The third branch was different from the others.

Where the first two tunnels had twisted through the earth, the third one rarely varied in direction, and while it was not as well-lit as the stone-paved corridors of the dungeon, the tunnel contained noticeably more patches of glowing mushrooms than the others.

After a few minutes of slow but careful exploration I began to cautiously hope that the third branch at least would be different. But that hope was quickly dashed.

The tunnel ahead had widened into a large cavern as its two sidewalls extended further and further apart from each other. The cavern was the largest expanse of space I had yet seen in the dungeon. Its roof arched high overhead and was dotted with luminous crystals that bathed the cave in blue light.

But that was not made me pause. It was the murmur of voices that did. There were people up ahead. I had finally caught up to some of my fellow candidates.

Immediately, I dropped deeper into my crouch, making sure I remained concealed. I was not such a fool as to assume those ahead would look on me kindly.

Better to learn more of them before I reveal myself, I thought.

Tiptoeing forward, I inspected the area ahead more carefully. Despite its size, the cavern appeared full. There had to be a few dozen candidates within it at least. My brows drew down. What were so many of them doing together? None of the parties that I had observed entering the dungeon had been this large.

Even more puzzling, the candidates did not seem to be on the move. Amongst the crowd of people, I spied bedrolls and tents. Even ignoring the mystery of where the candidates had gotten all their gear, I didn’t understand why they would be resting. It hadn’t been that long since we’d entered the dungeon after all.

It also didn’t escape my notice that all the candidates were better equipped now. I saw dwarves in full—if battered—plate armor, elves in brown leather hides and carrying longbows, humans in chainmail, and mages of all kinds sporting robes and bearing staffs.

There was a distinct undead presence in the candidates’ camp, too. Bone bats winged aloft, mindless zombies shambled behind black-robed mages, and squads of skeletons roamed the camp.

As I drew closer, I began to pick out individual voices from the background noise.

“Hey! Gimme that, that’s mine!”

“Haha. Not anymore.”

“…long are we going to wait?”

“Until Saben gives the word…”

“…how much for that skillbook?”

“More than you can afford.”

“…think they’ll give in to Saben’s demands?”

“Nah. Morin and her crew are too stubborn by far. They’ll...”

“…do with the prisoners when we leave?”

“Torture them, I guess.”

The snippets of overheard conversations were intriguing, and left me with the impression that candidates had formed into factions—factions that didn’t seem well-disposed to each other.

The mention of ‘prisoners’ had disturbed me too, and inching even closer to the mass of candidates, I focused more intently on the pair that had spoken of them. They were on the perimeter of the camp themselves and seemed to have deliberately drawn away from the others.

“We can’t let him hurt them!” the first said, sounding distressed. The one who had spoken was a dwarf clad in heavy plate armor. Tufts of his black beard poked through his helm and his voice rumbled when he spoke.

“Keep your voice down!” hissed the second. She was wiry human woman dressed in leather armor. “If any of Saben’s goons hear you speak that way, they’ll take it for mutiny and we’ll both end up with the others.”

“But they are our friends, Soya,” the dwarf protested.

The woman—Soya—sighed. “I know, Jah,” she said, lowering her voice. “But what can we do? Saben is too strong to oppose. Even if all of us ‘pledged’ band together, we can’t overcome his thugs. No, the best chance the prisoners have at life is to pledge themselves to our glorious leader as well.”

Jah fell silent and swung his head to stare at something on his left. Following his gaze, I saw a bedraggled group of candidates in the camp’s center that I had failed to notice before. Unlike the others in the camp, this group of about ten wore no armor, and bore no weapons, and more tellingly, their hands and feet were bound in thick ropes.

The prisoners, I thought. Even as I watched six well-armed fighters walked up to the group, and without any exchange of words or gestures that I could see, began beating them.

Bare fists met soft flesh, and hard capped boots crunched into defenseless bodies. One after the other, the prisoners were left writhing on the floor, but still the beatings did not stop. Only when all the prisoners were senseless with pain did the brutes walk away, but not before spitting contemptuously at their victims.

My gaze flicked back to Jah and Soya. All color had drained from the pair’s faces, and the dwarf clenched his axe in a white-knuckled grip. Yet neither rushed to the prisoners’ aid.

“You know most will never bow to Saben’s will,” the dwarf said, breath heaving with emotion as he resumed his conversation with Soya.

“I know,” the woman said softly.

Meanwhile the thugs had formed a line a little way away from their victims. Their leader—an imposing half-giant—raised his head. “This is what happens to those who follow Morin!” he shouted. “Those of you thinking to rebel: don’t.” He sneered. “Or do, and let me crush your worthless hides.” Turning on his heel, he disappeared into the camp’s interior.

The dwarf watched the retreating half-giant for a moment before turning back to his companion. “Maybe Morin will save us.”

Soya snorted. “Don’t count on it. She’s tried once already and failed. She’s just lucky her people managed to get themselves killed in the effort. Otherwise, they would be in the same boat we are in right now.”

“But what if—” the dwarf began.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

My head snapped around at the Game message. A few yards to my right, a shambling zombie was peering with befuddlement in my direction.

Damn, I cursed. I had moved too close to the camp and had attracted the attention of one of the undead. The shadows in which I had concealed myself were still dense enough to hide my presence, but staying here any longer was too risky.

Keeping a wary eye on the zombie, I slipped away. It was time to decide my next move.