Quest What remains

[Raigryn Vayd]

Vigil Faelin K'Abveirin Fife Magnan Smithson Belduhr Brighthand

"At first," he replied to the dwarf, "I had thought this place protected from what had occurred to the city all those years ago. We're talking about so much time that whatever cause them to lock this up could have happened hundreds of years before. Or after."

He eyed their surroundings as they walked. Some of the green laterns had been smashed in, but others continued to burn. A rusted length of metal on the ground might have been a sword once. The ceiling wasn't very high and corridors were arranged around the rooms in a neat grid. They seemed to be heading deeper. A slight angle in the path went down and occasionally a short staircase took them a few feet lower.

"The way this is laid out reminds me of the College of Elbion." Not that he had been welcome there for some decades. Empathy, as a magic, was held in low regard by wizards and the public alike these days.

On his next step he felt the brick collapse under his weight. There was a low hiss from behind them and Raigryn spun about. Another trap perhaps?

The hissing stopped. A large slab of metal slowly fell out from a recess in the wall. It slammed into the path, disturbing dust that had laid peacefully for a millennia.

"If that had been a trap I don't think..."

A low clicking started. It gradually became a deep whirring sound. There was a wail of grinding metal and a large, bronze leg stepped out from behind where they metal slab had been. Then came another. Finally the entire golem lurched out of the hidden alcove. Eyes that burned bright jade slowly turned tk regard the group. It must have stood over nine feet in height and been as broad as two men across the shoulders. Through the thick metal carapace Raigryn could see metal shapes turning and spinning. Another light seeped out from deep in its chest.

"I think that we might need to run away now..."

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

As they walked further, Belduhr could not make sense of why they might have smashed the glow globes. Master Vayd spoke of this underground place being protected from the events of what had happened above. Belduhr nodded as the man spoke, noting the distinct lack of melted stone around them. That was a reasonable deduction, and the timeframe he gave was not completely out of the question.

"Not entirely impossible for them to remain underground if they should have the means to be self sufficient. I don't believe there were any hints as to farmlands outside of the town, so one would wonder where the common folk could acquire their nourishment. If this should be be as vast as what is above-." the dwarf trailed off with a wave of the lantern towards the area ahead of them.

They continued walking, though nothing of interest save for more broken globes and a few pieces of metal. The man commented on the floor plan, and it made Belduhr wonder.

"Likely purpose built, and with some designating signs of where our current location is if it is reminiscent of-" Belduhr went deathly quiet at the sound of the brick collapsing. He shuffle turned, and held the lamp toward the disturbance. Confused by the sounds that came from that direction.

"I don't think it's a regular trap." Belduhr replied to the other man. The clicking and then whirring was tremendously alarming, a suggestion of some kind of build-up perhaps? The wailing and sudden appearance of a bronze leg had Belduhr backing away a few steps. Blasted thing, had it been ahead of them, They might have simply returned the way they had come. Now though, they had to risk further traps and activating whatever monstrosity this was.

"By the gods." The dwarf seemed to wilt as its gaze fell on them. When the entire thing was in the open, a feeling of dread settled over the dwarf.

"I believe you are quite right Master Vayd, move lad." Belduhr spoke in a hushed tone as he began moving forward slowly, his attention still fixed on the construct and lantern still held in the air towards it.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

"Lads, ye wouldn't believe what I'm after finding here" came an unnecessarily loud voice that seemed to echo around the corridor. Kjaran stepped around the corner, coming up behind Belduhr and Raigryn. "I was in one of the rooms and I found this yoke and-"

He cut off as he looked up from the scrap metal to see the nine foot monstrosity. Light glowed, the result of some cunning artifice. The metal on it was a copy for that which was in his hand. Beyond that stood the dwarf and man, who'd been in the act of creeping away.

"Oh bollocks" he swore, dropping the metal and backpedalling. His hands fumbled to draw his sword.

 

[Fife]

She had lingered a bit longer than the scholar, who had seemed to process the sight far easier than she did. When she resumed after them, she walked slowly, her eyes scanning the ground. Some great battle, the dwarf had mused, and she could see it now. She'd not seen the remains of battle before, but didn't think this quiet, dusty place was a typical example of such.

