Could Richard survive death? I leaned over the hatch to the lava tube. An intense, eyebrow-curling heat blasted me as I squinted into the glowing molten rock, trying to find some indication that Richard was going to make it. The speed of the liquid rock had increased, little crusts floated on top.

  "Richard?" I yelled. A splut of lava popped up the shaft, and I leaned back.

  I told you I have [Heat Resistance], shut up and let me work on surviving.

  Thank the fucking Everbear. I didn't know what sort of [Heat Resistance] stat granted the ability to resist lava, but sign me up.

  "He's okay," I leaned back, my face cooked. "Can someone monitor the shaft? As long as the lava isn't coming up here, we need to keep it open for Richard."

  A breath, two. Was the air in the study getting hotter?

  Briyain does not like heat. Figured, the useless sea monster.

  "I'll do it. I've had enough experiments explode on me..." Ash sounded resigned as he put down a spinning orb. His rosy monocle flashed. "Might be my only chance to examine a ley line-lined lava tube."

  "You okay, Pops?" I asked the old man who lay like a pile of clothes in my apartment. He was still breathing, and Argin wasn't freaking out, but his robes had caught fire.

  "I'm fine," came a muffled reply.

  Sure. The [Corrupt] wyrm that escaped its eternal bonds likely turned his sacred ley lines into a lava tube and he was fine. We have a zombified population either by the insectile horde, or by their own wealth. The destruction of a whole metropolis hangs in the balance, and our only allies are an [Archmage] with no power and a Stone Warden slowly solidifying into a statue. Even our party, a half-baked [Dead Wrong], a strung-out [Death Knight], whatever Ash was, a generational talent that didn't want to be the hero, and Briyain.

  I looked over at the fishbowl.

  Briyain's disconnected eyes flopped in the water as he stared at me. Did he know what I was thinking?

  The Tuli Monster winked.

  Fuck me.

  "We've got to figure this stuff out," I muttered to myself. Ash gave me a monocled side-eye, the glow of the lava dancing off the lens.

  Okay! Need to break it down into parts.

  The structure under Cersapil wasn't safe anymore. Whether by lava, boring, or greedy mining, the city was going to be shaken apart. If we treated this as a fact, and I just couldn't see how anyone was going to stop it, then the next step was pretty obvious.

  "We need to evacuate the city." The words came out tentative. Pop leaned up on an elbow, looking at me like I was crazy.

  Any solution that took care of the rock slug, the wyrm and their insectile army would not fix the underlying structure of the city. In this war, my concern was making sure as many people as possible survived. The city, as beautiful and old as it was, wasn't the heart of the problem.

  Pop’s collection of knowledge. The towering spires of marble. The empty catacombs they'd dug under the city. None of it mattered. It was like the tradition that sent Leyla to the Hunt to find herself a groom. It was stupid, and if we kept clinging to it, everyone was going to die.

  "I'm positive that with Tandy's help we can save the city." The [Archmage] said, surrounded by the monuments of his profession and life. This room, and his useless collection of knowledge, was just another attachment that was preventing him and Argin from tackling the genuine problem.

  "We need to evacuate the city. I don't care if Tandy is the goddess of magic, she's not going to figure out a city-saving method in time. Your city is falling apart, and all you can think about is your collection. You're no better than the council. Lava has been running through your ley lines for probably months, and you didn't even notice?"

  The more I talked, the more convinced I was that I was right.

  "If you are the [Archmage] and Stone Warden of Cersapil, then you owe it to your people to tackle this head-on and get them to safety. We need to prioritize evacuating the city and un-zombifying the lower district."

  Tandy looked at me, relief in her eyes. Evacuation was something tangible that we could actually accomplish.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  The support I needed, however, came from an unlikely quarter.

  "Betula agrees," Meredeath said. She looked up, the green glow from her eyes fading. "My skill is fading, but her last words were, ‘We protect the people, stone can be rebuilt.’ "

  The ancient Stone Warden's words hung in the air like an ancient challenge.

  "If I've only got a couple of weeks left," Argin grated. "Then this seems like a worthy use of them."

  All our eyes fell to the [Archmage]. He sat up, the fringe of his robe was charred. The bottom of his slippers were melted, and he had grill marks across his body, as he'd leaned against the rungs of the ladder during the ascent.

  "Grandfather, we went to the Hunt hoping to find a savior, but I don't think there's a person in this city that can save it. Cersapil is falling. We've got to decide not what we're going to do to stop it, but how many we can save." Even with Argin's plea, I could tell the man was still resistant.

