They made steady progress for the next four days. The incredible heat of the lake of lava slowly faded as they continued to descend. The air grew cool and damp. The cave walls became darker as the party passed through unknown strata. There were few branches or intersections in the tunnel... a fact that long since ceased to become noteworthy. The leaders of the party... Princeton Park and Dokan Maxwell... took it to mean that all the choices they'd made earlier in the expedition were correct and that they were on the right path. A path that lead them to a destination known in detail only to Princeton Park.

The Rune Missionary knew nothing of the Cthrain and their city. It was not mentioned in any of the holy books that he'd studied, and no one had ever spoken of it during his travels. It didn't matter. He had consulted the runes, and they spoke clearly: his presence was needed on this expedition. There were people that needed his protection, and the party would have that protection for as long as he drew breath.

Or at least some of them would.

There were some who were clearly not worthy. Red and Slick. Thurg. And a fourth man who had yet to admit to his own name. Greed had clearly eaten away at these men's souls... and it was as plain as the rock that surrounded them. Malyk could sense it even before Dokan took him aside and told him of Princeton Park's peculiar arrangement with the criminals. Malyk didn't trust them. He had protected them thus far only because to not do so may have endangered the remainder of the party. But now...

The men were up to something. He didn't know what, yet... but it was something. They made strange gestures to each other when they thought no one was looking. At night, they gathered in a small group and whispered among themselves. Slick did most of the talking. When the group was on the move, the thieves cast suspicious glances at other members of the party... especially Dokan and the girl, Lara. Dokan was most likely aware of their plotting, but he showed no signs of concern. Whatever they planned, Malyk hoped that it did not involve doing harm to the child. While there was much that could be forgiven, the Lord of the Rune was clear when it came to the harming of children. Malyk would have no choice but to visit swift judgment upon them if they so much as drew a single drop of her blood.

Not that the girl couldn't take care of herself. She was quick and agile, and much stronger than she looked. Dokan Maxwell had taught her many curious things. Now, the Amazon was educating her in things that Malyk would rather the child not know. But it was not his place to protest. Yet. For now, the child was safe with Dokan at the rear of the group. Dokan had given up his spot at the front for a while... probably to keep a better eye on the Park's thieves. Park, Krycek the mage, Thonia, and Malyk were at front. Krycek's light-globes floated gently overhead, projecting light downward and forward into the passage before them. Malyk missed Rath's sharp senses, but there was no use dwelling on the man's loss. He was cursed, and probably better off dead.

Just then... just as Malyk was wondering about Rath's peculiar ability to see in the dark... Krycek's light-globes began to malfunction. They suddenly swelled in size and brightness until it was painful to keep one's eyes open.

"Krycek!" said Princeton. "What's Going On!"

"It isn't me!"

The globes began to pulsate... then flicker. The alternating flashes of brilliance and darkness created unnerving strobe-effect. Finally the globes went out entirely.

There was no light at all... just the inky, abysmal blackness... the complete and total absence of light that could only exist underground.

"Krycek?"

"Just a moment."

A few short-lived sparks appeared... just enough to illuminate the mage and his attempt to re-cast the spell. He failed.

"This is very odd," Krycek said.

"Hey, what happened to the LIGHT!" someone called from behind. Malyk recognized Sutton's voice.

"Fear not," said Malyk. "I shall light our way." The Missionary lowered his head and began to pray aloud. "All praise to the Lord of the Rune!" he chanted. "Let His Wisdom shine forth into the darkness, so that the ignorant shall know of Him!"

And then, the most amazing thing happened...

Absolutely nothing.

Malyk was dumbfounded. There was supposed to be a surge of power as the Glowing Aura of Enlightenment appeared around him to light their way. But instead, there was only a brief tingling sensation followed by the same darkness. A strange, unwelcome feeling gripped Malyk's chest... it felt a lot like panic.

"Wh-What has happened?" he said. "Why does my Lord not answer?"

Malyk heard movement beside him. A rustling sound. He turned and prepared to strike with his staff... There was a spark, and then light erupted from Thonia's torch. The flame illuminated the four of them, but not much else.

"Torches!" Park yelled to the rest of the party. "Light the torches!"

"Not the magic ones, either," Krycek added. "Just the normal ones. Something is interfering with magic."

"But the Lord of the Rune's power transcends mere magic," said Malyk. He pointed his gnarled staff ahead of him and summoned its power. The tip of the staff began to glow like a single weak ember... and that was all. No lightning. No thunder. Just a tiny, flickering glow.

"Problem with your mojo, big guy?" said Slick. He had stepped into the light so he could see how to light his own torch. The little man seemed amused at Malyk's sudden loss of power.

"There must be some strange mineral in the rocks," said Princeton.

"Perhaps," Krycek replied. "Although, most magic is said to come from deep inside the planet. Perhaps as we draw closer to that source, the magic becomes turbulent and uncontrollable."

"My power is from a divine source," said Malyk. "Minerals or... turbulence... would not affect it."

"You're a scholar of magic, then?" said Krycek. "Studied all the different types... their strengths and weaknesses? An expert now, are you?"

"I know the strength of my god."

"Perhaps not as much as you thought you did," said Krycek.

"You don't seem to be too worried about this," said Park. "Do you think its just temporary?"

Krycek shrugged.

"Either way, it's only a minor problem." The mage tapped the sword that hung from his belt. "I am a man of many talents... of which magic is only one. We have light now. Let's move on, shall we?"

"We should go back," said Malyk.

Princeton and Krycek turned to look at him.

"Why?" said Princeton.

"I must consult the runes-"

"No time for your nonsense," said Park. "Thonia, lead the way, please!"

Thonia had already started walking carefully ahead of them.

