The Tad's group started back to the lower temple, where they had left their packs. Tad wanted to eat and discuss what to do next.

They found Lamruil in the bare garden area in front of the cathedral sitting on a stone bench affixing flights to the last remaining shafts of his new arrows. The elf had used the heat of a small fire to straighten several of the branches to make shaft quality. There was a small pile of wood shavings at his feet.

"Lamruil, we are going to eat. If you could finish down in the lower temple, I'd like to discuss my plans and take advice on them," said Tad as the group came up to where the elf was seated. Tad had agreed to take advice at the beginning of this journey, and he intended to keep that agreement.

"I'm done here," said Lamruil putting the arrows laying in the sun in his quiver on his back. The quiver had a loop he placed around the shafts to keep them from moving or falling out. The elf put the rest of the flights in the pouch on his belt.

"I gathered some rushes over there we can use as bedding later. If you would all help me carry them down," said Lamruil.

Tad saw the pile of rushes the elf had gathered from the water's edge.

Tad nodded, "What, you don't like stone beds? " He walked over and took up a large armload. Nico picked up the remainder, and the group made their way down to their packs in the lower temple area. Tad actually thought the idea was great. Who really liked to sleep on stone floors?

The four of them were sitting on benches near Bubble's cocooned form while Maximilianus wandered around the temple area, looking at statues and the carved images of the night sky on the ceiling.

Kettle's projection interrupted Tad as he sat down with some food, "Tad, are there any Librarians near? I didn't want to talk while they were near. I think they can hear us if they are close by. "

"He is across the chamber at the moment, " projected Tad.

"Good. We are starting to pack up camp and will be leaving now that the sun is almost set. You finished your quest Release the Spirits earlier. It said you gained several skill levels in Artificer and construct control, and you also gained something with free spirits. I think it means you have some special friendship with magical spirits. That will be useful if you are thinking about becoming an artificer. It might help you find spirits willing to make constructs easier. It also might help with Leana. " said Kettle.

"Leana isn't a free spirit, Kettle. I'll talk to her about it, though. Perhaps the story of releasing them will help gain some trust," Tad projected back. He needed to understand what she was guarding. Did he want to be an artificer?

"The dwarves and I should be there by morning or right after sunrise, Tad. " projected Kettle.

"Good. Let me know when you can see the dust curtain. It will be hard to miss, look for an angry sand storm that doesn't move. I'll come up to escort the wagons in. " said Tad. He didn't think he could get the dwarven wagons into the valley, not across the dead god bridge anyway. But the Carnival wagons could make it across if they were careful, and they should be able to go down the switchback pathway from the top of the cliff.

"I can't see anything from inside the World Egg, but I'll tell the driver. They have a dwarf riding near to relay my words to him," projected Kettle.

A few minutes later Lamruil spoke as the group was finishing their rations, "I have the rod from the statue Tad. It should let you into the shield protecting the altar and gem. " He said this and pulled the foot-long metal rod from his backpack. Tad realized this was some sort of scepter. It had a handle at one end with an end cap, and at the other end was carved into an elaborate skull of some beast with fangs and a long snout. The whole thing made his skin crawl. Lamruil had some twine wrapped around both ends so he could carry it without touching it by the twine.

Tad took the rod by the makeshift carry handle from Lamruil. Now that he could look at it, he saw the various energia flowing through it. It was not life energia in the item but other domains, one of which was the green of necrotic energia and some orange of chaos. He hadn't sensed this before getting his hand close to the item. This explained how he missed it under the corpse of Yevgeny Zajíc, the Artificer and vampire. It felt shielded or muted, perhaps also part of its enchantment.

"What do you all think of the valley? I haven't asked any of you, but I believe this is the place. It feels right for some reason, " said Tad.

Nico spoke up first, "The valley is fine. It's a little creepy at night, but I think the valley will make a good place to set up once we get people here to liven the place up. I can't imagine anything that could get through that sand wall out there. "

Tad nodded to Nico, then turned, "Zanna?"

"I find nothing wrong with this choice. There is food, and once we deal with the Gretchics, there appears to be no other threat here of significance. I do not know how this goddess awaking will resolve itself, but the rest of the valley will be a nice place to plant flowers, " said Zanna.

