Isa slept through both 1st and 2nd watches. When she awoke, Alice and Dulrak were chatting quietly. She joined them at the small fire, and Alice handed her a mug of tea. The room looked much as it had 10 hours before except that swept into the corner were a few dozen insects.

Dulrak noticed Isa noticing and said, “Poison spray twice over. We’re no match for them, eh Ally?”

“No indeed, Rik.”

“Rik? Ally?” Isa looked from one to the other. “What did I miss?”

“We had a spot of trouble – insect trouble – but we handled it, one-two.” Dulrak dusted his hands. Alice did the same and nodded. “One-two,” she said. And they both started laughing.

Isa sipped the tea. “Has Alice told you more of our quest? The Shimmer?”

“A bit, and I approve. Balance, ever, in all things. Balance.”

Alice leaned her head on Isa’s shoulder. “We need to talk alone,” she said softly.

Mery joined them at the fire. Her hair was tangled on one side and flat on the other. “This place reeks. Can we leave now?”

Isa was still trying to understand what Alice had said. She looked at her girlfriend, and Alice smiled and brushed hair from Isa’s face. It was a gentle touch, and what Isa saw in Alice’s eyes wasn’t hurt or anger, it was more sadness or a watchfulness that hadn’t been there before. What had happened during the watch? “Yes,” she said and nodded her head. Then she turned to Mery and handed her the mug of tea. “Rough night?”

“Bad dreams. Better for the rest, sure what little rest I got.” She gulped down the tea. “Hand me a hammer. I’m walking through that door this morning.”

“That you will,” said Dulrak. “With the knowledge of the clans in me, I studied the wall last night. I think a few good taps here and there, and we’ll be out in good time.”

While the other readied to tackle the wall, Isa and Alice stayed at the small fire. Both of them kept their faces forward, but Isa said, “What’s wrong?”

Alice took a sip of tea. “This is hard to explain.”

“Are you--” Isa swallowed hard. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“No! God, no.” Alice pivoted to look at Isa. “I love you.”

“Then what?” Bad thoughts flew through Isa’s mind. Alice was dying; she’d been diagnosed back in Portland, but then she’d been whisked here and--

“You’re older,” Alice said abruptly. “I could see it almost right away. That cat, that ghost jungle cat. It--” Alice stopped. “It was scary. This whole thing,” she waved her hand in the air, “is fucking scary. Like blow out the top of your head scary. Collapse in a sobbing heap scary.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re older, babe. Like, you look older. Here,” she touched the side of Isa’s eye. “And here.” She brushed Isa’s lips. She studied Isa’s face. “It’s not bad. Not at all. But, you look like you’re in your 30’s.” She bit her lip. “Late 30’s.”

“I look older. I look older? It’s the light. Come on; it’s the light.”

“Hmmm. Maybe. Or the stress.” Alice flashed a smile. “But you feel OK, right? Strong and--”

Isa stood up. “I am not enfeebled, if that’s what you mean.” She held out her hand. “Let’s help our friends get out of here. In the sunlight you’ll see. You’ll see that I’m fine.”

That’s what she said to Alice, but in the back of her mind, Isa thought about how the sight of the panther had made her feel, the ice shard of fear that had lodged inside her, how helpless she’d felt. Could that fear have manifested itself on her face? Certainly folklore says that fright can turn your hair gray. Isa pulled a strand of hair in front of her face. It looked as blonde as ever.

She crossed her arms and said to Dulrak and Lund, “How we doing?”

“Mark my words,” said the dwarf, “we’ll be clear in no time, now.”

True to his word, Dulrak, with Lund’s help, breached the stone wall and cleared a big enough passage in less than two hours. Alice peered at the broken stone. “This is like 4 inches thick! What a crazy gnome. She was trying to kill us.”

Isa grabbed a piece of stone from the rubble. “Or protect us. Nothing got in last night.” She dropped the stone and held up a finger. “Beetles don’t count.”

“So, we get to leave now?” asked Lund.

“After we finish the quest,” Alice said. “First we have to enter the heart of the tomb.”

“It sounds really creepy when you say it like that,” said Isa.

“The center of the underground funereal structure. Is that better?”

“The lot of you are getting a bit dark mad,” Dulrak said as he looked at the others. “It happens. No shame, but you must gather yourselves. As Alice says, the quest isn’t yet fulfilled.” He picked up his warhammer, wiped away the stone dust, and tucked it into his belt. “Cast your protective spells, say your prayers, cinch your armor, we venture forth.”

