"Inara, 12 o'clock!" I shouted to her as one of the raptorsoars swooped from behind, only grasping air as the woman easily ducked then leapt forward behind it to slice off its wing. The piteous moan it let out was quickly silenced as Romie skewered it with an arrow.

Pavel was once again focusing on tying up multiple opponents, using his shield masterfully to knock talons, fangs, and head-blades aside, often landing small cuts that further enraged the two wannasoars trying to attack from directly in front.

Not the smartest tacticians.

He used a quick shield bash to the one on his right, ducking to stay covered behind his shield as he jabbed downward with his spear around the edge of the shield, shaving off a large chunk of the scaly hide covering its leg. The well-positioned shield took both blows, one from an enraged face and the other from two powerful legs extending to try to rip into his protection and tear it from his grasp.

But none of us saw the raptorsoar that dove silently from the branches above until it was too late.

It raked down the side of his neck. A spout of blood landed multiple feet away. As it took off, it bit against his shoulder, though only ripping away a piece of his armor.

"Pavel, moderate to severe injury to neck, shore up!" I called, pressing further against a trunk to protect my back, especially Steve, from the same fate.

Inara dashed in, sticking a dagger into the side of one of the attacking land-based beasts. She left the jagged blade there as she moved to distract the other with a shout and a kick to the shin.

It retaliated in kind with a leg swoop and the woman only barely dodged the strike that would have torn off part if not all of her lower leg. She quickly made her way to a tree and used its bulk to try to cover some of her body, seemingly well aware it opened her up to an attack from behind.

Once in melee range, it's crazed eye focused on her and the monster let out a bellowing cry. The deranged look quickly dulled as blood splattered from the ruined socket.

"Thanks Romie!" Inara called lightly as she ran back into battle.

Pavel took the respite given to him by his team and downed half a healing potion. The blood flow from his neck slowed but still continued, dribbling down over his armor to pool at his feet, staining the leaves at his feet a coppery red.

Vidas charged a wannasoar with his sword held out like a lance, blade perpendicular to the ground. From what we'd seen, sometimes the dinobirds couldn't see well directly in front of them in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately, it didn't work as the monster easily reared back and smashed both feet into the flat of the blade, sending it careening off to the tank's left. Vidas spun with the momentum, easily dodging the follow-up bite attack, and cleaved the head clean off, sending it flying.

Much like a chicken on Earth, apparently these giant bird wannabes could still run without a head as the body went berserk, slashing all around itself until it tipped over and subsequently went still.

Romie hadn't been slouching, killing three of the flyers, including the one that swooped at me after I missed with my throwing knife. They also injured the wings of two others, taking them out of the fight.

The fight finished, at least for that moment, we quickly retreated to near the rift entrance to recuperate and revaluate.

"Pavel, how bad?" Vidas asked.

"I lost a fair bit of blood but the potion is doing its work. Still pissed Councilor Illeva convinced us she'd get a discount so we didn't buy today." Pavel punched the ground then winced slightly which Inara laughed at quietly.

"No use crying over unbought healing supplies," Romie said shrugging.

"We've only got four total left. Ration them like your lives depend on it. Because they do. If we exit and it was going to break, it will break on top of us."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "I haven't heard that before."

"This was directly on the brink of breaking. It was probably under a bell away. When it's that full, it will still break when this instance no longer exists if we don't relieve the essence pressure valve by killing the boss and getting the reward," Inara said helpfully. "They'll probably need someone to delve it again in the next few days to make sure it doesn't break."

A ping went off in my AAI. [Reminder: Check on daily progress towards

1) taking control of your destiny and progress

2) advancing to the next Tier

3) training your fighting abilities]

Well, sodus.

"Guys, I think I need to participate more," I said. I considered just keeping quiet but knew if I entered the fight myself without warning them, it would cause more harm than any good that could come to me.

"No, that's a bad idea," Vidas said, then turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, continue with the plan."

"Wait, I wasn't done discussing this," I said.

"I—" Vidas pointed to the rest of the group, "—we were done. It's an order. Move out."

***

Two fights later, things went bad.

It started pretty much like the previous: Scout out. Take down a flyer just as it alerted the wannasoars to rush in and attack. Brace for the initial surge from the ground-based beasts. Counter effectively. Wear them down. Stay protected.

But Vidas messed up.

The start of the fight went better than expected. The initial wannasoar – they always came in at least groups of twos or threes it seemed – overextended on its first attack, giving Romie a clear shot at its neck. While the barbed arrow didn't kill immediately, the monster was severely weakened.

Inara cast her [Restricting Vines] spell on it so it could be easily taken down. But Vidas chose to leave it for later, calling everyone to focus on the two further squawking feathered dinosaurs rushing at the group with murder in their eyes.

