“You can… see them? From here?” Mike whispered. “How?” The dwarf turned his head to look behind him, but the glow of the waystone interfered with his racial darkvision. Mike’s face twisted in pain, as even that short movement took its toll on his already battered and weakened body.

Ben hardly gave his friend a second glance, his mind already racing with possibilities. He knew he should be more interested in Mike’s obvious distress, but the discovery of the Ratkin and the possible battle served to push aside the thoughts of Mike’s disturbing story. Ben was glad for that; Mike being here, in this VD dungeon with him, felt to him like an unjust intrusion in his personal adventure. He was building something, leading his companions in a quest for power, enjoying the dangers and mystique of the game. He did not need his best friend to tell him he needed help, and the knowledge that his real life was haunting him made him angry. He felt his blood rushing in his veins as his anger turned into a desire for violence.

The scout ignored Mike’s question, turning to his VD friends instead. “I saw eight Ratkin,” he reported quietly and continued to tell them what else he learned about the monsters’ capabilities. As he did, a thought occurred to him and he cursed softly. “They have a scout with the same power as me.” He could see in his mind’s eye the creature staring toward the direction of the waystone - but now that he thought of it, there was a blank look in the half-breed’s feral eyes, not unlike the look he himself got when using Hawk Eye. “As far as I know, they already know all of us are here, just as we know about them.”

Red cursed as well. “That ruins our chances of surprise,” he muttered.

Shiraz stepped forward. “Not necessarily,” said the shadow mage. “I am positive I can shadow-sneak behind them and make them think we’re on the other side of the boulders. When they come searching, the rest of you can sneak on them and attack.”

“I can help with that too,” said Milenna. “I have a brand new illusion spell that I’m itching to try.”

Ben was nodding, seeing the plan unfolding before his eyes. “Perfect,” he whispered. “When they turn their back on us I’ll use the wand. With luck, most of them would perish in that one blast. The rest should fall easily to Red’s sword.”

The mercenary grinned upon hearing that, his hand already gripping the hilt of his named longsword. Ben grinned back and was about to initiate the plan, but Mike’s cough distracted him. The dwarf somehow managed to push himself to his feet and now he stood weakly, leaning against the waystone with one hand and on his heavy mace with the other.

Ben’s oldest friend locked blood-shot eyes with him. “You seem... to forget something,” he said in his strange mountain dwarf’s thick accent. His words came out in a wheeze as he struggled to regain his breath. “You didn’t… mention the necromancer. I don’t suppose you saw him with yer… power?”

Ben frowned. He did overlook that part of Mike’s story. “I didn’t,” he admitted. He wished he could use his scout’s power again and look for the death mage, but the cooldown hadn’t yet elapsed. He could wait a few more minutes, of course, but with a group of enemies lurking so close to their location, he was hesitant to lose time. Finally, he shrugged. “If he’s here and he makes himself known, we’ll deal with him too.” Ben knew it wasn’t the smartest thing he could say, but he was eager for the fight to commence - and he didn’t like Mike giving him advice.

The dying dwarf straightened as best he could. “So be it,” he said. His hand shook as he struggled to lift the heavy mace, but he succeeded - to a certain degree. The bloody tip of the heavy weapon rose a few inches above the floor and Mike - Yitro Stone Crusher - pushed himself away from the waystone with all the dignity he could muster. “I will fight alongside ya,” he said and gave a bloody smile. “To me dying breath.”

Ben examined his RL friend turned dwarven warrior. The sight of him, standing beside him with blood smeared on his face and weapon, giving his shit-faced grin, stirred a different kind of emotion in him. He suddenly realized that he had a chance to make an old dream come true. How many times did he and Mike fantasize about actually living the parts of their D&D characters? That instead of rolling dice and imagining a well-executed fight, they would charge together and deal actual death to their enemies? Looking at Yitro, Ben felt his anger once again give way to excitement - which quickly turned into despair as the dwarf lost his strength again and fell to one knee.

Ben cursed and took a step forward to support his longtime friend. “A noble gesture,” he told him, “but you have only five more hit points and can barely stand. Let us deal with these rats while you remain here. Maybe the mage who cursed you will show himself and then we’ll kill him too and your curse will be gone and we’ll heal you - “

Mike started to say something, but the two men were interrupted by Milenna. The raven-haired sorceress was holding her spellbook and her lips curled in a small smile. “I have a better idea,” she said and raised her head to meet Mike’s eyes. “I cannot heal you, but I have another spell that might help. Energize. It gives a serious stamina boost and may even revoke your weakened status.” Her delicate eyebrows rose in her best haughty manner. “That is, if you’re still willing to fight?”

