Want to help? Consider becoming a Patreon.  



Everything was on fire. The tower that Feroz had toppled over in order to knock the archer from his position, had caught fire, with the signaling lantern within smashed against the side upon impact, spreading oil and flame within the confines of the fallen, wooden structure. The blaze rapidly spread into the corn field, for which the tower had been positioned next to.

Behind Feroz, he heard Tycus shouting and coughing. The windmill was now set ablaze as well. "I've lost sight of that blasted kender," Tycus called out, looking through the smoke.

"Probably for the best," Feroz growled as the town's alarms began to ring. People were now coming out of their homes screaming as the town began to go up in flames, spreading from the crops. The dark night was now aglow with the orange light of fire. "This has certainly not gone as I had expected," the minotaur growled as he inhaled smoke and coughed.

Ronlyn and Tharrom who had been near the west tower appeared through the smoke, "We haven't seen him either," they confirmed. Ronlyn looked wounded, holding his arm - which despite Tharrom's healing magic - was still cut and bleeding. 

"We have company," Breana shouted to Feroz, trying to alert him to the six well armed soldiers emerging from the smoke to the north, bearing the symbol of the Cridheolc on their chest; adorned in black and red chainmail, the cryptic symbol of Cridheolc on their breast piece seemed to be staring at them with intense hatred; the burning of the town would be used to cleanse their bodies and return them to the Wheel, to be reborn as humans; and the humans who stood against Cridheolc would be burned as well, reborn, their sins burned from their flesh.

An unnatural growl captured Feroz's attention as he looked and saw The Hound Master that Barus Stormlight had warned them about. The Hound Master was a towering man - even for a human. Standing nearly seven feet tall, his black hair was matted and unkempt, making his face difficult to see. He wore the Cridheolc armor - but his arms and hands as well as face - were covered in scars. His smile was twisted and contorted, exuding signs of sheer madness, even if one could not see his eyes beneath the swirling locks of hair that moved like agitated vipers. The Hound Master seeing the towering figure of a minotaur; laughs maniacally and releases the black, flaming hound, which knows its target! The hound seemed to be bathed in fire, its black body made of ash, as fire poured from its mouth, its eyes ablaze with flame; it's body acted like a furnace!

Feroz pounds his foot into the ground and rushes towards the fiery hound, swinging his battle axe; the blade striking deep into the fiery beast's side! The beast howled in pain, flames bursting from its mouth and nostrils. Tharrom, who saw the approaching soldiers drawing their blades, looked to Ronlyn who was still bleeding and placed his hand on Ronlyn's shoulder, and prayed to Gilean, god of Knowledge, to heal Ronlyn's wounds. In the ensuing chaos, Tycus seeing the hound attacking Feroz, casts Firebolt at it; only to discover the hound, made of ash and fire, is immune to fire!

"What did you think that was going to do?" Feroz called back to the half-elf. "The damn thing is made of fire and ash!"

Ronlyn, feeling better after Tharrom's healing touch, looked to the north - the approaching soldiers had not reached them yet. He turned his attention toward the Hound Master and tried to strike at him with his dagger; but his dagger was not able to pierce the chainmail of the Hound Master. Breana who had her bow drawn on the Hound Master, turned her attention to the approaching guards who she watched cut down the innocent people of the occupied town trying to put out the fires. Though, as an elf - she'd never cared much for anyone who wasn't Qualinesti - she could not abide by any innocent person being so brutally cut down. With a sneer, she fired her arrow at the approaching guards, striking one in the throat, sending him to the ground, grasping at his throat as the blood rushed between his fingers; from his corpse slumped to the floor, her arrow that had been lodged in his throat, suddenly exploded, sending a burst of wooden thorns in every direction around his body - striking the other guards, injuring them as well.

The fiery hound lunges at Feroz, unaffected by the rising heat, as the fire continues to spread through the town, sending flames spiraling upward and catching trees, fields and homes on fire; however, Feroz is able to keep his shield in front of the hound and deflects its attempts to bite. The Hound Master drew his large sword and brought it down with a thundering clash against Tycus, since his hound was on Feroz; the massive blade cut deep into Tycus' shoulder and pierced his armor. Tharrom seeing Tycus get struck by the Hound Master focuses his spell on The Hound Master, whispering a spell that reflects The Hound Master's demise; causing him Necrotic damage. Tycus attempts to use his Thunderwave spell to knock the soldiers back, however, they're driven by their faith and fight the effect.

