A knock on the door awoke Spence the second time. The door opened before he could respond, and a stocky female dwarf entered, carrying two wooden buckets. The light from outside the door illuminated half the room. She flashed a mostly toothless smile at him, walked over to the metal tub, and poured the water. She then went to the table and lit the lantern. She exited, and an older, burly male dwarf entered and dumped two more buckets of water into the tub. A total of six dwarfs came in and poured two buckets each. The first one returned and laid two towels on the foot of the bed and his clothes, neatly folded. She then approached the tub and shook the powdery contents of a stone vase into the water. She smiled again and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Spence rolled out of bed and hurried over to the tub. He swung a leg over the edge and dipped in his foot. The water was surprisingly hot. He placed the other foot in and slowly sank into the tub, the water coming to his chest. The powder the dwarf had dumped in had foamed up like a bubble bath and had a sweet, flowery smell. He had considered the elven pond a bath, but it didn’t compare to actual hot water in a tub. His body tingled from head to toe. I have to start taking baths more often if I return home.

Although he was adapting to the hiking and fighting, his body still carried various aches and pains. The hot water massaged them all and allowed the tension to drain out of his tight muscles. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the caressing of the water. He stayed there for at least thirty minutes, until the water was totally cold.

He climbed out of the tub and stopped in front of the mirror. Like his face, his body had changed. He now saw what Morgan had seen in the pond. He wasn’t skinny yet or ripped, but he was getting toned. Spence had lines of definition in his arms, chest, and legs he had never seen before. He wasn’t the pudgy geek who had stepped out of the shower a week ago and tried to avoid staring at his reflection in the mirror. A few more weeks like this, and he would be truly transformed.

He dressed in his soft, clean clothes, slung on his backpack, grabbed his staff, and left the room. Morgan exited her room at the same time.

“OMG!” she exclaimed. “The best bath ever!”

“And clean clothes that don’t reek of BO and feel like sandpaper,” Spence said.

“I know, right? We all bougie now.”

Spence laughed and tried to reel his mind back from visualizing Morgan’s bath. “Now, it’s time for some hot food.”

They made their way down the many flights of stairs to the great room below. Caleb and Trey sat with Thordr, and dwarves occupied half the room. They were much quieter than they had been the night before. Spence and Morgan sat down to plates already loaded with food: flat cakes resembling pancakes, fried eggs, and meat looking like pork chops. Stone mugs contained a hot, black liquid resembling coffee.

“Wow, you girls enjoyed a long bath, huh?” Trey asked.

Thordr actually laughed, as well as Caleb.

“Unlike your odor, ours washes off,” Spence replied. He, Morgan, and Thordr all laughed.

Spence was surprised to discover the cakes almost tasted like pancakes, only a little tougher and with no syrup to cover them. The meat was juicy and tender, and the eggs were good. The liquid tasted like coffee, except a little thicker and more bitter. While the four ate, Thordr let a few dwarves take their packs and disappear into a tunnel.

By the time they finished, the dwarves had reappeared and returned their packs to them. Another dwarf brought four masks and set them on the table. They appeared to be fashioned of black rubber and resembled diver masks, except with two small circles of dark glass in the middle. Two straps ending with oval tips hung off each side.

“Take these with you. When you find the cave, place them over your faces before entering,” Thordr said. “Tuck the side pieces into your ears. It is said the monster can beguile enemies with its voice too.”

“A Medusa and Siren combined?” Spence said.

The four each grabbed a mask and placed it in their packs. Thordr explained how to find the cave as he walked them through the hall and out of the massive doors leading to the plateau. It was late morning of another cool, cloudy day.

“Fare you well, my friends. I hope you complete your quest.”

They each shook Thordr’s hand and then walked across the plateau to the trail on the other side. The path was similar to the one they had traveled the day before. It ranged from three to four feet wide, and the mountain once again rose steeply to their right, stretching high overhead. A sharp decline fell away to their left, littered with gravel, boulders, and sparse vegetation. It led hundreds of feet below to some type of rocky ravine. A smaller row of rocky peaks lay on the other side of the gorge, and the Barrens were visible in the distance beyond.