Tad looked over to Lamruil. "Tad, the thought that there are undead just over that waterfall concerns me. I have fought ghouls before, and I would not like to repeat that if possible. I am also worried that the goddess reforming on that platform there is going to attract the wrong kind of attention. The magic curtain might limit this magic escaping, but I doubt it can stop all of it. " said the elf.

"Agreed. For once, I'm happy there are many leagues of empty dunes around us," said Tad.

"Did you figure out what's going on with the vampires yet? " asked Nico.

"What do you mean? " asked Tad.

"Well, you have a lost follower keeping the goddess from dieing, and we have three vampires that are not quite fully destroyed. I'd have thought you'd have caught onto the connection by now," said Nico.

Tad thought for a second. "You think one of those vampires is the missing follower? "

"It could be. It certainly would have been hard to find a follower in that state," said Nico.

Zanna spoke then, "You said one of the vampires was an unblooded vampire? That means she isn't fully turned yet. Which means she could still be in possession of her soul and spirit. Disgusting. " Zanna let out an exasperated sigh.

"Zanna, why do you hate the undead so much? You reacted differently back when we first met Quiggly in the tunnels," asked Tad. Tad wondered where the Lich was now. Tad had made a magical promise to protect the creature's phylactery, and he could still feel the bonds of that promise.

"All demons and devils react this way to the undead Tad. It's our nature. I have a hard time not getting enraged just talking about it with you. " said Zanna looking very serious.

"It is possible demons have this from the war between the brothers," said Maximilianus as he came closer to the group.

Maximilianus continued, "They were created to fight devourers and the other foci creatures. Devourers are a mixture of undead and void creatures".

The four companions looked at the metallic man. "Did you want me to look at the cursed crystal? "

Tad looked at Zanna, then back to Maximilianus, "Yes, follow me. "

It only took a few minutes for the group to enter the rough stone room containing the shielded crystal on the altar.

"Stop! Do not get close to the altar," said Maximilianus loudly. The group stopped twenty feet away from the magic glow. Tad noticed the bodies of the larger gretchlings they had fought were gone. Just dried smears of blood remained on the floor where they had died.

"I have the rod to enter the shield if you need it," said Tad holding up the scepter by its makeshift rope handle.

"No, we do not want to enter this. There is more than just a shield there, and it is not just protecting the crystal from attack. If you open that shield, there are other magics at work inside that will most likely kill us all, " said Maximilianus as he pulled out the magic magnifying glass from his coat. It was the device he had used to examine Leana earlier.

Nico and Lamruil had backed up towards the entrance. They were not interested in being near the altar or its magic.

Maximilianus hummed and mumbled a few phrases that Tad couldn't make out as he peered at the alter through his magic.

"This will take a few minutes, Thaddius," said Maximilianus, not looking away from his task.

Tad looked at Zanna, shrugged, and wandered over to where they had battled the Imp in his cursed form a few days earlier. There were piles of garbage and a large half-rotten chair made of wood. It looked sturdy enough to sit on if one didn't mind the dust of dry rotted wood clinging to them. He wondered if he should call the Imp back to discuss the creature again. The Imp was trying to get Tad killed by not telling him about the altar's dangerous magics. He was definitely going to have to read on the proper ways to command a demon or imp not to do this. Clearly, he wasn't wording something correctly.

"Nico, do you want to help me look through this mess? I see gold fittings on that chair," said Tad as he walked towards the pile of broken and rotten items. He could sense magic in a pile, so there must be something in there worth digging for, he thought.

It took several minutes to move the debris from one pile to another. Tad used his staff, and Nico broke one of the chair legs off to dig through the pile. It must have been one of those Gretchin's nests. It had all types of bits of fur, dead grass, dirt, rubble, and scattered through it were shiny things. The two of them made sure not to touch any of the items that emitted magic, and in the end, they had a small pile of gold, tarnished silver, a couple of gems, and shiny rocks. Some mundane items like rusted weapons were also put aside. One of the short swords looked untouched for the most part. It was a simple blade with a gold handle. It might be steel or silver coated, but Tad was unsure at this point. There was a glowing red gem that looked like the eye of some dead creature. Tad thought it was just the way it was carved that gave it this appearance. The other was a needle that had a hole for thread at the end. The needle was easy to remove as it was stuck in some old thread spool that hadn't rotted all though the thread was gone. The gem Tad rolled out of the pile using his staff. He wasn't going to touch either till they understood what these were. He didn't' see the brown magic of a curse, but he was not going to risk touching unknowns again.

