Time until Hunt

10 seconds

It was impossible to tell how far they'd gone. The labyrinth had turned in every possible direction, zigging, zagging, twisting, turning until Owin couldn't say how far they'd traveled or how many days they had been within the hedges.

"About two minutes," Shade said.

"Oh."

"Focus," Roese said.

The Hunt Begins

Distant howls started as soon as the words appeared.

Color drained from Roese's face. "I don't know if we'll make it."

Owin looked at Shade, who immediately waved her over. "Stick with me in the lead. Owin will protect us from behind if they catch up. It'll work out."

She made a face as Shade offered his white-gloved hand. "But you're just a skeleton."

"I am quite the accomplished hero myself, actually. You wouldn't believe it from looking at us, but I was instrumental in defeating Chaudius in the Ocean Dungeon."

"He actually was," Owin said as he followed from a few feet behind.

Shade gasped. "Actually? Like it was a surprise?"

It had been at the time. With a hint from Vondaire, Shade was able to actually figure out some of his Withered abilities. Before that, he had only really been bait.

Shade turned a corner and took an ocular laser to the forehead. He stumbled, but regained his footing and grabbed the little eye. Owin expected the skeleton to slam it into the ground and maybe even stomp on it, much like Owin had done to most of the other ocular mobs they had come across. Instead, Shade tried to fit the eye monster into his empty eye socket even as it wobbled and launched lasers.

Red beams cut through the hedges, burning away leaves and branches until the shimmering boundary wall was visible. It was ridiculous to watch, and Owin would've yelled at Shade if the skeleton had stopped. But he had continued leading unimpeded.

"How did I end up here?" Roese said to herself.

Owin wondered the same. Being on a floor already when a Shard Hero arrived had to be a terrifying moment. Seeing a mob get twice as strong, or stronger, in the middle of a fight would be like looking into the dark, rolling waves of the ocean.

The ocular mob finally fit inside the eye socket. It entered with an audible pop, leaving behind a thin coat of blood. When he opened his mouth to talk, the now-dead mob fell from his jaw, splatting on the grass at their feet.

"Ew," Owin said. He picked it up, grabbed the ocular heart, and tossed the corpse back down.

"I don't understand you two." Roese looked over her shoulder, over Owin's head.

"What is there to understand? I'm the brains and the brawn, and he's the—"

Before Shade could continue, the rhythmic pounding of quick footsteps reached them. Owin had no knowledge that told him how far away they were or how soon they'd reach him, but based on Roese's sudden panic and sprint, they likely weren't far behind.

"Run!" Roese shouted. She shoved Shade forward, hurrying them along.

Owin jogged in the back as he kept checking over his shoulder. They were terribly slow. He had a feeling Shade could run faster than he was going, but maybe he didn't want to ditch Roese. Or he was just being dramatic. It was always difficult to tell.

A growl drew Owin's attention back.

His eyes widened.

There was nothing just a moment ago, and now there were two beasts running side by side. They stretched beyond what looked natural in what looked like a wolf body that had been skinned and discarded. Muscles stretched and tensed, blood ran over the white bones. Nothing about the beast looked alive, except the single massive eye on each that locked onto Owin. It looked like someone had shoved an ocular into a wolf skull and somehow the creatures merged.

Fortress Mob

Ocular Hound

Level 40

A hound barked and shot a beam from its mouth. Luckily, Owin was short. It passed right over his head and burned through a portion of the hedge.

"They're here," Owin said. "I'll fight."

"No, they're dangerous," Roese said without turning around.

Another bark and another beam passed right as Owin turned a corner. They couldn't keep running. The hounds were easily catching them.

He stopped, pivoted and swung a limp Isotelus. The flat side of the blade slapped against a hound's face as it rounded the corner. Even with his increased strength, all he managed to do was make the hound look more fearsome as blood dripped from every orifice in its face.

It dug its feet into the grass to stay upright as it tanked Owin's hit. Fiery energy gathered in its eye, and within a blink, that energy coursed through the hound's entire body.

The other hound leapt and snapped its drooling jaws, but crab legs jutted out and stabbed through the hound's skull.

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That was far from enough to kill it, but the armor managed to push the hound away, giving Owin the slightest opening to turn and bolt.

Roese and Shade had already turned the next corner. And maybe that was all he needed to do. He could stall and maybe kill a hound, but as long as Roese was out safe, he was doing his job just fine.

It was like being back in the Ocean with Ernie and Kat. Protection first, then he could worry about his own safety.

He skidded over the grass, kicked up some dirt, as he turned the corner. One of the hounds crashed into the hedge as it lunged for Owin, missing by inches. The other was busy shooting beams which were close, but inaccurate. Bouncing while running apparently made it more difficult to aim, which made more sense when he thought about how most ocular mobs floated or were stuck to the wall or ceiling.

If he had any charges left of Isotelus, he could easily use Shuriken to rip a hound apart or Ice Blade to cut one in half. Instead, all he had was a floppy mess of a weapon. His other best option would be to use the Incandescent Blade, but he had no way to grab it. Without Shade, the sword was stuck in its sheath.

Crab legs shifted along his back, and just a moment later, a crab claw drew the Incandescent Blade and held it out like it was offering the weapon.

"What?" He skidded over the grass and sprinted. Roese and Shade were running just ahead, meaning he was catching them too quickly. He would need to hold off the hounds again . . . He looked at the crab claw holding his sword.

Maybe he wouldn't need to just hold them off.

An empty claw appeared on his left side. While running, Owin passed Isotelus to the empty claw and grabbed the Incandescent Blade from the right side. Was the armor connected to his thoughts or was it all just convenient?

