And to think they hoped to slay abominations and bring back gold and trinkets from their expedition.

It was only as the roof fell down that they finally realised they were nothing, except rats in a maze.

They battled through six rooms, defeating skeletal adversaries, and sometimes, cultists worshipping some ancient gods. They were about to settle down for camp, exhausted, when the entire place was shaken. The roof started to crack, giving them barely enough time to run toward the doors before the whole place was filled with rubble.

Courcy had ran toward the door continuing forward into the dungeon, followed immediatly after by Maria.

Meanwhile, Silas and Tilly were on the other end, having a chance of abandonning their companions to a certain death and saving their lives.

Courcy and Maria didn't have time to regain their composure; a Bone Soldier, a Cultist Brawler, a Bone Courtier and a Bone Arbalest showed up, surprising the two women who had now way to escape now. Enraged by their hopeless situation, Courcy picked her glaive from the cold, stone floor, and, with a powerful roar, rushed toward the oldier, before hacking it apart violently with a swing of her long, powerful weapon.
The response from the ennemy was immediate; the Brawler advanced, and sinked his long, sharp blades into the Hellion's chest, almost immediatly after the Arbalest fired at her and hit her right in the leg.

Flinching due to the might of the counter-attack of the undead and its ally, Courcy was not able to dodge the black, liquid goo thrown from the Courtier's goblet.
The liquid was greatly unsettling; it dripped down her shoulder, disgusting, making her sick to her stomach.
Maria responded by invoking a Dazzling Light, stunning the Arbalest as Courcy hacked apart the Courtier.

It was the last time the Hellion acted; the violence of the Brawler and the Arbalest focusing their firepower on her once again pushed her back. She tried to fight against the creeping darkness filling her vision, but she finally dropped on the floor, unconscious for an unknown period, blood leaving her wounds and painting the floor with its color. Immediatly after she saw the redhead falling, Maria felt herself being filled with rage. Taking a good hold of her mace, she swung it while shouting a prayer to the Flame.

A disgusting noise resonated in the large room as the Cultist Brawler's face was crushed into his mask.
Panting heavily, Maria removed her mace from the fanatic's mask, causing a sickening noise of flesh to be heard.
The adrenaline barely prevented her from realizing how violent and unlike her the action was, and making her overthink it.

A lucky Quarrel hit her in the shoulder, piercing through her armor and her skin. She yelped in pain, backing off and holding the projectile with one of her gloved hand.
She clenched her teeth in pain, the flesh struck by the quarrel feeling like it was boiling.
She had no chance to defeat the Arbalest. She was already gravely wounded, Courcy was out of combat, and the unholy creature was hiding behind the remains of the three other ennemies.

But she would be damned if she let the unholy abomination reach the Hellion; he would have to step on her dead body first.
The Vestal accepted her grim fate and raised her mace toward the ceiling, holding her holy book in the other hand, chanting a melancholic prayer to the Light.
Lightning struck the skeletal ennemy, damaging him drastically and revigorating her slightly.

But not enough to kill it.

The remaining hope the blonde held was snuffed out as looked at her foe. She couldn't cast Judgement so quickly after having used it.
Defeated, she dropped to her knees, staring as the crippled, former human reloaded his weapon slowly.
She closed her eyes, a prayer on her lips, accepting death, when a barbaric roar erupted from behind her.

Moments later, Courcy rushed by her side, striking horizontally with her glaive, her breakthrough reaching the Arbalest and piercing through the creature's armor and bones, sending the horror back to where it belonged.

The Hellion, who had used a rush of adrenaline for her violent and brutal action, helped the Vestal to her feet, before taking her hand and advancing toward the rubble blocking the way.
Maria followed the redhead mindlessly. Courcy had to tug on her arm several time to make her walk; the blonde's gaze was lost in the distance, staring at nothing in particular.
The warrioress didn't blame her. Dealing with the stress was hard for everyone here, and Maria was pretty new to the whole dungeon exploring activity.

For the first time in a long time, Courcy softened up; as they reached the remains of the roof blocking the path, she gently helped Maria to a sitting stance, before sitting next to the Vestal against the rubble.
The blonde's state was worrying; she wasn't as critically wounded as Courcy, but she was mentally broken.
The adrenaline still rushing in her veins, the Hellion reached for the bandages in her companion's backpack and used several rolls on her wounds.
Once the bleeding was staunched, she busied herself on doing the same to Maria. She knew she wasn't doing it right; healing others wasn't something she knew how to do, but she did her best to stabilize the blonde's condition.

