Looking back down into the valley, after we had climbed the rough and rocky northern walls, the movement was obvious. Compared to earlier, when we had entered from the south-eastern slope, the contrast was too extreme, the Ankheg were swarming, reminding me of ants, after somebody had disturbed their hill.

“We should keep going, we’ve got what we wanted.” Adra suggested, looking just a little queasy at the skittering mass below.

“Agreed, and we should warn the Guild that the valley is now rather dangerous. Maybe they’ll issue a quest for a clean-up or something.” I nodded, having no desire to climb back down and wade into the insects. While Lenore and I would easily be able to decimate their number, who knew if they would be as kind as the Skeletons and simply let themselves be slaughtered? If they retreated underground, or if they were to strike from below us, catching us off guard, a trivial encounter could quickly turn deadly.

“If we push hard, we should be able to get back to town today.” Sigmir mentioned, and I had to nod in agreement, the idea was sound. On the way here, we had started out earlier, but our pace had been casual, with little resource expenditure. If we pushed things, to the point that I would have to magically support myself, we should get back just after dark. With nods all around, we set off, our walk morphing into a slow jog for a minute or two, before further accelerating to a speed that forced me to use Blood Magic to sustain it for a long time.

Once more, I realised the strange disconnect between my mental and physical capabilities. I was intellectually aware that I was moving far faster than I could run in my physical body, that my speed was more akin to a car driving within the city, but at the same time, my increased reaction-time and mental speed allowed me to move as if I was merely walking, with enough time to place my feet and no need to fear the uneven ground.

The speed at which we were travelling added another layer of intimidation to our already powerful auras, sending a strong signal to any living creature in the area that we were not food. While some mindless undead might attack us, simply because we existed, most beasts we were passing by would keep their heads down, unless they were either on the verge of starvation or corrupted by some outside magic. It made me wonder if moving openly, without stealth, would have been the smart play earlier, relying on our power to scare off the Ankheg. Though, if that had failed, a fight would have been inevitable.

With only a short break for lunch, we continued moving and managed to get back to town earlier than expected, arriving at the gates before sunset. The guards gave us a cursory check and we soon were back at the Guild. This time, there was another Clerk, a female dwarf who frowned for a moment after seeing us, before her face cleared up and she greeted us with a smile.

“Greetings, what can the Guild do for you today?” As always, Adra did the talking for our group, stepping up and returning the greeting, before quickly explaining that we had completed a quest. I could see the Clerk’s eyes flicker downwards, likely focused on her interface and moments later, I received a notification that the quest had been completed, while the Clerk started counting out some coins, while Adra placed down the collected Blood Moss. While the EXP weren’t anything to write home about, the money would come in handy at some point. All in all, for a simple, two-day task, it was incredibly well paid, though that likely came with the territory, if you were willing to venture out into danger and got results back, you would be paid well. And we were.

Finally, Adra told the Clerk about the Ankheg in the valley, getting a frown in return, especially when she reported their number and that we hadn’t been able to verify their level. Regardless of her frown, scouting hadn’t been our task, so there was nothing to be done and she simply nodded.

“You are the ones who Weise asked to join with the purification-mission, right?” the clerk asked, after noting down the details Adra had given her.

“We are, why? Did something change?” Adra asked, sounding partially annoyed, partially curious.

“In a way. One of their Group is back in town and when she heard about you, she asked that you take the time to talk with her.” the clerk explained, getting a shrug from Adra, who, in turn, glanced at me. I simply nodded, not seeing a reason why we shouldn’t talk to another Adventurer, especially one who might be a Traveller. The clerk noticed the exchange, giving me a longer, appraising look, though I didn’t notice any magical probing and after a moment, she simply nodded.

“Excellent. She told me their group rented one of the smaller houses in town, so they don’t have to pay for an inn the whole time. If you like, you can go looking for her, or I’ll send over a message and she can meet you at your inn.” she offered, this time looking directly at me and I gave her a shrug, before promising that we’d pay them a visit.

With directions to the rented house, we left the Guild and, after a short exchange, decided to pay an evening visit. There was no guarantee that we’d find anyone there, but it was worth the attempt, especially as it was quite nearby, almost on our way from the Guild to the inn.

When we got there, the house was about as interesting as all the other houses in the area, a simple, white-washed building from wood and stone, with a steep, tiled roof and a smoking chimney. Without the number on it, there was no way to differentiate it from the house next door, to the point that I assumed both were owned by the same landlord and rented out to Adventurers that stayed in the area for a moderate amount of time.

After using the knocker, we didn’t have to wait long and within a minute, a short and stout figure opened the door, the dwarfs' eyes scanning our group. She looked quite pretty, with shining copper hair, freckles and deep, green eyes, emeralds to my own jade. The apron on her body was stained in rather interesting colours, nothing I had ever seen in nature had such an extreme tone of neon-purple and the smells tickling my nostrils were anything but ordinary, a crazy blend of magic wafting out of the door.

“Good Evening, what can I do for you?” she asked, her tone polite, if vigilant.

“Good Evening, we were told you wanted to have a word? The Guild offered us the Purification-Quest and apparently, your group was offered it, too?” Adra explained and for a moment, the dwarf looked over her shoulder, flinching as a strange sound reached my ears. Next to me, Rai was staring into the house, looking more than a little disturbed.

“Ah, yes. Please, come in and excuse me for a second, I’m a little busy.” she blurted out, before turning and dashing back into the house, the door swinging fully open.

The five of us exchanged amused looks, not quite certain what to make of the strange dwarf. With a shrug, I decided to simply follow, curious what was going on and what I was smelling. None of the magic I could perceive was powerful enough to be worrying, nor did it seem to actually be controlled, more resembling traces of spells that were dissipating in the air.

“Let’s see what that’s all about.” I said, bravely stepping into the house. Sigmir followed right behind me, the others bringing up the rear, one after the other.

The house itself was slightly bare, the floor simple, smooth stone, the interior walls panelled with wood but bare, without any decorations. It took me a moment to catch the noise coming from deeper in the house, the clinking sounds of moving glass, along vile curses, muttered in the voice of our dwarven host. Her voice wasn’t loud enough to make out the words, but just the angry, hissing tone resembled a breakaway steam-engine if nothing else.

Following the noise, we got to a room in the back of the house, the walls inside bare stone, without the wooden panelling, with smoke wafting out of the door. Looking inside, I could see our host again, holding a smoking glass flask, the bottom filled with dark residue. More curses were flowing from her lips, the vernacular making me quite certain we were dealing with a Traveller.

Finally, after a string of curses that might make a sailor blush, the dwarf looked up, eyes focusing on me. “Morgana.”she greeted me, her voice sounding almost defeated, before she paused for a moment, letting out a deep breath. “Let’s talk business, you can call me Mal.”