I Only Summon Villainesses

The tunnel wound deep into the cave, and the deeper we went, the deeper it seemed to go. Dead ends kept appearing, but Kassie simply stepped back and crushed them with her sword.

I stayed behind, clutching my side and watching her work. No matter how much of a big boy I tried to be, no matter how hard I willed myself to ignore my wounds, they were simply unignorable. Sometimes, it was like these pains had minds of their own. I'd just be walking, minding my own business, and there'd be a quick bite to remind me that I'd sustained one hell of a scratch from the damned rope that pretty boy used on me.

'You rotten bastard. I should've thought twice about letting you live.'

I was getting truly spiteful, hating myself for giving him a chance at life after sustaining this much pain because of him. The others that had added to it were nowhere to be seen today.

But a cold grin besmirched my face when I remembered that scene of him dancing, writhing, screaming as the flames ate into his skin.

'Granted, I have left him with an unhealable burn scar.'

I'd defiled the bastard's face. He was going to live with that trauma for the rest of his life.

'Maybe letting him leave wasn't such a bad idea after all.'

Kassie stopped. She shifted her hand back, drawing her sword into position.

I stepped back immediately. Experience in the last four trials had taught me to get as far away as I could before the rattling impact and the dust clouds swallowed everything.

She lunged forward, her feet barely touching the ground, and connected with the wall. The cave shook. Stones exploded in front of her into smaller fragments, then smaller still. This time, it wasn't just dust that clouded the place. Pale rays of light penetrated through the dust clouds — trying to penetrate, at least. They were weak, struggling, but they were there.

Wrinkles formed on my forehead as my eyes caught those fragile rays disappearing into the fog of dust.

"Light!"

It was minimal, but this was it.

"Light at the end of the tunnel!!"

I rushed forward, pressing my lips together painfully as my abrupt movement sent another jolt through my side. But it did nothing to diminish my speed. I merely staggered a bit before running straight into the dust, not caring what I breathed in.

I ran through it and reached the jagged end of the tunnel. Kassie was already standing at the edge, staring up into the dark skies.

I slowly came to a stop beside her, looking up too. The Middle moon — Silvertide — was visible from here, its silver light pouring down on the forest but diminishing to gray as it touched the canopy. In certain spots, the light managed to weave between the clusters of leaves, casting pale patches on the forest floor below.

My chest was rising and falling hard.

'We made it. We finally made it.'

The air tasted different out here. Cleaner. Alive. I hadn't realized how stale the cave had become until I drew in a breath that didn't taste like stone and my own sweat.

Toward the horizon, a cliff rose against the sky, and atop that cliff sat a bustling hub of lights — warm and orange and promising civilization. Without being told, there was no doubt about it.

'Faeren Heights!'

Kassie studied the city for a long moment, then turned to look at me.

"Don't be too glad. Not until you meet your comrades."

Her words landed like cold water. I belatedly recollected myself.

"Ah, yes. But still—" I gestured vaguely at everything, the sky, the moon, the air that didn't want to choke me. "Isn't it nice to feel and see the light? Can't you feel the fresh air?"

She looked at me with a strange expression, something I couldn't quite file into Kassie's usual books of facial expressions. Then she looked at the moon, held it for a breath, and looked away with a shrug.

"Darkness and Light make no difference. Buckle up. The journey has not ended."

As she spoke, her helmet was already manifesting around her head, sealing her face away.

I exhaled a tired sigh and started moving through the forest. The leaves brushed against my legs below the knee as I walked, causing a soft rustling in the midst of the dark undergrowth.

Kassie followed behind me, her gaze more silent than mine, her steps somehow quieter despite being heavier and taller and stronger. I couldn't help but wonder how she'd managed to achieve such a thing. Some knight's trick, probably. Or maybe she just didn't care enough about making noise to actually make any.

We continued to walk for a while before sounds began to reach my ears. First, the honking of ships grew louder — not constant, but intermittent. Either a ship was reaching the harbor or leaving. The rhythm of a port town going about its business.

But that was not the only sound entering my ears. There were mutters. People coughing. And now lights, too — flickering lights were beginning to appear between the trees.

Kassie and I ducked behind the foliage and carefully observed before deciding to move forward.

The first person I noticed was a young girl with black hair and a cloak, running around with a water skin and moving from person to person.

There were a lot of people laid out on the ground, being fed food, water, and something that smelled like herbal concoctions — some foul, some merely unpleasant, some that just smelled bitter. None smelled good. The whole area reeked of sickness and desperation.

The girl passed again, and I was certain.

'That's Octavia.'

And that meant all the sick people were the… caravan.

'What the hell happened here?'

My brows tightened together as I continued to study from afar, hidden in the depth of the forest. My fingers dug into the bark of the tree in front of me.

Some people had built fires and were making food, gathering around each other — but the atmosphere was grim. Not at all what I remembered it being, even after that gruesome battle through Brackenfall Forest. Whatever had happened here was worse than that. Far worse. Nearly the entire caravan was injured, and the survivors moved with the heavy slowness of people who'd stopped expecting good news.

It was difficult to say what could have done this.

I whispered, "Kassie, I might have to send you back for now. Let me take care of it from here."

She looked at me, then shifted her gaze to the grim caravan, then back to me again. Her helmet revealed nothing.

I smiled and whispered to her.

"Don't worry. I can handle it from here. I won't fall for the same trick twice."

After that, she disappeared into a whirlwind of sparks that was muted by the tall leaves. The forest swallowed the light almost instantly, leaving me alone.

I breathed hard and prepared to move. But as I was about to take a step, a hand suddenly gripped my shoulder.

Immediately I pivoted, my palm open to sear the person's face with white-hot flames — but his hands were faster. He clamped my mouth shut and placed one finger over his own lips.

"Ssshhhhuuussshh."