It was only as she pressed her back against the blockage that she realized how the Vestal and herself were ultimately doomed; the rubble had blocked the only way out. They would die at the hands of a fanatical cultists, skeletal undead creatures, or of a terrifying ghoul; and even if they managed to survive against all these odds, hunger, thirst and stress would finally claim their due.

It was with such thoughts in mind that she buried her face in her hands, crying in despair. She survived many expeditions, but the mental scar of loosing Baignard the Bounty Hunter, the first and only person she ever loved, was still open, leaving a dangerous opening for despair and madness to grasp her...
Tears flowed from her green eyes down her cheeks, before reaching her hands. Her body was shaking, her confidence was broken. Slowly, the light emitted from their torch started to fade, growing closer and closer to being extinguished.
The Hellion however took her hands off her face as she heard the soothing sound of a prayer.
The soft, delicate and crystalline voice felt out of place in such a despaired situation, as all hope was vanishing. Her vision blurred by her tears, it took her some time to realize that Maria was the one chanting, her voice soothing the Hellion slightly. The Vestal approached more and more, crawling up to the Hellion slowly, dragging herself closer and closer. Courcy wasn't able to react. She simply couldn't; she felt mesmerized; because what was crawling up to her like a divine angel, was hope. Maria's armor was even glistening lightly; a weak, but shining light was emitting from her armor. All that was missing was the wings to convince the redhead that she was in heaven.

The gap was finally closed. Maria's face stopped inches from Courcy as the blonde stared into Courcy's eyes for a minute or so, that felt like eternity. Slowly, a reassuring smile crept on her face, and her eyes seemed warm, welcoming. Courcy had stopped sobbing, motionless and speechless as she couldn't help but look at the Vestal.

She was taken into the moment so much, she only yelped as Maria suddenly closed the gap and smashed her lips upon the Hellion's.
It didn't feel wrong like she would had expected. In fact, she decided that if they both had to die anyway, she could had least enjoy the company of the other woman. The Hellion kissed back, aggresively mapping out the Vestal's mouth with her skilled toungue. Maria blushed deeply; in her mind, the complete opposite was happening. This kiss was the result of a long time of growing love, consuming her like a flame. Contrarily to Courcy, she didn't do it just because she wanted to enjoy herself. It was an act of genuine love. But for now, she didn't know anything of the redhead's intention, and simply kissed her the best she could, hoping that it wasn't just a one-time stand, if they actually survived; wich wasn't going to happen, judging by the odds...

When the stones on top of them crumbled, Silas knew something bad was going to happen. In fact, as rubble fell down, he jumped back, grabbing Tilly by the jacket and forcefully pulling her back mere seconds before the path was blocked.

As the dust finally settled, the blonde woman turned to Silas, apparently frustrated.

"Now what?"

The Highwayman wanted to punch her right in the face. The fact was, he made the vow to speak only when necessary after Tilly rejected him, that one time in the Weald. He was still bitter over it, but what he hated most was how he still saw Eva in her.
Eva was a hooker he fell in love with, a long time ago. They ran from town one night, only for Eva to be killed the day after by a group of bandits.
Silas slaughtered them all, before promising to himself that he would fight in the most terrible condition and endure pain to atone for his sins.
Tilly and Eva were a lot similar. Not on the physical aspect; where Tilly had longue, blond hairs, eyes as green as emeralds, and wore a hat, Eva had short, red hairs, and constantly wore a tricorn. But they had the same nature; they were both independent, lone wolves, and extremely reserved about themselves.

The fact they were brigants didn't mean they had to leave companions behind. Tilly had a shovel, and they could always use their hands, at the cost of their own health, and their sanity. But he would be damned if he let the two other womans behind, to die at the hands of the abominations lurking in the ruins, or because of thirst, hunger, and insanity.

"I am going to dig up a path to Courcy and her friend, even if it costs me my fingers and my mind. Are you with me, Grave Robber?"

It was one of the longest sentence he spoke to her in a long time, causing her to frown. Sometimes, she just wanted to slap him, and scream that they weren't heroes. Sometimes, she was completely lost. An affair with Silas was out of the question. Love was a hollow and ridiculous notion in such a darkest place, but she couldn't deny they always ended up together, because they were alike; two renegades, two outlaws who ran from everything.
She shook her head. Using her shovel was a waste of gold, but at the same time, Silas was right. Saving the two others wasn't acting hero. It was just not being a bitch. Sighing, she took the shovel from her back and started to dig up the pile of rubble.
She pretended not to notice the smile that crept on the Highwayman's face, who took his shovel and helped her in the process of clearing a path.

She couldn't possibly admit it to herself, but seeing the face of the ever-tormented man crack in a smile brought a comforting warmth to her chest.