Light returned to the passage as the others lit their torches one by one. But it was a different kind of light. Dim and flickering, not bright and steady like Krycek's. The torches threw odd shadows that moved with the dancing flame. The cave, and the entire expedition took on a darker, more sinister quality.

"And here I was thinking that it couldn't possibly get worse," Sutton grumbled. "Now we gots no magic!"

"That's what ya get for thinking," said Rester.

"Oh, it'll get worse," Dokan added. "I can almost guarantee that."

"There is another passage ahead," said Thonia. She pointed to something that Malyk couldn't see... something just beyond the torchlight. When the group got closer, the vague shape in the darkness was revealed to be a branch in the tunnel.

"It's leading up," said Princeton. He was right. The new tunnel went upward at a sharp angle. "We keep going the way we are now."

They left the other passage behind and continued straight. Malyk didn't like it. His hand drifted to the rune-pouch that hung from his belt. He fingered it with increasing nervousness; every step they took brought them further into the strange land that had someone separated him from the Lord of the Rune. But that was impossible. The Lord was everywhere and within every thing. How could His power ever be blocked or disrupted as Krycek's had? It couldn't happen. It couldn't happen, and therefore, it DIDN'T happen. The power was still there, yet Malyk could not wield it for some reason. He had become unable... unworthy. That thought frightened him even more than the possibility of the Lord's power being blocked. It meant that he had done something to separate himself from the Lord... but what?

Malyk looked around at the party members. Was it the thieves? Was he supposed to act against them? Was it the girl? Had he somehow failed to protect her? No... she looked unharmed and unconcerned about the sudden change in their situation. As he watched her, the girl waved at him and smiled. Malyk looked away.

It could have been the Amazon. When the girl had told him of the Amazon's 'interest' in him, Malyk had been tempted for a moment. Not even a second... just a mere instant of weakness. After all, despite her odd beliefs, the woman was beautiful. Attractive. Strong. Brave. But he was a Missionary, and such things... even the THOUGHT of such things... were forbidden him. His body and spirit belonged to the Lord of the Rune, and neither could be shared.

"Is there a problem, strong one?" said Thonia. Until she had spoken, Malyk hadn't realized that he'd been staring at her. His eyes had been traveling along the curves of her body as she walked ahead of them. Somehow she'd sensed his gaze, and turned to confront him.

"I...was merely-" Malyk caught himself. He was about to lie. Another sin. Even thinking about lying was unacceptable... how had he fallen so far in such a short span of time? It is well that the Lord of the Run had withheld his power, for he was certainly no longer worthy of wielding it. "I was-" -just about to lie again. "I am not-" -capable of telling the truth, apparently. It was worse than he thought. Malyk lowered his eyes and began the prayer of cleansing. He hoped that it was not too late to restore himself to worthiness.

The next few hours went by without incident. Krycek tried to cast a spell every few minutes, with varying degrees of failure. Sometimes he got sparks. Sometimes a flickering light that lasted a few seconds. And sometimes he didn't get anything at all. The air grew slightly warmer, but not uncomfortably so. It was humid, however. And there was a thick scent in the air that was reminiscent of rotting vegetation. It emanate from the moss and slime that dotted the walls in thick, unpleasant-looking splotches. They seemed to have appeared from nowhere... one moment the walls were clear, and then, just a few yards later, the featureless stone resembled something dredged up out of an ancient swamp. Slime oozed out of cracks in the rock like pus from an open wound. Fist-sized mounds of moist fungus clung to the walls, floor and ceiling... the caps of mushrooms whose stalks were lost within stone.

"It's just one disgusting place after another," said Sutton.

"Aye!" Red added. "I thought we were goin' ta see some lost city... not a damn mushroom-farm."

"Well," Princeton replied. "Apparently these rocks contain enough-"

"Oh shut up," said the unnamed thug. "Nobody asked ya!"

"...I mean," Sutton continued. "This place is just nasty!"

"There was once a civilization who's descriptions of their mythical hell looked exactly like this," said Princeton. "They were conquered and destroyed by the Cthrain. Don't you find that interesting?"

"No, not particularly," said Red.

"Hell, eh?" said Jeris, one of the workmen that Dokan had hired. "I always thought hell would be hotter, ya know?"

pffffffFFFT!
-thip-

"Ouch!"

Jeris grabbed his neck and collapsed.

"Jeris!" Sutton shouted as he knelt down-

pffFFFFT!
-clack-

Something small and incredibly fast zipped past his ear and struck the wall behind him.

"We are ATTACKED!" cried Thonia.

pffFFFFT!
pffFFFFT!
pffFFFFT!
-thup-
-thip-
-thip-

The Amazon recoiled as if struck by arrows. She staggered backwards and fell against the wall.

"THONIA!" Lara screamed as the Amazon fell. Beside her, Dokan was already in motion. He was spun quickly, rotating on his feet, while reaching out-

pffFFFFT!

-and snatching a speeding object out of the air before it struck the girl. He landed in a crouching position, and quickly motioned for everyone else to get down.

"What's Going O-"

pffffffFFFT!
-tink!-

Something bounced off of the flat side of Red's axe. He'd been holding it in front of him.

Everyone got down on the ground, either crouching or laying perfectly flat. No one spoke. At the front of the group, Thonia began to stir. She got up on her hands and knees, then leaned back into a crouched position. Then she stood. Dokan pointed at her and frantically signaled for her to get back down, but she pretended not to notice. Instead, she pointed to the wall... to something on the wall.

A mushroom.

The fungus was swollen and tight... engorged with air, now twice the size of a man's fist. There was a tiny black nipple at its tip, and from the center of that nipple, a small needle-like spine protruded. It was just like the one that was stuck in Jeris's neck. And exactly like the three that were stuck in Thonia's thick armor. Fortunately they hadn't penetrated to the skin.