Shade looked back as he reached the next turn. "I see a door!"

Good. If Owin held the hounds off for just a moment, or killed them outright, Roese would be able to escape.

Fire climbed the Incandescent Blade. With the apparition damage on his mana bar, he wouldn't be able to keep it burning for long, but a bit would be enough.

Lasers hit the ground and hedges all around. A few hit the chitin armor, melting bits and reflecting off others. As soon as the hounds reached him, Owin stepped forward and slashed diagonally. He chopped directly through the left hound's eye, and took the right's jaw off. Both mobs crashed as they flailed. Owin hit the ground, rolled over backward, and with the help of the crab legs, bounced right back to his feet.

Both hounds climbed back to their feet. Blood ran from the split eye, but red fire still gathered inside the beast's head. The hound without a jaw wildly shot lasers, mostly at the grass right in front of its feet.

Were they undead or just incredibly difficult to kill?

"Oh, that's a sexy snake!"

Owin turned and winced as a laser hit the sinew between chitin plates. "Bashe?"

Gray dust exploded from around the corner. Roese stumbled back, covered in some of Shade's remains.

"No, no," she cried.

Owin was already at the corner, swinging the burning sword as Bashe stepped around the corner with a green hand extended. Green energy swirled around her nails in some attack aimed at Roese.

The Incandescent Blade burned like the sun as it chopped through the snakeskin. Owin planted his front foot and twisted his hips as he swung at Bashe's stomach. Her other hand smacked into, and cracked, his helmet. Owin tumbled back the way he had come from until he smashed into the charging forms of the ocular hounds.

"A waste of effort, goblin." Bashe stuck her right arm up. Green light flashed as juices spurted from the end of the stump. By the time Owin was on his feet, her arm had grown back.

A waste of effort would mean he didn't accomplish his goal. She misunderstood.

Crab legs speared the ocular hounds, forcing their heads to face the hedges while they continued their frantic laser fire.

Bashe seemed to compose herself before raising her hand once again.

Owin pushed off with enough force to leave a small crater. The sudden speed at which he moved was enough to tear the ocular hounds' heads from their bodies. Before Bashe could unleash her attack, Owin crashed into the Omen. His swing was ill-timed and barely half completed when his shoulder smashed into her arm.

They both fell into the hedge, leaving just enough room for Roese to scramble to her feet and run toward the door.

Bashe grabbed Owin's face with a hand that had suddenly grown. In fact, all of Bashe was bigger. She rivaled Chorsay in size as she dragged him from the hedge. Crab legs reached over his shoulder and pierced the back of her hand, over and over. The claw swung Isotelus around like a whip that easily tore through the snake's skin.

The Incandescent Blade had already stopped burning. His mana was gone. But that didn't mean anything. He dropped the sword, grabbed the lich bone from his belt, and drove it upward, directly into Bashe's forearm.

A scream of pain from Bashe was like an attack itself. Owin flinched as he fell to the ground. His armor grabbed the sword as he steadied himself.

"Owin! There are vampires!" Roese sounded panicked.

She was a hero without shards facing an Omen and mobs made twice as strong. All because of him.

Roese wouldn't die. He couldn't let it happen.

Bashe had stopped growing and was instead turning back into a snake. The blood dripping from her arm had stopped now that her arm was gone. He had questions about how the shapeshifting worked, but he wouldn't ask. He didn't have time.

Instead of trying to kill Bashe during her transformation or waiting for her to finish, Owin sprinted past with every ounce of speed he could muster. He flew right past Roese and ripped the lich bone through a mob's head, splitting it in two. He landed roughly, but his crab legs speared the next mob and pinned it to the wall before it could attack.

"Run to the exit!" he shouted.

Roese chopped the closest vampire's head off. Apparently, cutting one's head in half wasn't enough to kill them. He needed to keep that in mind. She didn't wait and ran right past Owin to the door. She opened it, swore, and stepped back as a vampire flew out. It landed roughly after missing its attack and pivoted to lunge again.

Owin crashed into the mob, throwing it against the boundary wall with such force that bones cracked.

Bashe slithered around the corner as a massive snake once again. She moved faster than before as dark green energy glowed like an aura around her.

Owin grabbed the shattered vampire mob and threw it at the snake. He didn't wait to see what happened. Instead, he grabbed Roese and dragged her into the building. A few more elf vampires were inside, currently occupied with washing dishes.

The mobs only started to notice their presence as Owin dragged Roese past. Bashe pressed against the outer wall of whatever building they were inside of, causing the stones to crack and windows to shatter. Before long, the entire structure would collapse.

Owin kicked open a door and stopped. The exit void nexus was placed against the left wall, while the stairs to the next floor were made of wood and spiraled up.

Bashe burst into the room behind, killing the vampires as her massive snake form lurched toward Owin.

"Go!" he shoved Roese toward the door. He expected her to say something or to look back. Instead, she sprinted right through the exit.

"I will find you again, goblin," Bashe said in his head.

Owin gave her one glance as he hurried up the stairs. She waited in the destroyed room as a massive snake. Yellow eyes watched, then she turned and slithered toward the boundary wall and passed right through it.

An Omen has left the floor.

He took a deep breath and leaned on the railing.

Even if he didn't get tired like humans did, he was exhausted after that mess.

Crab legs shifted and resheathed the Incandescent Blade. A claw reached around and tried to force Isotelus back into his hand. He tried to push it away until it was obvious the armor would be insistent.

Owin scowled. Where was Shade when he needed to complain?

A few of the vampires were still squirming, somehow alive after being crushed. They started to climb back to their feet, despite broken bones.

There was no benefit to fighting them. He watched for another moment before ascending the stairs and passing into the void.

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