Missteps Book Two

Chapter Five – Starlight Tower

Elaine was awakened the next morning by a gentle, but forceful, shake. She cracked open an eyelid. "What?" Kneeling next to her bed was Jun. She could only see his face, as the only light in the dormitory room was the single candle he held aloft.

"It's morning." He replied gruffly.

The cleric flicked her eyes towards the shuttered windows. "You sure about that?" With her blanket wrapped around her shoulders, she stood up and shuffled across the cold floor. She undid the latch and cracked the wooden shutters open. "It's still dark outside."

Jun moved quickly across the room, and firmly closed the crack. "You said we'd go to the church in the morning."

Elaine hung her head. "Jun, they're not going to open the gates this early. We'll go as soon as the sun's up."

His fist hit the shutters. "No, we'll go now!"

Now she was truly awake. The cleric took a step back, images of the ruined crates that now littered the courtyard coming to mind. "I know it's hard, but you need to calm down."

"My daughter is missing, and your advice is to calm down?" The berserker's face was bathed in shadow from the candle in his white-knuckled grasp. As she watched, the candle snapped and fell to the ground in pieces, the flame extinguishing before it hit the floor. "You expect me to just sit here and do nothing?"

Intellectually, Elaine knew that Jun wouldn't hurt her. She knew that all this anxiety that came off him in waves was justified, and not directed at her. However, that didn't stop the hairs on the back of her neck from rising as she heard the floorboards creak as he paced the room in front of her.

The cleric knelt and groped around her, finally finding one of her boots. Quickly she took the laces out and wrapped them around her hand. With a whispered prayer, the laces shone and illuminated the room. With a deep breath, she stood and addressed the berserker.

No, not a berserker. A father.

"What is this really about?" She asked.

Jun stopped pacing as he turned to look at her. "My daughter is missing."

Elaine cocked her head to the side. "Then why are you still here?" She saw the big man gulp, and she took a step forward. "Not once last night, or right now, have you talked about going to Nydag. All you've done is fret about where she is, and the lack of information in the letters. Don't you want to go there and help her yourself?"

Jun growled. "What I want is to help Kai." Even in the bright light of the bootlace, the scowl on his face wasn't inviting.

The cleric didn't budge. "I ask again, why aren't we going to Nydag instead of the Star Sisters Tower?" She pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders as she matched stares with Jun.

His brows knitted together, and he was silent for several seconds before he answered. "There's already people working on it there, I'd only be in the way."

"Those people aren't her father." She reminded him gently.

He gave a throaty chuckle. "That's not saying a whole lot." He shook his head. "Except for the first few weeks after she was born, I've never spent more than a few days with her at a time. At first, the excuse was my job in the army. We were always away on drills, or small skirmishes. Since leave was never more than a day or two, there was never time to travel back to see her, so all I could do was send them money. Even when opportunities come up to be stationed back closer to home, I turned them down. I told myself that the money was better where I was." He started to pace again.

Elaine quietly settled herself back down on the bed. "What about when you left the army? Why didn't you settle down near her?"

"I tried." He admitted. "I spent a few months trying to find steady work, but nothing could match the money I'd made in the army, and Kai's mother had made it very clear that they needed that money."

"I thought she had a successful courtesan business?" She asked.

Jun waved her off. "She'd hit a rough patch, and it's my job as Kai's father to provide for her."

"Ok, so during this time, did you get to spend time with Kai?"

He stopped pacing and a smile grew on his face. "Her mom let me take her out on little excursions about once a week. Since I didn't have much money, we usually just went on hikes and picnics in the woods. Sometimes I'd take her to Lord Shim Chin's estate to see her grandparents."

Elaine smiled. "Did she have fun?"

Jun chuckled. "She's three, so she thinks everything is fun." He chuckled again. "When she was first born, she was so small. She was already a few months old when I saw her for the first time. I'd gotten special permission for the leave, and had hurried straight from the battlefield to her. Sulhee, her mother, wasn't even there when I arrived. It was still early morning when I wandered into Madame Lang's. Madame Lang herself set me down and placed my daughter in my arms. I was dirty from travel, but I remember that old woman clicking her tongue and saying that it didn't matter."