Once more Dulrak cast the daylight spell on the cloth and handed the javelin to Alice, who held it above their heads as they left the chamber. Mery and Lund led the way with Alice and Isa behind and Dulrak in the rear. They moved down the short hallway and then followed as it turned south toward the center chamber.

They’d only gone a few feet when something heavy fell from the ceiling, knocking Alice to the ground. She lost her grip on the makeshift lantern, and the javelin and cloth landed against the wall. The cloth bunched as it fell so that the light it cast only reflected off the wall.

In the weak light Isa saw a huge green snake writhing on the floor. It began to coil, its body sliding over Alice’s leg. She cried out and tried to scoot away on her butt.

Dulrak stomped one foot on the snake’s body and brought his hammer down. Mery had pulled her new sword free, and now she used it to cut the snake in half.

Lund picked up the lantern and held it high. Thin red blood had already begun to pool on the floor. He held out his hand and pulled Alice to her feet. “You’re alright, right?”

“Yeah,” she said. “A little bruised maybe.”

“Let me see you.” Isa stood in front of Alice and checked her eyes and her neck. “It didn’t land on your head, you’re sure?”

“I think, I think it hit my shoulder. That’s when I dropped the stick.” To Lund she said, “I can take it back. I’m OK.”

Mery craned her neck up. “More of those, you think?”

Dulrak shrugged. “A certain breed likes the dark places. We might run into more. This one’s mate or children. But,” he put his warhammer away, it was easy to kill, so I shouldn’t worry about it.” He tapped the snake carcass with his boot. “Normally I’d take the last third as meat. Snake is tasty right enough, but we have work to do, eh?”

Mery started down the hall, walking slowly, but Isa called out, “Is this the right way? Isn’t this the way we came?”

“Tis the right way! Now hush so I can concentrate.”

They moved slowly, with Mery checking every few feet for traps, and Alice keeping one wary eye on the ceiling. Isa couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the way to the center chamber, but that worry was pushed out of her head when up ahead, illuminated by Dulrak’s daylight spell, a shadow crossed perpendicular to them from another passage.

Mery began to creep toward the intersection of the 2 areas. Isa couldn’t resist joining her. She peered out and saw the bandit captain that she’d just recently killed walking slowly down across a small room. He had one hand covering his belly. Without thinking she said, “But you’re dead!”

The man turned toward her. With his hand still covering his middle, he took 2 sliding steps towards Isa. Mery tried to sweep his legs out from under him, but she mis-judged his gait and swung too soon. Alice muttered a spell under her breath. Dulrak stooped, pinched a bit of sand between his fingers, said something in another language, and tossed the sand over his shoulder.

Behind the bandit, a cloud of dust appeared, swirling over his head. If it was hurting him, he didn’t show it. Mery landed a blow on his leg, and as the blade sliced into his flesh, Mery saw – for just a flash that might have been her imagination – a green glow to the wound.

Lund pushed his way through and blinked at the bandit. “Who woke him up?” he muttered as he swung his sword at the dead man’s head. The tip of the greatsword sliced the bandit’s face, severing the part of the cheek and jaw.

With a hissing sound the bandit swung one arm at Lund. He hit the half-orc solidly in the stomach, and as Lund bent over from the blow, the bandit hit him again. Lund dropped his sword and he clenched at his middle with both arms.

To answer the attack, Dulrak swung his hammer over his head and down on the bandit’s shoulder. Alice came up beside him with her small crossbow cocked. Dulrak’s arm hit Alice, and she stumbled toward the bandit.

Isa watched in horror as the man’s fist connected with Alice’s face. Alice was knocked to the side by the force of the hit. At that moment she had no other thought than to kill (again) this bandit captain. She flew at him with her new glowing blade in hand, and as she swung it, she remembered that as a fighter, she could force another attack. Even as the first slash was parting the dead man’s skin, Isa brought her other hand to the hilt of the blade and swung around for a second, two-handed attack. This blow landed just below the bandit’s right knee, and the blade sliced clean through, toppling the man.

The bandit yowled with rage as he tried to push himself up. Dulrak stepped forward and with a blow like he was splitting firewood, he brought his warhammer straight down on the dead bandit’s head. He crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.

Current Hit Points:

Alice HP 16

Dulrak HP 67

Isa HP 23

Lund HP 41

Mery HP 60