They checked three more rooms in quick succession but found no more corpses. All of them were filled with different sorts of bug monsters. The first room was filled with more rust bugs, but there were two among them that looked bigger, with wings on their backs.

  Shawn almost looked regretful as they moved on without entering. Rayne guessed that the man had fought these bugs before and was confident he could clear the room and get the rewards it would give.

  By now, everyone had realized they were in an abnormally big dungeon, and that normally meant better rewards.

  But they had a quest, and they kept to it.

  The next room was filled with large caterpillars, and the whole ground was covered in silk. Other than the monsters, it was empty, and as they moved on, Nate complained about not getting to harvest the silk, as merchants would pay a bucket of gold coins for it.

  Rayne appeased him by explaining that they could give it a go if they managed to find the squad. That cheered the man quite a bit.

  The third room had a pair of mantis-looking monsters and was quite a bit bigger than the rest of the rooms they had checked. Shawn looked inside for a minute or two before deciding to move on.

  It was only when they reached the last room that they had any success.

  By then, they had already traveled through the tunnel for two hours and checked several rooms. Rayne didn’t expect anything to come out of this room either, but as Jason opened the door, all of them froze, boots scraping softly on the floor.

  The thing inside was hideous.

  It was a monstrous insect that looked as big as a troll. Its exoskeleton was black and ridged with jagged plates. Its arms were long and thin, ending in serrated claws that gleamed under the dim glow of the glowstones. Its head was bulbous, insectoid, with mandibles that clicked and shifted as the monster yawned in its sleep.

  It had six eyes covering its face and a circular mouth. It seemed to be bipedal as it rested against a lone tree at the center of the room. Grass spread out from around it, and Rayne saw silk laying on top of it.

  “What in the nine hells is this?” Heins muttered, getting a glare from Shawn.

  “A brood reaver,” he whispered back to everyone. “I’ve read about them.”

  Shawn didn’t explain further as they kept staring into the room. A sudden jab from Kesh made Rayne glance at him, and he saw him pointing at the far wall of the room. He followed his gaze and almost gasped.

  Cocoons lay on the ground there.

  He’d almost mistaken them for lumps of silk, but the more he looked, the clearer they became—large, oval cocoons sitting on the grass. Each cocoon was roughly human-sized. The outlines of arms, legs, and torsos could be seen through the thin membrane of silk.

  He counted four of them, and as he looked, one of them seemed to shift a bit.

  Jason noticed it too. “Do you think they are…?”

  “Soldiers,” Rayne replied, loud enough for everyone to focus on the cocoons.

  They all gaped in shock as the same cocoons shifted again.

  “At least one of them is alive,” Graveson muttered, then looked at Shawn. “Do you have any more information about the reaver, sir?”

  Shawn nodded, turning toward them. “Brood reavers are solitary and love human flesh. I don’t know their fighting style, but I’m guessing that one mostly relies on its claws. Reavers also like to cocoon their prey and eat them slowly over weeks.”

  “So, there’s a chance the soldiers in there are alive and we can save them,” Rayne said.

  “Not so easy.” Shawn looked at him with a glare. “An adult brood reaver is a level 40 monster on average. Just getting through its shell would be hard.” He looked back into the room. “We need to aim for its eyes.”

  “Archers can do that. Can we fire from outside the room?” Kesh asked, hope in his voice.

  Graveson shook his head. “No. If it were so easy, dungeons wouldn’t need a whole squad to conquer. You need to enter the room to harm the monster.”

  Kesh sighed, and for the next fifteen minutes, they discussed strategies against the reaver, which mostly came down to trying to distract its attention while Graveson and Quinn aimed for its eyes from the back.

  There was enough space in the room to run around, but Rayne was sure that one slash from the reaver’s claws would be enough to spill his intestines even with his trollskin armor. He definitely didn’t want to be the one taking its attention.

  But he had no luck, nor any standing, with Shawn around.

  “Rayne, Jason, and Nate will distract it and keep its attention,” Shawn said, making him frown. But the man didn’t seem to care as he continued. “Me and the others will protect the archers while Heins and Kesh will move to drag the cocoons out of harm’s way. Understood?”

  Shawn’s squad members nodded with smiles, while he could only grit his teeth, looking at Jason and Nate, the latter having gone pale.

