A Returning Visit

Dila inspected a golden ring in his hands as he, Chatative, Roseland, and Gaum waited at the Hero’s Pint for a job posting. Crescent Moon was back at his shop taking to his practice, so he was unable to assist the guild for the day. Roseland was downing her mug of ale while Chatative strummed her cords, trying to figure out the best way to word her song. Gaum kept back to herself, her eyes darting between each of them.
Roseland gasped in satisfaction as she finished her drink. Her eyes quickly turned to Dila. “What do you have there?”
Dila continued to search on the ring for any sort of inscription. “Just a ring I found out in the woods. I’m trying to see if I can find who it belongs to.”
Roseland cocked her head to get a better look at it. “Is there anything on it?”
Dila sighed and pocketed it. “No. It’s completely blank- just a gold ring.” He shrugged and started to sip from his mug. “I’ll just sell it to a pawner.”
Roseland sighed and leaned over the back of her chair, staring at the board. There were plenty of sheets posted, but nothing fit for their level. Several posters had images of children with bounties underneath. “So many missing children. I wish we could do something for them. For their parents, too; they must be so heart-broken.” Roseland watched as another group of adventurers took their place at the bar. “All of them taken underneath their parents’ watch; right here in town. All from rich families, but no ransom has been demanded. How horrible.”
Dila leaned against his fist. “The upper-class have been taking advantage of us for their entire existence. It’s no wonder someone would target them.”
Roseland turned to Dila. “But not to even set up a ransom? Why kidnap them in the first place?” She sighed. “I hope they’re alright.”
“I couldn’t tell ya,” Dila sighed. He drained a mouthful of the drink. “Not something we really can do anything about- we don’t have any leads and it’s not like any of them would talk to us considering we’re Dirt. We’d probably be going in over our heads.”
At a table a couple feet away, a woman in a red silk dress gave a glance to the conversation. She watched the adventurers suspiciously.
Dila looked to the entrance with a sigh. “I doubt anyone else is going to come in with a Dirt mission.” He took a sip of his mug, but nearly gagged on an idea. “We should return to the Phoenix Cave. With you and Gaum, we’ll be-”
“Gaum-Ha-Ra.”
“-able to fight off those monsters and find some of the fabled treasures there for sure!”
Roseland glanced in his direction. “Wouldn’t it be better if we kept waiting for someone who needed help? If we’re out looking for riches, we might come back too late.”
Dila nodded in mock acceptance. “True, but if we find a lot of gold down there, we could get better weapons and armor and then we’d be able to do more when someone does need our help.”
Roseland kept turning towards the door. She didn’t want to abandon anyone in trouble, but it was clear that Dila wasn’t going to be swayed too easily and he seemed to be getting restless just sitting at the bar. Roseland tried to put on a brave smile. “Alright, what’s in this Phoenix Cave?”
Dila smiled and downed his drink. Chatative began playing her song again as the team headed out to find treasures.



Dila tied the rope tightly to the tree as he had before and went to go down into the darkness. Roseland stared down the pit with a tingle of worry in her eyes. “Are you sure it’s safe to go down there?”
Dila grunted as he sidled himself over the mouth of the cavern. “Yeah, we did it yesterday, so we’ll be fine.”
“No, I mean with my armor? I don’t know if I’ll be able to climb down there safely- this suit is pretty heavy.” She shifted back and forth on her legs.
Chatative gave a worried glance at Roseland while Gaum rolled her eyes. Dila inspected her suit from afar. “You may be right.” He lifted himself out of the pit and bit his lip in thought. They had to get at the gold inside, but would it be worth it to risk the life of their most armored ally? The armor looked heavy just where he stood, so to climb down a rope with it on would be seemingly impossible. Luckily for Dila’s lust of gold, he thought of a solution. “Take it off now, then we’ll carry it down and you can put it on down there.”
Roseland glanced at her feet bashfully. “Are you sure we’ll have time for me to put it back on down there?”