Elaine watched as the tension visibly left him as he recounted the moment. She reached out and gently pulled him next to her on the bed. "So, what changed? What made you leave home and take a job guarding Ander, instead of staying with your daughter?"

He sighed heavily. "I didn't protect her. The last time we went into the forest, we came across some old ruins. We had our picnic, and afterwards I had to answer nature's call. I left her alone for just a few minutes." The tension started to return as his posture became rigid. "I heard her scream, and when I ran back to where I'd left her, she was gone. I looked for her frantically, until finally I heard her scream again. I followed it into the forest for just under a mile before I caught up." His hands balled up into fists as they rested on his knees. "It was a lioness, and she had Kai's arm in her mouth as she pulled her away."

The cleric gasped.

"I didn't even think. I started grabbing rocks from all around me and lobbing them at the lion, yelling at her to let go of my daughter. I wasn't even aware when I let my anger overtake me and I entered a verta-kochen. All that mattered was saving my daughter. After a few hits the lion let Kai go and fled into the trees. When I went to collect Kai, I noticed the large bloody bump on her head. One of my stones had hit her, and knocked her unconscious." Jun's breath hitched and he hung his head. "When I took her back home, and explained what happened, Sulhee blamed me for all of it. She forbade from ever seeing her again. A few days after, I heard about the call for bodyguards from the Circle, and the kind of pay they were offering. I took Sulhee's advice and went back to the part of the parent job I was good at."

"Did you see Kai before you left?" Elaine asked softly.

Jun nodded. "Madame Lang snuck me into her room while Sulhee was with a client. The moment Kai saw me, her eyes widened in fear and she hid under her blanket." His voice broke. "She was afraid of me, and I couldn't even blame her. I left without saying a word, and I haven't seen her since. What kind of father hurts their own child? Do you understand now why I can't go to Nydag? The only way I can be in her life is through my letters, and any coin I can send their way. With her missing, this magic plate nonsense is all I can do to try to find her."

Silence lingered between the two of them as Elaine processed all of it. She didn't have any words of wisdom, after all she wasn't a parent, and it's not like she had her own parents around growing up to use as examples.

"If we are able to get a location for her, will you go after her then?" She asked softly.

Jun nodded.

Elaine pursed her lips. "What about after, will you take her back to her mother?"

She saw Jun's eyes harden when he turned to look at her. "How can I, when she's the one who sold her? What right does she have to my daughter now?"

"So, you'll raise Kai instead?" The cleric asked.

He paused. "I don't know. Honestly I haven't thought any further past saving her."

Elaine nodded in understanding. She stood up and headed over to her pack, where she quickly pulled out a piece of parchment, and her quill and ink. She handed them over to Jun. "Write your daughter's full name down on this, and I'll take it to the church as soon as the sun is up."

Jun's eyes narrowed as he got to his feet. "I'm going with you."

She shook her head. "You're too emotional, and I have a feeling it may take some negotiating with Priest Delphim to let us use the artifact again." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me with this, please." She could see the inner struggle within him, but finally Jun nodded and wrote down the name.

By the time she'd dressed and heated up some crude oatmeal for her and Jun's morning meal, the sun's light barely peeked out over the horizon. Jun insisted on accompanying her to the church gates. Because it was still so early, it took some harsh words with the gatekeeper before they eventually allowed Elaine to pass through to the church.

The news wasn't much better when Elaine spoke with Delphim. The experiments the previous day had used almost all of the artifact's available magical charges, and Delphim was afraid to exhaust any more without knowing how long it took to recover its magic power. As the Priest was quick to remind the cleric, there was a risk of destroying the artifact if they pushed it too far.

The only bit of good news that she could finagle from the priest was a promise to make an attempt when the group returned from their latest job.

Though he wasn't happy about the result, there wasn't anything Jun could do to change the circumstances. As they didn't have any other leads to help Kai, the two of them collected the other members of their party and headed towards the Star Sisters tower.

Just as Ms. E had predicated, it took the group about three days to traverse to the tower. The only trouble they encountered on the way was Ander's continued grumbling about the snow. Other than that it was one of the more uneventful forest voyages they'd had since coming together.

