Gabriel lifted his eyelid, yet the other would not open.
Panic arose throughout his body as he wiped at his eye only to realize that it had just been badly bruised but he could still see...
"Thank the gods..."
He muttered, pushing rubble off of his injured body.
Then a pain entered through his sternum as the rocks fell onto him with force.
"Like I would let you live..."
The thief with emanating purple eyes and a tattered cloak grinned from above, with a boot on the rubble above Gabriel.
He wondered how Chase would have gotten out of a situation like this, then completely scratched the thought.
Behind the man, the golem stood tall and almost proud of itself.
Smoky breaths exiting from the golem's massive rocky jaw.
Then a gust of wind entered from the cavern's entrance, swaying the thief's cloak with powerful force.
He frowned from above and glanced toward the tunnel Gabriel had come from.
"Another?"
Then the cavern began to tremble, and then exploded with rubble as the ceiling started to cave in.
A figure was seen falling equally as fast as the rubble.
Or maybe diving?
He crashed into the skull of the golem, and his massive blade struck the top of its head shortly after.
A strangely familiar energy started to flow throughout the cavern.
Orange light began to fill the air around the thief, as confusion struck his facial expression along with surprise.
"The lion?"
He asked, as his eyes widened.
However it was far too late.
An axe crashed into the chest of the thief that had injured Gabriel, and his body shot toward the cavern wall.
"Tch... All these damned cultists... How many is this now Reinhart!?"
The man exchanging powerful blows with the golem laughed as a rocky fist hit him in the shoulder, caving his powerful armor in.
"Seventeen I believe!"
He yelled as if not affected by the blow at all.
"L-Leo?"
Gabriel muttered, feeling dazed and just as confused as the thi- or cultist that had put him in this state.
Leo looked down at Gabriel and shrugged.
"I wouldn't go doing the merchant guild's jobs for them, I'd stick to being Chase's lapdog if-"
Then he ducked underneath a powerful beam of purple light with an angry curse or two.
Lifting his battle axe up, letting the beam rage against its metal, he pushed forward letting the energy deflect right back at the cultist that was casting the spell.
"You good?"
The girl from the tavern asked, peeking her head over the rubble.
"You?"
"Me?"
She tilted her head, as wind began to flow around the rubble, lifting the weight of the rocks with ease.
Gabriel crawled out from underneath it, and tried to stand but could not.
"What is this?"
He asked, letting air enter his lungs fully since the rubble had taken quite a toll on his chest.
She let the rocks drop with several loud crashes, behind her Reinhart's blade rocketed straight through the stone surface of the giant golem splitting it in half.
Gabriel's eyes widened as the elven markings on her shoulder were glowing a bright green as wind continued to rage around the room, no doubt the affect of said markings.
She reached in a bag that was strapped around her shoulder and she pulled a small vial with red liquid in it.
"Here. It's a potion of healing. Drink."
She handed it to him with a soft smile on her face, large dimples showing on the corners of her lips.
He took it with no objection and quickly downed the liquid, feeling his bones crack and groan from realigning themselves.
"I'm Kaylynn by the way, of House Kore... And you are?"
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, and peeked around her figure, watching as Leo brutally split the skull of the cultist with ease.
"G-Gabriel of House Envixity..."
She looked at the cavern ceiling with a frown, then looked back at him and went to ask something but must have completely discarded it.
Eventually, he was able to stand, and leaned back against one of the large pieces of rubble from the explosion.
Leo and Reinhart made their way over, and fist bumped each other with stupid grins on their faces.
"I killed mine first."
Reinhart made sure to announce, shoving his giant sword into the ground next to him.
"Mine was stronger..."
Leo scowled.
"Stronger than a golem of earth?!"
Reinhart laughed haughtily, while throwing his head back.
"How are you fighting?"
Gabriel asked, remembering what had happened to the last descendent of the Orion house...
Reinhart scratched his chin, and pointed at his chest where his steel armor was the thickest.
"I don't need a catalyst to fight, just to perform the arts. Which I was never really good at the magic stuff anyway."
Leo turned his gaze toward Gabriel, then back to Kaylynn as if having a mental conversation.
Kaylynn shook her head with a sigh.
"Why not? We need a rogue, I am our warrior, Reinhart is our vanguard, and you are our sorcerer. It would be nice to have someone to help with flanks in our party. Especially with that big raid coming up."
Kaylynn frowned.
Then she turned her head toward Gabriel, as if trying to ask him to say no.
He stood up, and really thought about it for a moment.
"I can be a rogue, normally I would act as a warrior, but lately I've been learning rogue-like combat, so I think I could do your party well, or at least until after this raid everyone is talking about..."
Leo grinned.
"Good! See all we had to do was ask."
Kaylynn however, did not seem so happy about the newly acquired member, but nonetheless nodded and began to tell him about their plans for the coming days.
He learned that in fourteen days, the three great kobold chiefs would attempt an attack on the very village above their heads.