A fair distance still separated herself, Raigryn, and Belduhr when her mentor's foot sank into a crumbling brick. She walked a few more paces before she recalled the entrance they'd been so concerned about. Traps. Fife paused, thinking perhaps the distance would be wise, but the whirring and clicking began in the wall and--

The creak of metal was only shortly preceded by the cloud of dust and air that escaped as the panel was released from the wall. Fife exhaled in what might have been a yelp if she'd had a voice, stumbling back as the metal slab missed her by only a couple of meters. She landed flat on her backside, tripping over stone debris from one of the barricades, but spent a breathless moment being thankful she'd stopped when she did. If she'd been any closer... Fife snapped her mind shut, refusing to pursue that thought any further.

But only a moment. The first metal leg stepped out of the opening the slab revealed and she didn't waste a moment scrambling to her feet, putting herself on the other side of the collapsing barricade. Turning back, because she realized she was on the wrong side of the construct and separated from Raigryn and Belduhr, she saw it turn toward them.

A voice rang out from beside her, and she somehow managed to pry her eyes from the thing to watch as one of the swordsmen emerged from behind the barricade, oblivious. He quickly noticed, however, dropping whatever he'd found and drawing his sword. Fife cast a worried look toward Raigryn as she began to back up further, keeping behind the swordsman.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

The thing turned its head back and forth slowly. Raigryn struggled to attribute a name to it. He had seen a crude golem before. Clay and stone given form by magic. This was so far beyond anything he had seen or even read about in a book. Metal parts shifted over one another smoothly as it took another step out. It was some combination of alchemy, magic and engineering.

"Just...how far did they come here?" he murmured to himself. The portal stones were even older than the Age of Wonders. Just how many civilisations had risen and fallen on Arethil? Those mages were thought they were advancing magic now were likely just taking the first steps across a path that had been trodden many times before them.

His train of thought was interrupted by a soft pling beside him. The crossbow bolt struck the arm of the golem. The crack of the bolt shaft snapping made more noise that the tip barely scratching the metal. A nervous silence stretched out for a few seconds.

"I don't think..." Raigryn started to say. The golem turned to face his group. Its hand rolled back into its arm and suddenly its right arm ended in a double-headed axe. Its left arm unfolded to form a shield.

Raigryn took a step back. "What...broke these..." the dark thought suddenly flashed through his mind when he pictured the broken pieces they had seen. Had the mages really come and annihilated the city like some of the old tales said?

The golem took one step and then stopped. It looked down at its right leg. It was fused at the knee and dragged along the ground as it leaned forwards. Even the best craftsmanship and magic had limits against time itself. The golem turned back up to face them and continued its limp towards them.

"Keep Fife safe!" he shouted towards Kjaran Mak Aodha .

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Belduhr would never have considered himself a coward by any measure. Sure, it had been suggested by other dwarves that the scholar retained a healthy sense of self preservation, but the thing that lumbered before them was a sight that he would never have even conjured up in his wildest nightmares.

The dwarf was shocked, the small lantern he still held up shaking almost violently as he began to ponder his choice of joining this expedition. Something whizzed through the air and struck the construct, which only drew its focus onto their small group and his eyes went wide as he watched with horror and wonder at the transformation of its arms. The beauty of the shifting parts staggered him, thinking only of the press that he had so proudly thought a wonder of the world.

This monstrous wonder was surely something that even his father could never have thought possible. It took a staggered step towards them before examining its right leg, which seemed to have fused together, and Belduhr could only wonder as to the reason for its disrepair. Perhaps time had wrought its destructive hand on the pieces that made up the thing, and magic was a waning thing where time was concerned.

Raigryn's shout shook him, as his concern for the apprentice was made clear. Belduhr shook his head of the shock, wondering briefly at their plan as he took a few more shuffling steps back and away from the thing.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Was it looking at him? Was it looking at them? Kjaran wasn't even sure if the thing was alive or some magical marvel. He flinched as a crossbow went off, the bolt breaking when it hit the golem. It had barely scratched the metal on it. Its hands moved with blinding speed and suddenly the creature had a double headed axe and a shield. Kjaran swallowed a lump in his throat.

