presence.

  “If we live long enough to have nightmares, I’ll consider that a blessing.” Joe yelled back, puffing along in Micah’s wake.

  Whatever fates existed in this world must have taken exception to their flippantry. No sooner had Joe added his two cents in than his foot caught on a piece of debris thrown up by the creature. Had he not been carrying his cub then the worst that would have happened likely would have been a staggering step. The extra weight however threw his balance off and pitched him forward. He had just enough time to twist his body sideways, absorbing the impact on his shoulder instead of crushing the little cub under himself.

  Either the sound of the impact or the movement in its periphery caught the beast's attention, either was likely and both resulted in the same outcome. The giant gave a bellowing roar and staggered toward Joe.

  Joe groaned and rolled onto his back. The fall had not been a clean one and his shoulder throbbed with pain. Still, his survival instincts urged him onward and he forced himself into a sitting position, cub still clutched in his arms.

  “Fuck! Joe!” Micah called from some distance away. Joe looked up to find his companion almost three quarters of the way across the square and looking back at him. He let go of his cub long enough to wave Micah on.

  “Keep going!” Joe called. Without waiting for a reply, Joe rolled his legs under him and tried to stand. It’d be easier to get up if I let go of her, Joe thought, but even as the traitorous idea flitted across his mind his arms tightened down on her. If I let go of her now, there wouldn’t be enough time to pick her up before that thing is on me. Instead Joe heaved himself up onto a knee and stood, joints popping in protest as he went.

  He managed it however, turning and running from the oncoming horror as soon as his boots were under him. He was just in time to see Micah disappear down a bend in the road, safely out of the square on his way to the surface. Joe himself got a couple more feet before one of the titans legs collided with his back, throwing him forward and forcing him to absorb another fall on the same shoulder. This time he was sure he’d broken something, as pain shot from collar bone to jaw line.

  Some instinct in Joe told him to roll, and he complied without question. A second later the foot that had kicked him slammed into the spot his head had occupied. Joe didn’t stop to appreciate his luck, instead continuing to roll until his way was blocked by one of the monsters other feet. Joe was now on his back staring up into multitudes of rolling, mad eyes none of which seemed to be fully aware of his presence. In fact most seemed completely unaware of what the body as a whole was doing instead clawing at themselves and everything around them in a desperate bid to escape.

  The titan raised another of its legs, apparently intent on crushing him. Joe fought to stand but was hampered in the attempt when the core beast cub, still clutched in his arms, began to struggle and fight his grip.

  “Hey! Hold still. I’m going to drop you if you don’t stop it!” Joe chastised, but the little cub wasn’t listening. She managed to break Joe’s grip with a surprising amount of strength, slipping from his arms and landing lightly on the ground. She stomped one tiny foot and pointed at the monster.

  “No, stop it.” She called out to the larger monster, stomping her foot again as if to emphasize the words. The behemoth gave no indication that it understood her. A wave of static flickered across its body, causing it to spasm and scream again, aborting its crushing strike to steady itself. “My Papi!” The little girl's hair began to float again, slowly becoming more luminous as it raised into the air. Joe felt his own hair begin to prickle with static. It felt like at any moment he could be struck by a bolt of lightning. A second or so later he was proved partially right, as a massive bolt of energy shot from the outstretched finger tip of the cub and slammed into the thorax of the towering monster where it blew a hole clean through to the other side.

  The beast staggered, shrieking in pain and rage as the fuzzing static slowly took over its whole body. Just when it seemed like the thing would rally, another bolt slammed into what remained of it blowing the whole thing apart. Pieces of monster rained down, fuzzing into static before they hit the ground.

  The little girl stomped her foot one last time, nodding her head and making a “hrmph” noise. She turned around and stomped back to Joe, holding out her hands when she reached him. Joe picked her up, wincing and shifting her to his undamaged shoulder as he stood.

  “Well,” Joe said looking around, "let's get out of here." He broke into the best run he could while carrying his burden.

  <><><>

  The lava tube theme didn’t last much longer, transitioning in quick succession from lava tube, to ransacked library, to wooden world, finally stabilizing on mushroom caverns. Along the way Joe saw evidence of more fighting, with flickering monster corpses scattered about along his path. At least I’m able to tell where Micah got off too. Joe thought as he hiked the little cub back into a more comfortable position. Joe finally caught up with Micah in a room choked by huge purple mushrooms.

  The minotaur had repositioned Jill into a more backpack position, freeing his hands to use his greatsword to better effect. A move that was necessary as Micah was currently fighting off a rat king made of giant mosquitoes.

  The insects buzzed angrily as their bodies flickered in and out of each other, constantly shifting position but never quite managing to get away from each other. The swarm would likely have overwhelmed the lone adventurer, had they not spent just as much time fighting one another as they did Micah.

  Shit, I’ve got a bum arm from the falls and I can’t use my handshaker one handed. What do I do? Joe bit his lip as he tried to think of the best solution to the situation. He didn’t like his answer, but it was the best he could come up with in the time he had. Joe looked down at the little girl in his good arm. “Honey,” Joe whispered to her, causing the little cub to look up at him with her luminous blue eyes. “Can I set you down for a moment? I need to help,” he paused for just a moment before continuing. “Uncle Micah with the big bugs.” The little girl looked over at Micah before looking back at him. She gave no indication of if she understood or not. Making a guess Joe tried to set her down.

