It was quite easy to get to the mines, as the widest and busiest road in town leads straight there. The entrance was blocked off with a wooden fence and several warning signs. Danger of open holes. Danger of collapse. Danger of toxic gas. Danger of monsters.

A group of men wearing extremely dirty clothes sat in a shack beside the gate, playing some game involving cards and dice. They paid me no attention until I knocked on the wall beside the window.

"Mine's closed for the night. No workers needed." They didn't even look up.

"I'm here about the monster situation." That got their attention, and they straightened up real quick when they saw me.

"You're a Goblin!"

"I am. I heard you've got something living down in the tunnels, I'm here to get rid of it."

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm getting paid. You going to open the gate or what?"

"Fine, but we're not going with you. Go down to seven, you'll see the signs."

Within the entrance to the mine stood a crude elevator platform, a ladder doing straight down, and stairs to the first few levels. It was basically a cage dangling from what turned out to be an enchantment based on a spider core anchored to a thick steel beam overhead. One button was on the gate to the elevator shaft, and a lever was inside the cage. Pull the lever down and the box extended a thick strand of webbing and the elevator descended. Push the lever up and it retracted. I may have spent a while playing with it, but there is no proof of that.

I slid the lever to the middle position when the gate for level seven was in front of me, and the cage gently stopped. The gate squealed loudly as I slid it open. Seems like they were being honest about not coming down here much.

Before I got out of the cage I looked around the tunnel, there were no buttons or switches down here, only a bell with a pull cord. If they recalled the elevator from up top I would have a very long climb to get back out. It seemed like there aught to be an occupational health and safety regulation about this. This was not up to fire code. Or monster code.

It was cool and quiet down here. No sound other than the faint voices coming down the elevator shaft. The air smelled of dirt and a faint hint of metal. There was an unlit lantern hanging on the wall but I left it there, I could see just fine even as I walked away from the elevator. Following the directions lead me to a thick wooden door barred shut. Various warning notices were nailed to it, monsters ahead, four miners missing, toxic gas clouds were known to occur, do not travel alone. The bar was only on this side of the door, once I went in, nothing prevented something from coming back out unless someone barred the door behind me. These people really did need safety regulations.

The door ground its way open on rusty hinges as I hauled on it. It was probably as good as ringing a dinner bell for the Shade. The inside of the door was scarred with marks. Something had spent a while trying to claw out before giving up. A faint musty scent lingered, having traced this path frequently over the last few weeks. It smelled of sickness and rot.

I stood by the entrance for a minute, watching and waiting. When there was no sign of the Shade I crept deeper. The shadows hid no secrets from me, but I couldn't rely on my eyes alone. If this thing was as stealthy as Nathan claimed I might not see it until after it has already hit me.

Without my keen nose I might have had to wander the tunnels one by one, but by following scent trails it didn't take long to find the first body, mummified and dried up, a gaping wound on his neck. A quick search of his body turned up a locket with a tiny portrait of a woman and child. I pocketed that and continued on. At the forked tunnel I turned left. An unusual stench was growing the deeper I went down this tunnel, until I had to stop. Up ahead another corpse lay rotting, dead for a few weeks. The cloud of gas distorted the air. I figured if the Shade hadn't drained him, there must be a reason, so I turned back.

This next tunnel was much more promising. The tracks were fresh, and I could pick out a few bare footprints in the dirt. The Shade had small, almost childlike feet and barely left a mark as it walked on the balls of its feet. It might not be much larger than a child, like I had been a few weeks ago, but seemed to weigh quite a bit less. Nonetheless it was capable of killing multiple adult men.

I stopped here, listening intently. For a long while, nothing, and then in the distance around a bend a faint shift of dirt and a subtle smell.

With agonizing slowness I sneaked forwards, hands up and ready in case it lunged at me. I eased around the corner and froze. The Shade was curled up on the ground, either in pain or sick, it was nude, hairless, with pale grey skin and emaciated to the point of being skeletal. The smell of rot was stronger here, but different than the corpse I had passed. I advanced cautiously, wary of a trap.

The Shade turned to look at me, showing shining yellow eyes like mine, but a much more gaunt face, ears that had a longer point, and a delicately upturned nose. Almost like Nosferatu and Dobby the house elf made a baby. An attempt to hiss weakly at me turned into a bout of coughing, showing long needle teeth. It...she...looked dying, starving, or poisoned, each breath a wheezing gasp.