There were perhaps a dozen more mushrooms stuck to the walls around them. Some were swollen.... others weren't. But their coloring and shape was identical.

Dokan grabbed a small rock and tossed it across the cave. It struck a wall near a cluster of mushrooms. Each of them reacted by puffing up like blowfish. The tiny spines swiveled around as if searching for a target. Dokan crept past several people and approached the patch of swollen fungus. He tapped the wall with his cane... the spines swiveled to point at the spot he tapped. He backed away, then looked around to make sure everyone was down.

"...hello..." he whispered. Nothing happened. So he looked around again and spoke in a louder voice. "HELLO!"

pffFFFFT!
pffFFFFT!
pffFFFFT!

Dokan spun and twirled like a master of the dance... the three spines sailed past him and struck the wall on the other side. He immediately dropped back into a crouch.

"...I don't recommend speaking above a whisper..." he said quietly. "They track by vibration, and are triggered by sound."

"Not just any sound," Krycek added. "Voices."

Dokan nodded.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Jeris is dead," said Sutton. "These things have some kind of poison on 'em."

"Very powerful, to kill a man in one hit," said Thonia. She picked the inch-long spines out of her armor. She looked at them, and saw the tiny bead of moisture forming on each tip. She shook the drop off, and another droplet began to form in its place. "The spines continue to produce poison after they are launched."

"Lovely," said Red. "What now?"

"We go back and regroup," said Dokan. "Perhaps take the other path-"

"No. We go forward."

"Are you mad, Park?"

"All we have to do is be quiet," he hissed. Princeton stood and walked over to the nearest mushroom. He walked lightly, and the mushroom hadn't yet reacted to his presence when he thrust his torch underneath it. "Interesting," he whispered. The fungus swelled... but it didn't burn. The flames licked its turgid bulb without doing it any harm at all. "How very interesti-"

zzzZZZZTH
-squish-

The mushroom splattered, as Lara's weapon... the one the Amazon had given her... sliced it in half. The sudden destruction of the pulpy fungus almost made Princeton yelp... which would have proven fatal. He turned slowly and saw the girl standing some distance away, holding the small bladed disk in her hand. She put her finger to her mouth-

"Shhh!"

With a flick of her wrist, Lara sent the disk spinning along its string in a rhythmic up and down motion. It built up more and more speed, then suddenly she flung the disk away from her.

zzzZZZZTH
-splat-
zzzzZZZZTH
-squish-
zzzZZZZTH
-splut-

It whizzed through the air so fast that it seemed to be going in several directions at once. Each time it struck, it sliced a deadly mushroom from the wall. Princeton park ducked and covered his head with his arms. Everyone else just watched.

zzzZZZZTH
-splat-
zzzzZZZZTH
-squish-

Finally the disk came to rest in the palm of Lara's hand.

"Well..." Park whispered as he stood up straight. "That solves that problem."

Dokan gave Lara a sour look.

"What?" she said. "I was just practicing."

"Shall we go?" said Park. "It's safe now."

"Then why are you still whispering?" said Dokan.

"Oh. Uhhh... just being cautious."

"What about Jeris," said Sutton. "We just gonna leave him here?"

"Certainly," replied Park. "He's dead isn't he?"

"You can't just leave-"

"We can, and we are."

"I'm afraid I must agree," said Dokan. "Normal mushrooms grow surprisingly fast. By the time we can bury Jeris, we could find ourselves right back where we started. I suggest we keep moving until we clear this area."

"At last, the man speaks sense," said Park.

"'Sides," Red added. "If'n we get lost on the way back, then all we gotta do is follow the smell."

"That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was."

"Are we finished," Park said impatiently. "Can we go now?"

Against Sutton's protests, the party moved on. They encountered more mushrooms further down the passage. And more after those. And still more just a few yard later. These were all dispatched just as easily as the first... even more so once Thonia's bladed boomerang joined Lara's string-disk in clearing the path. Thonia spattered five mushrooms with a single throw. Then Rester joined the game, firing arrows at the patches of fungus. His aim was uncanny, yet his work wasn't nearly as spectacular as the that of the women.

"Suddenly feeling rather useless, are we?" said Krycek to Malyk.

Malyk ignored him and continued his prayers... quietly.

Relying on torchlight slowed them down considerably. They couldn't see nearly as far ahead, and once they reached a section of cave, there were too many shadows and dark places that had to be checked before the bulk of the party could safely pass through. Compared to their progress with Krycek's magic, they expedition had slowed to a snail's crawl.

And whatever was interfering with magic showed no signs of abating. Krycek's attempts at spell-casting remained unsuccessful, although once, with great effort, he did produce a globe of wavering yellow light that lasted almost half a minute. Then it exploded. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Krycek didn't attempt any more magic after that.

About five hours after they'd encountered the first dart-throwing mushrooms, the party ran into a slight problem.

The passage rounded a narrow curve and then dead-ended. A huge pile of rock completely blocked their passage.

"I'm afraid my magic won't be much help," said Krycek. He was whispering, as they all had been for the past five hours. "Can we dig through?"

"We lost most of our digging equipment," Sutton reminded everyone. "And there's no tellin' how thick that blockage is."

"Well, there's one way to find out," said Princeton. "Just start digging and see how long it takes to get through."

"I don't think so," said Dokan. He examined the pile of rocks. Then he pointed up at the top of the cave... above the rock. "Look there. The ceiling is intact. These rocks didn't fall... they were PUT here."

"By who?"

"Excellent question."

"The old man's being paranoid again," said Princeton. He reached out to grab a rock from the pile. "If we all just-"

Dokan grabbed Princeton's arm.

"Don't touch it," he said.

"Are you mad? Unhand me!"

