"Doppelgangers," Shade said.

Owin hadn't been able to fully decide what the enemies were or how to fight them, and before he could make a decision, two minutes had passed.

"Yes," Sara said. "Doppelgangers."

"So, I didn't just get smacked by a cactus?" Shade stood in the doorway, much to Sara's dismay.

The lehboa woman had decided to hide behind Owin. "You did."

Shade squinted his eye sockets and took a half step out. "Not doppelgangers?"

"Doppelgangers," Sara said.

Shade waved Owin over.

"Wait here," Owin said, slowly taking a step away from the lehboa. She nodded and hunched over like she was trying to hide in the middle of the room. "What?" Owin whispered.

Shade crouched. "Am I going insane?"

"I don't think so. You got attacked by a cactus. I saw it."

Shade's index appeared and he gestured helplessly. "It says nothing!"

"What class are you?"

Shade's index shifted. "Oh. Helpful."

"What is it?"

"Soldier." Shade held up a single finger. "Before you tell me that being a soldier isn't helpful right now, I want you to realize I was being sarcastic."

Owin frowned.

"You were going to make a comment, weren't you?"

Owin nodded slowly.

"Weapon me," Shade said, extending his hand.

"The bag doesn't—"

A loud, long burp escaped as the bag pushed Isotelus into Shade's waiting hand. The skeleton flipped the floppy sword and activated Shuriken.

"Do you want to carry this bag because it won't even give me a weapon." Owin held his hand out. As expected, the bag had already closed again and stayed sealed shut.

Shade shrugged and walked casually out onto the rolling hills. "So, are all the cacti doppelgangers or just the one that spanked me?"

Sara crept up and put her hands on Owin's shoulders. He suppressed his flinch since even his armor didn't seem threatened by the lehboa. "Doppel—"

"I know," Owin said.

Shade walked right beside a cactus, pausing to see if it moved. When it didn't, he continued. The moment his eye sockets were away, the cactus swung a spiky arm. Shade leaned to the side, dodging the attack without even seeing it. He pivoted on his right foot and pointed, sending the pieces of Isotelus tearing through the cactus.

As soon as the spinning bone blades erupted from the other side of the cactus, it pulsed and melted. A stark white, very naked creature stumbled to the side, clutching at the bright red streaks pouring down its waist.

"Doppelgangers?" Owin asked.

Sara nodded quickly.

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The creature collapsed face first into the sand at Shade's feet. The skeleton brought the pieces of Isotelus back, then tried to poke the corpse. With the floppiness of the sword, he ended up smacking the doppelganger a few times instead.

"It's dead," Owin said.

Shade pointed at Owin. "See?"

Owin gestured helplessly.

"Being a soldier helped! Instinct Fighting told me an attack was coming, so I dodged it. It was impressive, wasn't it? Do it. Compliment me."

"It was impressive." Owin approached the doppelganger and kicked the corpse. Ripples passed through its flesh before a stream of gas escaped and the creature melted before their eyes. The stench was overwhelming.

Owin retreated back toward the house, while Shade stayed directly beside it.

"Liquification? How fancy." The skeleton crouched and tried to scoop some of the liquified mob, but the sand had already absorbed whatever the doppelganger had become.

Sara stayed inside and peeked around the edge of the doorway. "That's one."

"How many?" Owin asked. There were so many cacti. If they could just attack them all, he could make it work. But searching or worrying was going to make the floor take far longer than it needed to. What was Chorsay going to do?

Sara gestured uncertainty.

Shade walked up to the next cactus and spanked it with Isotelus. "Not even a thank you?" He leaned on the spiky plant. "This one seems fine."

Owin held out his hand. "Come on."

Sara looked at the hand, at Owin's eyes, then over his shoulder at Shade, who was likely doing something idiotic. "We'll die."

"We won't. Look. Shade is already back."

Sara poked Owin in the chest. "Me and you."

Owin smiled. "I'm stronger than Shade."

"I would like to argue," Shade shouted. "I would like to, but I would by lying. And I did promise to try to do that less. I never said I'd stop, just to be clear."

Sara shook her head quickly.

"Bag?" Owin asked, hand at the ready.

It finally opened, passing him the Incandescent Blade.

Sara's brow twitched. "A sword doesn't mean you'll live."

"Follow me. Stick at Shade's side. If I die, you can run back to the house in a straight line. It will be clear since we already passed." Owin took a few steps away from her with his hand still extended.

"I . . ." She took a step out. "Doppelgangers."

Shade sauntered past Owin and held up Isotelus like he was going to defend. The limp sword flopped to the side and smacked Shade's knuckles.

"Your sword is . . ." Sara reached out.

"Impotent? We can't all be made of bones." Shade sighed.

"Isotelus is made of bones," Owin said.

"Not that kind. I, uh." Shade waved Owin away. "I can't explain these kinds of things to you. Get moving."

