By the time Rowan had broken free of his own cage and was working on getting into Sam’s, his attempted distraction had already backfired spectacularly. Rowan had meant to grow the vines slowly, draw some attention away while he and Sam got free of their cages and slipped into the jungle. Instead, in response to his new power, the dead roots beneath the surgical table erupted like a hydra, thick tendrils bursting from the blood-soaked earth in a wild tangle. They wrapped around the latest prisoner strapped to the table—half-transformed, fur-covered arms ending in bestial claws—and squeezed.

  The unfortunate man screamed. The sound was raw and animal, somewhere between human agony and something else entirely. The vines constricted harder, crushing, and then the screaming stopped with a wet, final crack.

  "No, no, no!" Rowan gasped. He hadn't meant to—he'd just wanted them to grow, to distract, not to—

  The camp exploded into chaos. Raptor-Hounds shrieked in alarm, their heads snapping toward the surgical table. Boar-Men bellowed, massive hands reaching for clubs and axes. The three Goat-Shamans bleated in fury, their staffs flaring with sickly green light as they turned to face the threat. Within seconds, during which Rowan had been stunned by rising terror into immobility, they had all turned to look directly at Rowan's empty cage.

  Oh shit! The simple thought broke his horrified stasis. It never once occurred to him that if he used that lingering instant of confusion to sprint into the alien jungle, he might be able to save himself. Turning back toward Sam’s cage, he began wrenching at the wooden bar with all of his newly enhanced strength and strange plant powers. With a sharp CRACK that Rowan felt in his mind as much as heard with his ears, the wooden pole snapped in the middle.

  "Sam!" Rowan hissed. "We need to move, now!"

  Sam's head lifted laboriously from the ground, eyes glassy and confused. This much closer, Rowan had a chance to appreciate the multiple wounds Sam was contending with. A six-inch-long gash across his chest. A massive dark bruise on one temple. Worst of all, now Rowan could appreciate the painfully unnatural angle at which Sam’s ankle was twisted.

  Sam’s not going anywhere!

  "What—Rowan, what did you—?"

  "No time!"

  The first monster, one of the short, furry creatures with the long snout and serrated rows of teeth, was already sprinting toward them, clawed feet tearing up the earth. On desperate instinct, Rowan reached with his Flora Control for the nearest cluster of vines criss-crossing the ground and commanded them to move. The vines lashed out like whips, catching the monster’s bird-like legs and yanking it off balance. Snarling and thrashing, the creature went down hard, but there were more coming. So many more.

  Rowan's mind raced. The jungle was their only chance, but it was at least thirty feet away, and monsters were converging from every direction. His Improvised Tools power kicked in, some instinctive understanding flooding his awareness. Near his feet, partially buried in the dirt, was a broken pole. Sharpened at one end. About four feet long.

  That’ll have to do.

  Rowan yanked it free and hefted it like a spear. It felt right in his hands, balanced despite the crude craftsmanship. He positioned himself at the opening of Sam’s cage and the approaching monsters, the makeshift weapon trembling but ready.

  "Stay behind me," he said, trying to sound much more confident than he felt.

  Two Boar-Men charged, their tusks gleaming in the dual-sun light. Rowan thrust the improvised spear at the first one, catching it in the shoulder. The creature roared but didn't slow down. A massive fist backhanded the spear from Rowan's grip, sending him stumbling and the weapon flying away. The Boar-Man drew back a gnarled tree-limb club to crush Rowan.

  He flung out a—now empty—hand along with a reflexive pulse of his Flora Control. The monster’s grip was crushing tight, but after a brief instant of resistance, the wooden club tore free of the Boar-Man’s meaty fist and flew back through the air. Grunting in surprise, the Boar-Man clenched his empty hand into an oversized fist and began to swing it down like a hammer.