"I'll show you. Stand back. If our Missionary friend would be so kind-" Dokan pointed to a small rock... the one that Princeton was about to touch. Malyk jammed his staff into the wall and pried the rock loose. It fell away, revealing a rather large cluster of mushrooms tucked behind it. They all swelled and prepared to launch their missiles, but if it weren't for Dokan then there would have been no need... Princeton would have placed his hand right on top of them.

Everyone backed away. Far away.

"H-how did you-"

"I could smell them," said Dokan. "I suggest we go back the way we came and take that other tunnel. We are obviously not wanted in this one."

"Wanted?" said Princeton. "You sound as if-"

"Remember the bugs? They set traps for us, too. Hopefully the other passage will take us around whatever intelligence set this nice little surprise for us."

There was much grumbling... mostly from Princeton Park... but the party turned and headed back the way they'd come. It was a long, five-hour trek through the familiar tunnel. Along the way, they verified what Dokan suspected... the mushrooms they'd cleared earlier had began to regrow. They were small and immature, but they were there.

"Creepy," said Sutton as he looked around. Then he stopped walking suddenly, causing Manth... another workmen... to walk into him.

"Hey..."

"Shhhh... uhhh... hey guys," said Sutton. "Isn't this the place where we left Jeris?"

"Of course not," Princeton replied. "We haven't come that far alr-"

"It is," said Dokan. He pointed to a place on the ground that was indistinguishable from any other place. "His body was right there."

"Well where is it now?"

"Are you sure he was dead?"

"Positive. I know dead when I see it."

"He couldn't possibly have been dead, because he's not here now," said Princeton. "He probably got up and walked away."

"Good thing you didn't bury him, eh?" said Red with a chuckle.

"I've had about enough of you!" Sutton spat.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Gentlemen..." Dokan whispered. "We have an expedition to conduct. You may fight out your differences on the surface."

"So where's Jeris?" said Manth. "I mean... he was here. But now he isn't? What does that mean?"

"It means that either he wasn't really dead... or something came and retrieved the body."

"But what would-"

"Carrion Digger," said Lara. "The beast from the city... it ate the bodies of the dead."

"That's right," said Princeton. "It ate corpses."

"But it was a hunter, as well," said Dokan. "It didn't scavenge for bodies... it killed its prey. I think we're dealing with something else. Including the possibility that the mushroom's poison is non-fatal."

"The man was dead," said Sutton.

"Some substances can induce a deep sleep indistinguishable from death... the heart beats less than once per minute. Breathing is so shallow that it's imperceptible-"

"But if he's alive, then where is he?"

"He didn't have a torch," said Krycek. "It would have been pitch black when he woke up. He wouldn't have any idea which way to go. He'd be lost."

"He wasn't following us, or we would have run into him when we turned back," said Dokan "If he is alive, then he went that way-" Dokan pointed ahead. "-the way we're going now."

"We should search for him," said Sutton.

"We should go on to the other cave and continue the expedition," said Park. "If we don't find him before then, then to hell with him."

"THAT attitude is the reason why only criminals would sign on to go on this expedition with you!" Sutton spat.

"Hey, you got something against criminals?" said Red.

"As a matter of fact-"

"We must keep moving," said Dokan. "Yonder mushrooms are growing larger as we speak."

There was no sign of Jeris for the remainder of the trip back to the other passage. No footprints, no blood, no scraps of cloth. The party eventually passed out of the moist, slimy area and reached regular, dry rock. There was a collective sigh of relief, and for the first time in 10 hours, everyone felt safe to speak in their normal tone of voice. The other passage was exactly as they remembered it... shooting off at an angle and sloping slightly upward.

"I thought we was goin' DOWN?" said Slick.

"Sometimes one must go backward in order to go forward," Dokan replied.

"Riiight."

"Remember that, Lara," Dokan said. The girl nodded.

The passage was noticeably smaller than the previous one, but that actually made it much easier to see by torchlight. They made slightly faster progress for about an hour, but by then fatigue had begun to set in.

"Once again," said Sutton. "Those LEADING the party have no consideration for the people carrying all the HEAVY STUFF!"

"We lost ten whole hours!" said Princeton. "We can afford to push on a little more-"

"Well push on, then." Sutton dropped his pack, sat down, and pulled off his boots. "I ain't moving."

"We don't know what's up ahead; we should rest while we can," said Krycek.

Dokan nodded... thought he clearly had some unspoken reservations.

They made camp. Everyone found a place to sleep, and watches were set. Dokan took first, followed by Zackery, then Drayn, then the Rune Missionary. The Amazon set up her own watch, as did the thieves. Without Krycek's magic, it was necessary to keep a fire burning the entire night. Scraps of cloth and wood, and the burnt stumps of the day's torches were sacrificed for light. There were enough torches left for the next day. If the magic hadn't returned by then, there would be a problem.

Malyk eyed the shadows in the cave as he fed the meager flame. The fire made watching more difficult. Everything seemed to be moving even when was nothing out there. He forced himself to be diligent... staring at every shadow until he was certain that there was no substance behind it. He had to. If he couldn't at least keep a good watch, then he was of absolutely no use at all.

He heard someone walking behind him, and turned to see the Amazon standing there. Malyk turned back to his duties and ignored her.

"You watch well," she said. "For a novice."

"My eyesight is as keen as any other's," he said.

"Your eyesight is too long accustomed to magic. Life is more challenging without it, yes?"

"I do not wish to be distracted," he said.

"There is nothing to see. Nothing lives in this cave but us? No animals. Rats or insects. Something has picked this place clean of life."

"And you wish to hunt it, I assume?"

"If it is worthy of being hunted. I will not be known as a killer of mushrooms."

Malyk was unsure if the Amazon was trying to be funny or not.