It was near sun-down on the third day when they reached their destination.

"You sure this is the right place?" Iados asked as he leaned on his quarterstaff (technically it was Carric's, but the ranger didn't seem to mind as long as the akudaem returned it to the magic quiver). In front of them stood a two-story stone building with a tiled roof. Dark green moss and dead ivy trails outlined the uneven stonework. "I'm not sure this can be construed as a 'tower'."

"Unless you see another structure in the vicinity, this is it." Carric rolled up the map and stowed it in his pack. Shomma pranced around them group as she sniffed the air. The ranger inclined his head towards the large wooden door set into the stonework. "Who wants to do the honors?"

Jun gave Lia a small shove forward.

"Why me?" She asked once she got her footing again on the slick snow.

The berserker shrugged. "Honestly? You're better at the diplomacy stuff, and I'm in a bad mood."

The elf rolled her eyes. "This is an official mission for the Circle, why not have Ander do it?"

Iados snorted. "We are wanting to make a good impression, right?" Ander glared daggers at the akudaem, while Carric and Jun both turned and shared a jovial grin.

"Should I just do it?" Elaine suggested.

The akudaem shook his violet head. "In all honesty, Lia proved in Yeabrook that she's good at being the group spokesperson. She managed to get me out of a murder charge after all."

Ander narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that she should be our leader?"

Iados nodded. "There are certain situations where we need to be able to point to one person and say 'they're in charge'."

Lia rubbed at her temples. "And you want me to be that person?" Iados nodded again.

"He makes a good point." Carric added as he crouched down and petted Shomma. "Out of all of us, you give off more of that 'noblesse' street-cred vibe."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Ander grumbled.

Jun reached down and lightly patted the halfling on the head. "When we need someone to lead the discussion on magic, you're still the go-to. But, I agree that we need someone who can talk the talk with people in authority. You guys didn't see her in action back in Yeabrook, but Lia didn't take any prisoners when she was with the chancellor. I'm all for this."

Everyone turned their eyes towards Elaine. The cleric shrugged. "As long as this doesn't turn into a dictatorship I'm fine with it."

Iados skipped over and slipped an arm around Lia's shoulders. "Congratulations honey, you are now the leader of Mellow Andromeda." He pecked her on the cheek.

Lia sighed. "Don't I get a say?"

There was a collective chorus of 'no' and 'nays' from the rest of the group.

Carric pointed again at the door. "Lia, will you do the honors?"

The elf smiled as she removed Iados's arm from her shoulders. "As my first official act as leader, I'm going to have Iados go up and knock." She tugged the akudaem towards the door.

The former pirate laughed. "Jokes on you, I actually don't mind." He strode confidently up towards the door, the rest of the group following, keeping a few feet behind him. The first thing he noticed about the door, was the distinct lack of a handle. That barely fazed him as he reached out and loudly rapped a few times on the thick wooden door.

Not a minute after the final knock echoed in the cold air, the ground underneath the party's feet gave away. They all fell ten feet down onto cold, slick stone, and began to slide down the dark chute. Around and around they slid, further and further down. There was nothing on the walls for them to grab, and no way for them to stop their descent into the dark. The only thing they hit was each other and the smooth walls.

After almost two minutes, they were unceremoniously dropped into a pile of brown moss. No one spoke for a long minute as they all took hold of their faculties once again.

"Hey Ander," Iados groaned as he sat up. "Tell me, is Bymer a particularly favored teacher?"

The halfling rolled out of the moss and got to his feet. "Not really." He stretched his back and winced when it gave a loud crack. "Where are we?"

"Underground." Carric hauled Elaine up, while Lia assisted Jun. The cleric wasted no time in lighting up the tip of her mace so that those without superior vision could see. They were in a small dug out cavern, no taller than seven feet, and barely twice that wide. The only notable thing besides the end of the slide, was a large stone door set into the wall. There was a handwritten note hammered into the stone.

Jun jerked the parchment off the door and passed it over to Lia.

