"Uh, hello," Luke said, raising his hands and backing away a little from the gem-lit spear points.

  "I can't inspect them," Curtis muttered.

  One of the spears was raised into the air, and a man stepped into the range of Milla's light orb. "You are men, not dwarves, or we would have seen you dead before you saw the light from our weapons. So tell me, human, how is it that you have arrived here?"

  The man before them was short and squat, with a long, disheveled, and grime-filled beard, bushy eyebrows, and hair that hadn't seen a pair of scissors in a long while. Dirt tracked over his skin, and his clothes gave the impression of a homeless person, old and worn to the point of falling apart. The only clean part about him was his hands and the spear he was holding.

  "We came from back in the tunnel," Luke said, pointing over his shoulder. "A new passageway opened up. There will be more of us soon. We mean you no harm. Just here to help."

  The man's eyes narrowed. "Help? Reinforcements? After all this time, why now?"

  Curtis stepped in. "We are soldiers. We don't question orders."

  The leader furrowed his brows, then his face relaxed, and he barked an order, making all his men raise their spears.

  "Thank those above," he said. "Dwarves have pushed us back little by little since the collapse, since we have seen no reinforcements or even new equipment. One last outpost still stands, barely holding them bastards back."

  "That's the only reason they sent help," someone muttered in the dark, a female voice. "They don't want their precious gems to stop flowing now, do they?"

  "You must be scouts. How many are following behind?" the leader asked.

  "We don't know," Luke said. "I am Luke Quinn, and like I said, I'm here to help. I'm a healer. Do you have anyone in need of aid?"

  "Halsem," the leader grunted. "That's me. What passes for a marshal these days. Come. We'll see you to the outpost, and I'm sure we have some who would appreciate your services, healer."

  Halsem left a few people behind to intercept everyone else who came through. Powerful gemstones were placed around them in a circle, emitting a powerful light to show Integrated where to go.

  "You mentioned dwarves," Curtis said as they walked, probing Halsem. "Why?"

  "Fierce little bastards they are, and they multiply like cave lizards. There are more and more of them each year, while there are fewer of us, ever since the collapse. We've been stuck here, fighting and mining, so our loved ones back home won't lack for coin."

  "The collapse," Luke said. "You're talking about a way out."

  Halsem gave him a side-glance. "You're not from around Arlanda, are you?"

  "No."

  "Figures," Halsem said. "With the war and all. Or is that over and done with? Haven't had news for years. Aye, the only way out of here collapsed three years ago. The chutes still work, though, so we get food through there and load the little boxes going back up with light gems."

  "Years," Curtis said. "But you said this passageway has been down for a generation."

  "Aye, the last entrance collapsed three years ago. The one you entered through came crumbling down more than fifty years ago. Must've been hell digging that out. That's what you've been up to all this time? Now that it's open, perhaps they'll allow us to leave." He looked at Luke with hope in his eyes.

  Luke didn't know what to say. "I don't know."

  "Fair enough," the leader said. "We'll wait and speak to your commander once he arrives."

  The cave opened up as they approached the outpost. A collection of just above sixty log-constructed buildings surrounded by a wall of sharpened tree trunks pointing outward came into view. They’d built the outpost up against the cave wall, with entrances in the three other directions.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "How did you know we were coming?" Luke asked. "If that way has been closed until now."

  Halsem gave a tired chuckle. "Your friend's light showed us your approach from the west. We thought you were dwarves who had somehow found a way around us. That would have been our end."

  "These dwarves," Curtis said, "can you describe them to us?"

  Halsem blinked and glanced over to his men. "You don't know what a dwarf is?"

  "We mean in the context of your struggle down here, of course," Luke said.

  They had to be careful with revealing their ignorance, or Halsem's suspicion would grow, and they'd have a whole contingent of humans to fight if they wanted to get to that communication gem, along with evil dwarves.

  "Those bastard dwarves reach up to about here," the leader began his explanation, holding his hand up to about the bottom part of his rib cage. "And they fight in groups using axes and shields most of the time, but they have some who learn the ways of magic. Those you have to watch out for. Our outpost is far from the gem fields, so it's rare for them to come here, but it happens on occasion, and attacks have become more frequent."