Owin rolled his eyes and started up the mound. Even if the doppelgangers relied on ambushes, he was sure he would be able to manage all of them. Shade was behind and watching, and Owin was faster than any mob would be. Hopefully.

Without a mob to protect, he would have Shade lead to be bait, but it didn't feel right when someone helpless and scared was following. As soon as Owin was on top of the mound, he spotted the stairs and exit. The entire floor was just covered in cacti and all the small, wiry shrubs.

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How many were doppelgangers?

If he was a real wizard, he'd just send fireballs flying across the floor to destroy as many of the hidden mobs as possible. Althowin had probably just detonated a single bomb to kill the entire floor on her journey through the Desert.

"I have an idea," Shade said. "A real idea," he quickly added.

"Okay." When Owin turned around, Shade was already pointing at the sky. "Jump."

"To the stairs?"

Shade shook his head, then paused. "Well, I mean, you could. She'd survive that way, so not a bad idea. I was thinking more like the spider boss from the Ocean."

"The one where—"

"I hid, yes. We all know the story already."

Sara looked back and forth, obviously confused.

"I hit the spider when I did that. If I just jumped back to the ground, I think I'd just die."

"Splat. Yes. It would be devastating. But, what if it wasn't?" Shade opened his index. "I have a few soldier abilities you could use, but I could also time Withered Shield to form right before you hit. That should absorb all the damage from the impact."

Owin just stared.

"Is that 'should' doing a little too much in that idea?"

"No. It's a good idea," Owin said. "Uh, maybe."

"If you use Resonance, you should be able to redirect some of the damage you cause to make it go even farther like a big blast of energy. If we want to make it more exciting, you could also just use Reflect instead of the shield and try to pass all the damage from you onto a different target." Shade closed his index. "Like it?"

"I think we try the Withered Shield idea first. If that works, then we can try something new next time." Owin bounced on his feet. "Are you ready?"

"Here?" Shade took a step back, shielding Sara.

"I'll jump away first, Shade."

"Oh, goodness. Yes. Ready."

"What's happening?" Sara asked.

"Have you ever seen a meteor?" Shade asked.

Before Sara could answer, Owin leapt away with careful grace. He barely disturbed the ground at the top of the mound. His landing was far less graceful and involved slipping on the sand. Despite his raised dexterity, some surfaces were still more difficult to land on than others.

When Owin was in the Ocean, before his first shard, he was able to leap to the boundary wall ceiling and push off it, launching himself back to the boss with surprising force. Now, with higher strength, higher dexterity, and two shards, he was worried he might destroy the floor. The doppelgangers were also at the level of two shards, which for mobs was three times their normal strength, so maybe it wouldn't be as devastating as Owin was imagining.

He looked back at Shade and Sara. The skeleton waved dramatically, which caused Isotelus to flop back and forth.

Owin crouched, looked up, squinted, and realized he couldn't tell where the boundary ceiling was. That just meant he had to jump, flip, and land on his feet upside down. It was possible.

He took a breath, then leapt. The mound he had been on became a cloud of dust from the sudden burst of energy. Owin flipped as he soared and before long, his chitin boots hit the magical ceiling. The vast floor spread out above him, underneath him, or wherever it might be. With a quick scan of the stairs and the house, Owin had a rough idea of where Shade and Sara were standing. Clusters of green, gray, and brown were the areas the doppelgangers likely were.

Thoughts and decisions all formed and passed in less than a second. Owin pushed against the boundary with every bit of strength he could muster, multiplied by two. He had considered himself fast in the initial jump. His fall back to the surface was significantly quicker.

Everything blurred, then Owin found himself face down against sandstone. He brushed loose sand from the outside of his nose, shook his hair, and picked a particularly annoying grain bit from his nostril. He had moved far too quickly to even consider activating any soldier abilities.

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Owin looked up and started laughing. He was in the middle of a pit with a cloud of sand above him. Owin squinted and tilted his head. Did sand form a pit?

The sand fell like a horrible rainstorm. He immediately leapt out of the pit, hit the edge, scrambled on the loose, now cascading sand, and jumped again.

"I thought you might get buried," Shade said. He was escorting Sara and using his vest as a shield for her from the raining sand. When the last of it fell, he flicked the vest and slipped it back on.

"You can take that off?" Owin asked.

"The vest? Yes, Owin. Do you think I just walk around in the same dirty clothes like you every day?" Shade nudged him. "Just kidding. I don't know how to wash clothes. Besides, I think this vest is my pancreas or something."

"Uh."

"Onward to victory!" Shade took Sara's hand and kept heading toward the stairs.

"You are strong," she said as they passed.

"Thanks." Owin leaned his head to the side and let some sand fall from his ear. "Did you actually use the shield in time?"

"Don't underestimate me! I might be slow, but I am also fast!" Shade stopped at the top of the next mound. Its plants were half buried and covered in some doppelganger blood. The rest of the mob was nowhere nearby.