It began to move. It might have been limping but it was still moving. Thankfully away from him but that wouldn't do much good if it caught Belduhr and Raigryn. Commendable to the end though, the latter had concern only for his apprentice. "Stay back lad" Kjaran urged, one hand staying on Fife's shoulder as he took a step back. "Why don't you hide while I help the lads out?"

He wasn't sure what help he could give against that monstrosity but the scrap metal in the other rooms at least showed that they could be defeated.

 

[Fife]

A crossbow bold shattered against its armored body and its hands changed, parts shifting and some interior component whirring until the pieces clicked back together, forming something new. The ingenuity that must have been required to create such a thing, the mechanisms and moving parts and pure genius -- it was too far outside of her realm of understanding to even begin comprehending.

Fife stepped back further, gladly staying behind Kjaran, but didn't run to hide just yet. She kept pacing backward, putting distance between the angry metal creature and herself. She knew she wasn't useful in a lot of ways, but an extra set of eyes watching the thing from a further perspective might be able to see what they couldn't right up against it. Though she wasn't really sure how they were supposed to kill a giant metal soldier, she hadn't been the bane of the Elbion guard because she gave up on things easily.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Another one of the barricades in their path. One of the golem's brothers in pieces around it, slowly being eaten away by time itself. Raigryn noticed that the barricade was definitely arrange to defend against something further inside the tunnels. That concerned him briefly but not as much as the golem on their heels.

They climbed over the arrangement of decaying barrels and carts and ran on. The wood was rotting away and even the iron bands that held them together were rusted and eroding away. He stopped and turned to see how much the barricade would slow it down.

The bronze axe appeared above the barricade and fell just once. Splitters flew in all directions the head of the axe swept to the left, then to the right. The golem peered back at them with lifeless eyes.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Raigryn called out.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Belduhr did his best to keep up with the human, at times even tried to outpace him. Which was quite a tall order for a dwarf. They had to dodge around barricades, which where oddly built. But the details of the makeshift structures were lost on him as he tried to concentrate on keeping his footing, and refraining from careening forward onto his face. He didn't stop to watch the golem when it came to the barricade, quite clearly able to hear it handle behind it with ease.

"It's knee, was fused, together! You might, try magic, on another joint!" Belduhr huffed in between breaths. The dwarf was not built for extended running.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Kjaran looked at his blade before sheathing it. Looking at the towering golem made him wonder if it was going to be of any use. It was almost comical. The two of them were tearing deeper into the bowels of the earth with a half crippled golem being chased by a man and a boy.

He grunted, stooping and struggling to pick up a fallen block of masonry. Snarling, he heaved it up and managed a few tottering paces at jogging speed. He flung the stone at the back of the golem with all his might.

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

Faelin was neatly quiet throughout most the trip, keeping odd sounds and odd objects he saw in shadows mostly to his own mind, likely to keep note of the area so they may return to the surface world safely.
It seemed like the deeper they went, the more at ease the eastern dark elf felt, yet he still happned to find time to murmur about more clanking and 'empty space'.
The debates seemed interesting to him at least, but what did not seem as interesting was an imediate life threat. Ah the howlers heard from the surface?
How did that not corrode by now.


He got himself over the barricade fast along with the others, but that was just a temporary solution for a long term problem Taking in the few spare moments to better listen to the creature. Clicking, twirking and an odd light from it's centre that seemed almost like an invitation to be destroyed. Yet the outer layers were inpenetrable, so it seemed.

»...« he then guessed. »Hit it through the gaps.«

The sharpshooter readied his crossbow, fully in doubt that a small shaft could truly do anything to whatever was inside it, but it was worth a try.
Before shooting, he waited in line to see what dent the solid rock would do to the golem.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

It was only of the first - and lowest - order of creatures. It had no name. One would be provided if it ever ascended. Its body was stooped and gnarled in heavy muscle. Fit for a life toiling away in the mires. Its mind was also fit for its duties. Whilst there was the capacity to recognise the unknown, it could not plan a course of action based on was it sensed. Instead this triggered a base response: find a creature of a higher order to make decisions.

The creature with no name loped away until it sensed a higher being. A member of the Third Order. Standing tall and proud, turning its crimson gaze to observe the work. That gaze snapped down as it was approached. It reared up threateningly but instinct drove the lesser being on despite the obvious risk.

I am Menthoclass of the Third. You dare approach?