Dila scoffed. “Of course. I’ll be there to watch for any of the Phoenixmen coming and fend them off.”
“Alright,” Roseland stated quietly and did as she was instructed.
Gaum sighed in annoyance and stepped away to meditate beside the tree. Dila started to reel in the rope to ensure that nothing were to happen to it as they waited. He stepped up to Chatative as she rested on folded legs, playing her lyre. “You sure there’s gold down there?”
“The exploits of their terror was of immense wealth,” Chatative strummed at her cords in song again, but Dila cut her off.
“Why do you always answer me with rhymes? Why can’t you just say it normally? I know you talk normally.”
Chatative paused but recollected herself. “It’s easier to recall tales when you sing them. It’s always been how I remember things. Music just helps with everything.”
Dila sighed and squatted next to her. “What about the Phoenixmen- how many are there altogether?”
“Fifteen, I think,” she stated straightforward.
“You think we’ll have to fight all of them?”
“Not likely. The caverns are deep and there’s been no report of anybody able to uncover their leader.”
Dila leaned closer in interest. “Their leader?”
“The man who agreed to a duel with a god. He led them to their bloody tirade throughout the realm. He was a master of fighting as well as spells.” Chatative gazed at the pit with a look of despair. “He’s down there, I think. He’s probably locked himself away.” Her voice grew weak and quiet. “I’d hate to imagine what would happen if he’d escape.”
Seeing her dismay, Dila changed the topic. “Chatative, why did you want to join us? I mean, out of all of the guilds back in town, we’re the least likely to make it. Why follow us?”
Chatative grew silent. She returned her gaze to her lyre in hand and watched it. Dila waited for a response, but she wasn’t saying anything. He sighed and leaned back. Roseland wasn’t finished taking off her armor yet, so he stared to the sky.
After several minutes of silence, she spoke. “I needed a story to tell. Even if you failed, I’d have a story unlike anyone else’s and I could tell it in my own way. I didn’t approach anyone else because I was there when you started. I could herald your victories and defeats. The others wouldn’t tell if they slipped during battle or just how tight a spot they found themselves in, but here I can see all the battle entailed and concluded. I can give a first-hand view of the duel and tell the full truth to the people.”
A voice cried out to them. “Got it!” Roseland set the armor in a leather bag to carry down. She grunted as she lifted the satchel over her shoulders. “Who’s going first?”
Dila stood up and advanced to her. “Why don’t you? We’ll hold the rope to make sure it doesn’t come undone and lift you out if the suit’s too heavy.” He tossed the rope into the pit. “You can start putting it back on while we all come down after you.”
Roseland nodded and gave a careful glance into the hole, her face twisted in worry. “I suppose…” Slowly, she started to climb down.
Chatative sidled up to Dila as he held the tittering rope for Roseland. “Do you think you possess the skills to survive down there?”
Dila turned to face her. “Of course. With Roseland, we’ll be able to take on all of them.”
“But do you have the skills? If things get hairy, she’ll need your help, so if you’re unable to fight, you could be preparing this scene for death.”
Dila went silent. He watched the rope slip back and forth along the edge of the pit in thought. Dila only wanted to be a hero and to gain riches- he didn’t want to kill his party members in the process. He bit his lip. “Yeah. I can protect her.” He turned to Chatative with a stern but determined look on his face. “We can do this.”
An echoing cry came from below. “Okay, I’m at the bottom.”
Dila advanced to the hole. “Alright. We’ll be right down.” He grabbed onto the rope as he began to descend. His eyes noticed that Gaum was still meditating beside the tree, not even noticing that the party was leaving. “Chatative, you wanna wake Gaum up?”
She glanced and Gaum and smiled. “Got it.” The Tiefling stood tall over Gaum, creating a flooding shadow over the meditating Brush. She cleared her throat, but Gaum didn’t stir. Chatative strummed a cord and sang to Gaum. “The party’s left to fight and they need your aid; journey on down to ensure that you get paid.”