"And what if there is nothing worthy? You are not here for treasure or to protect the innocent... so with no hunt, your time will have been wasted. There may not be treasure, either... better to seek a more spiritual goal-"

"My spirit is in the hunt. And there are still the creatures like that from the surface. The one you battled."

"It was not as much of a challenge as you presume."

"But you fought it with magic."

"Not magic... with divine power."

"It is the same."

"No. It is not."

"Both seek to draw strength from other than one's own heart. A false strength that will inevitably fail you... as you have seen."

"You believe there are no powers greater than yourself?"

"Amazons do not debase themselves as you do. That which cannot be obtained by strength and skill is not worthy of having. To appeal to phantoms and spirits is to admit that you are weak."

"We are weak," said Malyk. "We are all in need of the guidance and strength given by the Lord of the Rune."

"Tell me then, foolish male... what god would create a creature so pitiful that it could not survive without constant pleas for help? Why would a wise god create a thing that could not stand on its own?"

Malyk didn't have any answers. And he didn't particularly care for the questions.

"You come to lead me further from the path of righteousness. Away with you... leave me to my duties and prayers."

"Pray well, male... and perhaps your god will restore his gifts before you discover that you no longer need them."

Thonia went back to her side of the camp, leaving Malyk to wonder just what it was that she wanted. Their conversation had been brief, but it left him with much doubt. Not doubt of himself or his god, but of his true purpose here. Was this expedition a test of some kind? Malyk decided to seek guidance. He took his pouch of runes and performed the prayer over them before dumping them onto the ground. What he saw was disturbing. Frightening...

There was no message. No guidance. Nothing but a jumbled pile of runed tiles.

---

With no way to judge night and day, morning usually began whenever Dokan declared that it was time to get up. Today was no different. As usual, there was much grumbling and requests for another hour of sleep As usual, the request were denied. Torches were lit and supplies were gathered.

Then, any similarity between this morning and any other ended.

"Where's Vithor?"

Juzh, one of Dokan's adventurers, had gathered what little he had and was looking around for his brother. Vithor was a tall, muscular mercenary. And he was gone.

"VITHOR!" Juzh shouted. He and Vithor had crammed themselves in a corner to sleep for the night. Vithor's blanket was still there, laying on the ground by the wall.

"Do we have a missing man?" said Dokan.

"Vithor is gone," said Juzh. "He was right here against the wall. His blanket is still-"

Juzh grabbed the blanket and lifted it... discovering two unsettling things in the process. First was that the blanket was wet. It felt as if it had been soaked in some slimy substance that wasn't water or blood or any other identifiable fluid. The second thing was that Vithor's clothes were still underneath the blanket. They were coated with unidentifiable slime as well.

"He's gone," said Juzh. "But his clothes..."

Dokan prodded the clothing with his cane.

"Odd," he said.

"The man took off his clothes and went for a walk," said Red. "Naked. Strange brother ya got there."

"He didn't take them off," said Dokan. "Look at them." The shirt, pants, and boots lay exactly as a man would if he were wearing them. One sleeve was bent across the chest. Another lay near the hunting knife that still sat in its belt-sheath. "The clothes are undisturbed... as if the man wearing them simply vanished and left them behind."

"Did anyone see anything on watch last night?" said Drayn.

"Nothing," said Dokan.

"The night was quiet," said Malyk.

Zackery shook his head and poked the clothes with his sword.

"Well, nothing came here and CARRIED him off," said Sutton. "Not with all of us sleeping all around him... he'd have had to walk through a half-dozen people to reach Vithor."

"What is that liquid?" said Krycek.

"Looks familiar-"

"The slime that was on the walls in the other passage," said Dokan. "That's what it is."

"So now we've got TWO people missing."

"There are no tracks or signs of anyone entering the camp," said Thonia. "OR of anyone leaving."

"So what happened to my brother!"

"Hmmm..." Using his cane, Dokan moved the blanket and clothes aside. The floor and wall where they'd sat were wet as well. Dokan tapped the wall, and a few chips of slime-covered stone fell away. "The wall is weak here. See how easily the stone crumbles?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means..." Dokan knelt down and examined the wall where Vithor had slept. He held his hand out a few inches in front of it. "It means that perhaps your brother was... consumed."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, that's just great," said Sutton.

"Consumed by WHAT?!"

"I don't know. But my first guess would be... these right here."

Dokan pointed to the wall, where tiny filaments were emerging from the stone. They were like strands of fine hair, greenish-white in color and covered with a thin layer of slime. They grew out of the stone and stretched toward Dokan's finger. When Dokan snatched his hand away, the things retracted back into the wall.

"Who ELSE slept in close proximity to the wall last night?" said Dokan. No one answered. With the exception of Juzh and Vithor, everyone else had slept closer to the center of the cave. Vithor and slept with one should against the wall, with Juzh right beside him. "I suggest we stay away from the walls from now on."

"But what about my BROTHER!"

"I'm afraid he's gone."

"He CAN'T be gone! Did you see how LITTLE those things were! They couldn't consume a whole man... it's CRAZY!"

"We don't know what we're dealing with here," said Krycek. "They could merely be the digestive portion of a much larger creature."

"They grew into your brother's flesh and consumed him where he lay. He probably never even felt it."

"...greeeeaaat..." said Sutton.

"You're WRONG!" Juzh protested. "You're ALL wrong! Vithor is out here somewhere, and I'm going to find him!"

Juzh grabbed his weapons and started walking away.

"Stop him!"

Zackery and Rester blocked his path.

"OUT of my way!"

"He's gone, Juzh," said Zackery. "It's just like the old man says... We got the evidence right here."

"NO! He... he... he just WANDERED OFF!"

"Without his clothes?" said Rester. "Without his weapons? C'mon, Juzh, I know you're upset be you gotta think-"

"UPSET! This is my brother we're talking about! You're saying that something just... just OOZED out of the wall and ATE him!?! NO! No, I WON'T accept that!"