  “Do you think our shields will be effective?” Nate asked.

  “No. Make sure to dodge the attacks. It would have been good if we had spears.”

  “I understand why Hobbs is so adamant on learning multiple weapons now. Let’s hope one of those cocoons is him and it’s all worth it.”

  Rayne nodded, thinking the same thing.

  They soon got into formation as Quinn and Graveson fitted their arrows on the strings. Rayne had wanted to lead when they entered the dungeon, but not against something like that.

  “Do you think we can do a sneak attack?” Jason asked, holding his axe in both hands.

  “We can try flanking it once the arrows do their job,” Rayne replied.

  “Let’s do that.”

  With that, they entered the room, and at once, Rayne felt nauseous. A heavy, rotting scent wafted out of the reaver, and he realized the dungeon was trapping all the smell inside the room.

  Nate almost gagged next to him but managed to stay quiet as they moved slowly toward the tree and the sleeping giant insect.

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  This close, the brood reaver looked far bigger, its claws longer. The monster’s breathing came in long, rasping hisses, its head twitching occasionally like it was dreaming.

  Rayne got as close to it as possible without it noticing, then glanced back at Shawn. The arrows were already aimed at its face, and Shawn nodded toward him before dropping his hand in a signal.

  Two arrows loosed the next second.

  They hissed through the air in clean, perfect arcs and struck the monster’s face. Rayne hissed as both missed their mark when the reaver shifted a second before.

  One hit just below the eye, the other grazing across it. Green ichor burst from the wound as the brood reaver shrieked awake, its voice like steel scraping against the walls. It opened its six eyes and took a long look at his party before standing up.

  “Damn it!” Shawn roared. “Move!”

  The monster rose in a blur of motion, its claws gouging the floor. Jason and Rayne sprinted forward from opposite sides, flanking its legs as the archers loosed more arrows.

  Jason swung first, his axe biting deep into the creature’s thigh. The reaver screamed and twisted, its other leg lashing out. The blow sent Jason crashing into a wall hard enough to knock the breath from him.

  Rayne ducked under a claw and slashed upward, aiming to carve across its underbelly, but his sword only bounced back, leaving a single scratch on its shell.

  He backed off quickly before another claw came at him.

  Behind them, more arrows hit the monster, but most bounced off its armor or missed completely as it moved faster than expected. One managed to hit a gap near its neck, and more ichor dropped on the grass.

  The reaver screamed, spit flying around as it charged right at Nate, who put his shield forward in shock. Its claws shattered it in one strike as it raised another claw to finish him.

  Rayne moved then.

  He sprinted around the brood reaver and pierced the same spot Jason had. He dug his sword into it, enough for the massive bug to focus on him.

  Its mandibles clicked together in rage and frustration, and it slashed with its claws. Rayne didn’t make the same mistake as Nate, stepping back to dodge the attack.

  More arrows hit its side, distracting it for a second, and he rushed, taking the chance.

  His blade attacked its legs. The area around it had no shell, and he kept stabbing into it, keeping an eye on the monster’s massive claws.

  As it swung them again, Rayne jumped back. But then its mouth quivered, and a stream of silk shot out, grabbing at Rayne’s legs.

  He slipped, falling hard on the ground, and immediately raised his shield as the claws came for his head.

  The wooden shield shattered in one blow as splinters flew everywhere, hitting the reaver and bouncing off its chitin. It shrieked right in front of Rayne’s face, saliva flying out as it raised its second claw.

  Rayne swung his sword, aiming to block it, even if he knew it might not work.

  Nate hit it from behind, cutting around its legs, and the brood reaver lost its balance. Rayne took the opportunity and slashed around the webbing, freeing himself as the monster turned to face Nate, who ran around the room, trying to escape its assault.

  Arrows rained down on it every second, and more green fluid came out, but the reaver charged as if it didn’t feel pain.

  Rayne looked at its thigh, where the wound still leaked blood, and moved to press an advantage, but before he could, the reaver’s gaze snapped sideways—toward the edge of the room.

  Kesh and Heins were hauling a cocoon toward the entrance of the chamber, silk cords stretching and snapping as they dragged it.

  The brood reaver’s mandibles quivered as it saw. And then, to Rayne’s horror, it vomited a torrent of silk.

