The corridor narrowed, curved, and then opened. All four of them stepped through at nearly the same time.

  Miri froze.

  Fen did too.

  Tamsin’s breath caught — barely audible, but there.

  Tony bounded forward first. Miri moved before she thought.

  They collided in the center of the circular chamber — boots scraping stone, armor knocking, hands grabbing shoulders as if someone might vanish again if they didn’t anchor fast enough.

  “You’re okay—”

  “You’re not crushed—”

  “You’re bleeding—”

  “I’m fine—”

  Tony wedged himself between them with a low, vibrating purr that rumbled against all of their thighs in turn.

  Miri dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around his neck. Her face pressed into fur still faintly warm from stress.

  “You absolute idiot,” she whispered fiercely. “You could have stayed.”

  He licked her cheek.

  Fen’s hand landed on Miri’s shoulder, slid around the back of her neck and tightened for a moment before falling away.

  She could feel his relief.

  Tamsin stood very close — not touching at first, then deliberately placing her hand on Miri’s arm like she was confirming something solid.

  “We are okay,” she said quietly.

  Miri swallowed hard and nodded once, wrapping her arms around Tamsin and squeezing her tight. And was surprised when she felt Tamsin return the hug just as fiercely.

  They pulled apart slowly. Breathing. Alive.

  The chamber was like the first: circular, smooth stone, no visible seams.

  Only now the adventurers were all worse for wear.

  A single, slow clap echoed overhead.

  They didn’t look up immediately.

  Another clap. Measured. Mocking.

  A section of the wall irised open high above them.

  Ardran Kale leaned over the balcony aperture, robes cascading dramatically, expression alight with infuriating pleasure.

  “Ah,” he sighed. “Reunions. So sentimental.”

  Miri stood. “You shut the fuck up.”

  Kale blinked.

  She didn’t shout. Didn’t posture. Her voice was flat.

  “You crushed him,” she said. “He didn’t sign up for this. He’s an innocent animal.”

  Tony’s tail flicked once behind her.

  Kale hesitated, just a hairline pause in the performance. His eyes shifted to Tony. Then back to Miri.

  “Well,” he said lightly, “he is remarkably sturdy.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  Another pause, a small one. Then the theatrical mask snapped back into place with almost visible force.

  “My dear adventurer,” he said grandly, “this is not a petting zoo. This is refinement through adversity.”

  “He could have died.”

  “Many have,” Kale replied smoothly.

  Fen stiffened. Tamsin’s fingers tightened around her bow. Tony began a rumbling growl that sounded like an actual god damn semi-truck and echoed off the walls.

  Miri took a step forward before she could stop herself.

  “You’re an asshole.”

  The word echoed up into the chamber’s curve.

  Kale recoiled half an inch.

  Offended. Then delighted.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Ahhh!” he breathed. “Indignation. Excellent. Very healthy. You care.”

  He straightened fully, spreading his arms as if addressing an invisible audience.

  “Understand this: I do not torture. I curate.”

  Miri stared at him.

  “You dropped us into separate lethal mechanisms.”

  “And you survived,” Kale snapped back, suddenly sharp. “Which suggests they were not lethal enough.”

  Silence. The temperature in the room seemed to shift. Miri could feel it on her skin.

  Then Kale inhaled slowly, smoothing his robes. “But let us not linger on the emotional. This is a proving ground, not a therapy circle.”

  He tilted his head.

  “You have shown resilience. Improvisation. Attachment.”

  His gaze flicked briefly to Tony again.

  Miri folded her arms. “You done?”

  Kale’s lips curled faintly. “Oh, not remotely.” With a flourish of his sleeve, the far wall rippled.

  Stone withdrew in a clean arc, revealing a single doorway — taller than the others. Broader. Dark beyond.

  No theatrics. No spiral lights.

  Kale inclined his head.

  “Forward,” he said softly.

  The aperture above sealed. The balcony vanished and the chamber was silent once more.

  They stood there for a moment, just breathing.

  Miri wiped at her face quickly, pretending it was just dust.