  Even as he raised his arm to deflect the blow, Rowan felt the certainty of his own impending doom. This was it. This was how he died. Rowan braced for the killing blow—

  A sound like thunder split the air. Above the encampment, a figure swooped from the sky—humanoid but encased in gleaming white and gold armor that reflected the alien daylight like a beacon. A translucent half-cape streamed behind them, and wind howled around their form like a living thing. The armored person had their hands tucked through the arm-pits of another figure that dangled less gracefully in the howling winds. The second person’s face was unrecognizable in the chaos and speed, but their figure was slender and decidedly feminine. Long black hair streamed out like a banner from the unarmored woman, and a gleaming trident was clutched in one hand.

  The unexpected arrival of the armored figure and woman had briefly distracted Rowan’s attackers as much as it had captured his own attention. From at least ten feet up, the dark-haired woman dropped from the armored figure’s grip. In an instant, helices of fluid—water?—spun to life from the woman’s hand and along the shaft. A jet stream, several inches thick, blasted from the center prong of the trident and slammed into the side of the nearest Boar-Man.

  As if the monster had been struck by a battering ram, the blast of water sent the Boar-Man staggering off balance to crash into his comrade. The trident-wielding woman dropped from the armored figure’s grasp, the force from her ongoing stream of water seeming to slow her nearly ten-foot drop to the ground to land before Rowan.

  Recognition hit him like a freight train. They were spattered in mud and grime, but he knew those scrubs. Recognized that midnight black hair and those sparkling, soulful blue eyes. He didn’t know how he’d ever been confused.

  “Eden?”

  “Yeah, hey Rowan.” The water rushing from Eden’s strange trident died away as she turned to face him directly. “I know you’ve probably got—”

  The armored figure landed beside them with enough force to crack the earth. They moved with impossible speed—a blur of white and silver—a short curved blade in their hand.

  "Get down!" a woman's voice shouted from inside the helmet.

  Rowan and Eden dropped flat as a concussive blast of wind swept over them. The entire structure of the cage shuddered under the hurricane force of the sudden wind. The howling winds caught and scattered a pack of furry raptor-human hybrids that had been circling around to the other side of the cage. Eden’s hand—at once delicate and incredibly strong—slipped into his as the winds died away.

  “What the fuck is happening?” Rowan shouted as Eden sprang back to her feet and dragged him back up with her.

  “What we’ve got here is your classic dungeon packed with alien horrors governed by an ancient cosmic system with game-like mechanics,” the woman in armor said with a lighthearted chuckle.

  “W-what?” Rowan stammered.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “I’ll explain everything—” Eden began just as another pair of Boar-Men came barreling toward them. “Later!”

  Moving in flawless tandem, Eden and the person in white and gold armor hurled themselves into the path of the charging monsters with all the stalwart confidence of damn superheroes. While Eden flowed gracefully from parry to strike and dodge to attack, the armored figure was a blur of motion and howling wind. His shock-numbed mind could barely comprehend the beautiful but brutal display of Eden’s violent clash. Somewhere in the distance, Rowan heard a very human voice howl a warcry and the ringing sound of colliding metal as fighting broke out further from their position. Beneath his feet, Rowan felt the earth shudder.

  “How’s Sam?” Eden asked as she whirled back to face Rowan after finishing off her opponent while her armored comrade battled on.

  “Wh-what?”

  “I know it’s a lot. Rowan, look at me.” The unbridled command in Eden’s voice dragged Rowan’s gaze to hers. “How’s Sam? We need to move.”

  “He’s…” Rowan cleared his throat and shook his head. “He’s hurt. He can’t go anywhere on his own.”

  "Zoe, I need thirty seconds!" Eden shouted to the armored figure.

  "You've got twenty!" The woman—Zoe?—replied, her blade flashing as she parried a blow from a charging Boar-Man's club. Wind shrieked from her free hand, creating a barrier that deflected crossbow bolts fired from somewhere Rowan couldn’t see.