"'Hello and welcome to Starlight Tower,'" the elf read. "'In order to pick up Bymer's book, you will have to travel up these subterranean levels to reach us. Per Master Bymer's instructions, the way up will not be easy, and you will tested. Your first test, will be to clear out the chamber beyond. A total of twelve krobans await, and we must warn you that they are a bit mad. Good luck, don't die, and we look forward to making your acquaintance. Signed, the Star Sisters.'" Lia's face twisted. "What the hell's a kroban?"

Carric sighed heavily. "A dwarven creation. They wanted cheap mine labor, so they bred an orc and a goblin together, and then just kept breeding those offspring together. What they got were small, dim-witted creatures with a fondness for tunnels. You rarely ever seen them outside the Dwarven mining operations."

"The dwarves treat them as slaves," Ander added. "Though to be honest, I've met some kroban that have had the intelligence bred out of them so much they're no smarter than cattle."

Jun pulled out his warhammer. "So we're not expecting too much of a fight from them?"

Carric shook his head. "They might be a bit stout, but they're not fighters."

The berserker turned to look at the three magic-users in the party. "You three should stay in the back, and let the three of us mow these krobans down. We don't know how many levels are down here, so we should err on the side of caution."

Iados grinned and crossed his arms. "Isn't that a decision our leader should make?"

Lia rolled her eyes. "When it comes to a fighting strategy, I'll defer to our resident military-man. Why don't you go ahead and open the door?"

Jun took a step forward and halted Iados in his tracks. "Before we do, let's go ahead and buddy up."

Ander groaned and hung his head. "If this is going to become a regular thing, we should just invest in a batch of sticks to draw from."

The akudaem laughed. "I'll go ahead and join up with Ander for a change of pace."

"Since we're supposed to keep 'like and like' together, how about Lia and I team up," Elaine suggested. She pointed at both Jun and Carric. "That'll leave the two of you together, per the plan of attack."

Ander tugged on Iados's pant leg. "You're going to leave me alone the second that door opens, aren't you?"

The former pirate knelt down next to his 'buddy'. "Probably. How about you stick with the girls, and I'll be a buffer in case anything gets past those two. Deal?" The halfling nodded.

With a plan of attack in mind, they crowded around the door, weapons out, ready to enter. Elaine picked up a few loose stones and held them in her hand, ready to lob out extra light as needed. Carric drew his swords as Iados switched out the quarterstaff for his shortsword. Elaine reached down and tucked her hand into Shomma's loose rope collar.

The akudaem was the first to approach the stone door, and as soon as his hand touched the stone doorknob, the door silently crumbled into dust. He grinned. "Damn, these sisters have got some style." He walked in.

The chamber beyond seemed to be about sixty by sixty, but even at first glance it easy to see the jagged corners and at least two passages out. The sound of running or gurgling water filled the air, as the extremely cold air sent a chill up all the backs of M.A.

Three targets were in the immediate vicinity. The kroban were hunched figures, with dark ashen skin, and stringy black hair braided into a single line that extended from their hairline to the base of their angular skull. The three in view seemed to all wear the same style of footed leather overalls. Their height seemed similar to any gnome or halfling.

Iados was the first to run out to a duo on the left. He swung out with his sword at the closest of the two, but missed as the creature deftly ducked. He did notice that it had a crude '2' stitched onto the front of its clothing.

Before he could recover, the second kroban (this one with a '3') whistled loudly as it plunged a long piece of sharpened stone down towards the akudaem's feet.

The former pirate cursed as he felt the makeshift blade slice his ankle. While he side-stepped away from #3, he once again struck out with his blade towards his initial target. This time the kroban wasn't fast enough as he sliced across its chest. The creature crumbled to the ground, and Iados thought that was it.

Not so. #2 gave a guttural growl and suddenly launched itself towards Iados's face, its small eyes nearly black. With a wild backpedal, the former pirate struck out with his fist and punched the kropan into the wall behind it. It once again crumpled and stayed down.

While Iados kept the two on the left busy, Carric darted across the chamber to the lone kroban. Behind him, Jun herded the rest of the party into a corner by the entrance. As soon as the final person walked through, the gap in the stone filled up again, trapping them all inside. Ander muttered a few choice words about it as Jun turned and ran off. Elaine tossed out a few of her now-lit stones and lit up the chamber.

