Carefully, for now. . .

You might be the strongest thing around, but that doesn't mean you're anything more than a speck in the grander scheme of things. Rather than try to bend Madi to your will, you decide to instead give just the slightest of pushes to help solidify the fledgling doubts she has concerning her goddess.

"So," she says, excitement barely concealed as she looks around the sparse living quarters you now call home. "What now?"

"Now," you say slowly, thinking of a plan. "You go back to the surface, and convince the others that came with you that you managed to escape. You won't be able to uphold your end of our deal if people suspect you of helping me."

Madi nods, accepting what you tell her. "I wish I could get stronger as well," she sighs, and you suppress a grin. "That way I can keep up with anyone I guide down here."

"Why can't you?" You ask. Heroes increase their strength all the time, it's one of the main reasons monsters like you end up caught in a never-ending cycle of life and ****.

Madi's expression goes through a range of emotions; from sadness, to bitterness, to rage, to distrust, to grief, to shame as she averts her eyes and scowls at the newly constructed pitfall. "None of your business!" She snaps. "We might be working together, but we are by no means friends. You're still a monster, and I'm still a priestess of Anari. "

Your first instinct is to put her in her place, but you quell your indignation and resist the temptation to bind her once more in a multitude of shadows. Instead, you take a deep breath, and raise your hands in a sign of surrender.

"You're right, I'm sorry," you say soothingly. "I'm little more than a creature of shadows and evil who happened to get lucky. I'll make sure not to overstep my bounds next time."

You watch as a brief flash of guilt flickers through her eyes, before she steels herself and turns around with a huff, nearly falling into your newly constructed pitfall on her way out. You watch her leave and breathe a sigh of relief before turning back to your crafting table. You stare at it and your furnace for several minutes, planning your next move before deciding on turning your shadows to chipping away at the walls that surround you, expanding your area of influence just a little bit more. You use the chipped away stone to slowly carve yourself some rudimentary tools which float through you the shadows surrounding you and get to work lightening the load as you use the darkness of your humble abode as your personal labor ****. Eventually, a piece of stone is removed that uncovers something that fills the air with a dull tink when your primitive shovel and pick axe make contact with it. Excitement fills you as you rush to uncover the newly discovered material, but the sound of rattling on the other side of your door forces you to pause. You could rush to uncover the material, and let your traps deal with the intruders, or you could wait and prepare yourself for battle, risking the incoming heroes catch sight of something they might decide is worth coming back over and over to collect.