  White strands shot from its mouth like a net, thick and glistening, whipping through the air with a hiss. The webbing struck the ground where Kesh had been an instant before, splattering across the stone and hardening on contact. He barely rolled aside, one boot catching the edge of it and sticking fast.

  “Gods damn it!” Kesh shouted, yanking his leg free as the silk hardened.

  “Move! Get the cocoons out of range!” Shawn shouted.

  The reaver released another burst of silk, this one catching Heins’ arm mid-drag. He yelled, stumbling as the strands pulled tight, binding his forearm to the cocoon itself. The creature heaved, dragging both Heins and the cocoon several feet closer to its sharp claws as the man screamed.

  Rayne sprinted without thinking. He slashed at the silk, the sword cutting through the sticky cords with a wet rip. The freed strands clung to his bracer, and he shook the stuff off.

  The brood reaver looked at Rayne, its six eyes squinting in what he assumed was rage, and charged.

  Jason came in then, axe flashing. He swung hard into the creature’s flank, splitting open one of its leg joints. The blow sprayed green ichor that dirtied his armor.

  The monster reared back, screeching, and fired another stream of silk in retaliation. This one hit Jason full in the chest, wrapping across his armor and pinning his arm to his side. He cursed, stumbling backward.

  Nate darted in, using a lump of silk as a platform, and buried his sword deep in the exposed joint under the creature’s neck.

  The reaver shrieked again and turned toward him, its mandibles dripping, silk threads still hanging from its mouth like tendrils.

  Rayne moved before it could attack with its claws.

  He dove low, slashing at one of its knees. His sword bit through the thinner armor there, ichor gushing out in a thick spray. The creature staggered, its head jerking down, mandibles snapping blindly at him.

  Jason, half-pinned by silk, roared and ripped his arm free, tearing part of his armor in the process. He charged again, axe raised high, and brought it down across one of the wounds on its legs.

  The limb snapped with a sickening crack.

  The reaver howled and desperately released another burst of silk in every direction. The sticky strands splattered across the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. One line hit Kesh across the shoulder, gluing him to the cocoon he’d been dragging.

  Rayne glanced at it for a second and saw John rushing to help him, then charged at the reaver.

  The monster saw him and lunged.

  He met the charge head-on. The monster’s claw came down like a falling tree. He ducked, rolled beneath it, and jammed his sword upward through the exposed abdomen.

  The blade sank in deep.

  The creature screamed, its limbs flailing wildly. Jason came from the side, bellowing, his axe descending in a brutal overhead arc. The blow shattered the monster’s remaining leg, sending it crashing to the ground.

  “Archers, now!” Shawn roared.

  Two arrows flew—one striking through the open mouth, the other piercing through its eye. More came, and all of its eyes were skewered in a matter of seconds, wooden shafts jutting out of them.

  The reaver convulsed violently, its body thrashing against the stone, mandibles clattering as it released one last weak spray of silk that draped uselessly across the floor.

  Rayne wrenched his sword free and plunged it into a soft area of its neck. The body twitched once, then went still.

  At once, notifications flared in his mind. He had leveled up and stolen stats, but he couldn’t focus on them. Exhaustion crept everywhere inside him, and he almost fell to the ground before Nate supported him.

  “You did well,” he said.

  Rayne nodded and sent a glare toward Shawn, who stood with his soldiers around the archers. He had plenty of opportunities to enter the fight and end it. There were enough men, but he had left everything to him and his party.

  Even now, Shawn refused to meet his gaze and simply stepped toward the reaver. He kicked it lightly before speaking. “There should be a silk sac inside that will be very valuable. You all did a good job killing it.”

  Rayne frowned at the compliment. “You could have done a good job too.”

  Shawn turned to him, eyes squinting. “You say something, bastard?”

  He opened his mouth to tell the man he’d heard him clearly enough unless he was deaf, but before he could, Kesh’s voice drew his attention.

  “Everyone, come here!”

  He turned and stepped toward the side of the room where Kesh, Heins, and John crouched around a cocoon.

  John had a small dagger in his hand as he ripped the silk away. Everyone gathered around him as slowly, a body was revealed beneath the threads, and Rayne froze as he realized who it was.

  Bran.

  ***