"Oh, for goodness sake, let the fool go," said Princeton. "We're wasting time... if he wants to wander off by himself, LET him!"

"It doesn't work like that," said Zackery. "We all stick together."

"Like Jeris, eh?" said Sutton. "He's still walking around here in the dark-"

"Jeris is most likely dead," said Dokan. "A fate he now shares with Vithor. Either the dart killed him, or something else did."

"Jeris didn't leave any clothes behind," said Sutton. "Those things in the wall didn't GET him-"

"Can we GET MOVING PLEASE!" said Park.

"No," Sutton replied. "We got TWO missing men-"

"Two DEAD men," Dokan corrected.

"We don't know that for sure-"

"It's about as sure as it will be. If Jeris survived the poison in that dart, he would be moving blindly through the tunnels. We would have caught up with him long before now."

"So you SAY-"

"And there is absolutely NO evidence that Vithor left this camp... but PLENTY of evidence that he was consumed in his sleep. That is all the certainty we will ever have. Searching for more is a fool's errand."

"Are you really going to leave these people behind, Dokan?"

"As far as I am concerned, they are dead and gone."

"My brother is STILL alive!"

"Well then, how do you know we won't find him in THAT direction-" Dokan pointed down the unexplored passage. "And Jeris too, for that matter?"

"We should split up and search-"

"Search what? Search every passage we encountered since we left the surface?"

"I ain't searchin' nothin'" said Red. "It's gold I came down here for, and it's GOLD I'm gonna get. Some fool wanders off or gets himself ate, it's no concern of mine."

"You feel the same way, Dokan?" said Sutton.

"I feel that searching for dead men is a waste of time. But... you and Juzh are welcome to go out on your own if that is what your conscience requires. I would rather we stick together, but I cannot hold you against your will."

"FINE, I'm leaving!" said Juzh.

"And which way will you go?" said Dokan.

"Back the way we came-"

"And if WE find Vithor... what then? Would you have us come back and get you? What if NEITHER of us finds him? Will you continue on to the surface? Have you thought about this at ALL, or are you merely letting your emotions get the better of you?"

"The man left his clothes and supplies," said Krycek. "I didn't know your brother well, but he didn't seem like a fool. Nothing came here and got him, we KNOW that. And if he'd left voluntarily, he would have taken his weapons. He would have awakened YOU at the very least, would he not?"

"Indeed," said Dokan. "How COULD he have gotten up and walked away without waking you?"

"How could those things have EATEN-"

"They make no sound," said Dokan. "You saw that for yourself."

Juzh looked down at the floor. He didn't speak or look up, but occasionally he wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Well," said Park. "Are we done?"

"Unfortunately, yes," said Dokan.

Thonia lead the group further into the passage. Juzh went with them.

The cave turned out to be much like the last one. A few hours after morning, the same slimy ooze was seen on the walls. Minutes later, the Lara, Thonia, and Rester destroyed the first cluster of dart-throwing mushrooms. There had been very little conversation up until that point, and afterwards there was none at all. They moved silently onward, destroying the fungus as they went.

And no one touched the walls.

The three hours that passed felt like three days, and, as some among them suspected, something unpleasant awaited them at its end. It was another obstruction in the cave, but it was nothing like the first. It wasn't rock that blocked their path this time... it was an enormous wall of greenish white fungus. It grew out of the walls, completely filling the passage in front of them. There was no way around it, but there WAS a way through. Along the turgid surface was an opening stretching from top to bottom, resembled a giant mouth turned sideways. Beyond it were fleshy layers of slimy fungus so thick that the stone walls could no longer be seen.

"Yup," Zackery sighed. "Why am I not surprised..."

"Hey, uhh," Slick began. "Ya know something? That thing kinda looks like a giant-"

"We'd rather not know," said Dokan.

"But it looks JUST like a-"

"Thank you, Mr. Slick. Please remain silent while we figure out a course of action."

"Please don't tell me we're going through there," said Sutton.

"We went through the big worm," said Slick. "So we may as well do the big-"

"I think we have no choice here," said Krycek. "Every difficulty we've encountered has led to the correct passage."

"So far," said Zackery.

"If the pattern holds, then THIS must be the way to the city. I say we go through."

"Errr?" said Park. "I don't know, it looks... dangerous."

"Yeah, Park," said Red "You WOULD be afraid of it, wouldn't ya!"

"Heh, heh!"

"Ha!"

"The last alternate passage we came to was several days back," said Krycek. "Do you want to spend that much time just to discover that THIS was the way we should have gone?"

"I say we continue forward," said Dokan. "With caution. The reason the other passage was blocked may have been to lead us here."

"Weapons ready," said Drayn. Everyone that had weapons drew them.

"Keep noise to a minimum," Dokan instructed. "Do not touch anything."

"Don't worry," said Sutton. "So... who's first?"

Thonia approached the unusual opening and prodded it with her spear. She waited for a reaction, and when there was none, she stepped through... slipping past the lips easily despite her size. With growing reluctance, the others followed.

Beyond the opening, the walls were soft, spongy and generally disgusting. Even the floor was covered in thick fungus which gave slightly under the party's feet, making walking awkward and difficult. The scent of decaying vegetable matter was almost overwhelming. It smelled like a old, dead swamp.

After only a few yards, the passage emptied into a large, alien chamber. The walls were too far away to be seen by torchlight. The ceiling was 35 feet above them, and huge stalks of fungus reached up toward it from the floor. Some of the fungal stalks actually touched the ceiling, forming columns of varying thickness... from the size of a man's arm to larger than most tree-trunks. Others stalks only rose a short distance before blossoming into mushroom-caps or other strange shapes. The clusters of columns and stalks made it difficult to see. The chamber was so packed with them that, no matter which direction one looked, there was something blocking your few after only a few feet. And there was something growing on almost every surface. The fungus bulged outward in knobs, tumors and cysts that were uncomfortable to behold. They grew up from the floor. The hung from the ceiling. They puffed outward from the columns and stalks. They were everywhere. Some were the size of a man. Others were smaller. A few were larger.