Mike could only stare at the too-beautiful-to-believe woman. He then blinked, which was enough for Milenna. Ben chuckled to himself and took a step back to give room for the sorceress to do her business. As he did, Shiraz lightly touched his shoulder. “That was quite the story,” she said in a low voice. Ben looked at her and his eyes widened a bit when she came close enough to press her body against his. He wasn’t sure if it was a conscious move on her part, or if the shadow mage was just trying to be close enough so their conversation would remain private, but the result was the same: red cheeks and rapid heartbeats.

“I think,” whispered Shiraz, “that I keep underestimating you. I think,” she added, stretching the word, “that this whole quest revolves around you. And I think,” she said again and pressed just a little bit closer - if that was possible - “that I want to meet you. The real you.”

Ben’s vortex of conflicting emotions stopped for a frozen moment at that point, as the implications of what Shiraz said sank in. Did he hear her right? He inclined his head to look into her hazel eyes. “You mean you want to see me after we log - “

He didn’t get to finish, as a mighty roar caused all of them to jump in alarm. The alarm was unwarranted, though; as Ben looked he saw Yitro Stone Crusher once again standing, but this time there was no sign of weakness in the dwarf’s posture. Mike held his two-handed heavy weapon with sure hands and his face was split in a savage grin. “You did it, lass!” he cried, a bit overdoing the dwarven speech in Ben’s opinion. “I could kiss ya - “ The dwarf started toward the sorceress, who in turn gave him such a dangerous look that he stopped and laughed. “Okay then, no kisses! How about a good fight then? I have four minutes before I’m dead, let’s make good use of ‘em.”

Ben winced as Mike’s booming laughter echoed throughout the cavern, but there was no time for rebuke. Now was time for action. The scout gave Shiraz a look that promised a continuation of their conversation and turned to the others. “Let’s do it.”

**

Ikzim snarled. The Ratkin party leader never liked to wait, especially when adventurers were involved, and this time was no different. “Well?” she whispered from her position behind a massive boulder, looking up. “What of it? Are they coming this way or not?” Her scout’s previous report - that the thieving dwarf was now joined by four more adventurers - was received with a nearly open mutiny among her cowardly minions, and Ikzim cursed herself for letting the damnable idiot speak freely. It was only through her reputation as a fierce leader - and the threat that the necromancer would hear of their cowardice - that kept the kin standing ground.

Before the scout could answer, the cavern was filled with the sound of a booming and echoing laughter. Ikzim’s little rat eyes widened as she recognized the sound, knowing all too well what a mountain dwarf’s laughter sounded like. The wretched dwarves were, after all, one of the Ratkin’s most hated enemies; her clan lost too many of their members as the greedy dwarves dug deep into the mountain in search of profitable veins of silver.

As soon as the laughter died away, her scout slid down from his boulder and joined her. “They are sssstill around the Life-Giver,” he reported in a hiss. “I can’t use my power again, but I am sure they didn’t move. What should we do?” He sounded anxious as his twitching ears indicated.

Ikzim showed him her sharp teeth as she snarled again. “Go back to your rock. Ready your arrows. All of you!” She commanded in a loud hiss of her own. “The plan hasn’t changed. We just have a few more heroes to kill, is all.” Ikzim was sure they would come. Adventurers always did stupid things like that - they would follow the blood of the cursed dwarf and come right into arrow range. One of her rangers had a special power that made his arrows explode with devastating mana, and that would take care of the fools before they even realized what hit them. Then it would be an easy matter of finishing them off.

Even as she thought that, Ikzim growled to herself. She didn’t rise to be a leader of such a large group by believing any encounter would be easy. Five adventurers were not a small challenge, and who knew what kind of surprises that might throw at her? She touched a certain item that hung from her belt and growled again. If things went bad, she had surprises of her own. She only hoped that the necromancer would come as he promised, so she wouldn’t have to use her precious item. Up until then the half-elf was good to his word, but Ikzim knew him for less than a day and she was still not entirely sure of his motives.

