I Hate Dungeon School

We trudged our way through the snow, nothing but the sounds of slight wind, the grunting of our exertions, the jingling of our gear, and the soft clucks and coos of the Ptarms.

I found myself jealous of the birds despite their loads. They strode through the snow as if it were second nature. They were only slowed by the weight they carried and the firm hand on their leads.

It was harder going than I had expected. I had seen snow, of course, trudged through it much like I had now, but never for this long, or this laden. It didn't matter how much my winter gear protected me; I felt cold and damp already. I wanted to be dry and warm again more than anything in the world right at that moment.

I had lost track of time again. I couldn't reach my timepiece. All I had was the shuffling of our trek and the random sounds of the forest. We dared not sing a hiking song lest it attract unwanted attention from the denizens of the forest. Not only monsters, but whatever desperate bandits called these trees their homes.

It wasn't common, especially this close to the border, but not unheard of. Outside my battle with Cavendish, I didn't have all that much experience fighting people. Monsters were simpler; you didn't have to worry about most of the moral quandaries about killing. At least, I didn't. I did not doubt that someone, somewhere, did worry about that sort of thing.

I shook the thoughts loose from my head. The physical struggle, the cold, and the silence were starting to take my mind down avenues that only led to dark places if I let it.

Keeping a positive mental attitude was critical, both in a dungeon and in the wilderness. If you let your attitude get you down, your body will soon follow. You were just as much an enemy as any creature or criminal in these lands.

"Let's rest here!" Andritch called out, indicating a shallow cave on the side of a rock wall. I breathed a sigh of relief, the cold air stinging as I did so. How did it get colder this much later in the day? It's supposed to get warmer. It was then that I saw the clouds were thinning out.

It's a fact that many who don't live in cold climes never realize. Cloud cover is your friend. Clear skies meant colder air, for reasons beyond me, but weather that would normally be welcome in fairer seasons was a danger in the winter.

We huddled into the cave while Andritch tied up the birds. Helena. Her name was Helena while we were in the field. I kept forgetting.

"It's cozy at least?" Myth said as we all squished in together.

"It doesn't go deeper, so less likelihood of monsters using it as a nest. Let's rest here for a bit and get some food in us." Helena said as she passed out jerky, bread, and water. I was surprised at how thirsty I was. The cold seemed to sap it from me, making me feel dried out. And the snow made me feel damp. My body was not caring for all these conflicting sensations.

We ate and rested, Myth and Cori slipping into quick naps. They were the least adapted to this kind of weather. While they slept, they snuggled close to each other. In any other situation, this would be adorable, I mused to myself.

I looked at Eira, who was tearing into the tough bread we had brought with us.

"So what did my brother say?" I began to ask, but she stopped chewing and held up a finger. Her eyes were focused on something out in the woods.

I followed her gaze but didn't see anything.

Wait. No. I did see something. Movement. Something was out there.

"Togalli. Do you see anything out there? Your eyes are better for this kind of thing." I nudged her, to which she responded with a grumble.

"This had better not be...what is that?" She squinted. "I can see movement, but I can't tell what it is."

"Smitty smell nothing. Nothing at all." The Kobold's ears flattened against the top of her head, and she let out a growl. Her nose was sensitive. Very sensitive. If there was movement without a smell attached to it, that was something of a concern.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with this. They're Frost Shades. They normally don't come out except at night, and it's midday. We must be near a murder site." Helena said quietly.

"Murder site?" I asked, confused. I hadn't really studied much about ghosts and spirits outside the context of dungeons, something I was quickly beginning to regret.

"Happens with bandits haunted lands. It probably wasn't recent, more likely decades ago. Ghosts take a while to form. I only see a few out there, maybe six at most. I was hoping we'd be at the village before we saw any. Oh well, I guess you all get a crash course in ghost fighting. Wake up Cori and Myth. Quickly!" She explained.

Smitty shook the two awake and explained what was going on to the best of her ability.

"Looks like it's your time to shine, priest girl." I gave Mariana a playful nudge.

"Are you serious?" Mariana looked at me with slight panic on her face.

"She's serious. This is why holy magic is so useful. You mentioned you have spells for fighting the undead, right? Well, those are undead. We'll back you up, of course." Eira patted Mariana's back encouragingly.

"Do you need to do some prep stuff? Do you need to take your bra off or anything for the holy magic to work? I'm not sure how your god works." I said with a barely stifled giggle.

"No, I don't need to do that! Don't be stupid." Mariana gave me a dagger-laden glare for my troubles. I held up my hands in apology.

"Sorry, I'm just confused about how all this works. I assumed you needed to jiggle them or something to get the holiness going." I couldn't help myself. Seeing Mariana angry was one of life's pleasures.

