As my laughing faded I noticed the cavern floor around us was a mess of scrapes and gouges, a testament to the intensity of our duel.

  The Chief approached, a look of profound approval on his face. He clapped a heavy hand on each of our shoulders. “That’s what I like to see,” he rumbled, his voice echoing in the now-quiet chamber. “Pushing each other to the absolute limit. You are both better warriors now than you were ten minutes ago. Well done.”

  “Just trying to keep up with the old man,” Ryker managed to say between breaths, a tired grin touching his lips.

  A familiar voice, now laced with a gentle teasing instead of its usual sharp edge, cut in. “Trying to get yourself killed before we even get to the next fight?” I looked up to see Kira, a playful smile dancing on her lips. She raised her staff, and a targeted warmth flowed into my chest, soothing the deep, bone-bruising aches from the spar. I glanced over at Ryker and saw he was also looking refreshed. “There,” she said, giving a theatrical wink as the light faded. “All patched up. Just try not to void the warranty in the next five minutes, okay? The paperwork is a nightmare.” She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

  The Chief raised his voice, his command presence returning. “Alright, time’s up. Training is over. Let’s keep clearing this dungeon.” His eyes were on his G-shock watch.

  I guess watches still work in the dungeon. I glanced at my wrist and noticed that my Garmin Tactix watch was missing. Fuck… I loved that watch.

  The scattered groups of players coalesced into a single, disciplined unit. The nervous energy from before was gone, replaced by a quiet, hardened confidence. We were no longer a panicked mob of survivors; we were a small, lethal army, forged in the fires of the last several hours. We moved as one toward the next sealed door, the sound of our boots on the stone a grim, rhythmic drumbeat.

  We gathered before the inert, black stone door, a silent monolith that held the next stage of our trial. I looked at the faces around me: Kira, her jaw set; Logan, his wild grin tempered by a new focus;

  Ryker, his expression calm and professional; Chief, a rock of unshakeable resolve. They were ready.

  “You all know the objective,” I said, my voice low but carrying in the stillness. “We clear this next section to unlock the next door. We know the environment is different. Expect the unexpected. Watch the walls, watch the ground, and watch each other’s backs. No heroes. We do this together, or we die together.”

  I stepped forward and placed my palm flat against the cool, smooth stone. The translucent Open icon pulsed with a faint light. I took a final, steadying breath, the weight of the thirty-odd lives still standing resting on my shoulders, and thought the command.

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  The colossal stone door was utterly silent as it began to swing inward on unseen hinges, the movement smooth and eerie. It revealed the same corridor of absolute blackness, a stark contrast to the glowing cavern. The door moved without a sound until it was fully open, settling into place with a final, hollow THUD that echoed into the oppressive quiet. A wave of warm, humid air washed over us, thick with the rich, loamy perfume of wet earth and rampant, alien growth.

  I stood at the threshold, my ears straining for any sound from the humid darkness. Silence. A deep, waiting silence. I took a tentative step forward. The now-familiar turquoise light blossomed under my boot, racing along the stone floor in a liquid-starlight pattern, illuminating a path into the abyss.

  I turned to remind everyone to stay observant, but the words died on my lips. Every face was a mask of hardened focus, eyes scanning the shadows, weapons held at a low ready. They were no longer new to this. They were veterans of this impossible war.

  I moved forward slowly. Jamie, the Chief, Logan, and Ryker fell into a diamond formation around me, a weapon of steel and resolve. I knew without looking that Kira, Gideon, Flynn, Charlie, and Jon had formed a second, identical diamond behind us, our rear guard. With a setup this solid, I could focus on what lay ahead and trust them to handle the rest.

  We rounded the corner and were met with the same thick, impossible flora from the cavern we’d scouted. As the colossal doorway at the far end of the new chamber loomed into view, my line of sight was broken by towering, alien trees that twisted like arthritic fingers toward the distant stone ceiling. This chamber was a thick, tangled briar patch of gnarled trees and brush. A crystal-clear river cut the greenery down the middle. Nothing else moved as we filed into the area, my eyes already locked on the sealed stone monolith on the opposite side.

  “Let’s stick together but break into fireteams,” I ordered, my voice low. “Maintain at least twenty feet between groups, but no more than thirty. We stay in visual, but we don’t bunch up in case of an ambush.”

  The players shifted into their established groups with practiced efficiency. Kira, Chief, Charlie, and Jon fell in with me. As everyone settled, Logan approached, his usual boisterous smile replaced by something sheepish. He dwarfed me, yet somehow, he seemed smaller.

  “Uhhh,” he started, scratching the back of his neck. “Do you mind if I join your group? I think everyone else thinks I’m… unpredictable.”

  I couldn’t help the surprised laugh that escaped me. The berserker who charged headfirst into a horde of monsters was worried about fitting in. I quickly recovered and beamed up at the giant.

  “Logan, your brand of chaos is always welcome on my team, my friend.”

  He beamed back, his confidence restored, and we pounded fists. Truthfully, I already trusted the man with my life. He might charge headfirst into every fight, but he always came out on top, and he was always there when it mattered.

  ?“Alright,” I called to the other teams. “Stay sharp. Shout if you find anything unusual. Something is in here, so stay vigilant.”

  ?We began hacking our way through the brush towards the far door. The undergrowth was a solid, living wall, taller than Logan in most places, with no discernible path. The hiss and thwack of our blades cutting through fibrous stalks was the only sound besides the gurgle of the nearby river. If there are monsters in this jungle, I thought, they either don’t use this path, or they don’t need one. The thought sent a fresh prickle of unease down my spine.

  ?We reached the riverbank without incident, our team bursting out of the claustrophobic brush into the relatively open space, followed one by one by the other teams.

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