Feroz manages to bring his axe down, once more on the fiery hound, cleaving the unnatural hound in the skull. Fire bursts from its mouth, but it then slumps to the ground lifelessly. Ronlyn uses the smoke and fire to his advantage, striking from the darkness at the approaching soldiers, quickly slaying the guards as they approached. The Hound Master brings his blade down again on Tycus, striking the same spot which downs Tycus. Tharrom grimaces as he watches Tycus fall like a puppet whose strings have been severed. Feroz turns his attention to the Hound Master and brings his ax down; his ax strikes the Hound Master but without enough force to pierce his armor. This allowed Tharrom to slide in the ash covered, blood stained dirt and place his hands on Tycus and whispered a prayer to Gilean to stop the bleeding.

Covered in blood and soot, Tharrom then stands up and looks at the Hound Master, and calls on Gilean to show the Hound Master the death that comes for him - and in that moment, the Hound Master's mind sees an illusion in which his fiery hound is alive once more; but furious that the Hound Master has allowed the minotaur to kill it; and the fiery hound turns its attention on the Hound Master, ripping out his throat; and though none of it is real, the Necrotic damage pouring out from what the Hound Master experienced, is enough to send his body to the floor - his eyes wide open, gazing at the burning fiery fields, his eyes, now devoid of life.

Everyone quickly moves to help the villagers help contain the fire they'd accidentally started; thankfully the rivers that flow around the village of Hearthcrest provide easy access and ample amount of water to help control the flames. Though the fires still burn on, a human with tanned skin with his hands decorated in callouses and cuts approached Tharrom. "You must be the ones who helped fight the religious seekers?" His eyes drift down to Tharrom's breastplate which bares the symbol of Gilean. "A believer of the old faith, I see?" the man coughs through the smoke. "My name is Reizer Wolfrunner, and I am, what passes as the mayor or leader of Hearthcrest." He is nearly thirty years old, though his brown hair bares streaks of gray. "I know you've done much, but the battle is not yet over."

"What do you mean? The Hound Master has been defeated," Tharrom pointed to the slain Hound Master by what now remained of the windmill, which by now, had nearly completely burned down.

"No," Reizer Wolfrunner whispered, "their leader is in our church - we had a church errected to celebrate Habbakuk... and this seeker took it for himself and made his home and where he 'expels' those who need to be cleansed... he has three Knights who arrived just a few nights ago and had tried to help but were ambushed by these religious zealots."

"Three Knights you say?" Tharrom asked, recalling speaking to Kallikus Elkford at the High Clerist Tower, who'd confessed some concern for three Knights he'd sent towards Hearthcrest to investigate Barus Stormlight's claims of the religious seekers. Kallikus Elkford, a Knight of the Sword, had been initially dubious of Tharrom's ability to heal until he'd witnessed it himself; then the hardened Knight lightened up and opened up to Tharrom. "I must get my companions. If those three Knights are here and alive, we have to rescue them."

Tharrom quickly began shouting for the others who gathered around him. "This is Reizer Wolfrunner," Tharrom choked, having run through the smoke to find the others, "he told me that there's still one more seeker - he's in their old church - and he has three Knights as prisoners."

Feroz smiled a large toothy grin; putting out fires has never been his thing. As a pirate, he often spent several nights burning down some villages and even ships. Fighting, though; fighting is what he loved to do - and if there was another one of these cursed Cridheolc to deal with, all the better. Moving through the smoke, Reizer Wolfrunner explained, "The leader... he released me... told me to fetch the ones responsible for causing this..." Reizer showed his wrists showed evidence of rope burns. Reaching the church, the symbol of Habbakuk is defaced, and marked over with the symbol of the Cridheolc. 

Feroz did not wait - he quickly swung the door open with ax in hand. Across from him, the pews of the church had been tossed about, and three humans tied to the support beams that held up the church looked as if they'd suffered greatly; their armor and weapons were on one side of the church in a large pile. Feroz's eyes settled on the large human sitting on a throne constructed from shattered pieces of the various pews, as well as the bones of those whom he purged for the cleansing. He slowly stands, drawing his sword and growls, "So you're the ones responsible for burning down my town? Good, let's end this so I can send you back through the wheel, animal."