  A whole lot of questions whirled around in Luke's head. Why were they fighting with dwarves? Who were the people up above who'd let these poor bastards work for years without support? Above it all, he wanted to know more about dungeons. Halsem felt like a real person. As did Relian and even the Hollow Queen. Did that mean the portals took them to actual places out there somewhere in the universe? That had to be it. This couldn't just be some sort of advanced simulation. The monsters could even leave the dungeon through the portal and attack Earth, after all. This was real. Had to be.

  Halsem and a few other soldiers showed them through the gate and took them to the largest building, smack dab in the middle of the outpost.

  "Wait here," Halsem said, leaving Luke and Curtis with a couple of his men. Most of the others had dispersed the moment they walked into the outpost.

  Luke and Curtis stood there for several minutes in silence, just looking around. Quite a few people moved between buildings, most of them glancing in their direction with obvious interest.

  “What’s taking so long?” Curtis asked.

  A loud boom thrummed through the cavern, and light in the distance showed the origin of the explosion. West. The portal.

  “Aw, crap,” Luke muttered under his breath as the outpost came alive with the sound of a bell clanging the alarm.

  “Attack!” someone in the distance shouted.

  Luke raised his hands over his head, waving his arms back and forth. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding!”

  “This won’t end well,” Curtis said, withdrawing his sword.

  “Was that the DIA party?” Luke asked.

  “How should I know?” Curtis said, setting off toward the gate they’d just entered through.

  “Attack!” someone else bellowed. “Attack from the east!”

  “East?” Luke asked.

  The outpost was swarming with people now, most of the grime-covered cave-dwellers carrying spears with light gems affixed to the tips, but some made do with cudgels or even rust-spattered shovels. Just as those sounding the alarm bellowed, a lot of the inhabitants sprang into action, heading east, rather than west. Luke didn’t know what to think, but the sounds of combat were much closer, coming from the side opposite the portal.

  "Which way?" Curtis asked.

  Someone cried out in pain right nearby, perhaps a few streets over, and Luke hurried over there without thinking, Curtis following without complaint.

  A woman was on her back with an arrow sticking out of her thigh. Several more arrows stuck into the ground, nearby buildings, and on makeshift shields carried by the defenders.

  "I'll help you," Luke said, getting down next to the injured woman. Blood oozed from the wound, telling him it must've hit an artery.

  "Heading out to check what's going on," Curtis said, continuing without slowing.

  The injured woman winced, trying to sit.

  "No. Keep still," Luke said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's your name?"

  She slapped his hand away and grabbed the arrow shaft, but fell back with a cry of pain.

  "I'm a healer!" Luke shouted, but it was like she wasn't hearing him, and her eyes were wide with fright. No, not fear. Shock. "It'll be fine. Let me help you!"

  It was no use. The woman wouldn't stop moving. Luke really didn't want to without knowing more about what was going on, but he still used The Healer's Moment. Without it, the woman was a goner.

  If he worked at top speed, Luke didn't have to worry about causing her pain during the time freeze. This was a good thing, since she didn't have mana channels, and this wasn't the time to experiment. Patching her up was simple enough, but pulling the arrow out using Threads of Mana was a bit of a challenge. Good thing he'd practiced on the magazine, or Luke wouldn't have had the time to complete the procedure.

  With the arrow out, the artery healed, and the wound stitched back together, the world around them came crashing back in. Sounds of combat rose over the squat buildings, shouts of rage and fear, and metal striking against metal.

  "What?" the woman said, grabbing the discarded arrow while looking at her leg in disbelief.

  Luke ignored her and got up to follow Curtis. Another loud boom sounded. This one was much closer and did not come from the direction of the portal. Its origin was right nearby, and the protective wall around the outpost came crumbling down with a deafening crack.

  Rounding the corner of a building, Luke saw dead and dying everywhere. Curtis stood against the invading forces with a large number of defenders to his left and right, holding the new gap in the wall, but it was clear they were outnumbered. Soon, the fierce dwarves would pour into the outpost like the coming tide.

  I've decided to up the chapters releasing on Patreon from 3x to 5x per week starting Monday (Aug 25). If all goes well and I find that it's sustainable, that release schedule will eventually make it over here to RR too. If you can't wait, now is a good time to jump on over to my Patreon to read some advance chapters and get up to speed before the new release schedule starts (and also support me and my writing).

  You can find my Patreon right here

  PS. I'll be getting to the edit suggestions soon. Promise! DS.