A hiss came from the scout. “Leader Ikzim!”

The alarm in his voice was enough for the Ratkin party leader to abandon her safe spot and jump onto the boulder. She easily landed next to the scout, her high dexterity giving her near-perfect balance. Her paws made no sound as she crouched on the rock next to her loyal minion. “What is it!”

The scout was pointing - but not in the direction of the glowing Life-Giver. His clawed finger was gesturing in the opposite direction, toward the deep black of the tunnels. Ikzim followed his gesture, her eyes easily seeing through the darkness. Then she gasped. There was movement! She could clearly see a shadowy figure trying to sneak away, and there were more shadows next to the figure, although less defined. And next to them… her rat’s mustache quivered in anger. Standing between the shadows was the dwarf! How could it be? How did they pass? It didn’t matter. If the dwarf and his new friends escaped, the necromancer would not be pleased. And she would not get her shiny coins.

Ikzim turned toward the rest of her minions that were scattered among the boulders. “The other way!” She motioned frantically with her hands. “Back toward the tunnels! Shoot them! Quickly! Gerbil, mark the dwarf!”

It was a well-practiced tactic of the Ratkin party; one of her rangers used a unique power to mark a favored enemy, and immediately after the rest of the archers honed in on the marked target, gaining bonuses to their aim and damage.

Gerbil did as commanded. The Ratkin - a level 3 ranger - quickly aimed with his longbow and released. The tip of his arrow glowed red as the shaft arced toward the form of the sneaky dwarf. Ikzim smiled as she saw the arrow hitting the target - but then her smile wavered. Something wasn’t right. Instead of hearing the satisfying cry of pain, all she could hear was a clank as the arrow hit the cavern’s wall. The dwarf kept his slow walk toward the tunnels - he didn’t even seem to notice he was being shot at! While Ikzim’s sharp mind registered that abnormality, her archers were not so bright - none of them thought something was amiss, and they raised their bows to release a barrage of deadly arrows toward the still glowing arrowhead.

At that exact moment, Ikzim’s sharp ears heard a sound from a completely different direction - a footstep against the gravel on the floor. That, together with intuition that saved her life more than once, screamed at her to move. So she did. The agile half-breed used both her powerful legs and even her strong tail to push herself off the boulder - and jumped far and behind the group of rocks.

Three things happened in the course of the next second.

First, the Ratkin’s archers completed their planned attack and five arrows sailed through the air toward the escaping adventurers.

A fraction of second after, as the arrows completed half the distance, the darkness of the cavern was gone in a burst of purple illumination - as a large ball of purple energy suddenly appeared in the midst of the kin.

Just then Ikzim landed on her hands and feet a few feet away and raised her furry head, the purple ball reflected in her black pupils.

Another second passed.

The arrows reached their target. One of them was charged with a ranger’s special power and exploded upon impact in a resounding BOOM. Waves of mana burst from it in a wide circle, and a woman cried in pain. The other four arrows were also true to their aim but found only shadows and walls. The image of the dwarf vanished from sight.

Then the purple energy ball exploded as well, adding to the ruckus. Ikzim watched in horror as the necrotic fire was unleashed against three of her minions. Two of them were vaporized and dead in a heartbeat, whereas the third was thrown in the air like a ragdoll, screaming in agony. The remaining four kin - three fighters and a rogue - were saved from the blast simply because they were standing behind boulders large enough to give them cover.

Ikzim understood her mistake all too late. From her new position she could see three of the heroes - the wretched dwarf, and two male humans - charging at them from their original location, not far away from the Life-Giver. She had been duped! The Ratkin screamed in fury - and fear. She was fierce alright, but she was also wise enough to know that their odds of survival had just dropped significantly. With her rangers and scout dead, they would have to engage in melee and these adventurers looked well-armed. And thirsty for blood. Should they run?

Ikzim opened her mouth to shout the command for a retreat but stopped as another shout reached her ears - this one coming from the wretched mountain dwarf. “Come and get me, filthy shit-eaters! I’ll finish ya off, you miserable flea-bitten Ercheen!” The last word he stretched, adding insult to injury.

Ikzim snarled, forgetting her desire to escape. This mountain dwarf would pay! “Kin!” She cried out. “Attack!”