The man named Marikus Shieldbarer, came to stand almost seven feet tall; nearly as tall as Feroz himself. His arms seemed to be constructed of serpents that woven through his arms, each muscle moving like a snake slithering down his arms. His chest was massive, his eyes vacant of any sanity as his long, black, matted hair flowd down. Feroz wondered if there'd been any relation between this man and the Hound Master; the similarities were uncanny.

Marikus looked to the three knights who'd been tied up to the support posts that barely held up the now derelict church, "Watch your 'saviors' perish and know your fate is next." The knights, all three of which were gagged and beaten badly, struggled furiously against their bonds. Marikus turned his attention to Feroz and with incredible speed, brought his sword up and charged into Feroz, slamming his shoulder into the minotaur's chest. Feroz, however, did not give ground; his hooves dug deep into the ground, and though the wind had been knocked out of him, he still managed to shove Marikus away from him and back into the church.

Feroz shook his head, "I hope that wasn't your best."

Marikus smiled, "I've just barely begun." Again he ran forward, blade glistening in the fire light reflected from the open door, as he tried to bring it down on Feroz's skull; but Feroz brought his axe up, catching the blade, then with his shield, slammed it into Marikus' chest, forcing the human to stumble back. Marikus lunged forward again, feigning as if he were going to attack the same way again, but at the last moment bringing his blade arcing from the side, catching Feroz in the ribs; the blade biting into Feroz's flesh.

As Feroz and Marikus battled, Breara slipped into the church and moved towards the first knight, quickly removing his bond as his gag, liberating Garis Skymoon, Knight of the Crown. 

Tharrom steps into the church - furious to see it defiled - though it is not his own deity - it had been Habbakuk who had gifted them with the knowledge that the gods of old had returned and awakened the realization within them of how they could channel those energies. Whispering a prayer, Tharrom moved his hands and extended his finger, his fury channeled into the form of a flame that engulfed Marikus causing him immense pain. "It is you who shall be cleansed of sins this day," Tharrom growled.

Ronlyn quickly moves to the other knight as Tharrom distracted Marikus with his magic and makes quick work of the rope that tied the second knight. That knight was none other than Loren Woodshade; a human with brown hair and brown eyes. He is a well respected Knight of the Crown. Wears his hair very long and pulled back in a ponytail. Has a sense of humor even when things are not going well.  Both Loren and Garis made their way to the third knight who had still been tied and got to work on his knots, and finally freed Heric Soulward; a human with auburn hair and hazel eyes. He is a Knight of the Sword known for the fact that when you stand in his presence you feel like you are in the presence of a strong commander. He did not enjoy becoming a Knight of the Sword before his two friends, but his natural ability to fight and defend, allowed him to quickly be recognized by the Knights and rise through the ranks.

The three quickly ran to the pile where their weapons and armor had been discarded and only took the time to draw their swords; there was no time to grab their shields or don their armor; the minotaur was fighting Merikus! As all three knights rushed in to help Feroz's side, none of them had ever seen a minotaur in person, but they were well aware of their reputation; and each of them also knew the story of Huma Dragonbane, and one of his most trusted companions - a minotaur by the name Kaz.

The three knights swung, exchanging turns at attacking Marikus, forcing the zealot to go on the defensive. While distracted, Tharrom calls on Gilean once again, striking necrotic nightmares to rip at Merikus' mind; and that distraction is enough for Ronlyn, who seems to teleport out of the shadows and darkness of the derelict church and strike a fatal blow into Merikus' neck. Merikus drops his sword placing pressure on his neck, but it is not enough as the blood spurts between his fingers. Merikus lunges at Ronlyn, who easily takes a step back and watches as Merikus falls forward a crimson pool forming around his rapidly dying body. After a few moments, Ronlyn knelt down and searched Merikus and discovered a parchment. He looked it over then turned to his companions, "It would seem our old friend is involved." He handed the note to Tharrom who read it aloud:

Marikus Shieldbarer -

I have shown you only a fraction of the power that Chemosh can grant you. I only ask that you continue to mislead these foolish purifying seekers to continue to cause discontent among the races of Ansalon. When the time is right, you will be rewarded for your hard work and time, in which you have served the master.

Krizzen Arcmoon
 faithful cleric of Chemosh

Garis, Loren and Heric gather around the companions after collecting their shields and armor and thank them for their intervention. As they discuss what had happened, Reizer Wolfrunner entered and saw Merikus slain on the floor. "Blood stains these sacred halls," he said mournfully.

"This is but the beginning," Tycus said, barely arriving.