Once it noticed the red-haired half-elf running towards it, the surprised kroban pulled a slingshot out of its clothing and fired off a small pebble. Carric's gait was slightly interrupted as the projectile struck true on his temple and caused him to wince. When he looked back at his target, there were now two krobans in front of him.

The second kroban ran towards Carric with a makeshift dagger, while the first one readied another pebble. The ranger managed to knock the dagger aside, but missed a third kroban as it jumped out of the shadows and jammed a length of sharp rock into his thigh. Carric howled in pain.

Before the ranger could reciprocate the attack, Jun brought his warhammer down on top of the knife-wielding kroban's head and flattened it into the ground.

Carric nodded in appreciation before he turned his attention to the kroban yapping at his feet. He swung out with both his blades. The small creature with a '6' on its overalls dodged the first blade, but jumped right in the path of the second. With a sickening squelch, #6 was eviscerated.

The kroban with the slingshot gave a horrified scream as two of its companions were slaughtered in front of it. It dashed forward and curled itself around the berserker's leg. As the large man tried to pry the creature off, it opened its maw and clamped down. Jun nearly lost his balance as he felt a surge of vertigo overtake him, as a burning pain begin to emit from the wound.

Just a few feet in front of him, Carric had his own issues. No sooner had he looked up from the dead kroban at his feet, then three more of the creatures came pouring out of the nearby passage. Two of them stopped and began to furiously fling sharp pebbles towards the ranger. The third kroban (#9) used the distraction to use their jagged stone knife to slice into Carric's thigh. To add to the frustration, Carric saw a fourth seemingly appear out of the shadows in his peripheral and head right for him.

Only a few seconds later and the ranger was overrun by all four of the creatures as they tried to bite, scratch, and knife him to death.

"I think the brawns need some help." Lia said as her eyes widened at the sight. She didn't wait for confirmation before she moved forward. With a whispered word and a flash of green energy, she summoned a green pellet to her hand. She pitched it towards the kroban that still held steadfast to Jun's leg.

The pellet struck true and sprayed acid all over creature's face. It gave a bloodcurdling scream as it let go of the leg and sank onto the floor. The scream cut off just as quickly as the acid burned away its life.

The pain of the acidic splash didn't even register to Jun as he concentrated on fighting off the vertigo that still threatened to topple him. He gathered his wits about him, and stomped towards the cluster that was Carric and his assailants. The large man reached out with his hands, and managed to grab hold of the back of an overall.

He heaved the small body of #9 back behind him. #9 didn't even get a chance to get its breath back from the heavy throw before Elaine sank a bolt deep in its chest and it stopped moving.

Ander took his cue from the girls and sent a ray of fire racing towards the mass around Carric. The braid of the smallest kroban went up in flames. The kroban screamed in fear as it backed up and furtively slapped at its head.

That still left two kroban on the ranger, and try as he might to hit them with his blades, the small creatures were quick. He'd already been bit at least twice, and though he'd felt the same burn as Jun, the pain had subsided quickly. That didn't mean he was out of the woods as his breaths began to be labored as he felt the accumulation of wounds catch up to him. He was being cruelly reminded of why he preferred his longbow to his swords.

Three more of the creatures barreled out of the passage opening, all armed with the same jagged rock knifes and pointy teeth. One peeled off to gang up on Carric, while the other two headed for Jun.

Carric managed to shove his two offending krobans off him and backed up a few feet. He turned to take a quick look at his surroundings, and was pleasantly surprised to see Elaine running his way. That elation didn't last long as the newcomer joined the party and introduced itself by ripping a new hole in his calf.

As he crumbled to his knees, Elaine sank a bolt into the creature's arm. It scurried back in shock.

"What happened to this being an easy fight?" She asked as she helped the ranger back up to his feet.

He grimaced. "To be fair, I never-"

The ranger was interrupted as all three kroban suddenly jumped onto his back.

Elaine gasped in shock as she used her crossbow to try to knock them off.

On the other side, Jun had dispatched one of his new enemies with a swift swing of his warhammer. The vertigo was finally beginning to dissipate. As he readied a swing for the other one, a searing pain slammed into his shoulder. The swing went wide, and the kroban instead wrapped around his leg, and much like the previous one, proceeded to chew on the muscled appendage.

