“Halt!,” said Bon.

The party halted. They were in a hallway, eight levels down from the surface. The light from Kadn’s staff was the only light that illuminated their surroundings. Shadows of each party member shimmered on the walls.

Bon continued, “that may be a trap ahead. Let me check.”

Ti replied, “Gladly! That’s why we wanted you here.”

Bon rolled a metal ball down the hallway. When it reached 30 feet down, a set of spikes exploded from the floor, skewering the metal ball.

Ti smiled, saying, “and that’s why we wanted a specialist.”

Bon responded, “thanks. I might not detect all the traps.”

Ti shrugged. “Do your best. We’ll deal with whatever you miss. If everyone does their best, I’m confident we’ll survive.”

Bon found Ti’s combination of optimism, confidence, and skill reassuring.

The party continued. The hallway ended at a dark cavern with a precipice. They could see the hallway continue 30 feet across. A bridge clearly had been here. Now there was no bridge to cross the cavern. A mild fog made it difficult to see more of the cavern. Whatever the depth of the cavern was, it was beyond their light’s ability to reach it. Their light was also unable to reach the top of the cavern.

Bon said, “wormhole?”

Kadn replied, “yes, of course! I’m glad your eyes are able to see sunlight here in this completely dark cavern. I would have otherwise missed it.”

Bon smiled, replying, “okay, stupid idea. I should have known better.”

“Quite all right,” replied Kadn with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

Xio extracted a thin rope and placed one end on the ground. Kadn cast a spell to freeze that end firmly to the ground. Xio pulled out his bow. Xio deftly attached the rope to an arrow and shot the arrow to the other side. The arrow and its rope landed on the ground on the other side. Kadn cast a spell that froze the rope on the far side to the ground as well. Xio dropped one end of another rope on the ground, three feet away from the first rope. Kadn froze it to the ground as well. Xio then walked across the chasm on the newly-formed tightrope, stringing out the second rope as he went. He dropped the second rope onto the floor. Kadn froze the end of the second rope to the floor as well, forming parallel ropes. Kadn filled in the space between the ropes with ice.

The result was a perilous-looking bridge made of ropes and ice. Ti reached into his backpack and spread sand on the ice on his side. Ti began walking on the bridge, spreading sand in front of him as he went. Soon he arrived on the other side. The rest of party followed, crossing the chasm on this temporary ice bridge.

Bon asked, “have you done this before?”

Ti smiled. “Perhaps.”

They took another stairway down. They came to a large set of double doors with special runes surrounding them.

Ti looked at the runes. He said, “I don’t know what they mean. Do you?”

Bon replied, “I can’t read them, but I know they mean to us. On the other side will be undead creatures, almost certainly skeletons. Lots of them. If I was by myself I’d turn around and run. Let me get closer to the door so I can see how many are near the door.”

Bon stood by the door. His ring revealed 8 creatures near the other side of the double doors. They weren’t moving. That observation was consistent with them being undead. Bon announced, “there are at least 8 creatures near the door. Probably undead. There are probably many more. I suggest turning back.”

Ti looked at Kadn and asked, “Do you know anything about this?”

Kadn replied, “no. I can’t read these runes either. If it’s merely undead skeletons, though, I think Bon will discover he has nothing to fear. No matter their number.”

Ti nodded. Every man readied his weapon. Bon stood behind Kadn. Aareesha cowered behind Bon. Kadn opened one of the doors from a distance with his magic.

Eight undead skeletons emerged through the double doors, four abreast with another four behind. Bon could see at least two hundred more undead skeletons further behind them in a long room stretching far back. Bon could hear Kadn beginning some kind of chant.

Zent the tank was in front. He raised his sword and dropped a skeleton. Ti, on Zent’s right, dispatched four more skeletons with a speedy and strong sword attack. Xio, on Zent’s left, dispatched three more. All eight frontline skeletons had been dispatched in moments. The eight skeletons, including their weapons and armor, transformed into dust. Zent and Ti ran to the right, Xio to the left. The other skeletons, at least two hundred strong, surged forward towards the fighters in front. Many rays of white light emerged from Kadn, each connecting Kadn to a still-animate skeleton. The rays of white light seemed to cause no harm to the skeletons. The skeletons kept moving towards the party. The rays’ brightness from Kadn to the skeletons steadily increased.

In five seconds the first skeleton of the second wave reached Zent. The skeleton tried to cut Zent with its sword. Zent didn’t even try to parry it. Bon watched the sword slash bounce off Zent. Zent smiled and said, “hello to you, too!”