"Where were you?" Feroz asked.

"I found some interesting items," Tycus said. "We were in such a rush after fighting the Hound Master, I took note of his sword and his weapons." Brandishing the massive blade of the Hound Master, Tycus extended it to Feroz, "The blade is enchanted. I say we take the dark weapon and use it for light. And this dagger," he handed it to Ronlyn, "is also enchanted. Take it."

Feroz prefered his ax; but as he held the Hound Master's blade by the hilt, he could tell it was nicely balanced, and despite its massive size, was quite light. The blade had several etchings along the blade that were written in some arcane language he could not decipher. 

Spending several days in the city, continuing their efforts to get the fires under control and help rebuild that which had burned down; miraculously none of the towns people died in the wildfire that had rapidly spread, as if Habbakuk were watching over his faithful.

On the third day, Reizer Wolfrunner approached Ronlyn, whom he'd spotted first. "I must thank you and your companions for liberating the town from the zealots. Though it cost the town much, no one was hurt in the fire - a miracle, no doubt. I know you and your companions have done much and may have other things to do - but I was wondering if I could ask something of you. About a week ago, one of younger hunters - a young man named William - had gone to investigate what had the horax so agitated."

Ronlyn had heard of these beasts; but they were more common in farmlands, and Ronlyn had spent most of his life growing up in the city landscape. Seeing that Ronlyn was not familiar with what a horax was; Reizer paused and said, "Imagine a centipede," making a gesture with his hands, indicating many legs, "that was roughly about six feet long and extremely aggressive. That's a horax; added that their body has a form of natural armor because of their exoskeleton. Normally, they're only aggressive if threatened; and generally they have only ever gone after our crops. But of late, they've been going after crops, even our livestock, as well as young children. The horax den is several hours southeast of us; there's a cavern entrance you can go into and if you wander around down there, you will find the horax den. The area is known as Vesta Field."

"You need us to find him?" Ronlyn asked.

"Bring him back," Reizer said, his voice soft, "Whether's he's dead or alive. If he's dead, he deserves to be buried here, in these lands not forgotten and rotting somewhere."

"We'll do it," Ronlyn nodded, without speaking to the others.

As he returned to the others, who'd been helping in the cleaning of Habbakuk's church in Hearthcrest, Breara turned to Ronlyn as he came in. "Any sign of Tarli?" she asked.

Ronlyn shook his head, "None. He's not in any of the buildings. Reizer said they didn't find a dead kender anywhere. I don't know that I've ever seen a dead kender," Ronlyn added as an after thought, which seemed wild, considering the lack of self-preservation many kender had due to their irresistible curiosity. "There's a good chance Tarli probably saw something and got distracted."

He paused for a moment, "We need to go find someone for these people. Reizer was talking to me outside - there is a hunter who had gone out to check on something and hasn't come back. He'd like us to go see if William is alive, perhaps wounded or trapped, or taken prisoner; or if he's dead - either way, bring him home. I told him we'd do it."

Ronlyn thought about how he'd seen his friend, Kraun, dying on the ground, having defended some merchants he'd been sent to protect against the undead. Ronlyn was glad to be there for Kraun's last moments so that his friend would not leave the world alone. He thought of William, and already believed that William was dead, and possibly - unlike Kraun - died, frightened and alone. He wanted to at least bring William's body home.


That night, they stayed in the temple of Habbakuk helping clean until they grew tired. The following morning, they gathered their belongings and began marching towards Vesta Field.

As they reached the edge of Hearthcrest, Reizer rushed to them to say, "I must thank you again for what you have done and what you are doing. We fear and accept the worse - but we would love to have William home, if he has been slain, so that he can be buried here and his family can get some closure."

"Is there a reason you only sent William?" Tycus asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"This should have just been a scouting mission. William is one of our most gifted hunter and tracker," Reizer confessed. "He wasn't asked to get rid of the horax; only to scout and see if there was something that was agitated. While the horax have always been a nuicance to us, because they burrow beneath the ground and emerge around Hearthcrest; they've rarely attacked our livestock. They normally go into the grain and corn fields and ravish our crops. Something seems to have made them appear far more frequently and to be far more aggressive, as if something has threatened their natural food source closer to their den." He handed Ronlyn a map, "I've outlined here, the hills down the ravine where the horax dens are located. If William made it, he should be there, or somewhere around there."

Tycus looked at Reizer and asked, "Would you happen to have a spare barrel I can have?"