A bright light and haunting sound exploded outwards, casting the battle into sharp relief and ringing my eardrums almost to bursting. It was a deathcry. It was a battlecry.

The dying wannasoar did something we hadn't seen yet: it used a skill or technique. The feathered dinosaur started glowing a faint blue that quickly changed to a pale but flashing yellow.

Then, with a faint pop, the explosion.

Always finish the job means everyone!

All that was left of the beast was a slightly simmering pile of feathers and goo with two giant unattached bird legs.

Gross but man does that smell good.

"That was in the delve records! That calls more to them!" I yelled out and immediately went on alert. It was an incredibly unlucky break, only occurring once every hundred delves or so.

I felt the essence from the beast hit my cores as I Tiered up to Tier 1.2. The mild euphoric feeling was more than offset but our situation.

Not a great time to celebrate but still a good thing if I'm needed.

A rising crescendo of screams and squawks heralded the wave of dull green and white feathers that blotted out our view of the twinkling sky. The sudden swooping storm descended from the canopy above.

Romie deployed multiple enchantments from their bow and used a number of clearly magical ammunition, shooting arrows almost indiscriminately in the sky as they found their targets or created wider areas of effect. Ten were knocked down immediately and Inara swept through in her dance of death, dispatching any that still had enough strength to shake a tail feather.

That still left another ten fliers that quickly overwhelmed Pavel and Vidas, leading to a retreat against trees. One of the wannasoars that had answered the explosive summons turned to rush Romie instead of following Vidas.

The archer dove to the side but still got a nasty gash down their leg for not being fast enough.

While the team was occupied, a wannasoar came from an angle the team couldn't have expected – where our previous fight had been fifteen minutes prior.

I couldn't make myself heard over the cacophony anyway and I knew from past experience, my AAI translation wouldn't be prioritized. All it would sound like was me making noise.

So I did what was necessary.

I engaged, dashing in front and lifting my shield to take the initial strike from its club-like arm.

It hit like a late 90s era baseball player who used so many steroids their testicles were smaller than a grain of sand.

I was pushed back hard enough it felt like a joke scene from an anime. Having to dig your heels in to not slide back twenty feet (6m) just didn't make sense physics wise to me.

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The beast followed up with a quick jab head strike. I dodged rather than blocked, expecting – and being proven correct – it would quickly swipe with its back foot.

I interposed my shield well, knocking the terrifying and enraged emu slightly off balance. Stepping into my strike, I swung my morningstar to great effect, smashing into its leg to try to destabilize it further.

The crunch and subsequent screech were incredibly satisfying but I heard a cry behind me that could only mean one thing as I felt a terrible wave of dread roil through to my very soul.

But it wasn't my own fear.

I yanked my weapon back, creating a small spurt of blood, and rolled to the side.

I heard rather than felt the flying monster latch on to the backpack cage and Steve's screams go from terrified to anguished and pained.

I swung down ineffectively behind my back, still keeping an eye on the wannasoar that could easily kill me if I gave it the room to.

As Steve's cries for help escalated, I dashed backwards towards Inara, showing her my back quickly and barely noticing her cloak wrapped around where her right hand should be.

Her face went from confused to white then to a murderous rage that almost stopped me in my tracks. I heard her slicing into the animal that had been prying at Steve's cage and felt the hot blood against the back of my neck as I turned to engage the still maddened emu from hell.

It leapt from 10 feet (3m) away and I called out to Inara, hoping my translation would go through so she didn't accidentally stab Steve when it impacted.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her dart away just as the lumbering monster made contact with one foot crashing into my shield as I spun to avoid the second. The glancing blow did little to hurt or arrest the monster's momentum but I quickly pirouetted.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed my morningstar down with all my might on the back of its skull.

The dull thud, first of the weapon and then the beast's body to the ground did little to improve the situation.

I couldn't see Steve but I felt through our bond as his life was slowly slipping away, one tiny heartbeat at a time.

There were only four remaining flyers but still three wannasoars, two engaging Vidas while Pavel and Inara looked to finish one off quickly.

Romie looked to be okay but was still bleeding profusely. Their arrows were soaring wide instead of the usually precise shots and they only managed to clip one of the raptorsoars in the three quick shots I saw. On top of that, their quiver was close to empty.

Realizing I had to move quickly and with the cage still attached to my back, I rushed the wannasoar that Pavel and Inara were whitling down.

Coming from behind, it didn't even suspect the attack to the back of its neck.

While it wasn't a killing blow, it effectively removed the head as a weapon from the nearly broken neck and Pavel tied up its legs as Inara slashed its throat with her off hand.

