“Hurry up,” Thane said in a measured voice, “there are Kobolds on our tail.”

The Fiend Worker looked up, his lips bloodied. “We have no tail.”

Thane ignored him and gently pulled Larac to his feet. “Listen carefully. We need to plug this stairwell with Stone Chunks. Make it look natural, like a mound of rocks. Get rid of the first five steps and widen the top. Leave the lion corpse here, and rip some meat off. Now.”

“Yes, master,” they said in tandem. With winks of gray light, pickaxes appeared in their hands.

Thane started with the corpse, using his wand’s sharp point to rip off strips of lean meat, removing teeth marks that looked fairly Human. Blood had been sucked dry, a million times more suspicious, but that was weakly explainable by the two mile trail. He worked in silence while the Fiends caused a clinking ruckus behind.

All done in five minutes, he retreated into the cavern before the stairwell was completely sealed, artfully disguised to look like a small cave-in at the end of the tunnel.

“Should we start digging a new tunnel now?” Larac asked.

A back door had many pros and cons; in this case, the advantages were worth the risk. Thane nodded. “Just a hole in the wall where you can hide. We’ll dig a full tunnel later. Go, get to work.”

The Fiend Worker ran off, but Larac stayed and asked, “What happens if they break through? Will you fight?”

“Of course I’ll fight, but it might be game over.”

Larac’s hand tightly seized Thane’s wrist. “This is not a game, master.”

Thane put on a confident face. “Relax, it’s an expression from one of my past lives. And I wouldn’t risk losing our only Builder, Larac.”

“Then why did we not run?” Larac grumbled, his grip loosening. “We’ve been discovered. Now we’re trapped. We have no fresh blood source. Our Gold Mine is running out. We should have ran.”

Thane gave a warning glare. “You don’t know what it’s like to be under sunlight. You’ll be roasted to death within hours before you find a another Mine. This cavern is perfect for a main base. We’re not leaving. When we’re in the clear, you’ll build a Hut, Workshop, Smithy, and Graveyard—in that order.”

After a moment, Larac said, “You are not telling me something.”

“Just trust me,” Thane almost hissed, unable to come up with a reason for how he knew another Vampire Elite was going to spawn here. He couldn’t say he was in fact a player because of the NDA. Because these Fiends wouldn’t believe him; his character lacked a Traveler tag. And because Gut instinct squeezed him to keep this secret.

Thane maintained eye contact, challenging.

Like a good, powerless worker, Larac’s gaze fell in submission. His nostrils flared. “Yes, master.”

Done with that distraction, Thane refocused his ears up the stairwell. If they were to dig through with a balanced raid party, then it was game over for this settlement, but he knew from experience that chances were slim. One, Kobolds rarely cooperated even among the same variant, and two, these scaled Kobolds behaved like their furry cousins—overly cautious. They wouldn’t dig against unstable rock.

Ten minutes passed before a snappy voice muffled, “Uck, I told you. Nothing is here.”

“Only a beast’s den,” another agreed.

A lower voice said, “Do you smell that? Rotten berries in these rocks.”

“I smell it,” a higher voice said. A female Kobold.

Thane’s face twisted in confusion until it struck him that they were smelling Vampires and not the berries from the bush outside. His brain was filtering out his own scent. He slowly backed away.

Clink, metal struck rock. Chunks tumbled.

“Stop or you’ll kill us,” the low voice barked. “I said berries, not Human droppings.”

The first voice said, “Berries under rocks. How?”

“Look, look. These rocks. Recent breaks, recent cave-in. A clever lizard was living here, eating berries, until falling rocks scared it away. Then a mightier beast made this cave home. You were right, Urak, there is nothing here. Only beasts.”

Urak grunted. “You are wise, Ratum. Let’s not waste more of the day.”

The female said, “Wait, look at this lion. No blood. All drained.”

“Stupid big-nose!” Urak barked. “Blood all smeared outside!”

“But where is the beast?”

A scratchier voice said, “Thirsty? Maybe went to Spring?”

“Matters not,” Ratum said in a tone of authority. “Beasts are not our pains. Humans are. We should leave. Don’t wait to hunt. We have plenty of food. Leave—much work to do.”

“Yes, chief,” multiple said.

Catastrophe adverted. A massive breath chilled Thane’s lungs with a whiff of their pungent coconut scents, not as appetizing, unsurprisingly. Scaled Kobolds were the most hated variant ever since their sentience values had been buffed.

Thane jogged to the Quarry, saw a square foundation for the Builder’s Hut.

Progress: 7/185

A couple of hours… and hopefully it wasn’t going to take long to discover plans for the Smithy. At Homestead tech, there were twenty-one buildings including the Hall, although the number may be different for Vampires. Kobolds only had nineteen, but the vast majority of races had twenty-one.

Thane blew a whistle with his fingers. “All clear!”

They had hid within stalagmites along the cavern wall.

“Apparently,” Thane said, “we smell like rotten fruit to them, so they would’ve found you there.”

Larac wasn’t in the mood for small talk: “What have you not told us, master? We must know.”

“Very well,” Thane said, now prepared with a cover story. “While I was burning under the sun earlier, I was on the verge of madness, of giving up on this lifetime, and in my desperation, I prayed to our ancient god, who saw pity and granted me a quest. But our god is not always kind. Our god can be a cruel god. The quest I was granted has no stated reward while asking us to build a Graveyard before midnight tonight. The reward could very well be nothing, or could be riches, or this may be a curse. This is a risk.”

Larac’s head tilted. “Is this all?”

“That is all,” Thane solemnly said. “And, to be blunt, this decision is not yours to make. I am your World Elite. I brought you into this world. You are my coven. Trust me when I say I have our best interests in mind. Now, back to work. I see only a foundation.”

The Fiend Worker immediately said, “Yes, master.”

Larac equipped his chisel, shaping a Stone Block into a curved beam. He said, “Master, I wish to be something more than a worker. Swear to me that you will make me into something greater.”

A sympathetic smirk slanted Thane’s lips. “I did say I’m expecting much from you, didn’t I? If you obey without question and don’t disappoint, then perhaps I will grant you what you desire. Is that fair?”

“Yes, master.”

“Good.”

Thane sheathed his wand, equipped his pickaxe, and ran to the Gold Mine. He examined its pearly boulders.

Gold Mine

Ore Remaining: 11,538

Skill Rank Up: Examine (Novice 2)

Changes: 3 maximum targets (up from 2)

A third of the Gold Ore was already depleted. With a Smithy running, this Mine was going to collapse sometime during Village Hall tech. Maybe even Hamlet Hall. Minus building costs, Thane calculated he was able to afford one Vampire Elite and a full party of Vampire Fighters. Or a few dozen Fighters by skipping an Elite. But only Elites and Travelers could respawn.

Teeth gnashing in indecision, Thane starting swinging away at the Mine’s single node. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink.