XVIII

After waking up, Yoreno stretched and glanced about across the horizon. The visibility wasn’t very high, as there were a lot of white clouds in the sky, but the sun was shining brightly and the heat was already starting to make his armor warm.

He would have to throw a tabard over the metal to keep from frying like an egg on a hot rock.

They packed up camp and set off for Kilik. It was slow going at first, as the roads in these parts were little more than trails that wound up the mountains and through the passes.

They came to a crag that split far enough to give them a space to walk between. Within were gnarled old trees without leaves, most of the bark having fallen off.

Dorrin bent down as he led his horse. “These are horse tracks.”

“I don’t see anything,” Lev said.

“That’s because you’re not a tracker,” Mai said.

“And here,” Dorrin added, bending and touching the tracks.

“Multiple travellers,” Sorika said, and glanced up the path.

Dorrin nodded.

“So you’re useful after all,” Lev said. “I didn’t know you were that good. I can’t see a thing in that scrubby dust and dried grass.”

“Thanks,” Lev said.

Dell nodded. “All right. So we’ve got a few adventurers heading to Kilik.”

“Could be our man Yarsha,” Yoreno said.

“And it might not be.”

Yoreno nodded. “So be ready. We don’t know who this fellow is, or if these tracks even belong to him.”

“I’m ready,” Lev said as he unslung his bow. “If anyone messes with us, monster, human or demihuman, then I put a shaft through his eye.”

“Mmm,” Mai noised. “That’s quite a charming image you paint.”

“Why thank you, Lady Everrun.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Put a knife in that,” Yoreno said. “It’s time to get serious.”

Mai nodded, and so did Dell.

“Come on,” Sorika said, and led the way with Dorrin close at her side. Yoreno and Dell took up their horse’s rains and followed.

A gust of wind blew through the crag. It felt cool and good on Yoreno’s neck. He was sweating under his armor. Winter was just ending, and even though these areas were quite hot during the day, the nights were cold, and the breeze somewhat chilly at times.

The crag opened up atop a small summit, little statues of monsters and pedestals with jewels for eyes looked down upon them. Except the jewels were long gone, leaving dark sockets where they had once been ensconced.

Before them, a structure climbed into the air about thirty or forty paces high.

The entrance to Kilik.

“It’s not much,” Dell said.

“Don’t let it fool you,” Sorika said. “Dungeons are often deceptive with little outward grandiosity.”

“And then when you get inside,” Lev added, “you find three chambers and some broken pottery.”

“Or,” Mai countered, “an ancient maze of corridors and monster spawning pits with great treasures long put to rest—just waiting for the taking.”

“You sound like a true adventurer,” Dell said.

“Thank you.”

“Well,” Yoreno declared, glancing about. “I don’t see Yarsha or any sign of his friends.”

“Are we going in there?” Dorrin asked.

Yoreno approached the maw. The door was open, above it a pair of—no, several pairs of eyes atop what he just recognized was a massive head.

“One guess about what’s inside of there,” Lev said.

Yoreno’s eyes clung to the embossed rocks that made up the face of this dungeon. Legs with little spikes. Multiple pairs of eyes above the doors.

Mai shivered. “I’m glad we have magical wards at night around our camp.”

“Is that…” Dorrin asked.

“Yes, Dor,” Lev said. “It’s a depiction of a monstrous, hairy, foul—and quite probably evil—“

Sorika cut in. “It’s a spider,” she said flatly.

Lev raised his head and turned his body in a motion of frustration. “You had to spoil it, didn’t you?”

Dorrin said nothing, only looked on with apparent horror.

“Stop being such a coward,” Lev complained. He made for the opening. “Spiders are relatively easy to—“

He stopped.

“What is it?” Yoreno asked, realizing the cocky adventurer’s pause was one of suddenly alarm. He watched as Lev’s gaze snapped to the stones under his feet.

“We got blood.”

Yoreno stepped forward.

There was a great deal of it, too. Red blood. Not spider blood. A man, or perhaps another monster type, was slain or wounded here. Well, it had been red at one time, but now it was mostly brown.

“Dorrin,” Sorika said as she came forth. “Come help me study this.”

“Why?” he asked. “You’re better than I am.”

“Now.”

“Okay.”

He walked forward and looked at it. “Whoever—or whatever—was hurt here, was dragged out of the dungeon.” His glance followed the blood, leading away from the dungeon opening and through the flat plateau. “That way.”

“My thoughts, too,” Sorika said. “The blood can’t be more than a day or two old.”

Dorrin nodded his agreement.

“So what do we do?” Mai asked as she slung her staff off her back. “Do we go in, or follow this trail?”

Yoreno looked at the blood trail, glanced out toward the plateau, then toward the dungeon door. “Both,” he said.