"That doesn't make sense." Owin took a moment to survey the damage. All of the sand he had launched had fallen somewhere, either back into the pit or over the plants and hills across the rest of the floor. There were likely still doppelgangers alive on the other side and corners of the floor, but anything near the point of impact had instantly died. It still seemed like an odd floor, but short floors often came before the longer ones. Or sometimes they were just weird.

He needed to ask Potilia for a lecture on the towers and their floor structure. She probably knew.

Shade told stories about Owin for the rest of their walk, mostly focused on the Fortress. Sara listened, but obviously didn't understand. When a doppelganger moved to attack near the stairs, Owin dashed past and cut it in half long before it could hit Shade or Sara. He cut down all the cacti nearby, killing two more hidden doppelgangers before Shade and Sara reached the stairs.

"Thank you," Sara said, hugging Shade.

"You're welcome." He patted her head, then stepped back. "Where are you going to go?"

"Home. Kisisu." Sara waved. "Thank you."

Owin lifted a hand. The mob hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the void nexus.

"Why do we do it?" Owin asked.

"Because we're not horrible people, Owin. In fact, we're not people at all. I'm a skeleton, you're a goblin, and Chorsay is a tree or something, I think." Shade walked up the first stairs. "Right?"

"I think he's human."

"Actually? No. Impossible. That tall? Ridiculous." Shade pointed at the door. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Owin walked up and passed right into the void nexus.

***

Sylmare had to scurry to keep pace with Veph. Even without her shards active, the wizard was nearly leaving Sylmare in the dust. She had done exactly as asked, and all she could say was that Owin and Chorsay were somewhere within the Desert. Veph hadn't been happy to hear that Sylmare didn't have an answer for which floor or specific location, but those were things that simply weren't possible to answer.

Veph finally stopped outside the Desert. They had been hustling from the moment she left the Fortress. Sylmare was scared to ask what happened within the Fortress's walls. Veph had appeared without humor or joy despite being a shard closer to the end. When asked if she fused, Veph had just nodded once. No elaboration. No explanation.

Sylmare had kept quiet through the journey and primarily focused on keeping up without gaining any ire from Veph. While watching the golden-clad, silent wizard getting ready to dive into yet another dungeon, Sylmare couldn't help but wonder what she would be doing if she hadn't left the Alchemy company. Probably something ridiculous like sitting at a bar enjoying drinks while Potilia read and fell out of her chair.

"What are you smiling about?" Veph asked.

"Oh." Sylmare forced her face back to neutral stone. "Just imagining things."

Veph grunted, fixed her mask, and flicked her right hand. Her wand slipped from somewhere in her sleeve and appeared directly between her forefinger and thumb. A quick twirl put the legendary item into a more relaxed grip.

"What are you going to do?"

Veph glanced at her. "You can go back to Atrevaar."

Other heroes had moved far away upon seeing Veph. Everyone knew who she was, and the few that didn't had quickly looked at their indexes then retreated to the safety of their friends. Stories spread fast, whether true or not. And as far as any of the heroes knew, Veph had just been in a battle against another Shard Hero and survived a Power 7 spell. They probably also heard stories about how furious she was after the whole ordeal.

"I followed you here. I kept watch before that. Can't I know something?"

Veph raised an eyebrow. "You're sure the goblin is in there?"

"With Chorsay. Yes."

"And tell me," Veph said as she twirled the wand around her fingers, "why should I start telling you things? Do you work for me or do I work for you?" She looked over her shoulder at the void nexus entrance to the Desert.

"I've been your second in command for years!"

Veph flipped the wand, caught it, and lifted the end to Sylmare's head. "Is that what you think?"

Sylmare pressed her head against the wand. "Yes. I've dedicated my life to you." Her voice came out as more of a whimper than the confidence she had hoped to project.

Veph kept one eyebrow raised. "Then I'll give you a single answer. I'll kill the goblin."

"But Althowin—"

"Althowin is blinded. Owin is tainting the minds of everyone he meets. Look at Chorsay following a monster like a dog." Veph pressed the tip of the wand against Sylmare's forehead as the humor faded from her face. "Kill the goblin, solve the problem."

"Why would you do this? Chorsay doesn't want you to. He'll hate you."

Veph's brow furrowed.

"I'm going back to Althowin."

"What a waste." Veph lowered the wand, turned on her heel and took a step to the void nexus.

Sylmare activated her shard and used Simple Teleport. As soon as she appeared, she drove a knife into Veph's spine.

Time seemed to freeze. Sylmare looked into Veph's void black eyes. Her next breath in was a gurgle and wheeze. Sylmare's arms fell limp. Her knife handle fell to the ground, joining its shattered blade.

Veph tore her crystal sword free of Sylmare's stomach.

Sylmare fell to her knees and kept staring at Veph. "Why?" she asked, words just a hoarse breath.

"Filth," Veph said. A quick swipe with the crystal sword took Sylmare's head from her shoulders.

The last thing Sylmare Virtress saw was Veph marching into the Desert Dungeon with a bloody sword and the Wand of Cassiamarcia's Wrath.

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