Others, it communicated back. In the Beyond.

The creature could see the reaction this caused. Great Menthoclass looked away. It could recognise that same instinct: looking for a higher being to report to. It didn't recognise the other changes. The lesser being wasn't complex enough to feel true emotions. It didn't recognise fear.

Menthoclass communicated appreciation at the news being brought swiftly. That did not make up for what came next. It could only brace as its own body was torn apart by Menthoclass as punishment for addressing a creature of the third directly. The last thing it saw from the ground was Menthoclass cleaning its claws before turning to find something even higher to report to.

---

The rock had enough momentum to put a dent in to golem's armour and to make it stumble forwards. Its balance was off, Raigryn realised. Hopefully there was something soft to hit between the gaps. Or at least fragile. All assuming they could find an opening.

Desire. One of the easiest emotional aspects to find and draw from the world. It had two uses: make an object feel drawn to the ground or make it feel lighter than air. Raigryn used his power to suddenly add to the golem's weight as it took another step.

With a might crash it fell to one knee. The flagstones cracked where it fell. Raigryn drew his sword. Drawing on Joy he rushed towards the golem, hoping that it was incapacited enough to try and find a gap. He ran on one side, leaving enough room for the elf to shoot.

Without looking up, the golem lazily swatted at him with its shielded hand. It barely clipped him, but still sent him tumbling. Raigryn narrowed his eyes as he was thrown back, expecting the axe. It didn't come. The golem was using its other arm to try and draw itself back up to standing.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Belduhr turned in horror when he realized that Master Vayd had rounded to fight the thing. A large clang also drew his attention as the golem looked precariously off kilter. Whoever had thrown that boulder had done an excellent job as it seemed like it had thrown off it's next step, causing it to take a knee. The look of shock upong the dwarf's face plain for everyone to see as he came to a stuttered halt.

The scene before his eyes was like that of a novel. Warriors coming together to strike against a foe that likely had the upper hand against them singularly. He would have to write this down later.

For the time being, his hand still holding the lantern aloft, he tried to call to the people behind the golem. "Another rock, boulder, or whatever that was might throw it to the ground!" He bellowed over the noise of the construct. He looked about for something easy to toss, and nearly missed the sight of Master Vayd being thrown.

"Oof! Are you alright sir!?" Belduhr called as his hand found a sizable piece of debris. Giving it a measuring toss in his hand as he eyed the golem's chest, he flung the bit of rubble harshly and it spun a lot more than he thought it would. Striking what could be considered the things face, all it did was fly off in some stray direction.

"Well that didn't work very well." Belduhr sighed.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

The block had knocked it off balance but the golem showed itself to be made of sterner stuff. Something else happened then when the golem crashed to one knee. Raigryn rushed forward with bared blade. The golem moved with surprising speed, sending the mage sprawling.

Kjaran didn't even hesitate. He dashed forward to attack the golem from the other side, aiming his sword for a gap. The axe was still being used to lever the golem off the floor. He tried to knock it off balance with a kick, swinging his sword for what passed for a head.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

The golem shuddered under the kick. 5he sound of the sword striking home resounded around the wide corridor. The ceiling was high above but the sound echoed back eventually. There was a moment of silence. Then the dented head turned all the way around the face Kjaran Mak Aodha

A sound left the golem, low and angry. Its free arm came around quickly. The entire thing twisted about the centre of its torso to swing for the mercenary before it planted on the axe head again.

"No. It didn't," Raigryn told the scholar as he rubbed some life back into his shoulder. He suspected that if it had gone for his head he would be dead already.

He reached out with his Empathy, drawing on his Misery to try and curse some of its other joints. There was a strong resistance that made the space behind his eyes ache.

"Over a thousand years and it still has some wards against magic," he complained.



Far more than the simple beast it had despatched, Menthoclass knew how to approach a creature of a higher order with respect. However, it had never communicated with one from the seventh order before.

At each ascension their kind changed in new ways. Because of this he recognised the form of great G'thallan floating through the mists. He approached in the respectful way, but felt a shudder run through its spines as a hundred eyes turned. More than that, he felt the oppressive weight of its very being turn its attention upon him.