Ronlyn turned to face the half-elf, "What are you going to do with a barrel? Roll it along?"

Tycus shook his head, "Last night, sleeping in that temple... something came to me. A way to create something using my magical abilities." He held in his several small stone fragments.

"What are you going to do with pebbles?" Ronlyn asked.

"These aren't just pebbled, they're actual fragments of the very mountain that struck Krynn," Tycus explained. "They're embued with magic. I've been collecting them for a very long time now, and I've learned to harness the power from them in order to recreate things." Tycus pulled out a small pouch and placed his hand inside of it, and from it, drew a large stone which should not have been possible to hold in the contents of the bag. "This is what I made last night. I call it a bag of holding."


After an hour, the hills that Reizer had noted on the map he'd quickly drawn, came into view. As they rounded the hill, they quickly spotted several cloaked figures down the ravine which is where the path led - standing near the mouth of a cave - the same cave Reizer had marked on his map. The cloaked figures were covered from head to ankle, their arms even wrapped in bandages. Hundreds of bats seemed to be flying in and out of the cave in an agitated manner. A horse drawn wagon, without any horses, lay tipped on its side.

Feroz peered over the rocks, down towards the ravine, observing the four figures. "Something's not right. They're covered from head to toe. Can't even make out their faces."

Ronlyn looked at Breana, "We should sneak down and see if we can get a closer look." Together, Ronlyn and Breana slowly made their way down the ravine, moving from rock to rock, bush to bush, for cover; managing to move approximately sixty feet down the ravine. Beyond this point, there was no cover to hide behind. Ronlyn's eyes tried to get a closer look at the figures, but the thick cloaks and hoods covered their features. "I can't make it out," Ronlyn whispered.

Breana shook her head, "They're not human or elf. Their form is too large for that."

"Ogres?" Ronlyn whispered.

"Possibly, but not as wide as the traditional ogre," Breana noted. Breana strained to listen and shook her head. "If they're Ogres... they're not speaking their traditional tongue. And that language they're speaking... is very guttural." Breana and Ronlyn quickly made their way back to the others who'd been watching from behind several large trees and reported back what they saw.

"They're not speaking any tongues I know," Breana reported. "They're the size of ogres, but not as wide - but definitely not ogre. Whatever language it is they're speaking... it's guttural."

"We should go down there," Feroz said after a moment, looking at Tharrom. "But you're going to need to hide that Gilean crest of yours on your breastplate. If these people - or whatever they are - are evil - they're not going to believe a half-elf or elf are on their side," he said, looking from Tycus to Breana, "and if Tharrom and I go down there, our armor is going to make a lot of noise. We might as well go down there, get a closer look - Ronlyn, Breana, you two stealth back to where you were. You, half-elf, what can you do with that magic you mentioned earlier?"

Tycus shook his head, "Don't worry, minotaur - if things go wrong, I can hit them from here."

Feroz and Tharrom made their way down the steep decline, the four figures below spotting them and talking amongst each other. As Feroz and Tharrom get within thirty feet and see clearly beneath the hoods, they're able to - miraculously - hold in their gasp; Feroz does so by feigning to bat away the nuisance of flies buzzing around while Tharrom forcibly bites down on his tongue. What they are looking at defies definition - at first glance, one might think they're lizard-men beneath the cloaks - but lizard-men were lean, these figures were thick, bulky. They looked to be some form of metallic dragon humanoid; but they did not seem friendly - their very presence felt... evil, corrupted.

One of the four figures spoke in a language neither Tharrom or Feroz understood, before switching to common. "Who are you?"

"Travlers," Feroz answered. "We were traveling the road and sought shelter in this cave that we've used as shelter in the past."

"Our appearance does not disturb you?" the same figure asked.

"No," Feroz lied, though ever urge in his body screamed to fight this atrocity before him. "We've seen your kind before. Done a few jobs as mercenaries."

"So you serve the Queen?" it asked, its eyes hyper focused on Feroz.

Feroz had traveled the seas and carried many passengers aboard his boat; he'd heard enough stories of the gods of old and the legends of dragons and Huma. "I call on the Dark Queen, yes," Feroz nodded. 

The creature - known as a Draconian, turned and looked to the minotaur's human companion who hadn't said a word yet. Tharrom, though a devote follower of Gilean, could barely get the words out, "Yes, the Dark Queen. Hail to the Dark Queen," he forced himself to say.

