Cass woke up again to find herself on the ground in a tunnel. It was… Surprisingly warm, though not enough that she was actually comfortable. She sat up to see a small fire burning made from scraps of wood, and she was finally able to get her bearings. She had trouble remembering the flight from Vaila, Cass desperately hoped that they had grabbed the map or this was just a slower death sentence than what they left behind them.

“Hey, look who woke up. Did you enjoy your beauty sleep my Lady?” Rowig said sarcastically, and lucky for him, Cass did not feel well enough to hit him upside the head.

“I feel like I was thrown down the mountain head first.” Cass groaned, “I hate that fucking orb!”

“If it was the same thing that was used when you were brought to Beergmutar,” Odal commented from where he sat. “I am surprised you are awake. When you first arrived you were out for days.”

“I built a countermeasure against it,” Cass held out her bracelet so that it glinted in the firelight. “But it did not work as well as I hoped- hell, not even as well as I expected.”

“You are awake though,” Odal smiled. “So look on the bright side, if we can make it through this you will almost be home in Haj.”

“Did any of you know that the Vaila tribe also included mages in their ranks?” That oversight had cost Cass a lot of pain. Even with her countermeasure she could not resist that orb. A Magesbane Orb, a tool based on the plant that was anathema to mages. How did they even make something like that? Cass could not even imagine something like that existing, but it did and she hated it immensely.

“No, and it doesn’t matter now.” Rowig shrugged, “what matters is that we need to follow this map out. This place gives me the creeps.”

“Well, I can agree with that.” Cass sighed, she had wanted to avoid this route if she could but it did not seem that she would be given a choice. “Hey Nat, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

Cass figured that tone indicated that Natalie was anything but fine, but she wasn’t sure how to talk to her right now. Natalie had killed someone last night, and she was a far more innocent soul than Cass was.

“Hey Nat,” Cass said quietly to the young girl. “Thank you for last night. I know that it was hard for you, but you saved my life- and I appreciate it.”

Natalie nodded, and Cass didn’t think her words had quite reached the young girl, but it would take time. Her world has been changing so fast it is not surprising that she was a more than a bit shocked by it all. The near impenetrable darkness, only slightly held at bay by the small fire, had a very oppressive feel to it. Cass spun off small systems and little balls of light came into existent around the- well, she would be generous and call it a campsite.

The other three blinked at the sudden light and Nat was even distracted for a bit.

“So pretty…” She whispered as she reached out to touch one of the lights. With a thought, Cass moved it a little away.

“That they may be, but please don’t touch, they will go out if you do.” Cass warned, but Nat’s downcast face just about broke her heart. Cass created a few more and had them chase each other around Natalie to cheer her up, while at the same time wondering why she was so concerned. She liked Nat, but she was starting to think it was a bit much.

“Well at least we won’t have to worry about the torches burning out,” Rowig commented, utterly unmoved by the scene. “If you had not been able to do that, we would have had to turn around.”

“Which would likely have been a death sentence,” Odal pointed it out. “But then so would wandering around these tunnels in the dark.”

“Waiting here might be just as bad,” Rowig scowled. “They might mount an expedition and come after us, at the very least we need to make it to the dwarf tunnels. We only stopped to make sure you were alright.”

“Why though?” In their shoes Cass would have turned her over with a smile. Odal might be attracted to her, but he knew that she had lied and manipulated him. Rowig was somewhere between being blackmailed and bribed, kept to her by a combination of fear and greed- and barely at that. For that matter, Cass was essentially responsible for the death of Natalie’s family and had even hurt them before they were eventually killed.

Rowig shrugged, “at this point I would be a wanted man, so it is better to take my money and start over somewhere else and as I mentioned before, we need light to get through here.”

Ah, so they needed her to make it through… Of course, that called into question what would happen when they did make it to the end. Well, she would deal with that as it came.

“In any case,” Rowig continued. “We should get moving, we don’t have the resources to laze around.”