Most of the fight left me, it was just too wretched looking to get angry over. Taking its core would be a mercy compared to starving to death down here.

"Do you understand me?"

It wheezed out a long hiss.

"What happened down here?" I crouched down but didn't move any closer. For a long time we just stared at each other.

"Collapse. Gas. Trapped."

"I'm going to be honest with you, even if it's not the best idea. You look like you're about to die anyway. I need a Shade core. I don't want this to be harder than it needs to be."

"What are you?" She stared at me, maybe seeing through me.

"I'm Karl, a traveller. Who are you?"

"Shrya."

"Well, Shrya, I can make this just like falling asleep. It will be fast if you don't struggle."

"Another…" It trailed off into another wheezing cough.

"I wish there were another way too, but I really need that core to keep myself alive."

"Another Shade. There." She pointed towards the tunnel blocked by gas.

In the corner of my vision the quest objective updated. I could either kill Shrya or hunt the other Shade.

"That way is blocked."

"Outside. Old cave. Show you."

"You're in no condition to move. Do you really think you'll recover?"

"Feed."

"I'm not going to let you kill any more people."

"Cave fish. Not kill human."

"Why would you let me kill this other Shade? Aren't you family?"

"Want to live."

This was an awful decision. There was no right choice. I didn't want to kill this sad thing, but letting it go meant it might kill again, but also killing the second Shade would protect the rest of the people.

"Fine. I'll get you out of here, but I don't know if I can protect you if anyone on the surface sees you."

"I hide."

"Fine, hold on."

I backtracked to the drained miner and brought back his jacket. It might be large enough to cover Shrya.

"I need to cover you with this. Try not to move. If anyone sees you, they might try to kill you.

She started to say something, then cut off in another coughing fit, but pointed desperately.

"What?"

I hadn't heard anything, but as I turned there was a sudden wet sucking noise and something splashed onto my back. The slime flowed over my shoulders, extending up towards my head.

Falling, I clawed at it, my hands passing through and it reformed like mud. That same toxic stench wafted off it, and already I felt lightheaded. When I rolled and tried to scrape it off onto the ground it flowed around, only leaving minor residue behind.

My ears and eyes were covered, stinging painfully, but I was barely able to shove it away from my mouth.

Shit, what hurt slimes? Fire? I didn't have any because I could see in the dark! Magic? With a surge the slime reared up, engulfing my arms and head. My air cut off, I panicked. [Beastial Rage] burned through me, and now my claws pulled out watery globs from the slime.

It wasn't enough, the slime thrashed, all of it now over my head, my hands only scratching the surface. They had to have a weak point, right? I couldn't see it, and I pushed my hands through it blindly. Where could you hit a magic puddle?

My head pounded, the urge to open my mouth and breath growing stronger with every second. I writhed, drawing my knife and slashing at the wall. Again, I struck the wall, unable to see if my desperate plan would work.

Strength fading I kept trying, until the slime rippled and launched itself off my head. Gasping, I forced my eyes open, dimly seeing the slime rippling and thrashing as fire engulfed it. Aid bubbles formed and popped, sending up flares as the gas ignited. In halting leaps the slime fled into the darkness, and I rolled frantically as burning slime residue clung to my clothes.

Luckily the fire on me extinguished quickly, and I lay on the ground feeling like a hot dog that had been microwaved too long.

After some time I felt well enough to stand and walk over to the Shade. She was quite light, especially after a few weeks of near-starvation. Just to be safe I barred the door as we left, and then we took the elevator back to the surface.

As we neared the light Shrya curled up tightly and became indistinct and difficult to focus on, my hands started to pass through her. The men in the shack were clearly surprised to see me again. They likely had expected me to get myself killed down there.

"What happened?" They cringed back from the smell of singed goblin.

"Took care of your Shade problem. "

"What's that you got there?"

"The body. I'm going to get rid of it."

I bumped the gate open with my hip and headed off down the street. Behind me they were muttering something that might have been about betting on whether I'd die.

With Shrya's whispered directions I quickly left town, moving around the south face of the mountain. At about midnight we arrived at a tiny crack in the stone face leading into a cave. Sure enough there was a pool of water with fish in it. I set her down by the edge and she slid into the water. The cave narrowed into a series of branching tunnels. Several bones were discarded along the edges, mostly small animals such as birds and rabbits. A few larger bones were scattered among the piles, from deer I hoped.