"Then perhaps you can help us find the eggs," the Baaz Draconian hissed. Feroz and Tharrom disappear into the mouth of the cave, along with the four Draconians.

Ronlyn and Breana, who had moved partially down the path, exchanged concerned glances, then looked back at Tycus who was still positioned where they'd stopped originally; none of them knew what was going on, but at no time did Feroz or Tharrom look to be in distress; there was no signal to attack or fight - they seemed to have... willingly gone inside. Tycus quickly made his way down to Ronlyn and Breana. "What was that about?"

Breana shook her head, "I could only hear what Feroz and Tharrom said - and they both mentioned something about the Dark Queen." Breana looked at Ronlyn and Tycus, both who looked to be clueless about the significance of the name. "The Dark Queen is another name for Takhisis," she explained, "the dark goddess herself. It stands to reason if Habbakuk has returned... we've seen evidence that Chemosh has returned... now the Dark Queen? Have the gods of old truly all returned? Why now? Why like this?"

"We will have to figure that out later, we'd better follow the others - at a distance," Ronlyn amended after a moment.

Inside the cave, Feroz and Tharrom followed the four Draconian, glancing around the cave as the walked; both immediately spot a human body, deceased, and discarded in the corner. Even with but a quick look, both of them know it's William's body - and by the looks of it, he'd been repeatedly stabbed. A quick glance at the four Draconians walking in front of them, they each had blood splatter on their robes that was without a doubt, in part, William's. Tharrom clenched his fist, but Feroz's strong hand kept him in check. "Not yet," Feroz whispered.

Continuing through the cavern, the Draconians led Feroz and Tharrom to a small campfire, where two other Draconians were. A passage veered to one side, while the passage ahead continued to veer downward. The two Draconians here seemed to be positioned here to guard something - but whatever that was, was not immediately clear to Feroz or Tharrom. The four Draconians spoke in their language to the other two gathered around the campfire, before turning to Feroz and Tharrom and hissing from beneath its hood, "They will take you down to the sunken city, where we must recover the egg and the scale... and deal with the filthy gully dwarves."

Feroz taken aback asked. "Gully dwarves?"

"Yes," one of the two remaining Draconians at the campfire growled. "They've proven to be a problem."

"Gully dwarves?" Tharrom asked now, rather shocked. "A problem?"

Tharrom and Feroz exchanged glances and suddenly remembered how Teagru had been "problematic" to the goblins near Winterholm, and both of them had to stiffle a laugh. "How are gully dwarves proving problematic to the great forces of the Dark Queen?" Tharrom tried to ask the question without sounding sarcastic, but his tone still carried a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"They scurry like the vermin they are into their tiny holes," the Draconian growled. "We suspect one of them has the dragonscale we seek and may even know where the dragon egg is."

"And you're certain there's a dragon egg down here?" Feroz asked. The notion was still so far fetched - though he was now sitting around a campfire next to two creatures who bore an uncanny resemblance to what a humanoid dragon might look like - the idea of dragons still seemed to far contrived to believe that the legends were real.

"The Dark Queen guided us here," the Draconian hissed in response. 

"Was the dead human we saw near the cave one of yours who failed the Dark Queen and was punished for his failure appropriately?" Feroz asked, in an attempt to gather information.

"No, he was a human that we found down that tunnel," the Draconian pointed to the tunnel next to them; the one that they seemed to be guarding or watching something for. "The dragon egg and scale are further down that way," it pointed to the part of the cavern that veered downward.

"What's in the tunnel the human was in?" Feroz asked. "Why would a human be down here?"

"Large insects," the other Draconian finally spoke up. "Long, large, insects. Upset by our presence."

Tharrom and Feroz exchanged glances - the horax.

"Is that why the caves are behaving strangely too?" Tharrom asked. "We noticed they seem pretty aggitated as well."

"I suppose," the second Draconian shrugged.

Tharrom knew that both the horax and bats could sense that however these Draconians came to be - it was not natural; the very aurora they emitted made that very clear.

One of the two stood, and looked to Feroz and Tharrom, he eyed them suspiciously before growling, "Come - we take you to the Dark. You go down join the others to kill filthy gully dwarves."

Feroz and Tharrom followed the two Draconians down the declining path that eventually opened to a massive gap; and down below, even as one of the Draconians held a torch in its hand for Tharrom to be able to see in the dark, the bottom of the crevice could not be seen. A rope was tied to one of the jagged rocks near the mouth of the gaping hole. "Climb down," it said, gesturing to the rope. "The others down below. Tell them you come as messengers of the Dark Queen in the aid to destroy the gully dwarves and find the dragon scale and dragon egg."

