Mysterious woman

"I'm sorry about your subordinates, but this gives me renewed optimism for the rest of my companions." Jake blurted out tactlessly.

Inwardly, however, his thoughts were quite different,

'I hope none of them are stupid enough to explore that fourth floor...'

[Even if they do, help should be on the way. We've been in this dungeon for almost a day now. Maybe they're even here already.]

Alas, Jake wasn't the only one whose curiosity and the promise of power and juicy rewards could drive to do foolish things against all common sense. Elsewhere in the snowy dunes, where an endless blizzard was raging, another group was also about to cross the point of no return.

*****