Gaum didn’t move.
“Chatative plucked her lyre louder. “Our heroes are ready and their weapons are primed; hurry up after them- we’re waiting… anytime.”
Gaum didn’t move.
Chatative sighed. She leaned over and tapped Gaum’s shoulder. The Brush jumped in surprise at Chatative’s touch. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
“What want?” Gaum grumbled, trying to get herself back into her meditation.
“Everyone’s gone down, so they need you to accompany them.”
Gaum looked around in confusion, but sighed and got up to join up with the group.



The darkness was kept at bay by Dila’s torch as he led the way through the underground corridor. A heaviness in the air made it slightly difficult for the adventurers to properly breathe. The sounds of cracks and pops from the flame echoed around them, creating a haunting presence in the stony hallway. Roseland’s armor clanged loudly as she stepped in following Dila. Both Dila and Roseland had their weapons drawn in preparation of battle while Gaum had her arms folded over her chest.
A glimmer of light ahead signaled the first Phoenixman to fight. Dila pointed ahead. “Roseland, you should take lead. Your armor should protect you from his sword and I can jump in if anything gets too dangerous.”
Roseland swallowed nervously. “Okay.” She stepped past Dila and approached the Phoenixman. It groaned in noticing her and withdrew its flaming sword. Roseland took a cautious stance. The Phoenixman charged at her, but she easily deflected his sword with her own. Roseland stabbed the sword straight through its gut, penetrating the fiery abdomen. The Phoenixman froze in pain before he began to melt into dust. Roseland stepped back in surprise.
Dila approached her as the fire of the undead slowly died. “They turn to ashes when you beat them, so it’s pretty easy to know when you’ve won.”
Roseland chuckled light-heartedly. “I guess so. That wasn’t so bad.” She gave a cocky grin to Dila, even though he couldn’t see it through her armor or the darkness. “You had problems with these things?”
Dila scowled at her. “You try to fight without armor or a longsword.” He sighed in frustration. “There’s more of them ahead.” They advanced through the darkness until Dila noticed multiple lights in their path. “Here we go,” he stated and handed the makeshift torch to Gaum for safe keeping.
Roseland saw the outline of five or six flaming figures in the next room. She felt a cold sweat run down her forehead. “How do we want to do this?”
Dila pushed Roseland forward. “Head-on. We’ll bring them here in the tunnel so it’ll be hard for them to team up against us. You fight them and I’ll help if anyone starts to overpower you.”
Roseland nodded. Her armor was properly protecting her most forms of damage and her sword was easily able to cut through the poor rags that coated the burning skeletons. Surely she had the ability to fight them off. With Dila by her side and Gaum on her back, she could easily take care of these Phoenixmen. It would be great training and they might find some valuable gold further in.
Roseland took a strong stance and let out a cry to attract the Phoenixmen to them. They all moaned and advanced towards them. Roseland was in a rather tight corridor, so she would only have to deal with at worst two at a time, and with Dila to her left, it wouldn’t all fall on her shoulders.
The first fiend advanced right down the center of the corridor, raised its sword over its head, and swung downward to strike Roseland’s head. She quickly deflected the attack, giving Dila the chance to stab the Phoenixman right in its chest. It stumbled backwards and began to crumble to ashes as the next two pushed it aside and struck against Roseland.
She was able to parry the left’s sword, but the other got a swift swing on Roseland’s shoulder, forcing Roseland to strengthen her stance to avoid tumbling to the ground. Thanks to her armor, she was unaffected aside from all damage besides the intense heat that burned through the steel plates. Roseland tried to calm her breathing as she stabbed the left Phoenixman through the abdomen. It tumbled back from the assault.