Another flyer swooped at me and my angry baseball swing sent it flying, a gaping hole in its chest from a spike, to smash against a tree.

Rushing in to smash the leg of one of the wannasoars on Vidas, I wasn't quick enough to dodge the plunging head of the other.

I felt the spray of blood down the side of my face rather than saw it.

Hard to see it with a ruined eye.

But I didn't care. I smashed my way through the first of the giant lizard chickens of death, receiving two more strikes, one claw and one maw, for my trouble.

I continued to smash the beast long after it was dead, making a disgusting pulp on the forest floor.

Finally, my rage subsided as I realized the fight was over and I screamed for someone to help Steve. I felt his heartbeat – and even his panic and pain – fading with every second.

"We have to focus on Inara. She lost a hand. We need her," I heard Vidas say quietly to Pavel.

"If Terry dies, so does our home. And he won't fight if Steve dies. Think brother. At least stabilize the little guy," Pavel said as Romie was trying to help me remove the backpack.

"Just cut the straps. Get it off. I have to see him," I said robotically. My heart was beating a million miles a minute.

Weird that. It still works when it's broken.

Finally, they got the ruined contraption off me so I could see his ruined face.

Both eyes had been slashed, ruinous pits of seeping crimson, and he was bleeding from a number of talon slashes.

His tiny fist was wrapped around part of a claw he'd ripped from his would-be killer.

I heard a thump and an exclamation but my tunnel vision – likely enhanced by only having one working eye – was only focused on the little ball of deviousness and fluff.

Though he's far more blood-spattered than fluffy at the moment.

I felt the last of his life leaving him, his tiny paw falling limp at his side, and felt an incredibly emptiness overwhelm me to my soul.

Pavel swam into view and started to pour something on Steve's wounds and quickly opened his mouth to pour more down his throat.

I felt a shock of pain through our bond as Steve's tiny fist swung out in a weak punch and he let out a piteous moan.

"More," was all I said.

Vidas shouted to stop. "More," I said forcefully.

"Terry we need—" Inara began.

She cut off as I screamed, "MORE!"

I raised my one working eye to look each of them in the face. "More," I said quietly but with venom that couldn't be matched by a Tier 20 serpent of legend.

"He's stabilized. He'll live. We need to save you now. You've lost a lot of blood and are losing more. You will die." Romie lifted my head to look into their eyes and then tilted it back down to look at my own intestines laying in a pile on the ground.

"I don't care. Save him first," I said, crying softly and shoving the potion away.

Tears coming from a ruined eye hurt almost as bad as any other physical injury but were nothing next to how I felt emotionally.

Not like this…

"He won't listen. We have to do what's necessary," was the last thing I heard, as Vidas circled behind me.

***

I groggily awoke, immediately probing my bond connection with Steve. He was still alive though in significant pain.

I felt at the back of my own head and ran my fingers gingerly across the lump.

"Okay, what the absolute fuck do you think you are doing!?" I yelled and Inara quickly covered my mouth with her still blood-soaked hand.

I tried to say something but she clamped harder.

It's really awful to taste your own blood mixed with someone else's. Gross.

"Terry, we get it. We had to move you both to a safer location but lots of noise could still attract them. You might be pissed but we can all still survive this," she said slightly shakily into my ear.

"Sure, and Steve is permanently blinded and I'm down to one eye," I said, managing to inject a bit of calm into my voice despite my roiling emotions.

"Almost anything can be healed. Yes, getting a healing potion in you quick heals it up correctly but even scar tissue and ruined eyes can be healed over some sessions by a high-level healer. All we have left are those suspect healing potions we got and one last high quality from Pitola," she said, gently stroking my hair.

"I'm not a child," I hissed at her and she gently laid my head down to stand up and walk away.

Shit, that was comforting… Wait, I can see from both eyes.

"Why did you heal me and not him? He's days old. And you left him like this?" I was rocketing between emotions, hope to despair to pain to righteous indignation to embarrassment to everything in between.

"Your injuries would have killed you. We fed you an entire potion. Mostly it went to your stomach but it apparently healed the eye well enough to see out of?" Pavel asked, squatting and giving me an inscrutable look.

"We can give him one of the suspect potions but I expect the impurities will be sky high and he won't be able to take more healing for a while." Vidas crouched to look me in the eye and point at Steve; I quickly slapped his hand away to his shrug. "He's stable. Don't do more damage to him. And I won't give you the last potion. We still need to kill a few more before we can take on the boss and we're already not in good shape."

"I could leave you know," I said, crossing my arms in what I knew was a petulant way but I hardly cared.