Feroz and Tharrom exchanged nervous glancing; they had both been thinking the same thing - if the Draconians were on to them - they could cut the rope as they descended, sending them plummeting to their death somewhere in the darkness below. Feroz grabbed the rope first and began to descend. Tharrom looked at the two Draconians and gestured, "Go ahead."

"No," one of them seemed to smile sinisterly, "we stay up here. Make sure insects don't get in the way. You two go down."

Tharrom shook his head, doubting this was going to go well, then grabbed the rope and began his descent into pitch darkness.


Elsewhere, near the mouth of the cave, Breana looked over her shoulder at the others. She'd found William's body and confirmed it'd been him. "Whoever did this to him stabbed him, repeatedly; probably more than they had to. Some of these wounds look post-mortem." 

Ronlyn who was looking down the cave to see if the Draconians, or their companions would be returning, looked just outside the cave and saw the overturned wagon. "We could use the wagon to bring William's body back to Hearthcrest."

Just then, Breana heard the familiar voices of the Draconians; the language she and the others could not understand, coming from further down. Her vision pierced the darkness, confirming what Tycus suddenly whispered, "Four of them are coming back! Looks like the four that Feroz and Tharrom came in here with!"

"But then where are Feroz and Tharrom?" Breana asked. Then she looked at William's body again and feared for the worse; these Draconians had lured Feroz and Tharrom in here and murdered them. She gripped her bow. Tycus saw her demeanor; though she'd never cared much for others outside of her own kind, in the short time she'd traveled with these new companions she'd come to understand them and see the good in their hearts; and these things, if William's body was any indication, were the embodiment of pure evil.

Tycus grabbed her wrist, "Not yet," he whispered. "There's four of them. We need a different plan. And I think I might have one that work. You're just going to have to trust me."

Tycus pulled out his bag he'd shown them earlier - the bag of holding, he'd called it. "We need to step inside of it - just keep our feet out. If it closes we will get lost in the bag. So it's important to not let the bag seal at our feet. We will appear like a discarded back on the side of the cave."

"This is ridiculous," Ronlyn shook his head, "there's no way this is going to work."

"Either that or we run out," Tycus hissed with some urgency as the voices of the Draconians grew louder.

All three of them pulled the bag over their head; and what they saw was incredible - the inside of the bag seemed somehow limitless as Tycus pulled the bag around their ankles and flopped it forward so the outside of the bag would fall over their exposed feet. The interior of the bag seemed to tap into some other dimension as the three of them heard what were clearly sounds coming from somewhere other than the cave; the sounds from the cave were muffled, as if it were hundreds of feet away - but they could tell the Draconians had come and passed them without a second look. They waited a few moments longer until the muffled voices of the Draconians could barely be heard before pulling the bag away. It'd worked; the four Draconians had returned to their position outside of the cave.

"That had to be the most insane idea I'd ever heard," Ronlyn confessed. "If we ever run into Tarli again, he's going to be obsessed with experiencing that for himself."

The trio continued, passing a small campfire. Breana knelt down. "Feroz's footprints are here and so are Tharrom's. It looks like they went down the declining path." Following quickly, they heard, yet again, the sound of approaching Draconians. "Same plan," Tycus said, looking at the others.

"Why not," Ronlyn muttered, "it worked last time."

Once again, pulling the bag of holding as Tycus called it, over their heads, he forced the excess bag to fall forward to cover their exposed feet. This time however, the Draconian who'd been holding the torch so Tharrom could see, saw the bag with the torchlight and gestured to the other Draconian. They'd been up and down this path several times and never saw the bag there and wondered if the Minotaur or Human had dropped it and had hoped it contained coin or drink. Inside the bag, Tycus could hear them drawing closer, rather than continuing, so within the bag he whispered, "Whatever happens next you have got to trust me."

Tycus placed his hand where their feet had been and cast a spell; a slick liquid poured out from his fingertips, spraying across the floor, which had become slick; one of the Draconians tumbled, but the one holding the torch had seen it and leapt toward the bag, throwing off its robes and revealing the wings it possessed. The sword crashed next to the bag, the Draconian surprised to see three figures emerge. "Run!" Tycus shouted, running in the same direction they'd been going - the direction that Feroz and Tharrom's footprints had led.