Roseland rapidly switched targets and attacked the other Phoenixman before he could take a second shot at her. As soon as she finished off the second Phoenixman, another one ran in to strike at Roseland while she was distracted. Dila’s quick reflexes parried the burning blade from hitting Roseland. The fires from the fiend forced Dila to fall back to avoid getting burned, leaving Roseland on the frontlines by herself.
The lone fighter vanquished the fourth Phoenixman of the day and was about to turn to the one who forced Dila away when its blade slashed through the tunnel, stabbing through the plates of her armor around her midsection and penetrating her side. A flood of blood glistened over her armor as the fire sword was retracted. Roseland cried out and fell back, gripping her wound. The blood was coming out quickly and she had to lean against the wall of the cavern to steady herself, but she didn’t have much time to focus on her injury as another Phoenixman took the open space.
Gaum noticed the slash that hacked into her ally’s side. She placed her palms on Roseland’s back and said a prayer, causing the cauterized flesh to instantly mold in healing. Roseland calmed her breathing again and took to slashing at the Phoenixmen. With her energy regained, Roseland hacked the Phoenixman just as another took over the right side of the corridor. She found herself locked in battle with the right Phoenixman, seemingly unable to land a fatal hit on him.
The final Phoenixman found his place on the left side of the corridor and pushed in past where the others had fought, trying to catch Roseland on the side again. Dila dove at him and stabbed his dagger into its neck. The attack caused them to both fall back and fumble to the ground, Dila tumbling down on top of it. He cried out at the intense heat that burned through his body.
Roseland quickly finished off the last Phoenixman and grabbed Dila by the collar, tossing him off of the disintegrating fiend. She looked off past the two fading lights, but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. “I think that’s all of them.”
Dila brushed the ashes off of his skin and clothes, inspecting himself for any injuries. It didn’t look like anything burned past his skin. With a sigh, Dila picked himself off of the ground and spoke up. “There’s probably more deeper in.” His voice came out breathless, but he was extremely relieved to be over with the fight. He chuckled to himself. “That was difficult.”
With the tense situation finished, Roseland laughed lightly. “I wasn’t sure we were going to win that.” She sheathed her sword and threw her arm around Dila’s shoulder in comradary. “But thanks to you protecting my side,” she began, but stepped back and grabbed Gaum on the shoulders as well, “and Gaum watching my back, we can do anything.”
Gaum pushed Roseland away. “Gaum-Ha-Ra.”
Chatative strummed her cords in song from behind in the darkness. “Our heroes did fight against impossible odds, but they made it out alive, praise to the gods!”
Roseland laughed and gave Chatative a large hug, much to the Tiefling’s surprise. “It wasn’t impossible!”
Dila took his torch away from Gaum and advanced into the large room of the cavern, inspecting the area. A shimmer of something on the floor caught his eyes, enticing him to come closer. His mouth fell open in horror at what lay prone. Bodies were strewn across the cavern, most of them burned to black skeletons and ashes, but four fresh corpses were littered on top of the bones. They still had a glisten of new blood drenching their burned skin and poor-looking clothes. Dila noticed the glimmer of a sword in the young half-elf’s deathgrip, a wooden staff by the dwarf, a broken bow underneath the tall elf, and the wrapped-up hands of a young boy. Based on their lack of decay, they seemed to have died recently- not even a day deceased. Dila bit his lip and crouched down beside them and felt the bodies up, searching for something of use. Their purses had been robbed. He cursed internally at the poor luck.
Another glimmer further in the room caught his attention. He slipped his feet between the corpses to see what had shined. A gleam shimmered in his eyes. Several piles of gold were littered in a circular accumulation, as if they were being gambled. Dila sidled up to them and began to toss them in his own purse.
“Hey Dila!” Roseland shouted from the mouth of the room, approaching him and giving him a startle. “You find something?” As she stepped forward, her foot caught one of the bodies and she tumbled onto the pile. Roseland cried out at the surprise of the bones and deceased. She pushed herself away from the bodies, stumbling onto her back and crawling away in horror.