“Show-off,” murmured Ti. Bon could almost hear Ti’s eyes roll. Ti and Xio, on each side, raised their swords to parry the oncoming skeletons.

Kadn released a final flare through the light rays connecting him to each of the remaining skeletons. Every one of the animate skeletons simultaneously collapsed into a heap on the floor. Each skeleton, with its weapon and armor, turned into dust.

Bon was in awe. He now understood why this team was so effective. He knew that magicians’ attacks were powerful but had delays. Bon had never seen an experienced party like this in action. A powerful magician, paired with powerful fighters, was clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Ti turned to Bon and said, “your turn. Are there traps here?”

Bon stepped forward and froze. He saw a subtle depression in the floor ahead, twenty feet by twenty feet. He’d seen this before. He tossed a metal ball to hit its center.

A cube of granite twenty feet on each side crashed down from the ceiling onto the depression. Bon knew his metal ball was now a metal pancake. Whoever had created the protections here had been deadly serious.

Ti said, “remember, find ways to make pieces work together with their different strengths and weaknesses. It’s how you succeed.”

Bon nodded. He was thankful that he was earning his keep. He was also glad the cube of granite did not completely block their path. There was not a lot of room to go around it, but there was some room.

Ti turned to Kadn. “Need time, sir?”

“Yes. About an hour.”

“I understand,” said Ti. “Zent, let’s have you and me protect the front. Xio, protect our rear. Bon, you and Aareesha stay with Kadn in the middle while he rests. Bon, so you understand, spells like that take a lot of mana. It’s safest if Kadn recovers a little before we continue.”

Kadn sat on the floor in the middle and crossed his legs. Bon sat down next to Kadn. Aareesha sat on the floor next to a wall, resting her back against the wall.

Kadn turned to Bon and said, “that spell only works against the undead. Works well, though, doesn’t it?”

“That was amazing.”

“Thanks.”

“Why aren’t you the leader?”

“It’s not like I work for Ti. He’s simply fulfilling a role he’s good at. Ti’s good at tactics and good with people. I have to completely concentrate on my spells while I cast them. He ensures that I have time to cast them and that everyone else is correctly positioned. His little speech about working together isn’t an act. He really believes that when we work together, using our strengths in a coordinated fashion, we can accomplish more than what we could separately. I believe the same.”

Kadn closed his eyes to rest. Bon looked at his surroundings. Disappointingly, Bon saw no evidence of anything to loot in the room. Bon stood and briefly investigated a few areas, but there was no loot here. Bon wanted to fuck Aareesha, but he felt too self-conscious to fuck her here with the rest of the men watching them. Bon preferred to fuck her in private, instead of providing a show of his body to other men. Bon decided that he could temporarily muster a little self-control.

Bon sat down on the stone floor with his back against a wall. Aareesha was across from him, sitting on the stone floor with her back against the opposite wall. She was seated with her legs parallel and knees bent. Her hands were in her lap. She was doing her best to demurely keep her pussy covered with the scrap of fabric that was her skirt. She kept her eyes looking at the floor near her knees.

Bon kept looking at her. All her breasts below her nipples were fully exposed by her short crop top. More of her breasts were exposed by her top’s deep scoop. Her smooth legs were wonders to look at. Her beautiful face and plump lips matched her long silky hair. So much of her perfect light skin was exposed.

Bon watched as she slowly breathed in and out. Her perfect breasts swelled and receded as she breathed. They swelled as she breathed in. They receded as she breathed out. Swelled. Receded. Swelled. Receded. His eyes kept wandering down to where her pussy was almost exposed. Her treasures were so close to his view. His cock lengthened and hardened as if it had become stone. She kept glancing at Bon and then looking away. She kept hoping he would not give her a command. They both knew she had to obey any command he gave.

“Oh fuck it!,” exclaimed Bon. Bon pulled out one of the tents and pressed a button. The tent popped out complete on the stone floor.

Bon looked at Aareesha and said, “get in there, bitch, now!”

She said, “yes, sir, master.” She rose, briefly exposing her crotch. She entered the tent.

Bon followed and closed the tent door, telling her, “on your back! Spread ’em! Remove the dildo!” She complied, lying on the tent bottom that lay directly on the stone floor. She hurriedly spread her legs and removed the dildo with a wince. Bon decided he wouldn’t wait to get a mattress. He wouldn’t even wait to remove her clothes. Bon pulled out his cock. In one smooth motion he penetrated her pussy with his cock and ejaculated into her. He loudly yelled, “AAHH!,” as he did.

Bon looked into her face. He said, “bitch, heal me up, you’re getting fucked again and again.”