The four walked in pairs where they could, with Caleb and Morgan in front and Spence and Trey in the rear. They didn’t speak for the first mile or so. Caleb finally broke the silence. “We need a plan for our next battle. At least we know it’s in a cave, and we have to put our masks on outside it.”

“And then?” Trey asked.

“That’s as far as I’ve gotten. We have no idea what the creature is or what type of weapons or attacks it has,” Caleb replied. He rubbed his head for a moment. “I guess me and you can go in first. I’ll have my shield raised, and you can hold your ax in front of you. Morgan, you and Spence need to space yourselves behind and flank us so you can get clean shots. We’ll provide defense, and you two hit it with everything you have. Spence, I would think your fireball would be devastating in a closed area, and it won’t have the shock wave of your other attacks. Once you two attack, Trey and I will charge and finish what’s left.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Trey said.

Spence considered the next monster and the masks. Something didn’t seem right. The gods had never helped them, other than giving them weapons and armor at the start. If this monster was so tough to deal with, why didn’t they just provide them with another one to fight? Or was there something else? Was this monster something the gods created and then couldn’t control? Thordr also didn’t learn of its existence until Odin told him about it a few nights before. Did it just appear in the cave, or where did it come from? Did the cave protect it from the gods, since supposedly at least in some caves they couldn’t see or hear—although Enki visited him in his cave-like room the night before. Like the first visit, he couldn’t be sure if Enki had been there in person or was only a projection. But Enki still had known which room he was in. So, not all caves were protected.

He wanted to discuss it with the others but knew he couldn’t risk the gods' hearing. He wondered if they should even kill a monster that threatened the gods. But killing it was now part of the quest, and the quest was their only chance of returning home. They would have to slay whatever it was. Unless…. If the gods couldn’t see in the cave, they wouldn’t know the battle's outcome.

After another mile, the trail began to wind its way downhill, following the curvy contour of the mountain. Like yesterday afternoon, the angle of the cliff beside them lessened. Soon the cliff ended, and the trail spilled into a flat valley. It resembled the plateau, except the ground here was rough and littered with rocks and scrub.

Caleb led them to the far edge of the flat area. The ground below still dropped off steeply and was dotted with huge boulders and rock formations. A few stunted pine trees grew just below the edge. He removed his pack, dug out the rope, and tied it around the base of the closest tree. Although the tree was short, the trunk was thick. He threw the length of the rope down the slope. “I’ll go last and keep an eye on the rope and make sure the tree holds.”

Trey walked to the edge and placed the mask on the top of his head but didn’t pull it over his eyes. He then turned and began backing down the slope. The incline wasn’t steep enough to repel down but would be difficult to descend safely without the rope. He kept looking over his shoulder to guide himself around the boulders and stunted trees. He angled toward a large rock formation some one hundred feet below. He worked his way around the side of it and disappeared.

When the rope went limp, Caleb motioned for Morgan to go next. She grabbed the rope and nimbly backed down the decline, disappearing around the rock much quicker than Trey. Spence stepped forward next.

“I would have tried so much harder in PE if I’d known climbing ropes would become a major part of my life,” Spence said. He slid his staff underneath the straps of his pack and then put the mask on his head, grabbed the rope, and began his descent. This wasn’t as bad as the other rope adventures. However, he took his time and avoided tripping over a rock or tree root. He finally made his way down beside the large rock face and joined Morgan and Trey.

They stood on a slim flat stone outcropping attached to a tall rock face. A dark cave opened in the middle, just ten feet high and the same width. Trey already held his ax, and Morgan had her bow in hand, an arrow nocked. Spence freed his staff, and Caleb arrived a few minutes later.

Caleb clutched his sword in one hand and his shield in the other. “Spence, you’ll need to light the way with your staff. Hopefully, the flames from the fireball will keep it bright enough for us to finish the job if we need to.” He led them to the edge of the opening. “Masks on.”