"Is this what it looks like inside a mushroom?" said Rester.

"I have no idea," replied Zackery. "Never been inside a mushroom."

"Careful not to touch anything." Dokan warned.

"Ugh... if I touch something I'll throw up," said Sutton. "What is this stuff?" They were passing one of the fungal columns. It had two large bulges on it, and Sutton was looking at one of them.

"Don't get too close," said Krycek. "Best if you just back away."

"But I think there's something inside it-"

"Keep moving," Thonia hissed from the front of the group. Sutton backed away from the thing and kept up with the others. Everyone eyed the bulging knobs of fungus warily as they passed, but no one got any closer than they had to.

-SPLUTCH-

"Eh? Someone hear something?" said Princeton. Everyone had heard it... a wet, ripping sound. It came once, then silence followed. They were far away from the walls now... they couldn't even see they way they'd come in.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that we aren't alone in here?"

"There's movement," said Dokan. "...all around us... just outside the range of the torches..."

"We're being followed," said Krycek.

"No. Hunted," Thonia corrected. "

-SPLUTCH-
...splat...
thump

"What the hell?"

"What direction did that-"

"Behind us."

"Everyone stop moving," said Dokan. The party halted. No one spoke, or moved, or breathed... There was no sound. "It's still there," said Dokan. "...still watching."

"I saw something," said Juzh. He pointed into the darkness. "There! I saw something right there!"

"What was it-"

"I... it looked like a man!"

"Impossible."

"Whatever it is, its gone now."

"No it isn't," said Dokan. "We need more light." He pulled two objects out of his pack. One was a small jar of liquid, and the other was a small vial of another substance. He poured the vial's contents into the jar. The mixture immediately began to glow with an eerie green light. The light grew stronger when he sealed the jar and shook it, mixing the contents. Then he tossed the jar into the darkness. It landed in the soft fungus without shattering; its green aura illuminated a wide area around it...

...there were dozens of them. Dozens of fungus-creatures... not stationary mushrooms or stalks, but actual living, moving things made out of the same greenish-white pulp that composed the chamber itself. Their shapes and sizes varied... Some were man-shaped. Others looked like rats or worms... or insects. The large beetle-creatures that the party had faced days ago stood before them once again... only they weren't real. They were imitations made of mushroom-flesh. None of the creatures had any eyes, only empty sockets eyes should have been. They circled the fringes of the party, slowly backing away from the light that Dokan had tossed into their midst. But as that group vanished, more fungus creatures appeared from the front and rear. Most of these were humanoid, and as they moved slowly toward the party, the horrible details of their creation came into view. Their faces were molded into a shape that was unmistakable-

"Jeris!" said Sutton "It's JERIS!"

"That can't be Jeris," said Manth. "I see Jeris over HERE!"

"They're ALL Jeris!"

It was true. Ten identical copies of the missing workman lumbered toward the party. More appeared behind them, stepping out of the darkness with pale green arms outstretched.

"What the hell's going on!"

"We're surrounded, that's what's going on!"

Thonia was at the front of the group, and she was the first person the creatures reached. She thrust her spear completely through one creature, impaling it. Then she yanked the weapon out, ripping a large hole in its abdomen.

The creature didn't cry out, grunt, or even flinch. It kept coming as if nothing had happened. It lurched forward, and as it did, long, poison-tipped spines eased out of its fingertips like a cat's claws. The Rune Missionary decapitated it with a single swing of his bladed staff. The head hit the ground and rolled away, but the creature kept right on coming. By now, three more were joining it.

"Whatever they are, they ain't Jeris!" said Zackery. "ATTACK!"

"Whoever can't fight, hold the torches and get out of the way of those who can!" Drayn added.

Swordsmen charged the creatures, hacking at whatever extremity presented itself. Hands, arms and heads piled up on the floor... but that didn't stop them. Several detached arms kept on inching toward the party, pulling themselves along by the fingertips.

Red have a howling battle cry and leapt into the midst of the battle. He sank his axe into one creature's chest, yanked it free, then decapitated it with a spinning slash. The headless creature lunged at him, and he sliced it in half just below the chest. There wasn't much that the bottom half could do, but the top half began to crawl toward him. Red removed its arms and chopped each appendage into as many pieces as he could before the next creature arrived.

"These things don't DIE!" he yelled. "Ya cut 'em up good and they act like ya just blew 'em a bloody KISS!"

"DAMN!" Rester cursed. He'd just put six arrows into one creature's face with no effect.

"Cut them to PIECES!" said Dokan. "It's the only way! And DON'T let them TOUCH you!"

Dokan twisted the handle of his cane and drew the razor-sharp sword that was hidden within the shaft. A fungus-creature staggered toward him. This one was a giant insect... a man-sized beetle made out of living fungus. Dokan pushed Lara behind him and lunged forward, making a series of slashes before the creature could react. Then he backed away. The giant insect fell apart... hitting the ground in exactly sixteen pieces.

"There's MORE!" Juzh pointed. "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" More humanoid figures milled around at the edge of the torchlight... stepping in and out of view. Juzh caught a glimpse of one particular form as it vanished behind a column. "VITHOR! VITHOR! I SEE MY BROTHER!"

With sword in hand, Juzh began hacking and slashing his way through a line of the pale things standing between him and the vague shape that he saw.

"NO!" Zackery cried. "STAY TOGETHER! WE'RE OUTNUMBERED... WE HAVE TO STAY TOGETHER!"