I scooped out some water and tried to rinse off the crispy slime. It helped with the smell at least.

This other Shade had a sharper scent, stronger. It mingled with the traces left by Shrya over time, but the most recent ones were tinged with anger. The walls had been marked by claws. The idea of it wandering the tunnels creeped me out.

With strong paranoia I crept forwards, occasionally crouching down to get a better sniff of the trail. The Shade had spent so long down here it was hard to separate from the accumulated scent.

The tunnels played tricks with my ears, as the twists bounced echoes back erratically. Sometimes my own footsteps sounded loud, other times silent. A faint sound behind me made me slam on Beastial Rage just as something landed on my back. Needle teeth sank deep into my shoulder as I tried to protect my neck.

Screaming I heaved sideways into the wall, stunning the Shade but also squashing its teeth painfully deeper into the wound. Adrenaline pounded through me as I reached back and sank my own claws into its head. It scratched at me furiously, tearing open my arms, but not stopping me from driving a thumb into its eye as my other hand seized its neck. It shifted just enough for me to pivot and swing the beast around, slamming it into the ground. It felt far lighter than it should be.

For the first time I got a look at it. Larger and slightly darker than Shrya, more muscular, with broader features. It did something, and faded significantly until the dirt ground was visible through it. It slithered backwards and sinking into the shadows as though not fully three dimensional anymore and I almost lost sight of it even though I was staring right at it. With unnatural dexterity it leaped up onto the wall, clinging effortlessly and scrabbling up along the ceiling.

I followed it, pulling my coin pouch out. When it paused to look back at me, I flung a handful of gold into its face which caused it to fall off the ceiling. It let out a gasping hiss as it tried to roll away. The spots touched by the gold suddenly vividly distinct once again and it stumbled awkwardly as though weighed down. My claws caught its leg and I pounced onto its back, my teeth weren’t as long, but my jaw was much broader. When I bit into its neck I tore out a section of spine. It twitched and then fell still.

Its blood tasted mildewy and acidic, like a bad salad dressing. The Shade was gasping helplessly as I forced myself to step back. I wanted to tear into it, but didn’t think I could stop myself from eating the core if I did.

Instead I pulled out my knife and opened the small box Nathan had given me.

I had never tried this before in circumstances quite like this, but I grabbed the edge of the wound on its neck and started working the knife in there. The skin peeled back easily as the Shade hyperventilated. The process yielded four pieces of fine quality shade skin. It died by the time I finished. Tossing the skin aside I cut a hole under the ribs and dug my hand in until I found the core. This one didn’t shine, it emitted darkness, looking like a void in space. When the core was safely stored in the box, I started devouring the body.

When it was finished I fell back, panting. Only now I realized that Beastial Rage was still active, and my mana was nearly entirely gone. Dismissing it, I sat down, but couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I got into meditation pose. I knew I should hurry back to Nathan but I was tired in more ways than one. My health was down to 30%, and my wounds had flared with pain as soon as my buff faded. I was however now “Well Fed” and regaining 5 health and 10 stamina per 10 seconds for the next ten minutes. A blinking debuff called “Draining Bite” was sapping my stamina by 2 points a second for 5 minutes, but a minute later it ended and disappeared. A few skills had increased during the hunt. Unarmed was up to 9, Tracking 15, and stealth had increased to 10

Fifteen minutes later I was feeling restored enough to head out. First I gathered up the coins from the floor. There wasn’t much left of the Shade. I rolled the skins up and tucked them under one arm. The head I left where it was.

It was a little after 4am when I got back to the cave pool. Shrya was looking considerably recovered, with a pile of eaten and drained fish around her, still wearing the oversized jacket. She looked up and shivered a bit when she saw the skins I carried.

“Poor Zhras.”

“Are you going to stay away from the humans?”

“Yes.

“It’s probably only a matter of time until they start expanding the mine again.”

“I will find a new home.”

‘If you go east, across the river, there are some goblin caves. Fewer humans.”

“Maybe later. Sleep now.” She slowly stood and then wearily walked towards the tunnels, the hem of the miner’s jacket dragging on the ground behind her.

Feeling just as weary I headed the other way back towards the town.