Gaum and Chatative stepped into the room as well, now noticing the pile of bodies as well. Dila stood up and held out the torch so Roseland could see the room properly. “I found several piles of gold coins here. I’m collecting them now and we’ll separate them evenly when we get out of here.”
Roseland gasped at the bodies. “How horrible.” She pulled herself to her feet. “How many people do you think they killed?”
Dila sighed and returned to the gold. “Too many, obviously. It seems that they’re still causing terror and death even while trapped down here.”
Roseland covered her mouthpiece with a hand. “We can’t just leave them here.” She bent over and picked the elf onto her shoulders, carrying him off back to the entrance.
Dila turned to her. “Why not? I doubt any of us will be able to carry them up the rope.” He returned to filling the purse. Roseland shouted a reply and stepped past Chatative and Gaum to place the dead body back by the entrance, despite the darkness around her. Chatative followed after to her make sure she didn’t get injured in the darkness and Gaum disappeared with them. Dila didn’t pay her much more mind; he was too invested in collecting what he could.
He didn’t notice the sound of approaching footsteps nor the glimmer of flames come up nearby. It wasn’t until the figure was right behind him did he hear a groan. Dila turned around just in time to see the Phoenixman swing its broadsword straight into Dila’s chest, throwing him back onto the pile of bodies. The coins Dila was picking up were thrown across the room, scattering around in the darkness. Dila fumbled for his dagger as he tried to push himself off of the pile, but the weakness of the crumbling bones caused him to awkwardly slip back deeper, leaving his belly helplessly open for the Phoenixman to strike. It winded its arm back to attack again.
Dila rolled away desperately, narrowly evading the incoming blade. He picked himself off of the ground and took a stance to fight the newcomer, but just then realized his knife was missing. His eyes darted across the room, searching for the faint glimmer of the blade, but even though there was a strong light from the Phoenixman, he couldn’t find it across the blackened bones.
The Phoenixman charged at Dila. He sprinted away from the swinging sword, hugging the walls of the cavern as the fiend chased him. Dila dove towards the half-elf’s body, snatching the sword from the pile. With himself armed again, Dila stood his ground.
The Phoenixman ceased his chasing and slowly approached towards Dila with a threatening aura. It swung at Dila, but he was able to deflect the blow. Dila tried to stab at its abdomen, but it knocked his blade out of the way, causing him to fumble on his stance.
Dila steadied his breathing to calm his nerves, but the Phoenixman kept advancing on him, swinging with powerful slashes against Dila’s sword. The adventurer watched its movements carefully and took a rapid stab again at its abdomen, this time connecting with the boney flesh. The Phoenixman stumbled back and started to decay away into ashes again. Dila sighed and rolled his neck. A heavy crash from something inside the Phoenixman hit the ground. Dila cocked his head and he inspected what fell. A large stone perfectly shaped like a heptagon with a circle in the center laid among the diminishing flames. Dila pocketed the item in case it would be usual later. He returned to the pile of gold and tried to pick up what coins he could.
The sound of heavy clanging echoed through the cave as Roseland returned to the cavern. “I heard fighting. Is everything alright?”
Dila glared towards her. “While you were gone, one of them snuck in here. You should be watching my back.”
“I didn’t realize that you were in trouble. I’m sorry,” Roseland apologized. She stepped towards Dila. “You alright?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He jingled his nearly-full purse. “We should head out before any more come through.”
Roseland looked at the bodies. “What about them?”
“Leave them. We need to watch our backs otherwise we’ll end up like them.”
Roseland didn’t like that. “It’s not right to just leave them here.”
Dila sighed. “C’mon, Roseland. We should get out of here ourselves. Carrying bodies would only hinder our movements and we don’t want to get surrounded by these Phoenixmen.”
Roseland glanced around the room at the bodies. She shook her head in disagreement, but took off after Dila as well. He had his torch back in hand and led the way through the dark corridors towards the exit. All the while, Roseland kept turning her head back to look at the blackness behind her, thinking constantly about the poor adventurers.