"Master, I have completed my day's labor. I wish to report my progress," said Dammit, who was hovering in the doorway to the chamber.

Tad hadn't heard the little Imp hovering there, "Yes, what is your progress. "

"I am done with one-quarter of the cavern and have cleaned down to the walkway in several other areas. Two doorways have been cleared, and the ramp to the lower waterfall is half cleared," said Dammit.

Tad stood there in stunned silence. He looked at his companions, who didn't seem to have any explanation either.

"Dammit, how did you do this so quickly? " asked Tad. There were walkways under that mess?

"I commanded the Gretchins to assist in my task. I had them remove the feces. I told them to start with the far fields across the lake first, then as those are utilized, they will bury what we can on this side where there are fewer fields. " said Dammit looking proud of himself.

Tad was at a loss for words. He had intended this to be a long task keeping the evil creature busy for weeks, if not forever. Hearing that most of the cavern will be cleared in a few days was surprising to him.

"What did you do with the mushroom trees in the cavern?" asked Tad. He had seen many of the larger ones the dwarves grew that gave off light under their caps.

"The larger mushrooms grew where there was earth that reached deep in the planters built into the cavern floor. The smaller ones we left untouched or buried more under them. I was not instructed to move them but to put feces under them. I could only do that if they remained. " said the Imp.

Tad decided to expand on the progress here. If there were planters to grow mushrooms down, that explained a lot.

"Dammit are there other caverns like that one? " asked Tad.

The Imp paused for a few moments. Tad figured it was looking for a way to word his answer to hide or avoid more work.

"Yes. When I first came here, there were several large caverns with untended growing areas in them. " said Dammit.

"What happened to them?" asked Tad.

"The main passage was covered by the Gretchics to use this cavern as their nesting area. Some had their doors closed long ago, and I could not tell you what became of the caverns," said Dammit.

"When you uncover the doorways keep the doors shut, close the doors, or leave them buried if there is no way to keep them closed off. We will explore them later. Also, if you find any shiny or useful items, bring them to the construct repair room and deposit them in the corner. If they are magical, leave them where you find them and tell me when you report your progress. Also, are there other caches of gold, gems, or magical items you are aware of in this valley?" said Tad.

"Master, there are several nests like this one in the cavern. They all contain small coins and bits of things. " said the Imp.

"Good, make sure all of the coins, gems, metal, and magical items are sorted out to be kept. Do not touch any of the magical items or activate any of the items you find," said Tad.

"Yes, master, " said Dammit. Tad gave him a nod towards the doorway, and the Imp flew off through it.

"How do you think those creatures cleared the cave so fast? " asked Nico

Lamruil, who had seen the first one, "They have small hand-like paws. They were able to carry the farmed food down the hole. I expect they can bring other things the same way. We also do not know the rate at which the mushrooms can absorb the debris. If the gretchics are feeding on them, then it must be fast, or they would have run out of food, or the cavern would have overfilled long ago. Zanna should command the Imp to make the gretchics not attack any living creatures for now. Considering what the Carnival wagons will be bringing, that might be safest till we can cull their numbers."

Nico nodded, "What if they already carted off coins without being told to leave them?"

"Then there are going to be some lucky farmers if any ever plow those fields. " said the elf.

Tad thought about that. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to get farmers to help him if that were the case.

Tad remembered back in the carnival where Beothorn had once explained that most laborers and farmers were paid three silver a month depending on their harvests. In most civilizations he had ever visited, a single gold piece was 100 silver. It seemed almost universal the use of gold and silver for wealth wherever Tad went, except with the dwarves. They used some sort of elaborate charting system and traded in hours of labor. It was the main use of the library there. They were keeping track of all labor in the hold. Gold seemed more straightforward to Tad, but then again, the Dwarves had virtually no theft to speak of and nobody to trade to with their gold. That might soon change, though, Tad was confident Beothorn would keep them from losing their gold needlessly.

Maximilianus was putting his magical viewing glass away and coming over to the group on the other side of the room.

"Thaddius, I believe I see what was done here, and I think you should leave the gem until after the goddess awakens. There are several layers of magic, and it would be perilous to touch these things. The goddess should be able to take care of them if all goes well. I am curious how much of her memory remains from before her fall, but that is your best hope in removing this gem and altar without causing great harm. It draws large amounts of mana from the mana flow through the island into this room. If you were to remove this gem, it might rupture the stone and flood the whole floor. Right now, there is still a magical barrier keeping the moisture out, and this could damage that and weaken the stone, " Maximilianus said.