A flash of displeasure went through Cass, who was Rowig to think he was in charge? However, he was right and it wouldn’t look good to confront him over suggesting the correct course of action. Thus, they extinguished the fire and began to move, following the map as they encountered each turn and worked there way deeper into the mountains.

Cass had completely lost track of time, being unconscious had certainly not helped with that. But even if she had been conscious the whole time, the sheer unending monotony of the tunnels was maddening. Cass did not think she could have done this alone, and she was rather surprised by that revelation.

Every time they came to a branch or turn, they would carefully consult the map and make a mark both on the map and on the tunnel wall. Even this task was filled with extra anxiety, the unpleasant thought that they could die if they messed up strained their nerves. Odal had tried to lighten the mood, but he had failed so horribly that even Natalie was threatening to slit his throat after an hour or two of listening to him.

So they walked in silence until they were tired, stopped to rest, sleep, and eat a small portion of the little supplies they had, then got up and started the whole thing again.

It reached a point where Cass thought she was hallucinating when she saw light in the distance. But as the group came closer, it was undeniable- and unpleasant. The map showed no entrance here, they were not even halfway through, so the light could only mean they had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Still, no one suggested turning around immediately- they all thought seeing some light would them all some good.

A few minutes later…

“By the spirits…” Odal whispered, “what is this?”

They had not taken the wrong turn, no the tunnel had simply collapsed into the cavern below. You could see where the tunnel continued on the other side of the cavern, and you could see it because…

“It is beautiful.” Natalie looked with wonder upon what seemed to be some sort of small outpost, perhaps even a town, illuminated by the soft glow of crystals in the walls and artfully placed in pillars and artwork.

“A dwarfish town?” Cass speculated, “I wonder if there are any still around…”

“I doubt it,” Rowig answered, though he looked ready to fight at any moment. “The Vaila would not allow them to be so close, this is probably a remnant from the wars.”

Cass was curious to see what the place was like, and they had to descend into the cavern to reach the other side anyway, so the decision was quick and easy to make.

“The rock is different here,” Natalie commented, and upon examination Cass realised she was right. The tunnels they had been traveling through were rough and hewn either by nature or by uncaring miners. Corridors that branched away from this place were all carved and fashioned, the ground flat and artful designs and mosaics covering the walls. “This whole place is… Amazing.”

“I have to agree,” Cass admitted. “I have never seen anywhere like it.”

Who would spend so much effort on such a small place? Unless it wasn’t much effort? Perhaps they had magic for stone shaping? According to the very few things Cass had heard about them though, they were incapable of using magic- though she only had rumors and stories to go on, and those weren’t even reliable for what was going on the next street over.

The buildings were squat, but intricate and well built. They were clearly made for individuals smaller than either Odal or Rowig, but based on what Cass was seeing the Dwarves were likely not as short as their name implied. Maybe a little shorter than her, and probably far wider if their furniture was anything to go by.

But aside from the art, buildings and furniture, there was nothing here.

“This is fucking creepy,” Rowig muttered. “I almost feel like I am being watched.”

“I feel it too,” Cass agreed. “But every time I check, nothing is there. I am pretty sure it is just the atmosphere of an empty town…”

“No,” Rowig glanced around. “I’ve been around you for a bit Cass, and you have decent senses for a city- but that doesn’t count out in the wild, not for much anyways. Something is wrong here, but I can’t place my finger on it.”

Odal frowned, “we should hurry to the other side, the tunnel will serve as a choke point if we need one.”

“But what if they are in the tunnel too?” Natalie had gone from wide eyed wonder to nervous anxiety. “We would be surrounded!”

“We have a Strioi,” Rowig snorted. “If they want to group up for her like that, the least she can do is oblige them and wipe them out.”

That made Cass smile, Rowig might be an ass, but he did have his moments. However, it turned out all of their caution and anxiety was for naught- nothing struck out at them from the cavern, whatever was watching seemed content to do just that and let them continue on.

So they did, and after some time, they made there way through the tunnels to the exit and Cass stepped out of the dark, blinking in the bright sunlight as she took in the snow blanketed landscape of Haj.