As Dila and Chatative reached the rope, he handed the torch to Gaum. “Roseland, call for us if anything happens and we’ll hurry down,” Dila stated. He and Chatative began to climb up to make sure the rope wouldn’t come undone.
Gaum folded her arms and stared back to Roseland. Roseland rudely snatched the torch from Gaum and trekked back down the corridor. “Where go?” Gaum asked.
“I’m bringing the bodies back over here. Even though we probably won’t be able to bring them with us, they deserve to rest in sunlight- not wilt away in darkness.” The shimmer of her armor slowly disappeared until black consumed her, leaving only the shrinking flame from her torch.
Gaum scoffed and folded her arms. She glanced up at the other climbers. She’d probably be best to leave the fool in the darkness. Gaum reached up for the rope and was about to climb when she froze. Her fingers gently caressed her scarred chest plate. Gaum rolled her eyes and turned away from the ladder to wait for Roseland’s return.
Darkness surrounded Roseland like a blanket. In the quiet, she could hear moans, flickering of flames, and footsteps, all coming from someone else deeper within. Roseland’s mouth hung open as she breathed the moist air in heavily, her heart racing from fear. The torch’s dancing made the rocky walls mold into monstrous forms. Long, spindly fingers reached out to her only to disappear in the flame’s glow. Shining eyes glistened along the walls as the light caught in the indents of the stone. Despite have been through the tunnel before, being alone exacerbated her senses.
Roseland entered the large room with piles upon piles of ashes and quickly found the bodies of the young adventurers. She tossed two of them over her shoulders and grunted from the exertion it took to lift both the bodies and her armor, but was able to carry their weights through the caverns. With her hands full from the bodies, she fumbled with her torch, accidentally causing it to clatter against the ground and separate out into the individual twigs and branches.
Roseland panicked. She might not be able to carry two people at a time as well as hold a torch. She couldn’t stand being down in the darkness alone any longer with all the shadows surrounding her. Roseland controlled her breathing and slowed her heart rate to straighten her thoughts. She knelt beside the torch’s remnants, trying to retain her light source.
Beside the young adventurer, the lone pile of ashes swirled as an orange glow burned from inside. Roseland froze in horror and watched as it grew into a full-sized skeleton with a fiery sword. She picked herself to her feet and slowly backed away from the Phoenixman, her body frozen to near immobility.
The tumble of a stone just behind her sent a chill right up her spine. With shaky movements, she turned around to see the other Phoenixmen blocking her path. One of their blades swung towards her neck at speeds faster than she could react. Roseland closed her eyes as her thoughts fell to her family.
A powerful blow knocked her away, barely giving her the stamina to stay standing. Imbedded in one of the deceased adventurer’s midsection was a burning blade. The smell of cooking flesh wafted into her nose as the Phoenixman withdrew his weapon.
Roseland regained control of her legs and she took to sprinting back to the corridor she’d come from, narrowly dodging the seven Phoenixmen as they began groaning and shambling after her. It was hard for her to tell if she was going the right way or if she was running deeper into the caverns or straight into a wall, but Roseland kept running. She constantly scraped her arm against the sides of the corridor and over-correct herself into bumping into the other side. Tears welled in her eyes as she sprinted, only making her sight blurry.
A light ahead drew her attention. It could be another Phoenixman or it could be the exit. It was too hard to see from where she was, so she kept running, but as she neared, it became clear that is wasn’t an exit.
Roseland turned to see if anyone was behind her. Sure enough, the fiery outlines of the Phoenixmen were still chasing behind her. They were far enough away that she couldn’t make out their boney visages, but the light that emanated from them was too close for comfort. Roseland prayed to the gods and tossed the bodies she was carrying to the ground. She withdrew her sword and cried out, charging headfirst towards the Phoenixman blocking her path.