"And the desert curse? " asked Tad.

"I do not know. The corrupted mana goes into the floor, and I can only view it for several feet. It's a great deal more mana than it appears near the gem. Stopping that flow might have all types of effects we are unaware of from here. If we were to follow it at the river level, we could gain more knowledge of its effects. " said Maximilianus.

"No, that is not going to happen. The dwarves lost a whole settlement to that river, and those dwarves are tough as nails," said Tad. Chunks of this island could sink if they stopped that gem for all they knew. Playing with a God's magic was not something people who liked to live did every day. Given all the magic and barriers, he had no plan on touching it at this point. He would stow the scepter in his pack wrapped in cloth and leave it till later.

The group made its way back to the lower temple. They needed some rest. Tad made sure the hidden tunnel entrance was closed and locked. He didn't want a flood of furry creatures waking him up. Tad expected to see Dammit doing his penance when they entered the lower temple.

"Zanna, where is Dammit? "

"Demons and devils do not sleep, Tad. They meditate, for lack of a better term. It's a time when they go still as they absorb any energy they had eaten or taken the previous day. If they haven't taken any, they will only rest for a very short period. If you remember, back in the fortress, all demons except guards rested when the Archduke rested. Most did it out of fear. They didn't need that much time. They hadn't been fed energia from the arena like the Archduke. He doesn't share, if they had any to absorb, it was from combat that they had won or scraps from the arena floor, which was never very much. " said Zanna.

"Huh, so how did you rest? " asked Tad, now curious what Zanna did during those periods.

"I do not absorb energy from defeated demon kind Tad. I just grew while absorbing energy that resided in the fortress. It wasn't much, but I seemed to be the only one that could do this, so it was fine. I didn't understand it before being trapped in that bottle. Later I came to understand what had happened. While I was trapped in the bottle, I did not change physically. I had no need for energy, food, or water. The only thing that expanded was my knowledge of things around me. I even learned to dance, but where others might develop more muscle or balance, I did not. I would progress to a certain point in many things like this. I rest now, but I do not sleep or dream as you three appear to do while drooling onto your packs. " said Zanna.

"Hey, I do not drool, " interjected Nico.

Zanna just sniffed like she had smelled something in the air, making Nico more frustrated.

Tad paused for a few seconds, then laughed. That was new, and Zanna was changing for sure. He didn't know if she intended that to be funny, but it appeared so. She and Kettle were changing.

He continued before Nico could work up to an argument, "So you rest or meditate? Are you absorbing energia or mana now? How about physically changing? You eat when we eat. You appeared to have been tired when we climbed those stairs earlier. "

Zanna just looked at Tad for a few moments. Not showing much emotion, then she seemed to soften, almost smiling.

"I find being out of the bottle to be very entertaining and exciting. Having things to occupy my time, even trivial things, helps me stay calm, and I have to say most of what we have been doing isn't trivial. It is all very exciting to me. I do not need to sleep. I've tried several times; I just lay there either staring at the wall or thinking. I can meditate for long hours if I want, but I find my body has physical needs such as food and water that I didn't have before. It's all very interesting. " said Zanna.

Tad had no idea how he would cope with this all in her place, but she seems to be doing well figuring it out.

"So wait, you don't sleep? Then what have you been doing while we all slept, " asked Nico.

"Watching you sleep thinking that perhaps you should have a surname, something that rhymes with drool," said Zanna smiling as she turned to get food from her pack.

"I do not drool," said Nico loudly, walking across the benched area to eat alone.

Tad chuckled, watching Nico. Then he went to look at the pile of bedding they had brought down earlier. He didn't intend to wake up with aches and sore spots this time.

Tad looked over at Maximilianus and saw that the Librarian had a full metal bed with a thick cloth blanket on top. Tad hadn't been sure the metallic man slept. The bed looked hard, but he was already sitting on it like he intended to camp out here. Tad knew the man still wanted something, or he would have left like Aigneis.

Tad used his pack again as a pillow, but this time had good padding of fibrous plants under him as he drifted off to sleep.

"TAD TAD, WAKE UP. We have a problem!" projected Kettle in a shout in his mind.

"Whaaa, What is it, Kettle, " asked Tad, half awake.

"Bismuth has found us!" shouted Kettle.

****