“Yes, sir, master.”

For nearly an hour Bon rutted in Aareesha. After repeatedly relieving himself in her cunt, Bon regained a little self-control. He left the tent, pulling out a disheveled Aareesha who was carrying her dildo. With the push of a button the tent returned to its folded state. Bon returned to his space, somewhat relieved compared to before.

Aareesha returned to stand at her spot across from Bon. She looked at the floor to avoid the gaze of anyone. She placed the dildo back into her, wincing as she did. She sat, her eyes lowered, her body language announcing her shame. She sat with her legs in parallel and her hands on her lap. She somehow seemed smaller than before.

As promised, Kadn opened his eyes an hour after he had closed them. He stood. Xio walked back towards him. Bon and Aareesha rose. The party wordlessly began making its way to whatever dangers awaited them.

The party followed winding hallways for a lengthy distance. Whoever had designed the area must have assumed that unwelcome visitors would be eliminated earlier. Bon was glad they had traveled a ways from the room with the skeletons. The crash of the cube of granite had not been silent. Anyone nearby would have been alerted something was up.

They arrived at a door. Bon could hear a cavern waterfall beyond it. Bon’s ring indicated no creature was on the immediate other side of the door.

“Quiet,” said Ti. “Turn off the light. Try to use your communication devices from here on. Kadn, if you would please, sir.”

Kadn extinguished his light and quietly opened the door with his magic. The party members slipped through the door as silently as they could.

They were now on the edge of a large cavern. Lights, presumably magical, were placed all along the ceiling. A waterfall flowed in a corner. Shrubbery grew all around the uneven floor. The party members hid behind various shrubbery and tried to see what else was there.

In the distance were a dozen male elves. All were wearing armor and had swords. They appeared to be bored, alternating between stretching exercises and looking around the cavern for trespassers.

Ti touched his necklace and said, “shit. We don’t have a chance in this fight. Too many. It’s time for plan B. Bon, send Aareesha forward. She needs to pretend that she escaped from Bon and find out what the elves are planning.”

Aareesha squirmed. She could hear all this thanks to the dildo in her cunt. Would she really be required to go to the elves and betray her species?

Bon didn’t like the idea of sending Aareesha, but he had no better one. They had removed her collar so she could be bait. The elder had promised Bon that if he lost his slave during this adventure, Bon would get a replacement female elf slave. Bon didn’t want to lose her, but when an elder makes demands, it is best to avoid saying “no.”

Bon touched his necklace and said, “Aareesha, do it. Drop your backpack. Go to them and pretend you’re an escaped slave. Find out what they’re planning and relay that information to us. Don’t reveal more than you need to reveal to get information. Protect us. Protect yourself. Do your best to please me.”

Aareesha was horrified. « No, no, no, » she thought. Serving a human as a slave was horrible enough. Betraying her species, in service to a human, was even worse. At least she was only being asked to gain information. She had often shared hurtful pieces of information with others in the past. Gossip among elven females was a common way for one female to make gains over another. She worked to convince herself that this was simply yet another effort to dig for dirt on someone. She touched her dildo and whispered, “yes, sir, master.” She felt her body drop her backpack. She stood and walked towards the male elves.

Aareesha walked towards the male elves, in full view of them.

“By the gods,” said one of the male elves. Every male elf stared at her as she walked towards them. Once she’d crossed most of the distance, one of the male elves walked towards her as well.

He demanded, “who are you?”

“I am Princess Aareesha of Merifuge.” She briefly curtsied. She wasn’t sure what his rank was. He appeared to be a relatively low-ranking guard. A curtsy was overdoing it for a low-ranking guard, but she figured it’d be better safe than sorry.

He pulled some dust out of a bag and threw it on her. Nothing happened. He announced, “You’re not an illusion.”

“I’m real.”

“You’re not an illusion. I’ll take you back to headquarters. Follow me.”

Aareesha followed the male elf. A massive flat ellipse appeared behind the male elves. The ellipse had the width of a large road. He escorted her through the ellipse. The ellipse disappeared.

Bon was horrified. This was not part of the plan. He turned to Ti. “What now?”

“We retreat and try to talk with your slave where our voices won’t be overheard. A transmitter’s range is a thousand miles, unless it’s being jammed or magically suppressed or something like that. Hopefully she’s within range. We’ll wait for her to contact us first. We won’t have any idea what she’s experiencing and we don’t want to distract her. We can’t give her any useful advice until we know something about her situation.”

Bon told Ti, “if this doesn’t work out, remember, your sponsor owes me a slave.” Bon feared he might need to collect on this promise.