"No, you can't. One, the rift will break and kill you both almost instantly, even with the guard they hopefully have stationed outside. Two, I simply won't let you. The null essence is weirdly too high here. It somehow suddenly spiked as a percentage of the total essence. It will kill us if you leave and we can't handle a full break either. I don't want to restrain you, but I will." The large man didn't even need to do something intimidating to be imposing.

"This is all your fault! Everyone knows – or at least everyone who isn't an idiot knows – you finish the damn job. Instead, you just crippled it and moved on. But it had the last laugh. How can anyone even trust you?" I asked, pointing at Vidas' face with a wavering finger.

Silence reigned for a full minute.

"Terry, please," Romie begged, their eyes pleading more than their words ever could.

Finally, I acquiesced, nodding. "I will go with you but we're done after today. I can't trust you," I said and Inara shook her head sadly.

I put the almost ruined body of Steve back into his wrecked cage, wrapped up in as much clothing and other soft materials I could find in my pack, and put it on facing the front so I could protect him with my shield.

"I'm going to kill that blacksmith," Pavel said, eyeing the contraption.

"Couldn't be helped. Talons have skills," Romie said to multiple sharp looks from the rest of the group. "Couldn't get through strong Tier 1 metal otherwise."

"Katarina really skimped on not going with Tier 2 or even Tier 3 metals. That utter <redacted>. I said we couldn't trust her," Inara said.

"Focus up. We still have to clear this. We've released some of the essence tension but it could still break if we take too long. Yes, I know, it's rare but this situation is weird as hell. We're going cautiously." Vidas motioned for us all to follow.

For a second, I considered leaving out of spite. But it would mean everyone's death, not a late report or someone getting chewed out.

Get through this, protect Steve.

I started trudging after the group, gritting my teeth with every step as it slightly jostled the small, mewling baby of a bond attached to my front.

***

We had far more grueling but controlled fights as we swept through the rest of the rift. I had to block off two of the raptorsoars from going directly for Steve – it was like he was a magnet and I wondered if they could sense weakness.

The fights were much harder with Inara's severely weakened hand – potions could reattach a limb but it would take more than one to fully heal it; she took three to four 'dash and slashes', as she called them, behind a wannasoar to cripple it enough for Vidas or Pavel to finish it off versus one to two previously.

Romie was down to mundane arrows only as they had depleted all their expensive ones in the battle where most of us were hurt.

I could feel the essence in the rift shift slightly – the air didn't feel quite as electric and the smell that lingered just at the edge of my senses seemed to dull from a crisp ozone to a hint of peat.

As we rested up for the final fight, Romie came over and rested a hand on my shoulder for a quick moment before walking away to concentrate. Inara came over and laid a hand on mine as I was stroking the now-sleeping Steve.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe he did that… No, I absolutely can, and that's a problem. He will be held accountable. You needed the potion but I think there were other ways. And I can tell you that at least I believe it wasn't about the money."

I just gave her a tired glare back.

"You're right, shouldn't be defending him. I'm sorry. For that and for all of this."

"Shouldn't have even brought him," Vidas muttered looking at my small bond struggling to breathe.

And that was the thing I couldn't help but agree with.

In the moment, it seemed like the logical thing to do. He had protection, we needed to test his allocation bracelet, I had a peak Tier 1 team who had escorted multiple people to the peak of the Tier.

It was their job, they had this. Or at least were supposed to.

But it was a dumb risk.

Looking back, I just hadn't adjusted my plan to new circumstances.

I had planned to pick up Steve when I headed to Gabor and Tiesa's so I did.

It didn't make much sense when I really thought about it but I didn't care much, just needed someone else to blame for the pain and suffering caused to the – mostly – innocent creature laid before me, struggling to just exist for another minute.

My anger continued to well up and threatened to boil over but I sat and stewed while the team planned.

What else could I have done?

Post my one mistake, I didn't think anything.

Yes, I rushed that wannasoar but it would have eviscerated at least one of the team. I made the right call and still lost. Almost lost everything.

Wow, already thinking of Steve like that? Is this natural or the bond?

…Do I care?

Vidas' call to get ready for the final charge shook me from my introspection.

"Terry, stay back no matter what. We have this," he said, turning to me.

"Eat a bag of dicks Vidas," I spat back to poorly stifled laughs from Inara and Romie. "I am not stupid enough to rush in but I need you to survive this long enough for us to get out. All I care is that he lives."

The man merely shrugged and turned away muttering, "If he weren't so important to the Kingdom…"

I hefted my shield onto my bruised arm and tested it against the cage, seeing I wouldn't disturb Steve too much. He gave me a pained and sleepy imitation of a one-two punch and a small smile.

We've got this.

I've got this.

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