"Sorry about the acid!" Lia stated as she ran up next to Jun and, using her whip, tried to pull the creature off. Even as the thorns dug deep into the small neck, the creature stayed put. After a moment the spell dissipated.

To the left, Iados had been dealing with his kroban more manageably one-on-one. As soon as he put down #3, #11 who'd been burned by Ander had showed up. Thankfully that one hadn't been as quick as the others, and the former pirate easily cut it down. He took a moment to catch his breath, but the sight of a dogpiled Carric drove him to action.

By the time he'd started running, not only had Elaine brained and dragged off an unconscious creature, but Shomma had grabbed the ankle of another and dragged it off her owner. The carnivorous weasel went straight for the throat and tore into an artery.

Iados ran up behind Carric, and kidney punched the final kroban. It gave a groan of pain and let go of the ranger. The akudaem picked up the small body and deftly cut its throat as he tossed it aside.

The violet-skinned former pirate didn't waste any time before he dashed over to Jun. He dropped his sword to the ground, and instead snaked his arm around the final kroban's windpipe. He added some pressure, and within moments the body went slack. Jun removed his leg and backed off.

Iados grinned. "See, that wasn't so hard." The limp body in his lap suddenly seized up and the eyes went wide. It hurled itself towards Iados's face. With a startled shout, the former pirate slammed the back of the creature's head into the stony floor. There was a sickening crunch, and the body didn't move.

No one moved for a good ten seconds as they all waited for any of the small bodies to move again, or for more to jump out of the shadows.

It was Ander who did a quick head count, to make sure that they could account for all twelve of the nasty creatures. As soon as they were all accounted for, both Carric and Jun collapsed against the chamber walls.

Elaine jumped into action, pulling out jars of salve and bandages from her magic pack. She tried to use her magic to heal some of the worst of the injuries, but both men waved her off.

"Just let us rest and we'll be good to go." Jun reassured the cleric as he drank heavily from his waterskin. As the cool salve hit the bite marks on his leg, the pulsing pain from before faded away to nothing.

Carric munched on a few crackers as he used a rag to clean the blood out of Shomma's coat. "Is it just me, or were these creatures unusually vicious?"

"I've got a feeling that the 'mad' description in the note wasn't talking about their temperament." Ander pulled over one of the bodies, and showed off the many healed bite marks that were under the overalls. "I think they were eating each other."

Lia shivered as a chill went up her spine. "That's disgusting." There was a murmur of agreement.

They took another half hour or so to rest up, before together as a group they explored the cavern. As they'd seen before, there were two passages out of the initial chamber; a large one that the majority of the kroban had emerged from, and then a smaller off to the side. Also along the right-hand side of the chamber was a fairly large pool of cold water. Iados and Ander split off to examine the smaller passage, and discovered that it was very narrow and bordered closely with a stream that emerged from a stone wall before it disappeared back into the rock only twenty or so feet later. Narrow steps led up to a second level.

The group decided to stay together and instead follow the main passage. They hadn't been down the passage long before it rounded a corner and headed towards the left. Set into the curve on the right-hand wall, was another stone door.

This door didn't have a handle, only a circular lock right in the middle. Out of curiosity, Iados attempted to pick it, but found that his tools were unable to touch the stonework.

"That's not even fair." The former pirate grumbled as he stomped away from the door. Lia reached out and rubbed his back as the group continued off down the hall.

They'd only gone down maybe twenty feet before a new passage peeled off to the side. At the end of the passage, they could all see another door.

Ander looked up at his buddy. "Do you want to go try that door too?"

Iados sighed. "What's the point, it's probably magically protected too."

Carric rolled his eyes as he dashed ahead of the group. He quickly scaled the short set of stairs to the next level. "There's something up here!" He called back.

At the top of the next level, was the kroban's camp. There was a smoldering campfire in one corner, and a pile of rags and discarded overalls in another. Iados and Elaine both stabbed into the rag pile, just to ensure there weren't any sleeping krobans.