"Gods above and below, I should let the undead eat you." She growled.

"Kinky, but I have a girlfriend."

"That's me!" Eira said from the back of the cave.

"You two disgust me. Now, excuse me, I have to look up the prayers." She sighed as she dug through her hip pouch, revealing a set of cards on a ring.

"Your prayer book is flash cards? For serious?" I was incredulous. It seemed so silly.

"Ok, listen, I haven't had these powers long enough to have the prayers memorized, and that's pretty much one of the most important things!" She sputtered. "So, I uh have to kind of sort of use flash cards right now."

She looked so ashamed, I wanted to tease her even more, but a sudden movement tore my attention away from my petty amusement.

These Frost Shades were getting closer. Much closer. Their movement confused my senses. It looked as though they flickered between poses with no movement in between. It felt deeply unnatural and made my skin crawl to watch. Sometimes when they stopped, their heads lurched around in that same jerky motion, stopping only before they moved again.

These were so much more unsettling than the wraiths or skeletons I had faced in dungeons. The undead of the open world were so much more terrifying. As they approached, the air got colder, and the world got darker despite the sunshine. These things were an anathema upon the face of creation, I wanted to fight them, to destroy them, to grind their ash-

A hand on my shoulder shook me out of the dark train of thought I had found myself pulled along by.

"Keep your mind focused. Frost Shades are not only an enemy that can injure you, but they can also get into your mind. More have been slain by the despair these things cause than by their touch." Helena said softly.

"Scary." The only thing I could think to say. "You got those prayers ready yet, Togalli?"

She shot me a look, but gave me a thumbs up instead of sass, which I took as a good sign. Smitty had her shield and spear ready, Cori had her crossbow aimed, Myth was chanting to gather her mana for spells, and Eira had put on some gauntlets. Rather intimidating looking ones too. There were spikes and everything.

I realized I had never seen her fight in an actual battle. Just a few sparring matches that I watched. I had never seen her full might. I had no idea what kind of damage she could do, with those gauntlets or otherwise. Maybe that would change today.

I looked at Helena and realized she didn't have any weapons ready or anything.

"Are you not going to fight with us?" I asked, surprised.

"No. You gals need the experience. I'll be ready in case you get in over your head." She said, sitting down on a rock.

"We've never fought these before! We need a plan or something!" I hissed at her, somehow instinctively afraid to raise my voice, despite the Frost Shades knowing where we are.

"I believe in you all. You'll figure out something." She said, pulling a pipe out and lighting it. I had no idea she smoked, but that wasn't important right now.

"Anyone got suggestions? Togalli? What can your prayers do exactly?" I asked.

"Shades are non-corporeal, which makes attacking them without magic tricky, but I have a prayer here that can turn them solid for a short while. And I mean short. You'll have less than a minute to take them out." She explained, a smile forming despite her serious look. She looked happy to be helping a group. Good for her, I suppose.

"After they're solid, then what? What weaknesses do they have?" Cori cut in, her gaze not leaving the sights of her auto-crossbow.

"Headshots. On weaker undead like this, it's always a headshot. Stronger than this, and it varies, but I'm confident that the head will do the trick here. If it doesn't, go for the chest. Worst case, just get them into as many pieces as possible and set them on fire. Wood elf! You have fire magic, right?" Mariana pointed at Myth.

"Not my name. It's Myth, I've told you this!" She huffed.

"Don't care! Fire magic or no?" Mariana snapped at her.

"Oh yeah, I got really good fire magic!" She grinned evilly.

"She really does. It's kind of scary when it goes off." I added.

The Frost Shades advanced even closer, so close I could hear something like a whispering voice coming from them. No words were clear, but the sounds chill me in a way winter never could.

"Ok, girls, sounds like we got a plan! Togalli, when I say 'Go', use that prayer while Smitty, Eira, and I rush in. Cori, you back us up if one of them gets behind us. If the head and chest attacks don't work, Myth will hit them with the fire. Everyone got it!" I asked, slipping back into my leadership mindset.

Mariana started to say something, probably out of instinctive protest, but she thankfully kept it to herself, as she joined the chorus of affirmatives.

I gripped the hilt of Ice Moon tightly. I felt my heart race in my chest.

It felt good to be in the midst of action again. I missed working with a team to defeat a foe.

I missed fighting alongside my friends. We had added Eira and Mariana, but we could do this. We were adaptable and strong.

We got this.

I drew in a deep breath, the winter chill stinging my throat. I focused, the world turning sharp with the clarity of our purpose. My heart calmed for a moment. Another. It then burst with power, rage, energy, bloodthirst, and more!

"GO!"