Prompt: The silence of the dungeon is interrupted by a startling cry; the unmistakable scream of a Courser in agony echoes from a side passage. It sounds close by, but does not form words to answer any questions. Your party must decide whether to forge on or risk losing time (or worse) by seeking the source of the noise.

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Their last campaign had once again ended in failure, but they were just happy that no one had been hurt during that attempt.

After the group heard the large CRACK from the skull Cordula had leapt back up onto the skull to see if they had succeeded. The sword had indeed moved, but it had only made the situation worse. It was buried further into the skull and the blade now cracking. One more strong pull and the handle would have come right off. There was no way to pull the sword out or move it without completely breaking it. There was no way it was going to break the skull either.
“Well, that settles that. We’ll head back and continue to find a way down,” Jin said.
The others all nodded in response.
They left the chamber behind and headed back down the tunnel with Paladin in the back this time and Jin leading the way. Leaving the tunnel Jin realized they had almost been cornered. Leaving the view of the monsters had not made them lose interest. They were now climbing the slope towards them, any longer and they would have flooded the tunnel behind them.
“Monsters!” Jin called behind him, hurrying up the path the way they had come to get out of the way.
Cordula came out of the tunnel after him, but turned towards the monster instead of following Jin. Rearing, they deterred them briefly, making the hoard freeze long enough for Majesty and Paladin to make their way out. Paladin turned to help Cordula, the two knocking monsters who got too close over the edge and back into the pit in which they had crawled out from. Jin and Majesty made sure they were going the right way, looking for any other means of stopping the monsters behind them. The two knew well that Cordula and Paladin could not hold them off indefinitely.
“There!” Majesty yelled.
Looking to where she motioned Jin saw a pile of stone that could easily be sent tumbling.
“Keep backing up this way!” Jin called to the battling coursers.
They were too busy to reply but they continued to make their way up the path, knocking back monsters and sending them careening off the cliff where they could. The numbers never seemed to end.
Jin and Majesty had climbed the incline. It wasn’t a gentle incline but not steep enough to be impossible. Climbing parallel to the loose rocks and gravel they were about to take advantage of, but they were mainly after the slab right above it. Majesty reached it first and made her way to the far end of the slab. Jin took the side nearest to their climb.
“3… 2… Push!”
Together Jin and Majesty shoved the slab of stone. It broke free from where it was embedded and slid down the incline. Soon the slab was surfing on top of the landslide it created in its path. Pushing all the loose rocks and gravel the rockslide grew.
“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Majesty called down at full volume.
Cordula and Paladin were already running up the path and away from the carnage. They had heard the rumbling long before they heard Majesty.
The screeching and roars of the creatures behind them joined the cacophony of noise that echoed off the walls of the immense chamber. The creatures not caught up in the wave of rock and rubble clambered to get away, hoping to avoid the same fate as those tossed and crushed by the makeshift trap.
Cordula and Paladin stopped and waited for Jin and Majesty to carefully make their way down. All of them watched the end of the carnage with relief but also disappointment. Rock now blocked the trail down and they knew they would not be able to traverse this path on their next attempt.
“Well, we’ll worry about finding a way down next time. For now we should head out and regroup as well as tend to any injuries,” Jin said.
“Oh? You want to try again with the same team despite two failed attempts?” Majesty questioned, raising a brow.
“I don’t believe the team is the issue. We’ve just had a series of misfortunes and we are still coming to know each other. The more we understand one another, the better we will work as a team. And no one can be to blame for this failed attempt. We tried our best and the plan didn’t work. No one got hurt though.”
Cordula nodded in agreement with the chimeric weld courser.
“Well, I am honored to work with you all again!” Paladin chimed.
Majesty rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face while doing so.
“Guess if he’s in, I am too,” Majesty added.
“Then it is decided. We will recoup our energy, obtain some more supplies and make another attempt.”
With Jin’s statement, they left the dungeons behind and instead of splitting, they worked together to obtain what they needed for their next run. Closer to the day of their third attempt, they split for final preparations, meeting once more at the entrance to the tunnels leading into that section of the dungeon.

“Are we ready? Do we have everything?” Jin asked as the others met them at the entrance to the tunnels.
“I think we are good,” Cordula replied.
“Excellent, then let’s try this again, shall we.”
Jin led the way through the tunnel, avoiding the fork in the path with the strange skeletal courser that begged for eternity to join the parties that pass by. They enter the larger chamber where they can see the remains of the rockslide they had caused during their escape during the last attempt. The path was still blocked.
“We could head the other direction,” Cordula said.
Jin, Majesty, and Paladin looked in the opposite direction along the path.
“That leads upwards. Aren’t we trying to head down?” Paladin asked.
“Does it truly matter if we head up or down? This is a whole new section so exploring the path up could be just as lucrative as exploring the floor below,” Cordula replied.
“Just don’t fall. That’s a long drop,” Majesty chuckled, beginning to follow the path up.
Jin nodded and took up the rear while Cordula took the lead. Paladin was right behind the yellow courser with Majesty on his heels. The path led into another series of tunnels, leaving the large chamber behind once more. An eerie quiet befell them as not even the noises of the chamber behind them could be heard here.
“Well, this is haunting…” Paladin whispered.
“I like it,” Majesty replied with a grin.
“GRAAAAAAH!”
Paladin nearly jumped out of his skin while the other three coursers froze in their tracks. The sound was unmistakable but they could not pinpoint from where it was coming from.
“AHHHHOOOO!” the anguished cries grew louder.
“That doesn’t sound like the strange courser creature from before,” Jin remarked.
“That sounds like it could be another dungeoneer,” Cordula added, “maybe someone who got lost or tried to adventure down here alone?”
“We have to help them!”
Paladin tried to charge ahead, passing Cordula and hurrying down the tunnel.
“Stop you idiot!” Majesty yelled at him.
She was the quickest to respond, having stopped the stallion from making dumb decisions many times before. Lunging past the yellow courser who had been leading the way, the mare bit down on the stallion’s tail before he could get too far and sat on her haunches, putting all her weight into stopping the stallion’s charge.
“But they might need our help!”
“And it could also be a trap, like the courser-like creature from our first trip. We must proceed with caution,” Jin piped up, “I think Cordula should decide. They have a good head on their shoulders and they found this path. Do we turn off and follow the voice? Or ignore it and proceed onwards?”
Cordula debated, looking forward and locating the potential fork in the path. Screeches and wails of agony echoed from beyond the darkness.
“Hello?! Do you need help?” they called.
Only more screams were sent in response.
“Please! Were you attacked?”
Nothing once more but the sounds of anguish. No other sounds echoed from the deep tunnels. Sounds of scrapping, roars, or other animalistic calls would make sense in the case of a monster attack. They had heard no cave-ins but it could have happened some time before they entered the cavern. Cordula wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that if it was a courser that they might not be in the right state of mind to respond. Moving on could leave them with the lingering guilt of having potentially left a fellow courser to die, but on the other hand they could approach and possibly be faced with a deadly trap. There was also the possibility it was indeed another courser and they could save a life.
“I think we should…”