Her four minions - no less enraged by the disgusting curse word that was spoken in their language - jumped from their hidden position and landed lightly on their paws, weapons in hands. As for Ikzim, she waited for another two seconds before joining the fight - a time she took to tear her special item from its pouch and throw it on the cavern’s floor, where a white mist immediately started to gather. Then the Ratkin party leader screamed again and drew her twin curved blades.

**

At first, it seemed to Ben that their plan would be perfectly executed. Shiraz and Milenna proved to be a well-suited team for deception: Shiraz converged her shadows around her, while Milenna conjured a perfect duplicate of Yitro Stone Crusher - and magically attached the illusion to the shadow mage, promising it would hold for a range of 150 feet from the sorceress - far enough for their purposes. Then Shiraz enveloped the illusion in shadows to hide it and prepared to shadow-jump away from there.

Before she did, Ben and the others had bound themselves to the waystone. Unlike the first waystone they encountered, this one had no special rewards or quests and Ben had questioned the need to waste time on it, but Milenna reminded him that it would be their new resurrection point and he realized she was right. They each touched the stone and were enveloped in its white light for a brief second, and it was done.

After that, it was only a matter of waiting until Shiraz drew the attention of the Ratkin. Ben drew his crossbow while he waited, notching an iron bolt. He had only 11 bolts remaining - not too many, but enough to take care of the lousy rats. Then he held the crossbow with his off-hand and drew Thronderfeen’s wand with his main one. The powerful weapon had 7 charges left - he’d used it twice in the fight with the stirges, and he was far enough from the Sphere of Undead Power - more than a hundred feet - so he lost another charge. Ben didn’t intend to use it more than once in this particular fight, though.

Then the time came. Ben wasn’t sure this part of the plan would work, as they weren’t engaged in a fight yet, but it seemed the rules for his new Leadership Power were flexible enough to agree that sneaking past enemies was as good as charging at them. Or maybe it was Ben’s unquestionable intention to kill the monsters. Whatever the reason, the Power worked, and Shiraz’s voice suddenly filled his mind. Her telepathic message was short and to the point:

They noticed me. Move.

Ben marveled for only a bit at this new form of communication but wasted no more time. Good job, he communicated. We’re coming. Join us when they charge.

Milenna stayed behind - she had a low Stealth score and didn’t want to ruin everything by being noticed. The sorceress promised she would make herself useful again after the battle commenced. So it was that Ben, Red, and Yitro - Ben had made up his mind to call his friend by his VD name - that crept away from the waystone and toward the intended ambush site of the Ratkin.

The one thing none of them took into account while they devised the plan was the Red Mercenary's inability to see in complete darkness. Yitro and Ben had Darkvision, but Red was as good as blind as soon as they left the light of the waystone. Ben realized it after a few steps. He just noticed a barrage of arrows fly toward the other side of the boulders when he felt Red’s hand gripping his armor, as the mercenary was suddenly lost in the dark. This caused the scout to miss a step - and his foot slipped along the gravel on the floor.

That moment in the game had initiated a DM’s initiative check. Ben was the second-highest, losing only to the Ratkin’s party leader. A split second after his foot slipped and made the revealing sound, Ben caught sight of a leaping Ratkin, bouncing away from the rocks. The scout was already moving at this point - he raised his wand and fired, aiming at the center of the Ratkin’s party.

His aim was true - but not as efficient as he had hoped. Ben’s initial plan was to sneak to a position where all of the Ratkin would be exposed, and having to fire before he reached that position left several of the creatures hidden. Still, the result was more than satisfying: his ball of necrotic fire crossed the 50 feet in a heartbeat and exploded with a sound that swallowed the previous explosion they all heard, unleashing its purple death.

Seeing the Ratkin destroyed so easily, Ben had a sudden inspiration - triggered by his hidden knowledge of Raxlon’s world. He was nearly positive that the cowardly Ratkin would be frightened into escaping - but that was not to be. Searching his mind, the scholar found the information he needed. He grabbed the dwarf and spoke right into his friend’s hairy ear to be heard over the Ratkin’s screams. Yitro grinned in response - and when they charged, he shouted the curse word he’d just learned with as much venom as he could muster.

Ben didn’t know if the curse had anything to do it, but the next thing he saw was four Ratkin charging at them across the open plateau that led to the boulders. He took aim, intending to finish off one of the rogues, but stopped when he heard Shiraz’s voice in his mind.