  Shoving past him, Eden entered the cage and dropped to one knee beside Sam. One hand pressed against his chest, silver-white light flared from her palm, bright enough to make Rowan squint. Sam gasped, his back arching, and then his drooping eyes flew open wide—clear and focused for the first time since this nightmare had begun.

  "Eden?!" Sam's voice was sharp with confusion and rising panic. "What—where—is that really you?"

  "Yeah, it’s me," Eden said, her voice clipped and urgent. "I’ll explain later, but we need to get moving. Just stay close to Rowan and do what you’re told. Okay?"

  “Yeah. Okay. I think so?”

  "Perfect." Standing, Eden hauled Sam to his feet with surprising strength, "Rowan, can you help Sam? I need to be able to fight."

  Rowan nodded numbly and grabbed Sam's arm, steadying him as he swayed. Sam's eyes were wide, darting in horrified amazement between Eden and Zoe and the monsters surrounding them with an expression that probably mirrored Rowan's own.

  "This is insane," Sam muttered. "This is completely insane."

  "Yeah," Rowan agreed. "Welcome to the party, pal."

  Eden was already moving, her trident glowing as she rushed toward the other cages. She swung the weapon in wide arcs, and with each impact, bars cracked in showers of splintered wood and bursts of pressurized water. Prisoners stumbled free in strange fabrics and unfamiliar styles.

  "This way!" Eden shouted, gesturing toward the tree line. "Everyone to the jungle! Stay together!"

  Only the jungle wasn't safe either. From the dense foliage, more monsters emerged, their grunting calls echoing through the camp and cutting off the escape route. Rowan's stomach dropped. They were surrounded. Zoe—it had to be Warren’s sister, Zoe, who else would it be?—spun to face the new threats, her short curved blade—not quite a sword but more than a knife—held high. Even through the armor, Rowan could sense her tension.

  "This is a no-go!" Zoe shouted over the sound of combat. "Fallback! We've got to link up with Sasha and Pablo!"

  "Heard!" Eden's voice was tight. She raised her trident and fired another concussive blast of water, creating a temporary corridor through the monsters pressing in from all sides.

  Rowan saw two more figures on the opposite side of the camp. A brown-skinned, dark-haired man in blue jeans and a t-shirt with a gleaming sword held in both hands. Even having heard the name before, Rowan was stunned to recognize the man as Pablo. Beside him was another armored figure, this one in heavy orange and bronze armor, swinging a massive warhammer that looked like it could shatter boulders. That had to be Sasha, then? Rowan hadn’t ever met the woman, but Eden had talked about her more than once.

  A dazzling white radiance erupted around the person in orange armor—not a glow, but something more fundamental, like compressed starlight given form. It pulsed once, twice, and rippling waves of that white light washed over the monsters. Every creature touched by the radiance flinched, and small crackles of white lightning danced across their bodies. Suddenly, every monster in the camp turned toward her.

  It was like watching a switch flip. Furry raptor-men that had been stalking prisoners wheeled around, snarling as they charged the orange-armored woman. Boar-Men abandoned their posts, bellowing as they thundered toward her. Even the Goat-Shamans redirected their attention, staffs glowing brighter as they channeled strange energies in her direction.

  "Sasha's got them!" Pablo shouted between blurring sword strokes. "Get the prisoners clear!"

  Rowan stared, transfixed. This was impossible. All of it. Eden had superpowers. There were people in powered armor fighting monsters in a jungle dimension. He’d been pretty sure he had to be dreaming before; now he was all but certain of the fact. Except…

  Except everything feels entirely too real to be a dream!

  Sam was staring too, his mouth hanging open. "What the hell is going on?"

  "I have no idea," Rowan whispered. "Right now, let’s just try not to die in the next five minutes."

  ***

  Ever since the camping trip, this was what Zoe had been craving, the pure, crystalline simplicity of combat. No complicated emotions. No grief weighing down every breath. No hollow ache where Mark used to be. Just her body and powers singing together in perfect harmony, moving, fighting, doing.

