Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised to see a different world through the doors at the end of the chamber, since the same thing had happened back in the pink dungeon, but it was still a bit jarring. Rather than the stone floor continuing, grass spread out and onward on the other side, with a clear blue sky visible above. The quick switches between different types of environments lent weight to the theory that the dungeons through these portals were just game-sort-of worlds, instances created for the Integrated to gain experience.

  Despite that, Luke didn't think so. Perhaps this was just an everyday occurrence out there in the universe. Either way, these defenders and dwarves felt real to Luke, like they existed. In his mind, the Integrated were visiting other worlds. That, though, meant that all these types of monsters existed somewhere. Not a fun thought.

  People streamed out through the doors, and Luke hurried to catch up with the others. Walking through the doors, the change from the somewhat dank cave air to breathing in the full bloom of summer was an experience in itself. The scent of wildflowers growing all around him was sweet and crisp without being overwhelming, and the gentle breeze carried the smell of the sea. Far in the distance to their right, rolling waves kicked up froth on a beach. Beyond that, boats. Quite a lot of them. Behind Luke and the other was nothing but more grass. Not a mountain or even a hill, just the open doors standing by itself, showing the chamber they'd just exited.

  "This is wrong," Hannah said.

  He hadn't even seen her walk up to him. "How so?"

  "The sky," she said, pointing up. "It isn't right."

  "You're going to have to be more precise than that."

  She bent down and picked a blue and purple flower Luke didn't think existed on Earth, closing her eyes to draw in its scent before speaking. "The Deep Dweller... It's still out there, above us. All around."

  "Up in the sky?"

  "Everywhere," she said, dropping the flower. "It's difficult to explain."

  Luke thought he understood. "Beyond reality? Like hiding behind a veil?"

  Her eyes widened. "Being a Lifeweaver lets you feel it too?"

  "Not exactly, but I think I get what you're trying to say."

  They began walking, following the now large group of people spreading out across the field of grass. People were laughing and jumping around, pointing toward the sea and in the opposite direction, where a large expanse of forest spread out before their eyes. No one walked in either of those directions, though. Nymh had set the course straight ahead, to where a large medieval-style town waited for them. A wall surrounded the whole place, and even at this distance, Luke saw movement on top of the barricades. At the back of the town, a keep rose above all other buildings, taller than even the wall.

  "It's like that monster is burrowing its way in here. Like it's been doing that for a while."

  "That doesn't sound like a good time. Hopefully, we're out of here before it makes it through."

  "What about the others?" Hannah asked.

  "What others?"

  She pointed to the town, then to the boats. "Them."

  "The dwarves?" He scratched the side of his head. "I mean... They're, you know, monsters."

  "Are they?" she asked. "From what I'm seeing here, they're not very monster-like."

  "I guess."

  They walked in silence for a while before Luke nudged Hannah. "Did you tell Liza about the Deep Dweller? She should know."

  "Yup," she said, tapping her temple. "Got one of the gems. Sent her a message. She says Nymh will try communicating with the dwarves."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Worth a shot."

  As they walked, Hannah kept glancing up at the sky and frowning. Luke extended Weaver's Eye to her just to make sure that there wasn't something strange going on with her, like what he'd seen in Mia before she turned into a monster and started trying to kill everyone around her. Thankfully, he saw nothing wrong except for a slight anemia, which wasn't uncommon in women her age.

  "Is it getting closer?" he asked.

  She shrugged. "In a way. Far away and almost through at the same time. It's eager, like it's been trying to get in for a long while but couldn't, not until recently."

  "Something kept it out of here?"

  "I think so," Hannah said.

  "And you're reading its mind?"

  "Yes. No. Maybe? I don't know. More like my shadows have something in common with it. They let me kind of get glimpses into what it wants."

  "What does it want?"

  They crested a hill and saw that everyone had stopped. Halfway to the town, a small contingent of dwarves was approaching.

  Hannah looked at the dwarves, deep in thought.

  "Hannah?"

  She blinked and turned to him. "What?"

  "What does the Deep Dweller want?"

  Turning back to the dwarves, she whispered a single word. "Death."

  "The dwarves?"