  He looked like he'd been left on the barbecue grill overnight. A complete, dirty, old anomaly in the pristine library. A smudge in the Stone Warden mausoleum.

  I stood up, offering Tandy a hand. Evacuation would be a lot easier with the city's [Archmage] on our side, but I will try either way.

  "Do you think we can get Leo and his cult on board?" I asked Tandy.

  "I mean, Leo, probably. His cult? Maybe not." Tandy stood next to me, her face locked into the thinking expression that I knew would produce a couple of ideas. "Meredeath, what do you and Briyain think about the zombification of the lower district? Those feathers? We don't have enough time to enter everyone's dream state and drag them out."

  Meredeath leaned against Betula's statue. The ceramic chain mail was not giving against her weight.

  "Let me talk to Briyain, and see what we can whip up." Flipping her teal hair, she looked down at her Tuli Monster in a bowl. The beast's eyes connected as they stared up at her, as its eyes glowed.

  "I'll be able to get the guards to help. The captain and I were friends, and the guards already think the city council is useless. Plus, no one can deny I'm a Stone Warden now, and that comes with some authority." Argin started moving towards the stairs. She was moving quicker, as though purpose had shaken loose the grit between her joints.

  "What if we temporarily evacuate the citizenry? We can claim that the [Archmage] has predicted the next large earthquake, and it's for everyone's safety. If we claim it's temporary, folks are more likely to listen." Tandy looked at me with the sparkle in her eyes that always meant she had a gambit she was trying to convince us of. Some plot that was going to be glorious or end up with Leo and me in the hot seat. "Then," she gave me her quirky smile. "We blew the city up ourselves."

  Uh... That wasn't exactly the type of city-saving plan I was expecting.

  "We what?!" Pop's voice raised two octaves, and I didn't blame the man.

  In a much calmer voice than I felt, I prodded my friend on, "Why would we blow it up ourselves?"

  "First," she held up her index finger. "A temporary evacuation should be an easy order that folks would obey. They won't mess with their stuff because they'll reasonably think that after the quake they'll be returning home. Even if they're scared their building is going to fall over, they'll keep it to essentials." I couldn't fault her logic.

  "Second," she brought her middle finger out. "We're going to have a real problem keeping people out of the city if it's still there after the evacuation. If we're not tackling the [Corruption] head on, this is the only way we can make sure we keep everyone away from it after the evacuation. We know the city's falling, but it could take a week, a month, or even a year. This way, the city collapses on our timeline for our purposes."

  It made a sickening type of sense. For not the first time, I was glad it was Tandy that came up with the plans.

  "Finally," Tandy put her hand down. This time she looked at each of us. "This is the only reasonable way we might take out the Fire Wyrm, Rock Slug, and their army. If nothing else, we trap them in the mountains and limit their spill onto the plains. If we're lucky, they get crushed under the weight of the city."

  A silence fell over the study. The burble and pop of the lava were the only ambient noise.

  "It won't work." The [Archmage] had crossed his arms, a sure sign he was going to dig in.

  "Why?" Tandy had crossed her own arms as they entered a stare-off.

  Pops blinked first.

  "Because your goal is to have the people of Cersapil survive, right?" Tandy nodded at his obvious statement. "Then it won't work. You're going to dump the entire population of a city the size of Cersapil into the wilderness with no resources and expect them to survive?" The old man shook his head. "They'll be dead within a month."

  Tandy opened her mouth to protest, but the words dried in her throat. She saw what I saw. The old man was right.

  Shit.

  A granite footstep thumped against the stairs. I looked over, frowning, it was an odd moment for Argin to decide to ascend up into her home. The Stone Warden, however, was still, her head tilted up, face frozen in awe.

  Another granite footstep, the iron spiral stairs shook as something heavy descended.

  Pop’s breath caught in his throat as the heavy steps brought a woman into view. Her stone was gray speckled with black, and she had the same hawk nose as Argin. She moved methodically, as though years of disuse had stolen her agility.

  "Dianne," Pops whispered. His voice, a gentle breeze breathing life back into the room, announced the miracle of the Stone Warden returned to life.

  The woman smiled, then opened her mouth to talk.

  She let out a dusty, wracking cough. Pounding on her chest, she gave us a wry smile.

  "Excuse me, it's been a while. We'll help the refugees. Shelter, rebuilding. The Stone Wardens will return to help."

  Meredeath moved quickly as Betula, the second Stone Warden, took a breath.

  The ancient wardens of Cersapil had returned.

  Stumbling Up will be stubbing book 1 the week of March 1st (Chapter 1-71)

  Also, I'll be attending Jordan Con and LitRPG Con as a panelist this year! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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