Chapter 89

The team set up camp efficiently. Though they had brought tents should they arrive to a biome that needed them, the Wispwood was a moderate enough climate they weren’t necessary. So, after setting up a fire and their sleeping bags, they ate their respective meals then settled down for the night.

Natalie got the first shift. It wasn’t common for the dungeon to send monsters after sleeping delvers, but it happened. More than that, enemy delvers could wander onto them. Which would be just about their luck. So, best to have somebody ready to sound the alarm.

She posted up on a log a short distance away. Being away from the smoldering fire helped keep cold, which kept her alert. After the past hours, exhaustion was doing its best to lull her to sleep.

More than the cold air, though, her thoughts were what prevented her from dozing off. She wasn’t quite as furious as she’d been in the direct aftermath of the event, but her thoughts had far from steadied, either.

Twenty minutes before her hour-and-a-half shift ended, a figure stirred from inside the camp. Natalie glanced over to see Jordan extricating herself from her sleeping bag. Natalie frowned. Her shift wasn’t over yet, so why? She needed her sleep as much as the rest of them.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked when Jordan had wandered over.

“That,” Jordan said. “Also started to feel a bit pointless. Would just make my shift harder.”

Natalie nodded in sympathy. Jordan had gotten the second shift of the watch, which was arguably the worst. Getting to sleep for an hour and a half, then having to wake up and stand watch—it sucked. Natalie had gotten lucky; first and last shifts were the best.

Jordan settled onto the log next to her, and they sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. Natalie could intuit Jordan hadn’t come over just to relieve her from her shift early. She wanted to talk.

“You’ve still stewing,” Jordan finally said. “I can tell.”

Natalie sighed. She’d expected something of the sorts. Jordan always had to be so ... level headed and reasonable.

“Can’t you just let me be mad?” Natalie asked. “For once?”

“I know what happened sucked, but all things considered, we’re fine. We really are. There’s no reason to dwell on it.”

“You can’t be suggesting we just forget about it.”

“Not forget,” Jordan said. “I’m not that forgiving, either. But for now, what happened, happened.” She chewed her lip. “And what I’m really worried about is that you’ll turn something that’s frustrating, but ultimately doesn’t matter, into something that does.”

“And that means?”

“I don’t know if we should retaliate,” Jordan said. “With Elida. She said it herself. This was because of Liz. It doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“Her group attacked ours.”

“But not us, specifically,” Jordan said. “It sounds ridiculous, but it’s also true. We were just there. Liz’s teammates.”

Natalie’s annoyance spiked. “Okay, but that’s not changing any time soon, is it?”

“No,” Jordan said, “and so we’ll probably have similar issues. But it won’t ever be us that’s targeted. We aren’t her enemies, her real ones, and we should keep it that way.” She poked Natalie on the shoulder. “It sucks, but it’s true. We don’t want a major house as an enemy this early into the semester. We need to take this one on the chin. If it gets worse ... we’ll figure something out.”

Natalie clenched and unclenched her hands, then looked away. “You’re probably right.” Not that it sat well with her.

“Plus,” Jordan said, bumping shoulders, “I don’t like seeing you all stormy and brooding. It’s not you. And our first long delve was supposed to be exciting. A good day. So put all this to the side, at least until we’re back at campus. Let’s keep looking forward.”

“Easier said than done,” Natalie muttered. She didn’t have the same control over her emotions as Jordan. How her friend could manage to so easily shelve something so infuriating was almost frustrating in its own right.

“I know,” Jordan said. “But it really is for the best.”

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“I’ve got an idea to cheer you up, then,” Jordan said. “I think you need some stress relief.”

Jordan slid a hand down Natalie’s inner thigh, and the sudden action caught her so off guard she nearly jumped to her feet. The exhaustion weighing her down vanished, heart abruptly slamming in her chest.