  "No," she said, shaking her head. "Everyone. Everything. Even itself, I think."

  "Can we kill it?" Luke asked.

  "I hope we can survive it if we run fast enough. Kill it? No."

  "That's bleak," Luke sighed.

  Nymh, Liza, and a couple of others broke away from the large group of Integrated to approach the dwarves, who'd stopped right in the middle of the field to raise a red and black flag.

  Liza: "Nymh is going to try to speak with the dwarves. See if we can talk them into giving us The Gem of Communication. Maybe we won't have to fight them."

  "Did you get the message from Liza?" Hannah asked.

  "Yep," Luke said. "What do you think?"

  "I think it's going to work."

  Luke: "Be careful, Liza. Should I join you?"

  Liza: "I will. There are plenty of us. Stay back."

  Since there was nothing to do more than waiting, Luke sat down in the grass and experimented a little more with Weaver's Eye, extending it to different people before changing it to act as a circle around him, which worked just as well. He even found that it was possible to change what sort of information he wanted, and how much of it. He didn't know if this was its highest rank or not, but this was just what he wanted from the skill. Rather than being bludgeoned over the head with information every minute of the day, it was now a tool to control with precision.

  Speaking of tools, perhaps this was the time to give Weavestep another try. If they were going to flee from some sort of eldritch horror just to escape from the dungeon in the near future, he'd need it to work as intended. Standing on his head wouldn't impress the Deep Dweller much. Of that, he was certain.

  "I'm going to try it again."

  "Try what?" Hannah asked. She was still standing, gazing into the distance where Nymh, Liza, and the others were about to meet up with the dwarves.

  "Weavestep."

  She looked down at him and grinned. "Hold on, let me get my phone."

  "They don't work in dungeons."

  "Not for calling or the Internet, no," she said, unlocking her phone and pointing it in his direction. "But the camera works."

  "Really?"

  "Yup!"

  "Huh," he said, frowning. "Figure we should've seen more photos and videos from inside dungeons then."

  She gave him a deadpan look. "That's like 90% of all social media right now."

  "Oh."

  "Have you been living under a rock or something?"

  That gave Luke a chuckle. "No. In dungeons, mostly. And the hospital."

  "Guess that makes sense," she allowed. "Hospital? What are you doing there? Can't you just heal yourself?"

  "I've been looking for a place where I can heal others. It gives me experience outside of dungeons too. So, I thought it was a good way to, you know, grind."

  She gave him an impressed expression and nodded to herself. "Not a bad deal, that. Nice one. I can do that too. With both my shadows and my profession."

  "What profession did you pick?" Luke asked.

  "Traveler."

  "Huh?"

  "Yeah, Traveler. It means someone who travels."

  Luke shook his head in bewilderment. "You have no idea how little that description helps."

  She laughed, glanced off into the distance to the parlay, then back to Luke. "Well, what's yours?"

  "Seeker."

  "Huh?"

  "Yeah, Seeker," he mimicked her, distorting his voice to sound shrill and obnoxious. "It means someone who seeks."

  "Har-de-har."

  "It's how I know where portals will appear," Luke said. "It tells me."

  "That's it?"

  He nodded. "So far."

  "That's common knowledge 15 minutes after it opens."

  "Gives me a 15-minute head start, then," he countered.

  She shrugged. "That's good, I guess."

  "What about yours?" he asked.

  "Traveler? Well, I'm hoping it lets me create, or build, or whatever, ways for people to travel between places down the line. That's how I'm reading the description, anyway."

  "Like a train?"

  "Maybe," she said with a slight upward tilt to her chin. "Or teleportation."

  "Really?"

  "That's what I'm hoping for!" she said, wriggling her eyebrows, excitement evident in her voice.

  Luke leaned in. "Like, for everyone?"

  "Oh yeah," she said, raising her hands in a show of helplessness. "That'd be great, anyway."

  "Yup," Luke said. "That settles it."

  "What?"

  He pointed at her, saying, "Your profession is definitely better than mine." Then Luke pointed at himself. "But watch this teleport!"

  "Hold on!" Hannah said, bringing her phone back up. "I've got to get this on camera!"