They said that a being of the Seventh could trace its routes to many beings of the Fifth. Yet within its Krynt there was always a dominate personality. The weight of its experience, intellect and many different voices considering what action to take seemed to hold Menthoclass to the ground.

MENTHOCLASS. WHAT HAS DISTURBED YOU?

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

The sound of the sword striking rung out, eventually returning in an echo. The constructs head spun, and faced the other fighter behind it. It made some sort of sound, and it was most definitely not happy as its arm swung around behind it. Belduhr's face was astonished at the things ability to spin around to deal with an enemy. Master Vayd did some form of magic he would guess by his next set of words.

"Shouldn't those be faded like the traps from earlier?" Belduhr hollered. It made no sense that this abomination was up and moving if magic elsewhere had failed. Unless it had some sort of item that had kept hold of its magic? Perhaps the metal that made it was some sort of strange blend that held unique properties? He would have to write his colleague in the college about the properties of magic and metal to better understand this.

"Swords are fine against people, but a hammer might work better!" Belduhr hollered at Raigryn, shuffling closer to the man and offering the tool. It wasn't the longest thing, bout as long as Belduhr's arm, but it was something blunt rather than drawn out to a point and edge. On one side was a hatchet head, and the other side formed a hammerhead of equal size to the hatchet and had a fair bit of weight behind it.

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

The arrow has snapped and only lodged itself within in a million splinters.

However now that Raigryn and Kjaran were upon the metal husk, it no longer seemed safe to fire more arrows. But if things go wrong he would forever blame himself for it.

He gazed left and right and at Belduhr. Trap...trap.... trap.
The elf gazed at his side and pulled out a wrapped rope. Perhaps it could come handy now. »Hey! Hey, « he huffed out as he waved the rope. Maybe they could get him to topple over...

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

The sounds that came from the golem were a mix of clockwork artifice and a raging beast. Something akin to a rumbling roar escaped it and its head swivelled to focus on him. It had stopped going for Raigryn but now it just meant that the focus was all on him.

He backpedalled just out of its reach. With a creature that size even a glancing blow would do some serious damage. He could see the others moving around it and getting ready. Kjaran stepped in and to the side, avoiding another swing. He could keep it focused on him just a little longer...

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

The dwarven scholar wasn't wrong. A hammer was going to be more use against the golem. Raigryn took it and rushed forwards. At the back of his mind he felt a question gnawing at him: why was it holding back? The golem still focused on using its shield arm. It was a mystery for later.

As he closed on the golem he drew on Joy to make his movements sharper and Fury to strengthen his arm as he made his swing. The golden didn't expect the sudden change and the hammer connected with the good knee.

The sound rang out around them, the metal buckled. Raigryn darted away and stopped using his Aspects before it could retaliate.

"Bring it down!" With both knees now damaged they had to drag it down and either finish it off or put some space between them.

 

[Fife]

Fife watched the fight from a short distance, unwilling to stay too far away unless (by the grace of the gods) she might be able to help in some way. It wasn't easy, watching everyone else engage the metal soldier, but she gritted her teeth and waited. Arrows were ineffective, so the small crossbow strapped to her back would be of little use. Raigryn announced that it had wards against magic, but she had little Empathy to use against it. And she didn't dare get into melee range with the thing.

But when the elf pulled out a rope, she saw where she could be useful.

Waiting for the golem to swing at the swordsman, she watched it carefully and timed herself to run by it when its attention was occupied by the man and its ax hand at the end of its swing. Fife was already light and quick, and tapping on her Joy she was even faster. Passing through its reach was risky, but she had timed her dash well and she slid to a stop near the elf just as Raigryn hit its knee.

Her eyes were bright as Fife whistled and held out her hands to the elf, shaking them in haste for him to give her an end of the rope. If they could get its legs tangled, they could topple the thing.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Belduhr Brighthand Kjaran Mak Aodha Faelin K'Abveirin Fife

With almost no protest the behemoth fell. It fell so slowly it seemed almost impossible. Dust that had been undisturbed for centuries was kicked up and swirled around the bronze form. It shuddered as it tried to stand and then seemed to give up. Perhaps whatever powered it was already starting to fail, having atrophied over the years.

Raigryn didn't feel confident enough to approach; it clearly still has life. It lifted its head and regarded the group. He dropped to his haunches, we'll put of its reach.

