Goodie had been hanging back as the group travelled onward towards the surface. Not the very back, of course, he was not stupid enough to risk ending up dying like that poor idiot that got butchered by the mole-rats. A pang of guilt came over him as that thought crossed his mind, though, even though it had benefited him, he still regretted having not at least given the kid a heads-up on how dangerous the rear position could be, but what was done was done, so Goodie carried on, the dull thump of his steps and of those around him, sending out a quiet echo that seemed to magnify as it travelled throughout the systems of tunnels that they passed through, the noise bouncing around his mind as they walked on.

He and the rest of the morons had been making good time travelling back as they no longer had to constantly stop for the seances that he, supposedly, needed to perform in order to communicate with her Majesty during her scouting trips.

The reason for the sudden excess of free time was that Alpha-male and the others were under the impression that Her Majesty, Goodie’s shadow demon, had been destroyed in that cluster fuck back at the intersection, incinerated by the energy shield erected by the skaters. That impression being due to his…well, technically what he had told them had not been a lie, soooo…a fib? Mislead? Manipulation? Whatever he did was called, it had led them to believe that he was now powerless and incapable of doing anything to help them. Ever since then, he had mostly been keeping to himself, trying his best to give off the impression that he was mourning or sulking or whatever it was that people were supposed to do when their summons had died. An impression that seemed to be working as the others had ceased their idiotic attempts at trying to coax him out of his shell. A welcome relief as their efforts at manipulating him were often about as subtle as a brick to the head. And just as pleasant.

After the kid’s death, the groups moral had naturally plummeted, they may have been arseholes, but they were far from psychopaths.

With a flagging will, the ever-increasing danger, and the ‘death’ of their only scout, Goodie was sure that he and the others would soon turn back. Which is why it had come as a shock to him when both Alphas, male and bitch, had announced that they would continue onward. Though, it should not have done so. Having come so far, having lost so much, it was hard to imagine the person the type of person that would just turn back, especially, what with ‘their’ goal being just around the corner.

But still, he had wanted to scream when the fools had decided to carry on despite not having Her Majesty to guide them, even more so when Her Majesty had told him that the Douche and Douchette leading them were actually guiding them in the right direction. The last thing he wanted was for these arseholes to have their moral reignited by discovery of the very treasure that they had set out to find.

In particular, the discovery of the reoccurring corpse that now lay ahead of them.

Her Majesty’s inspection had only revealed the presence of a few odd trinkets, a dagger of some sort, and a modest-sized pouch of what he had suspected to be coins, though what type and value was anyone’s guess. The size and number of the items were of little importance as, if what the idiots had told him had been true, even the smallest of buttons would have been worth a small fortune if had been enchanted, certainly enough to have seen them all living comfortably for a year or more, if they were allowed to sell it, not that he would have received anything, he was sure, it was the rare slave that was their paid due, no, he was certain that the Alphas were likely to lay claim to them, using some excuse that he could not be bothered to think of…investment in the group’s equipment to help them in the long-run or some other bullshit. That was generally how the elites operate, gimme, gimme, gimme everything, so they could help you and give you everything in return, much later, generally after you were dead.

Well, he was not just going to leave things to chance.

To thwart the re-emergence of his captor’s spirits, he had ordered her Majesty to try and move the collection of trinkets away, hoping that she could hide them well enough that the band of buffoons would assume the corpse had already been looted. They would no doubt search the area in hopes that the items had merely been scattered about, which meant Her Majesty could not just put them under a rock nearby and hope for the best, but Goodie he was sure that if she could drag them far enough that the shadows…wait, no…that would not work, he realised, There were just too many casters within the group, too many people that could cast mage-light. Himself included. The spell was little more than something a bit of mana coalesced into a small bubble that, were it not for the illumination that emanated from its surface, would have been entirely invisible.

It came as a surprise, however, that her Majesty had not done as he requested of her, instead, the little snake began swallowing the items one by one, the trinkets, the pouch, and even the dagger. The dagger was in a sheath, but Goodie was sure that it would not have been an easy swallow. Her Majesty then disappeared into the realm of her [SHADOW RUN] ability, reappearing moments later well behind him and the group. Through their shared link he could sense her regurgitating up the items just behind an outcropping of rocks along the path back to the surface.

Even now, with her stats low and her injuries far from recovered, she still possessed the intelligence and wisdom to ensure that they could recover the items easily on their way back. An intelligence that, even after having been halved, still far exceeded his own.

Was it wrong to feel jealous of your own minion?

Goodie had nearly swallowed his tongue when she had done all that as he had had no clue that she, and presumably other shadow demons, could transport objects with them through wherever it was that they went when they travelled. It was not as if he could have done much with the knowledge, though. Sure, stealing came to mind, but with the nature and variety of the magics of this world, in particular, the numerous spells that could assist in tracking both objects and people as well as those that could pry the truth from both mouth and mind meant that any aspirations of becoming the king of thieves would have soon been cut short. Literally, as the locals did not take kindly to foreigners taking their stuff. Beyond that, however, Goodie did not possess the imagination to apply such an ability in any other way that would benefit him, at least, any way that would not come back to bite him in the arse, that is.

The move, however surprising as it may have been, had the intended effect upon the idiots.

And lo, there was much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair as yon heroes discovered the treasure absent corpse that they had fought so hard to find. A state of misery that had left him feeling oddly delighted. It had taken him a moment to realise that it was not his joy that he was feeling, but that's of her Majesty. The near-death experience from earlier had left her with a bitter streak of vindictiveness that concerned him, as much as it annoyed him, it was one thing when the shadow snake would do little more than wrap herself around his neck and laze away the hours, but having her actively desire to see people come to misfortune was not something that he wanted to promote as it would only lead her down the wrong path, the type of path that would have him paying in the end. Just one more problem that he had to deal with, one more thing that he had these arseholes to thank for.

