Chapter 25

The group took on a strategy I was familiar with called kiting. As the zombie hoard moved forward, we kept backing up and taking a few at a time. The zombies were fortunately quite dumb, and the ambush set up yesterday was about as far as they could think. The cursed dungeon might have something akin to strategy and intelligence, but once the monster was created, it lost all control of what the monster did. At least, that's how these guys explained it to me.

Thus, we took out a couple of zombies at a time, using some people to take potshots with arrows and slings, while others held them back with shields and swords. We'd back up to get some distance, rinse and repeat. The strategy was working very well, and the zombies were going down quickly. Only when things got terrible did I need to cast a group heal. So far, I'd managed to avoid taking any mana potions. Spirits were high.

Creeeeek.

A stone suddenly depressed an inch, and spikes came out to the side. This wasn't under my feet. In fact, I was standing back from where they came, but the screeching metal certainly frightened me. The guy in armor was struck on the side, but he managed to jump away without being impaled. 

"This dungeon, seriously… now it's spawning traps?" The rabbitkin shouted as he swung a stone into the group of zombies and knocked one in the head, strong enough to leave a dent.

"This is a young dungeon." The guild leader sighed. "If it had spawned farther away from town, it might have had time to grow and settle. This one is acting out of desperation. It won't be able to keep it up. I suspect its ability to resist us will diminish soon."

"Suspect or wish?" the wolfkin up front said sarcastically.

"Can't they be both?" The guild leader shot back.

"Deek, let's heal him quickly." The big sister had helped the guy up as he limped over to me.

"Ah… yes." I nodded, walking over to the man on the ground.

I waved my hand and healed him.

"Again," he said.

"Ah… okay…"

"Again…"

Yikes! Well, it wasn't too surprising that an armored guy like this would be an HP sink. In the end, I needed to heal him six times before he was happy. I ended up drinking a mana potion to recover. He stood back up, thanked me, and then went to hold the front line. Those blades must have really hurt. I had the feeling that if they had struck me, they would have been devastating.

Creeeek. Another trap was triggered.

As everyone dodged away, a door opened. Another horde of zombies came out from behind us. This was seriously bad! I cast Group Heal immediately. The spell rejuvenated the party, but it enraged the zombies.

"Watch out!" the big sister yelled.

I had some distance from the others, and for the moment, all of the zombies nearby were focused on me. I turned to run back to the party and safety. I wasn't going to make some kind of last stand or anything. I wanted to live as much as the next guy. I ran towards the big sister, never feeling gladder that she was looking out for me.

Creeeeek.

This trap was indeed one I had stepped on. Crunch! The ground under me gave way. My last sight of the party was the big sister's surprised face. After that, I was falling. I was certain I'd be falling on to some spikes, but I ended up in some kind of slide chute. When I came out, I skidded across the floor about ten feet. Standing up and feeling a bit dizzy, I tried to get my location figured out.

There were definitely zombies down here. In fact, they had me surrounded.

"Di-did you come to save me?" A voice came from behind.

I looked back to see a familiar girl. It was the slave animalkin that had been with the party before. She had no backpack on, and there were dirt and numerous scraps on her body. As for the rest of her party, they were gone.

"Just run!" I declared, grabbing her hand and heading off in the opposite direction of the incoming zombies.