Quickly they reached a massive gap, with the Draconian chasing them; he saw the rope tied to the stone near the gap but there was no time. He looked at the other two, "We have to jump."

"Jump?" Ronlyn screamed. "We won't survive that. I can't even see the bottom."

"Trust me," Tycus said, and with that Ronlyn and Breana jumped, followed by Tycus. Tycus as they began their free fall pulled out a feather from his component pouch, whispered some words of magic, and suddenly the three of them were descending down the gap, moving at the speed of a slowly falling feather. As they slowly descended, they could see - all around this massive gap, various structures protruded from the walls, as if they'd been caught in a massive tidal wave of mud and stone.

At the bottom of the cave, Feroz and Tharrom take a look at their surroundings; when just above they hear shouting, then hear Tycus' voice shouting something that Tharrom recognizes as a spell. "I believe our friends are descending down the hole," Tharrom pointed out. Waiting for fifteen minutes before spotting Tycus, Breana and Ronlyn gently floating down.

"Why didn't the three of you take the rope?" Tharrom asked as the three touched the ground.

"There was no time," Breana answered.

"No time?" Feroz asked.

"The two of you vanished into the cave," Tycus explained, "we followed. The four Draconians you came in with were coming back without you. We thought something bad happened. So we pushed further in to see if we could find you - see if you ended up like William. Well, two others - one with a torch spotted us and gave chase. I did some magic and got us down here safely."

"So now the Draconians know that invaders are in here," he sighed. "We had a plan. An inside."

"How were we supposed to know that?" Ronlyn complained.

"Well now what do we do?" Breana asked.

"Burn the rope," Feroz said, suddenly, "so that they can't follow us down."

"One of them has wings," Tycus replied, with a shrug. "Saw it when he threw off his robes."

"And if we burn the rope, how do we get out of here?" Ronlyn pointed out.

"If we use the rope and they hear us coming up, they're just going to cut it and send us to our death, if they're not already coming down here," Feroz growled.

Feroz grabbed Tharrom's lit torch and burned the rope. All of them watched as the flame licked it's way upward.

"Well, hopefully there's another way out of here," Ronlyn muttered.


As they moved around, it became very clear - this area of the cave appeared to be a town that had been buried by a traumatic event - the Cataclysm. Though the buildings, some of which were infused into the stone; most were, despite their age, well preserved. Moving through the remnants of the town, they found a battered sign that marked this town as the fabled "Vesta Field." The story being the town had been that a gold dragon that had long been posing as a human saw the tidal wave of destruction from the Cataclysm's impact - and took their true form - as a gold dragon - and extended their wings the width of the village - and had tried to protect the people it'd come to love from the Cataclysm's destruction. Vesta Field collapsed beneath the massive cracks that changed the very face of Krynn and when the land had sealed itself, it'd been as if Vesta Field had never existed. All of Krynn had been changed by that tragic event.

In one of the battered shops, which looked as if it'd been looted - either by gully dwarves, or the Draconians that were down here - an item had been over looked. A battle ax that had ancient runes decorating the wooden shaft of the weapon. Not far away, Breana was moving through the ghost town, when a golden key's reflection caught her eye - something had pulled her towards it. There was nothing down this alley that she needed to find - it's as if she'd absently been urged to come here. She kneeled down and picked up the key and admired it's workmanship; it looked like a golden dragon.

After picking up the key, Breana made her way back to the others; the key seemed to whisper something and she looked to the others, "Follow me. There's something here."

They followed Breana to another section of the buried down and found a massive temple stood eerily well preserved as if the damage that ravaged the rest of Vesta Fields never touched this temple. The temple's towering stone pillars that spiraled upward were designed with what appeared to be swirling rivers full of fish. The air that surrounded the temple was uncharacteristically fresh unlike the rest of the dusty remains of the town. Breana walked forward, placing her hands on the door - and saw the lock. She absently reached into her pocked and placed the golden dragon key inside and turned the lock and the doors opened.

Inside there were pools of fresh water and fish.

Breana turned to the others, "This is a temple of Habbakuk. We are safe here."

"Funny how his temples keep coming up," Ronlyn pointed out. "If we count the cave Tegaru found, this would be the third one."

"It's fate," Tharrom said, removing the cloth he'd used to hide Gilean's symbol. "Habbakuk is watching over us."

... to be continued...