As he had predicted, they had searched the surroundings in hope, nearly turning on each other when they had still found nothing. It had been the last nail in the coffin for them and their aspirations, and now he and they were headed for the surface away from the dangers of the Burrows back to fresh-air and freedom

It was not the most direct way back, though, in fact, it was, strictly speaking, not the way back at all as their illustrious leaders had led them down a side tunnel. He would have said something, but Her Majesty had informed him that the tunnel was both free of monsters and would eventually lead back to the path that they had originally taken in their decent, and Goodie did not want to waste time by giving the group reason to turn around.

He took in his surroundings as they marched on, a series of mushrooms littered the tunnel that they were now travelling through, their roots digging deep into the earthen floor around them. To Goodie's right was a large hole, an abyss that led downward towards dangers unknown, its depths shrouded by shadows the various mage lights could not pierce.

The strange atmosphere was oddly relaxing. Or maybe it was just that his freedom was finally within sight?

Whatever it was, Goodie was not naïve enough to believe that his problems were now over, though. They had yet to actually leave the Burrows, meaning that they were all still vulnerable to attack. And, of course, there was still the question about what to do about the collar around his neck, the magical runes placed there by the Alpha-Bitch walking ahead of him.

More specifically, what they were going to do with him? He didn't think they were going to kill him, but he did not know for certain if that was the case. They had already proven that they were young and stupid enough to do something idiotic like enslaving someone, who really knew what they were going to do once they got back topside.

Then there was the question of what he was going to do with them?

He did not want vengeance, as much as they had given him reason to, it was just not in his nature to desire such a thing. It is not about forgiveness, make no mistake, he held them fully accountable for their actions, but killing them would have only stained his hands with more blood and left him feeling like an arsehole. As big an arsehole as the lot around him.

Why did these types of people only acknowledge your existence after proving that you were just as cruel and stupid as they were?

No, as much as it would have improved the quality of this world removing the likes of them from its surface, there was just no real, tangible benefit in him killing them. And besides, by enslaving him, they had already screwed themselves over. The use of a truth spell would soon have their crimes brought to light, and knowing the locals, the morons would be made an example of.

The spells were only meant to have been used after a crime had been committed, but from what he knew of the other cities, the local law would pay special attention to anyone that had been recognised as coming from Earth. The extra attention was not entirely without reason, mind you, but still, it was mostly due to ignorant bigotry.

While he had never been to any other city than that of the adventurers, he had often heard how those from Earth who had visited the other kingdoms or states or whatever they called them here, were often subject to surprise checks and overnight visits to the local jail for questioning by the local guard. If that were true and not just the fancy tales of veterans trying to haze a newbie like him, then this lot were basically already dead the moment that they stepped foot anywhere near civilisation.

Though the local cities did practice slavery, it was done through the negotiation of a contract overseen by government authorities, with both parties agreeing to the deal, usually to pay off debts and such things, but the unwilling enslavement of a person was a big no-no by their laws, even though he was certain it happened all the time. From what he had seen, the nobles were far from noble and more than likely had ways of ensuring that anybody they set their sights on would agree to their terms and conditions without question, but that was beside the point, however, the punishment for illegally enslaving someone was the death penalty, so this lot were already dead, and there was no need to dirty his hands any more than he already had.

No, now was not the time to do anything rash.

As cruel as these idiots may have been, that cruelty was born from stupidity and ignorance rather than any real maliciousness, he did not imagine that they would seek his death as long as he promised to remain quiet. And besides, while he had no gotten along with any of them, he had hardly antagonised anyone. Well, aside from the Beta-male, that is.

A stupid and rash action on his part, he admitted. He had spent so much time trying to stoke the anger of those around him in order to get them to do something stupid, that he really should have known to avoid falling for the exact same trap, but when that shield had gone up and hurt Her Majesty, he was so overcome by emotion that he could not help but take it out on the first target to present itself.

Beta-Male had been stomping towards him at the time, for reasons that still eluded him, and Goody had taken the opportunity to hurt the boy by spraying him with an acidic form of his shadow stuff.

When he had originally set about creating the substance, he had done so with the hope that he could then go alien on his enemies, finally have some power to his attacks, but all that he managed to obtain was a mucus-like liquid that caused a stinging sensation upon the skin. Harmless, but as Beta-Male could attest to, painful as hell if applied to somewhere sensitive like the eyes.

No doubt, the guy would seek vengeance at some point.

Goodie was not concerned about the guy attacking him when they were alone as he still had Her Majesty to protect him, but what would the boy do if the group took a vote as to what to do with Goodie. Beta-Male was already a roid-rage filled thug at the best of times and Goodie could only imagine how the guy felt about him now that he had been given reason to be angry.

Ah well, Goodie thought. What was done was done.

Still, he could not help but look round to see if he could discern some bit of information from the Beta-Male's body language.

Goodie was taken aback as he found his quarry, who was, coincidentally, staring right back at him, Beta-Male’s eyes locked with his own, a stare that in normal circumstances would have had Goodie turn away out of fear of social awkwardness, but this time he could not, some unseen hold locking the two in a brief but endless gaze.

The stare was by no means intense, however, the atmosphere being that of two boys looking at each other with no more interest than if they were staring at the cave floor beneath them.

It was only after a moment that Goodie quirked an eyebrow, somehow breaking whatever effect that had held the two.

It was at that moment that Beta-Male stepped forward and pushed Goodie over the edge of the abyss.