  Tony pressed once against her hip. She rested her hand on his head.

  “Okay,” she said quietly.

  No one moved, though the doorway waited patiently.

  Miri stared at it for three whole seconds. Then she dropped back onto the stone floor.

  “Absolutely not.”

  Fen blinked. “Not…?”

  “Not immediately,” she said, already untying her pack. “He can wait.”

  Tamsin’s brow lifted slightly. Along with the corner of her mouth.

  Miri looked up at the vaulted ceiling. “You got a problem with that?” she called mildly.

  Silence.

  “Good,” she muttered.

  Tony sat heavily beside her, then leaned until his full weight pressed against her thigh. She scratched behind his ear automatically, the earlier panic still humming under her skin like leftover lightning.

  Fen glanced at the dark doorway, then at Miri. “...You think he’s listening?”

  “Obviously,” she said. “He’s got surveillance somewhere.”

  Tamsin scanned the walls more carefully now.

  There.

  Tiny inset crystals along the upper curve of the chamber. Polished smooth. Almost decorative.

  She silently pointed them out to Miri, who looked directly at one of them and lifted her hand with wiggling her fingers.

  “Hi. We’re unionizing.”

  Tamsin exhaled through her nose — not quite a laugh.

  They settled in a loose circle. Rations came out. Water skins were passed around.

  Miri set out a large wooden bowl of water for Tony and Fen tore strips of dried meat for him. Tamsin leaned forward and ran her fingers once through the fur at Tony’s neck, checking for tenderness, bruising, subtle swelling.

  “He compensated well,” she said quietly.

  Miri swallowed. “He shouldn’t have had to. And I gave him my best healing potion.”

  She closed her eyes and tried not to remember the feeling of the tiger’s ribs unbreaking.

  Fen rested his forearm briefly against Tony’s shoulder. “We’ll make this guy regret it, Miri,” he said. Tony’s tail thumped once.

  She leaned back against the curved wall, chewing slowly. The adrenaline had drained, leaving her hollow and shaky around the edges. Her hand stayed in Tony’s fur.

  A familiar flicker brushed across her vision. She almost ignored it.

  [ System Notice: Guild Companion Progression Achieved ]

  She blinked.

  “...Hold on.”

  Fen looked over. “What?”

  The text expanded.

  [ Companion: Tony the Tiger ]

  [ Trait Acquired: Shared Bulwark (Passive) ]

  A continuous, low-grade Warden Veil now extends to your guild companion. Minimal mana draw increases proportionally under high-impact stress.

  Miri went still.

  Tony sneezed.

  “...You’ve got to be kidding me,” she whispered.

  Tamsin’s eyes sharpened. “What?”

  Miri looked at Tony, then down at her own hands.

  “He has a shield,” she said slowly. “From me.”

  Fen’s brows shot up. “Like—?”

  “Like my Veil spell, but constant. For a tiny drain of mana unless he gets hit hard.”

  Tony blinked at her. Miri pressed her forehead gently against his, planting a kiss on his wide nose.

  “You absolute legend.”

  He hugged softly.

  She inhaled slowly, centering around the sensation of her mana — the faintest trickle flowing outward. Barely noticeable, like breathing.

  If he takes a huge hit, it will drain more. Her jaw tightened.

  “Good,” she murmured.

  Tamsin studied Tony with renewed calculation.

  “Then we adjust,” she said. “He anchors harder.”

  Fen nodded in agreement.

  They sat like that for a minute longer. Eating. Breathing. Petting the cat.

  No one rushed.

  The dark doorway remained open, unchanging.

  Eventually Fen glanced toward it again. “So,” he said lightly, “do we think this is the ‘oh god we’re going to die’ room or the ‘creative suffering’ room?”

  Miri leaned her head back against the stone and closed her eyes briefly.

  “He wants escalation,” she said. “He also wants us tired.”

  Tamsin nodded. “So we deny him both.”

  Miri opened one eye. “We take our time.”

  They all found a comfortable position and relaxed for a moment. They were alive and together.

  The warder could go monologue himself for now.