Hazelmere gathered all the commanders, and all the archmages, into the improvised command tent to tell them the good news. As soon as they’ve heard it, the mages started jumping with joy. Military commanders weren’t so ecstatic about it, but the smiles on their faces went from ear to ear.

The only one who didn’t show any emotion was Heartwell.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

“What do you mean: that doesn’t mean anything?” Hazelmere’s voice was almost reprimanding, “They clearly can’t get into our world! That beast would have definitely crossed the portal if it could! Beasts have no reason! It didn’t start thinking how crossing the portal was a bad idea! The moment it felt something odd, it ran away!”

“That’s the thing, it ran away. Beasts will run away when threatened. But beasts aren’t the only creatures that may exist out there. Monsters, for example, aren’t known for running away.”

“I don’t think any monster from our world would survive in that frozen hell. So, it makes sense that their monsters can’t survive here either,” Mizette retorted.

“Are you telling me the monsters on the other side would find our warm, pleasant air repulsive?” Heartwell remained skeptical.

“Umm … there is a … reason … why the creatures of the night … hide during the day,” Moana spoke softly, “Sun burns them … when he sees them … maybe … if that really is hell … his light burns them too …”

Hazelmere victoriously pointed the finger at Heartwell: “See! That makes sense! Sun protects us from hellish monsters!”

Heartwell scratched his chin, lost in thought. After a few moments, he spoke again.

“Still, that means those beasts can cross the portal during the night and slaughter us all. If Sun isn’t there to burn them, they’re free to roam around.”

That made the corners of Hazelmere’s mouth reverse their position.

“Besides,” Natle joined the conversation, “if it were that easy, Sun would have protected us from the very first demons who came into our world. Let us say the monsters truly can’t cross the portal. What if the demons on the other side have some kind of magic which nullifies that, just how we have magic that nullifies their frost?”

“There are also magical monsters who could possess the same ability,” Cybil added.

“Umm … demons … spread through … corruption. Maybe … these demons … have a way to … spread the frost … into our world …”

That completely knocked down any joy Hazelmere and Mizette had.

Noticing that, Natle continued: “It is nice to know some random beasts can’t cross the portal during the day, but I think it is too soon to send a messenger to the palace. We should wait and see. Who knows, maybe you are right. Maybe the demons on the other side can’t cross the portal. But we have just started observing the portal. Who knows what else we will see out there.”

As everyone considered Natle’s words, a mage stormed into the tent. Her breathing was ragged, eyes bulging from the physical exertion.

“Everyone!” her voice was filled with panic, “Quickly! You must hear this!”

---

“So, you think you have heard some war drums beating on the other side, but you saw nothing?” Hazelmere questioned the mage as they walked hurriedly.

“Yes, but it is very strange! It is as if those drummers are coming and going really fast.”

Hazelmere’s brow went up: “Are you sure you aren’t just confused?”

“That is why I think you should hear it yourself … your lordship. It is very hard to describe …”

Hazelmere shook her head in disbelief, turning to look at Mizette, who shrugged in response.

Finally, they’ve reached the big stone.

“You won’t see anything, but if you wait for a while you will start hearing the drums in the distance.”

Not heeding the mage’s words, Hazelmere took a look through the stone and saw nothing.

Some time passed without anything happening. Everyone just stood there in anticipation.

“So … you say we will hear it eventually?” Cybil eventually asked.

“I swear I’ve heard it!”

“At least we have plenty of time. There isn’t much we can do besides observing at the moment,” Mizette’s voice had a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

But, shortly after, Heartwell’s ears went straight up, together with his hand.

“Wait, wait … keep quiet … I think I can hear something.”

Everyone else concentrated and indeed, they heard it too. The drums echoed dully in the distance, beating very fast, their pace never changing. The sound moved from the right side of the portal to its left before disappearing completely. And still, Hazelmere saw nothing through the stone, nothing but the trees. Not even the beasts.

Heartwell broke the silence once the drums were gone.

“Those may not be drums. That sounds like some big mounts galloping to me.”

“I don’t think the mounts could move so fast around the trees,” Vukasin said.

That got Heartwell thinking for some time.

“Hmm … may be some wraith-mounts? I’m not an expert, but I guess wraiths could go through the trees.”

“That would make sense. Only the undead could survive in that frost,” Cybil agreed, “beasts are one thing, they are mindless creatures. But I have a hard time imagining any intelligent creatures surviving out there, besides the undead.”

“Sun should keep the undead away from us, right?” Hazelmere turned to face Moana, who stood behind everyone.

“Yes, but … only during the day … besides … still … this is a bad omen … regardless … no matter what …”

“Have you felt something?” Mizette asked her, “anything demonic out there?”

“No, but …”

Moana stared at her feet for quite some time.

“It’s a … bad omen …”

She said nothing more after that. A short time later, the soldier came running.

“Commander … the dungeon party … they’ve returned …” He spoke as he struggled to get his breath back.