Gaum was sat down in concentration. She was debating with herself on whether or not she should climb out without Roseland. Roseland did go back into the cave by herself, so it wasn’t like Gaum had any reason to follow after or even wait for her. The others didn’t wait either, so why was she? Gaum touched her scarred chest again. She sighed in angered frustration. She owed Roseland her life, so Gaum was stuck waiting.
Roseland’s cried echoed through the walls to the entrance. Gaum got to her feet and gazed into the darkness. A light was visible deep into the cavern, but it didn’t look like Roseland’s torch. Gaum removed her knife and slowly stepped into the darkness to get a better look.
Without much warning, the fire ahead started to decay away until it smothered into nothingness. Gaum held her ground. Heavy footsteps clanked into loud echoes, reverberating all around the Brush. Gaum’s breathing came out rapidly as several other flames became visible through the darkness.
A shimmer of a large suit of armor came hurtling towards her. Gaum dodged out of the way just as Roseland barreled past. Roseland stopped running for a moment, just now seeing her ally. “Gaum, run!”
Gaum turned to see the flames getting larger and closer. She took sprinting after Roseland. “Gaum-Ha-Ra!”
As soon as Roseland got to the rope, she started climbing, no longer having the time to doff her armor. It was hard for her to get a good grip on the cord as she climbed due to her gloved hands and she struggled to get very far very fast. Gaum hurried up the rope after her, but was stuck waiting for Roseland in order to get higher.
Roseland felt a dribble of sweat puddle down her neck. Her hands kept slipping down the fine hairs of the rope. The sounds of moans grew to a crescendo as she climbed to the half-way point. Roseland swallowed and took the time to look down below them to the dark floor. All seven of the Phoenixmen were waiting for either of the adventurers to fall, their swords raised in menacing slashes. The end of the rope had been cut cleanly as high as the fiends could reach with a blade of immense heat. Roseland’s breathing quickened at the threat below them.
While her head was glued to the situation in the dark, she took an errant grab at the rope. Her hand missed the cord, but she had already begun loosening her grip with the other. Roseland’s body tumbled backwards as she swung slightly from the dangling rope and began to plummet backwards. She desperately snatched for her lifeline, but it was out of her reach and she could only watch as she began to tumble towards the mass of fiery death below.
Roseland’s arm was yanked roughly, almost tearing it from her socket, but her descent was stopped and she was left swaying with the disturbed rope. She glanced up to see Gaum holding tightly to the rope with one hand and the other latched to Roseland’s wrist. Gaum’s face was twisted in agony and distress from the massive weight tearing at her arms. “Pull!” she screamed out to Dila above.
Roseland quickly swung herself back onto the rope underneath Gaum and held tight, allowing Gaum to release her grip. Roseland shouted as well. “Dila, could you pull us out of here?”
“What the hell happened?” he replied from the top, leaning over the edge to see what was going on.
“Just pull us up,” Roseland pleaded. Both she and Gaum held onto the rope tightly as it swung and ascended slowly.
As soon as Gaum could reach the edge of the pit, she clambered over onto the grass surrounding the cavern, breathing in the fresh forest air thankfully. Roseland reached over as Dila extended his arm for her to climb on. She ended crawling away from the hole and falling face-first onto the dirt, her heavy breathing slowly recollecting itself.
Dila sat down beside her and began rolling up the rest of the rope. “What the hell; why didn’t you take off your armor before you climbed?” Roseland didn’t say anything; she was too exhausted to reply. Dila scoffed in frustration and threw the burnt end of the rope on top of the tangled pile.
Roseland eventually picked herself off of the dirt and got to her feet. She noticed Gaum was walking away, rolling her shoulders in frustration. Roseland ran over to Gaum. “Hey, Gaum-Ha-Ra!” Gaum growled and turned to face her. “You saved my life down there, and I just wanted to thank you.”
Gaum stared at Roseland suspiciously. “Even.”
Roseland laughed lightly. “Yeah. Now we’re even.”