They are summoning something! Watch out!

The shadow mage’s voice sounded strained as if she was in pain, but her warning served its purpose: Ben’s finger froze before he squeezed the trigger and he searched his surroundings. He saw it immediately: white mist rose next to the boulders and even as he watched, a nightmarish creature appeared out of the smoke. On first impression, it looked like a six-foot-long giant rat, with red eyes and claws as sharp as swords. On second impression it looked… well, like a fucking giant rat with red eyes. Which was charging at them at tremendous speed. He identified it.

Giant Demonic Rat, Level 6 It’s huge, It’s angry, It’s stupidly strong. Once this hellish creature is summoned from its plane of existence, it will attack anything that is not-rat without pause or thought. Having no special powers of note, it relies on its brute strength and mass to sustain injuries as it devours its enemies with its teeth and claws. HP: 182 Damage: unknown Special Attack: unknown

182 freaking hit points was enough to convince Ben to change his intended target. A shout of alarm and pure adrenaline escaped his lips as he raised his Crossbow of Skewering and pressed the trigger. His aim was a bit off and if his foe was any smaller he would have missed, but the rat was huge. The demonic monster was 20 feet away when the small iron bolt penetrated its shoulder, disappearing inside its massive body and taking a respectable 20 points of damage. The creature shrieked in pain and anger and was slowed for a fraction of second, but it did not stop. Next to it, a furious Ratkin with two scimitars was running toward the scout as well.

Ben’s eyes widened as he fumbled to load the crossbow with another bolt. The sight of the huge rat storming his way was enough to make him lose concentration and the bolt slipped from his sweaty fingers. The scout fell to one knee, frantically searching for the bolt on the floor.

Beside him, a white glow announced the activation of the magic of Red’s shield. Two throwing daggers bounced off the shield, and Red used his new Captain America Power in retaliation. The thrown shield crossed the short distance to the Ratkin rogue who tried to strike the human with its daggers - and promptly beheaded the poor low-level creature. As the shield bounced back to the mercenary, it was covered in blood and gore. Red roared in triumph even as the head of the Ratkin rolled on the floor, and charged with his sword raised high, to meet head-on two of the Ratkin fighters that closed the distance.

Yitro was also busy. A third level Ratkin fighter jumped on the dwarf with a spear, using a special fighter power of his own. The spear whirled in uncanny speed, hitting the already wounded dwarf in three different places before the fighter finished its attack. Fortunately for Yitro, his heavy armor took the worst of the blows and he lost only 1 health. Unfortunately for him, he had only three points of health to begin with. Unfortunately for the Ratkin, Mike was feeling no pain at this point - Milenna’s Energize spell turned him into an adrenaline machine, and his imminent death made him ignore small problems like mortal wounds. As soon as the Ratkin finished its move, Yitro answered with his own attack, swinging his heavy mace with unstoppable force. The spiked head of the mace crashed against the leather armor of the Ratkin, throwing the creature a few good feet backward and critically wounding it.

By this time, the huge demonic rat had nearly reached Ben - who managed to find the bolt, but realized he was not going to load the weapon in time. Eh, Shiraz? He thought frantically with his Psychic Battle Communication Power. Now would be a good time to HEEEELP!

Hold on! Came the urgent reply. We’re coming -

But then the giant rat was upon him and Ben saw a foot-long claw heading his way. The scout rolled to the side, barely escaping a death blow - the sharp claws of the monster left three gauges on the floor where the scout had been a moment ago. Unfortunately for Ben, his roll brought him right to the feet of the Ratkin’s leader - who didn’t waste the opportunity and slashed down with both scimitars. One of the blades found only his newfound armor, but the other cut deeply into Ben’s thigh and he felt a searing pain.

You were hit! Ratkin fighter hits you with 6 points of slashing damage.

Ben screamed and tried to jump to his feet, but the giant rat thought this was a good time to take a good bite off this miserable human, and the next second found Ben’s entire left shoulder and half of his arm inside the huge rodent’s mouth.

You were hit! Giant Demonic Rat hits you with 13 points of piercing and crushing damage. Be warned! Your HP is at 50% or less. You should probably take cover or something. You are bleeding. Treat your wounds or suffer 1 HP loss every 30 seconds.