  Gale flashed in her hand as she spun, the kukri's blade catching a Raptor-Hound's claws mid-swipe. Sparks flew. The creature recoiled, and Zoe followed through with a blast of wind from her free hand that sent it tumbling backward into two of its packmates. Her armor's HUD painted the battlefield in clean, organized data—health bars, distance markers, threat assessments. Sasha's Aetheric Challenge had pulled most of the encampment's attention, but reinforcements were rushing out of the dense jungle.

  Zoe spun, Gale coming up defensively, wind already gathering at her fingertips—and stopped when she saw Eden's unarmored face inches from her own.

  "Zoe!" Eden shouted over the din of battle. "We need to move!"

  Zoe blinked, the battle-high fading just enough for her to process the words. Right. The mission. They'd come here to rescue people, not to fight every monster in the camp. She forced herself to take a breath, to step back from that place where only combat existed.

  “Right…” Zoe’s chest was heaving with the exhilaration more than the effort of the fight. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to take control.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Zoe shrugged an armored shoulder. “Let’s get the hell out of here. Keep them together and follow me.”

  Turning around, Zoe charged toward the treeline. Just then, two more Boar-Men burst out of the foliage with a pack of Raptor-Hounds at their flanks. Behind her, she could hear Eden directing the freed prisoners trying to collect them into a cohesive group that could stay together as they fled. As Zoe used wind and blade to hold the newly arrived monsters at bay, she could already see the underbrush shuddering with more monsters.

  Maybe if the Paladins were all armored, fighting together, and they just had Rowan and Sam to worry about protecting, escaping into the jungle would be a viable option. As it was, Zoe experienced a flash of certainty that they’d be leading the bedraggled prisoners to their deaths if they led them into the monster-packed jungle.

  “Sasha, the jungle’s too hot. We need to link up with you and Pabs,” Zoe reported over her helmet’s comm link to the only other armored Paladin.

  Zoe's Air Sense painted a three-dimensional map in her mind—every shift in pressure, every displacement of air, every incoming attack. Whirling from opponent to opponent, Zoe continued to hold the monsters at bay with every bit of finesse and skill she’d acquired over the previous months of training. Duck under a club swing. Parry with Gale. A blast of wind to create distance. Spin and slash. Another gust to knock an incoming crossbow bolt off-course.

  “Copy that,” Sasha replied, then there was a prolonged pause, likely where Sasha was relaying the comms traffic to Pablo, who was still unarmored. “If we cut out a way to the center, can you meet us partway?”

  “We’ll have to make it work,” Zoe replied.

  Slashing Gale through the air in the direction of the jungle, she sent out a blast of wind that shoved back the latest wave of monsters approaching from the trees. The windstorm briefly stalled the charge of monsters for the instant Zoe needed to whirl around and get the rescued prisoners moving in the new direction.

  “Change of plans! The jungle’s a no-go!” she shouted to Eden and the crowd. “Eden, watch our butts. The rest of you, stay close!”

  Eden nodded and dropped back toward the rear of their amorphous formation, her trident swirling with condensed water as she passed the ragged group of freed prisoners. Zoe turned, positioning herself to lead the prisoners deeper into the crude collection of huts that comprised the monster village.

  Working together, Sasha and Pablo were already carving a slow path through the encampment's defenders. Sasha's glowing white radiance drew the bulk of the attacks, while Pablo used his sword to devastating effect against any creature that got too close. Jaw clenched, Zoe hurled herself at the backs of the monsters between her and the rest of the team.

  The freed prisoners followed, confusion and fear written across their faces. Rowan and Sam were among them, both looking shell-shocked but moving. Her wind powers lashed out in controlled bursts, pushing aside monsters without fully engaging them.

  Conserve energy. Maintain distance. We just need to regroup.