Everyone rushed back into the camp as soon as they’ve heard that.

---

The group was noticeably smaller than what it used to be. It was almost halved. Most of the soldiers were wounded, their leather armor was torn apart in a few places. Still, nobody was bleeding, meaning that the healing mage did an impressive job.

Meanwhile, while not showing any sign of physical damage, the mages in the returning party looked absolutely terrified.

Hazelmere approached them but had no idea what to do or say. Heartwell quickly took over.

“Have you found anything?” He asked one of the soldiers.

“Nothing but death. Those halls are filled with horrors. We found nothing at first, so we went deeper. Then, they’ve ambushed us from all sides.”

A mage jumped in front of Heartwell, her face showing nothing but extreme dread:

“There were monsters everywhere! Even on the ceilings! We couldn’t even see them in the darkness! They attacked us from all sides! No matter how many we’ve killed, more of them came! They were eating them alive, tearing their faces off!”

POW!!!

Heartwell punched the screaming mage right in the face, with all his might, making her body go limp and crumble to the ground.

“She’s just stressed,” he spoke as if what he just did was the most usual thing, “she was never scared for her life before and doesn’t know how to control the fear. She’ll be fine once she wakes up. Although she’ll be having a strong headache for a few days.”

He returned his attention to the soldier: “Anyway, you found nothing?”

“Nothing but death,” the soldier repeated while shaking his head slowly.

“We all knew it was a risky move,” Heartwell said without breaking eye contact with the soldier.

“Yeah, we know that.”

“Where … where is Peratha?” Hazelmere looked frantically all over the small group.

Hearing that, everyone who has returned lowered their gaze to the ground, remaining silent. For the first time in her life, Hazelmere felt an unspeakable burden deep in her chest, weighting her entire being down.

She didn’t stop searching for the mages in the group, but she could only count four of them. She counted them over and over again, even the mage lying sprawled on the ground, but the fifth mage never showed up.

Finally, one of the mages in the group spoke.

“She … she sacrificed herself … to buy us time … she has cast an enormous fire spell with her at the center … that got them off our tails …”

For quite some time, there was nothing but dead silence. Finally, the same mage decided to break it.

“We must seal the entrance. If those horrors get out, they’ll slaughter us all,” her voice was unexpectedly calm.

“This mage of yours, has anyone seen her die?” Heartwell asked.

“… no, we were too busy trying to run away.”

“So, there’s a chance she may still be alive?”

The mage shook her head: “I doubt it. The flames were too powerful. Even if she has somehow managed to survive that, she’d be too exhausted to fight her way out.”

“Beasts are afraid of fire. Maybe it has scared them?”

“Commander, why are you so insistent?” Vukasin asked him, a confused look on his face.

“That hussy mage was the most useful person we had here. I don’t want to write her off until we’re absolutely certain.”

“Do you intend to send a rescue party in the ruins?” Vukasin couldn’t hide the displeasure in his voice.

“Of course not! I just don’t want to seal the entrance before giving her a chance to return.”

“If those monsters leave their cave, there’s no way we’ll be able to fight them off. There’s too many of them!”

“I appreciate your input, miss mage, but you aren’t seeing the bigger picture,” Heartwell continued, “it’s not just about the hussy mage, she’s only a part of it. If we collapse the entrance to the ruins, no one will ever get to explore them again. You didn’t find anything useful down there, not because you found nothing but because you couldn’t explore the ruins properly. We still don’t know if there’s something important down there. Besides, we sent you there expecting the ruins to be somewhat clear. We didn’t expect them to be full of monsters. Meaning, you went down there unprepared. Some other party may have more success. Now that we know what we’re dealing with, the next group can prepare properly.”

Seeing the grimaces of disapproval on everyone’s faces, he continued talking: “I have no intention of sending anyone else down there! I was thinking about a proper adventuring party. We didn’t ask the Emperor to organize one because it would take way too much time, but now we have no other choice.”

“Considering we have already acted and have some info regarding the dungeon, he will be more willing to accept our proposal now,” Cybil added, “especially since now we know for sure that we can’t maintain our control over the portal unless the dungeon is cleared. Those monsters are endangering our camp.”

“But those monsters may crawl out of it at any moment!”

“Ok, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Heartwell spoke with extreme confidence, “we’ll place a strong guard detachment at the entrance. We’ll give your fire mage three days to find the exit. After that time, we’ll assume she’s dead for sure. Then, we’ll put all kinds of traps at the dungeon entrance and even at the first several hundred beards inside of it. That should discourage any monster from trying to crawl out of it. That should be enough until a proper adventuring party comes to exterminate those monsters. Meanwhile, the royal archmage will send a letter to his majesty, explaining the situation and requesting that an adventuring party be sent here. Sounds good?”

He turned to face Hazelmere, seeking her agreement. But all he saw was a lost girl with a frozen expression on her face, staring into the distance.