"I wonder if..."

Suddenly a rhythmic clicking came from the golem. Louder and louder. It stopped and a bell rang out from the golem, loud enough that he had to cover his ears.

It was echoed just a few seconds later. It was a response from back up from where they had come from.

"Deeper in, find somewhere to hide!" he called out. Maybe he was being too cautious, but that response strongly suggested there was at least one more golem active. He turned and pointed towards a heavy set of doors, further down the corridor the golem had pursued them down.

---

• Further in, beyond the makeshift barricade the golem destroyed is another heavy door set with strange runes
• If anyone steps inside more lamps will spring to life.
• It's clearly another lab, with alchemical equipment all around
• A deep pit is in the centre of the room
• A tall mirror sits on the far side of the room, set into a bronze frame, attached to metal bands that are inlaid into the floor.
• The metal bands run to the edge of the pit

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Belduhr gave a small cheer of joy at the felling of the great golem, though it was short lived as he watched the construct lift it's head to regard them.

"Simply far too stubborn a thing to lay down and pass." He mused, unprepared for the ringing of the bell that made him cover his ears. Raigryn warned them to take cover, and the scholar had only but a moment's hesitation as he tried to decide which way to go. With a small huff of annoyance, he set his course further into the place, past the barricade as he tried to hold the lantern up to read the runes once more scattered across the door.

If they were headed into more traps, he wanted to be certain to give them all an equal chance at warning by finding it. His eyes squinted hard at what text he could see, which wasn't much given his short height versus the size of the door. Aside from that, most of this text was from a bygone time that even he had not had the chance to study due to lack of reference. A few words in the old dwarven tongue he could make out, granted the tense and phrasing confused him.

"Is that word viewing, or looking? Or does it mean to gaze? If I could decipher the rest of it I could make a whole sentence and understand, but the runes I can see say something along the line of, uh, to look or see." He turned back to the group and adjusted his glasses. "At least I believe that is what it says. This dialect is far older than any texts I have in my possession."

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

The elf tossed the rope end to Fife and with joint effort, at last, the giant fell. This individual, at least Faelin assumed was likely one of the lesser sorts, or maybe a rare great guardian that still worked, but it was never good to assume the best when your life was on the line. Any further encounters will have to be dealt with precision and clever tact. That there he will keep in mind for good now.

The eastern dark elf would have tried to tie the legs together...if the sudden ringing wouldn't have disturbed him too much. Damned, it is having elven ears, really it shouldn't have startled him as the others, but his home was often a land of total silence.
As he went after the others to find cover, he dropped the rope in the heat of the ringing. Hopefully, Fife still held onto it, the thing was rather useful.

 

[Fife]

Catching one end of the rope she darted opposite of the elf and together they tangled up the thing's legs. Her soft-soled boots slid against the stone floor as the golem began to topple, and Fife was dragged momentarily before a dwarf's hands took hold of the rope in front of her, steadying her before she could be dragged down with it. Though it didn't rise, it looked about, and Fife felt a chill run up her limbs as it looked toward her.

Sure to stay out of the thing's reach, Fife was shaking the rope loose when the clicking began. She stumbled back a few steps but refused to let go of the rope until a loud ring began. With a gasp, she dropped the rope like a snake and slapped her hands over her ears. Her head was still vibrating with the sound when she lowered them again, just in time to hear something like a response from where they had come.

There were more?

She hastily grabbed the rope up once more when Raigryn gave the call to hide deeper within the tunnels, quickly shaking it loose of the golem's legs and, with the dwarf's help, hauling it free. If there were more, she wasn't going to leave the rope behind. She didn't need to use her Empathy to be quick as she wound the rope around her short arm, but was still toward the back of the group as she threw the loop of the rope over her shoulder and retreated further beyond the barricade with the others.

Fife caught up to Raigryn, giving him a nervous once-over and reaching up to pat her shoulder. She didn't know how long it took wounds like he'd received from the orcs on the hillside to heal, or if his tumble would aggravate the injury. Regardless, he was upright and seemed well enough, so her worry was easily assuaged.

The room within was as confusing as the others. She gave the pit in the floor a wide berth, not even remotely inclined to look into its dark depths. She stayed close to Raigryn's side, not terribly eager to be parted from him a second time.