Ben wondered how come he was once again seeing his enemies from such a close distance. I must be doing something wrong, he thought and activated his Pause The Game! Power. Time froze and Ben - who nearly lost consciousness from the intense pain - found himself examining up close the huge head of a drooling monster that was in the process of eating him alive.

Moving his eyes from the gruesome spectacle, the scout noticed two other important things. The first was the Ratkin with the twin scimitars - that instead of using the chance to finish Ben off was in the process of looking over her shoulder. The second was the beautiful sight of Milenna, who stood a bit further away with her staff raised. A bolt of lightning zigzagged out of the staff, frozen in time as it sped toward the Ratkin.

Ben idly wondered if the rescue came too late for him. He was, after all, being chewed up by a creature from hell. Ben mentally shrugged and did the only thing that might save him - as the time of his Tactics Power elapsed, the young death mage used his Death Aura spell, siphoning one health point from the monster in the process.

For the giant rat, the loss of 1 HP was negligible. But for the grievously wounded scout, the addition of 5 points to his defense was enough to keep him alive for just a bit more time under the crushing force of the rat’s teeth.

“Got you!” said a sweet voice from behind, and Ben felt himself being pulled away from the grasp of the rat. Some of his skin was left behind, but at this point, Ben didn’t mind. The scout let Shiraz pull him further away. Then he watched her as she leaped back into the fray, her hands becoming a blur as she conjured a cloud of disorienting shadows around the enraged rat. At the same time, Milenna’s lightning bolt struck the Ratkin female fighter, stunning her and throwing her off her feet.

Ben groaned, rising to one knee and gulping the last of his healing potion. As the potion did its rejuvenating job, the scout resigned himself to watch while his friends circled and battled the demonic monster. Red and Yitro finished off the last of the Ratkin and charged at the giant rat with gusto, exploiting its confusion from the shadows and dealing blow after blow on its massive body. Shiraz shadow-jumped around it, slashing with her shadow dagger and adding her own share of damage, while Milenna kept her distance - I should learn from her - and stood ready with her staff in case someone needed aid.

The giant monster was enraged beyond measure at this point and it went berserk, slashing everywhere with his claws and managing to land a few serious blows against both Red and Shiraz. But the rat couldn’t hold on for much longer against so many foes. It finally collapsed after Red used his unique weapon power - the same one the mercenary used against the first Guardian Skeleton they had met. The power that the sword unleashed shaved nearly 50 points of damage from the rat, which screamed and fell on its belly, unable to keep standing and making pitiful squeaking sounds.

Ben was reminded once again of the Princess Bride and the perfect scene where the R.O.U.S was slain by Westley after it screeched pitifully. This time it was a battered and grim-looking dwarf who dealt the dying blow. Yitro Stone Crusher, a tough old mountain dwarf with only 1 point of health remaining, came to stand over the large head of the monster and raised his mace with bloody hands. “This beats any D&D game I ever played,” he said - and swung his mace with all the force of his energized muscles. The heavy weapon crushed against the rat’s head, which cracked open like an overripe melon, spraying blood, brain, and gore all around.

Yitro sighed and sank to his knees next to his vanquished foe, the mace falling from his hands. Ben, realizing what was happening, felt his heart hammering against his chest as he rushed to his friend. He grabbed the dwarf’s shoulders and looked into his eyes.

Yitro smiled. “What a scene,” he said, and blood gushed out from his mouth. “We have to tell Noah about it, he’ll love it.”

Ben began to smile back, but something held him back. The name of Noah - his real-life DM - surfaced a certain recent memory, of a conversation held around a table with his friends. He looked at Yitro, and thought of Mike.

The dwarf saw his friend’s expression and mistook it for concern. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I will respawn next to this necromancer, wherever he is. Then you can come find me - “

But Ben wasn’t listening. Instead, his fingers pressed deeply into Mike’s shoulders and he leaned very close to him. “Why did you meet with Mistress R?” he whispered, all the joy gone from his expression. “And why didn’t you tell me about it?”

For the first time since he met Mike by the waystone, Ben saw true alarm in his friend’s eyes. For a moment - a frightening moment - Mike looked trapped, uncertain. As if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. The dwarf raised his hand to grab Ben’s neck with fingers sticky with blood and pulled him even closer, until the dwarf’s mouth brushed against the scout’s ear.

“Trust no one,” whispered Mike.

The dwarf died, and disappeared.