  As soon as her feet touched the floor she tucked her legs up to her chest and started crying, clamping down on him even tighter. “Ah! Ok, ok” Joe said, attempting to sooth the little girl. He wasn’t able to do it fast enough however. The angry buzzing of the insectile monsters redoubled as the amalgamated swarm tried to target two different enemies at once. Micah took advantage of the distraction to strike out at the mosquitoking swinging his sword in wide arcs that succeeded in finally separating the members of the swarm, if perhaps not in the way they had wanted to be.

  “Joe!” Micah called after ensuring the monsters were dead, “I’m glad you got away from that thing.” His grin faltered, and he looked away from Joe. “Uh, sorry for leaving you back there.”

  “It’s alright, I told you to do it.” Joe patted Micah on the shoulder as he drew level with the man, but he did not break stride to stop and talk. “No time for small talk though. We need to get out of here.”

  Micah nodded his agreement and fell in behind Joe. The waves of nausea hit the pair half a dozen more times during their flight. Each event either completely rearranging their surroundings, disgorging more amalgamated monsters, or both. Joe gritted his teeth and plowed through it all with Micah at his side, fighting where they had to and running whenever possible. The pain in Joe’s shoulder grew steadily worse, but with no remaining potions available there was little they could do for him now.

  Joe’s personal world was squeezed down by pain and exhaustion until it encompassed only his feet and what was immediately in front of them. He was so far gone that when his feet finally carried him over the dungeon threshold and into the ruins of his own shop it took him a couple of seconds to realize it.

  “Did,” Joe glanced around, still not fully processing where they were. “Did we make it?”

  Behind him Micah pulled Jill around to his chest and leaned back against the basement wall, slowly sliding down until he was in a sitting position. Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, Micah gave him a thumbs up before going completely limp.

  Joe staggered over to the brickwork next to him and, with a grunt of effort, lowered himself to the ground. The little core beast cub wiggled out of Joe’s grip and toddled off to look around. Joe watched her inspect everything around them, seeming most interested in the sky above.

  “Stay where I can see you.” The order was more automatic than anything, as Joe lacked spare brain power at the moment to say much else. Not like she can go anywhere he thought, watching as she picked up a stone and scrutinized it. I’ve really got to think of a name for her. Somehow the fact that the little core beast wasn’t really Joe’s responsibility didn't occur to him. He’d carried her out of the collapsing dungeon in his arms, so she was his as far as he was concerned.

  “So, now what do we do?” He asked, looking over at Micah. The minotaur had moved Jill down to his lap where she sat holding onto his hands with tiny sudopods. He still had his head back and eyes shut like he’d fallen asleep, but Joe’s words roused him.

  “Well from here I go back and turn in the loot, then file a notice of closure for the dungeon so it can be looked at.”

  “Do you think it’s wise for anyone else to go in there?”

  “Not up to me.” Micah shrugged. “I sure as hell wont be going back until someone’s had a look at it. Chances are good it’ll get condemned and sealed until it dissipates since the core’s gone.” Micah’s head came up and he gave a meaningful not to the little girl peacefully stacking rocks a stones throw away. “What are you going to do with her?”

  “She’s coming with me.” Joe said immediately. “It’s a bit tight at Moira’s, but I’m sure we can fit one more in.”

  “Plus I’m sure Moira would be pissed if you just let a helpless little thing like that wander off into the forest.”

  Joe’s mind went back to the bolts of lightning he’d seen his cub use back in the dungeon. Somehow I don’t think she’d be in too much danger. Another thought crossed his mind and he glanced back at his companion. “How’s Jill doing? She’s been awfully quiet since we put her back together.”

  “That’s because she’s too small right now.” Micah said, looking down at the lump in his lap. “She explained it to me once. Something like, each member has her memories but isn’t individually smart enough to do anything with them. There’s like this threshold where below it there’s not enough individual lamnotti to get above instinctual thinking.”

  “Will she recover?”

  “Oh yeah, just gotta feed her and give her some time. I’d say give it a week or two and she’ll be just fine.” Joe watched as Micah ran a gentle hand over Jill, little sudopods appearing in the wake of his touch reaching out to try and grab his hand.

  Joe’s attention was dragged away from the wholesome scene when he became aware of his cub having snuck up on him. The little girl held out a double fistfull of rocks she’d managed to collect. “Papi” she said with conviction.

  “Oh, are these for me?” Joe asked, holding his hands out to accept her gifts. The little cub didn’t respond. Instead she turned and toddled off, her rocks still firmly her own. “Well ok then” Joe groused at her retreating back, getting a laugh from Micah.

  “We should get going.” he said, eliciting a groan from Joe.

  “Do we have to? Now that I’m sitting down I feel like my arms will fall off if I have to pick her up again.”

  “Yeah that’s kind of what I’m worried about.” Micah pointed at Joe’s shoulder, “I mean, have you looked at your arm?”

  Joe had in fact not done so on purpose. He did so now and was not surprised, yet still horrified, by what he saw. Running along the collar of his shirt and disappearing under it was a massive purple and red bruise. As if aware he was looking at it, the whole thing began to throb painfully. “Son of a bitch!” Joe swore, gritting his teeth agains the pain.

  “Yeah that needs to get looked at.” Micah got to his feet with a grunt of effort. “Come on. I’ll take the two of you to Dr. Hornsforward before heading back to the University,” With their plan now set, the little group was finally able to put the dungeon behind them.