As the two of them stabbed, the rest of the group headed around the corner farther down the passage.

"Yes!" The wizard's eyes lit up and he hurried forward. Nestled into a small alcove, was a pile of coins. The pile wasn't small, but it wasn't overly large either, and it seemed to mostly consist of copper and silver pieces. That didn't stop Ander from opening his pack and hurriedly dumping the coinage inside.

Jun grinned as he watched the small mage. "Don't you want to count it?"

"We'll count it later." Ander barked. He paused as he suddenly thought of something. "We might want to wash it too before we divvy it up."

Lia wrinkled her nose. "Good call, because they definitely don't smell good."

"I don't think it's the coins you're smelling." Carric pointed down at Shomma who'd caught the smell of something else further up the passage. Lia stayed behind with Ander, while the rest of them followed the weasel.

Around yet another curve, was a third pile. This time the pile seemed to consist of feces and other bodily waste. The passage continued on past the pile, and at the end they discovered a third door.

The group met back up at the smoldering campfire.

Ander held up a large brass key that he'd found while scooping up the coins, and Elaine held up an identical key she'd found in the rag piles.

"So, which door do we want to try first?" The cleric asked.

Ander shrugged. "Might as well try the closest one." He led the way back down the stairs and towards the second door they'd discovered. Like the first, this one didn't have a handle, only the circular lock. With only a slight moment of hesitation, the halfling stuck the key in the lock and turned.

The stone lock turned with the key. As it clicked into place, a myriad of white lights shot out and outlined the door as it shimmered out of existence. Behind it was smooth walled corridor with brightly lit sconces every thirty feet or so. The corridor had a definite incline, and the end couldn't be seen from the doorway.

Everyone gathered around the opening, straining to see what awaited them at the top. Through all the shoving, Ander and Lia were pushed into the corridor. As soon as Lia's body cleared the threshold, a strong gust of wind forced everyone away from the doorway. With a snap of light the stone door reappeared once again.

"Lia! Ander!" Jun rushed at the door. He tried to get it to move, but to no avail. Elaine attempted to put the key she'd found in the lock, but this time there was no lock.

Iados reached up and scratched the back of his head. "There goes the buddy system."

Jun looked over his shoulder and glared at the akudaem. "Do you think this is funny?"

The former pirate shrugged. "A little bit, yeah."

Jun took a menacing step towards him. "Is it gonna be as funny when they end up dead because we couldn't help them?"

Before Iados could answer, Carric stepped between the two of them. "Jun, Lia and Ander aren't some helpless kids. Whatever they'll face on the other side, I'm sure they can handle it." He reached out and clasped the berserker on the shoulder. "Let's go to that first door we found, and meet up with them."

The larger man shrugged off the hand, but did turn and stomp back down the passage towards the first door. Carric and Elaine shared a look over what just transpired, then followed suit.

Elaine's key did open the door, and just like the previous one, the door materialized away and revealed a corridor heading upwards. Jun was the first one through this time. After a quick game of boulder-parchment-shears, Elaine went next. As soon as her foot crossed the threshold, the stone door came back and trapped the two of them inside.

Silence lingered between the two remaining party members as they stared at the wall.

"So, you don't happen to have another key on you, do you?" Iados finally asked.

Carric shook his head and he gave a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, I think I know where we have to look."

Iados's knitted his eyebrows together. "Where?"

The ranger pointed back up the passage. "Well, seeing as the other two keys were found in piles, there's only one pile left to check."

The violet jaw dropped. "Please tell me you are not talking about the poop pile."

Carric didn't even answer as he turned on his heel and headed for the dreaded destination. Unwilling, the two of them poked around in the muck with logs taken from the campfire. Just as Carric had predicated, the final key was indeed in the poop pile. They gingerly took the brass key to the third door at the end of the corridor, and inserted it.

Just as the door disappeared, Shomma began to bark and dig into the stone face of the passageway.

"What is it girl?" Carric asked he turned to kneel down next to her. Just as the words left his mouth, the weasel was suddenly pulled through the rock by a pair of pale hands. Before he could even react, the stone floor beneath his feet began to move and unceremoniously dumped him and Iados on the other side of the entrance's threshold.