Juzh wasn't hearing him. The youth charged another creature and ran it through with his sword. Then he yanked his blade upward, splitting the thing in half. He pulled his sword free and charged into the darkness.

"I'm COMING, VITHOR!"

"Someone go GET him!"

"NO!" said Dokan, who was busily dispatching another creature. "FORM A GROUP AND PUSH FORWARD! RALLY AROUND THE AMAZON AND THE MISSIONARY!" Dokan pointed, but both Thonia and Malyk were gone from view. The pair was surrounded by a throng of the fungus creatures, and only Malyk's torch was visible. Suddenly, the bladed end of Malyk's staff erupted out of one creature's back. Malyk sliced the thing's arm and shoulder free, then removed its head. "FIGHT YOUR WAY TOWARD THEM!"

"We have to get OUT of HERE!" Princeton screamed. He backed away from the fight and ended up bumping into a large cyst on one of the fungus columns. The second he touched it-

SPLUTCH!

A pair of arms burst out and tried to grab him-

"AEEEEEE!!!"

Krycek's polished sword gleamed in the torchlight. He severed one arm, kicked the other out of the way, then pulled Princeton away from the newly-hatched fungus creature as it emerged to pursue them. It was yet another copy of Jeris.

"WE'RE DOOMED!" Princeton cried.

"VITHOR!" Juzh slashed another creature, hacking it in half with two blows from his sword. Then he saw it again... his brother... just ducking behind a column. Juzh followed, but all he caught was a glimpse of Vithor rounding another corner. "WAIT!"

"WHOOOOHOOOO!!!" Red bellowed. He and the unnamed rogue fought back to back, literally standing on top of a pile of pale, twitching body parts. There was no shortage of creatures to kill, and neither man could be happier. Not far away, the slow-witted Thurg swung his mighty bastard sword in powerful arcs, dispatching multiple creatures with single blows. Slick crouched behind him, holding a torch and trying not to get killed by accident.

"YAAAGH!" Drayn and Borris downed another creature and immediately began chopping it to pieces with their swords.

"Borris, watch out!"

A fungus-thing exploded from the column behind Borris, poison-tipped fingers reaching for the mercenary's throat. Borris turned-

zzzZZTH!

Lara's disk sliced the creatures fingers off cleanly, buying Borris enough time to recover from the surprise and deliver a spinning slash that split the thing in two.

"This way!" said Dokan. Drayn and Borris fell in line behind Dokan, Lara, Sutton, Manth, and Thonia's slaves. They protected the group from the rear as Dokan and Sutton fought their way toward Thonia. "Red! Thurg! You! Come with us!"

The thieves rallied around Thurg and moved to joined the group.

"WATCH OUT!" Slick yelled. He pointed to the darkness above the thief with no name. A long, thin, tentacle reached down, wrapped around the man's neck, and yanked him up into the air. The darkness claimed him. "HEY!"

The man's sword fell back to the ground... but that was the last and only sign that he had ever been there. No one had even seen what type of creature it was that had snatched him... all they'd seen was the pale greenish-white tentacle.

"He's gone!" said Red. "Keep moving! And WATCH yer HEADS!"

"THERE you are!" Juzh rushed up behind his brother, who was standing near a fungus-column. "Vithor! I KNEW you were-"

'Vithor' turned and grabbed Juzh by the shoulders. Juzh tried to pull away, but the creature was too strong. It spun him around and pushed him back against the column. Thin, hair-like filaments grew out of the fungus and sank into the skin on Juzh's neck and scalp. Again, Juzh tried to free himself... but he suddenly felt weak. The sword fell from his hand, and the last thing he thought as the strength drained out of him was that at least he would die the same way his brother did...

...meanwhile...

"CHARGE!"

Mercenaries, thieves, and fighters rushed forward in line, slicing and hacking at whatever stood in their way. The knot of fungus-creatures that surrounded Thonia and Malyk quickly fell away... temporarily overwhelmed by the onslaught. But more creatures were on the way. There seemed to be an endless supply of them, and, despite their slowness, they were incredibly strong and difficult to put down.

"We're getting out of here.... destroy their mobility so that they cannot follow!"

As an example, Dokan sliced the legs of a humanoid creature that looked a lot like Vithor. The legless torso still squirmed and reached for him, but once Dokan moved away from it the creature wasn't a threat any longer. The others followed suit and by maiming the creatures instead of hacking them into small pieces, they were able to fight more effectively. They moved as a group, with fighters surrounding the torch-holders.

"OVERHEAD!"

Something snaked down from the ceiling.

zzzZZTH!

Lara severed it, and the tentacle slithered across the floor... until Slick stepped on it and cut it up with his knife.

"FORWARD!" said Dokan. "FIND A WALL, THEN FOLLOW IT UNTIL WE FIND THE EXIT!"

A group of fresh creatures arrived to stop the group's attempt to escape. They fell quickly. Thonia... with Malyk on her left and Thurg on her right... was simply unstoppable. The group plowed through the creatures and kept going until someone spotted a fungus-covered wall. They veered toward it. The creatures followed.

"BACKS TO THE WALL!" Drayn shouted. "FIGHT YOUR WAY TO THE LEFT, WE'LL REACH AN EXIT EVENTUALLY!!!"

With their backs to the wall, the group moved to the right, fighting off the unending horde of fungus creatures that stopped them. There seemed to be more and more of the things now... they lumbered out of the darkness in groups of three and four... then five and six. The advantage the party gained from not having to watch their backs was quickly eaten away by the sheer number of their opponents.

"Where are they COMING FROM!?"

"Shut up and FIGHT!"

At the front edge of the group, Thonia and Malyk fought side-by-side. Slick stood behind them and held a torch while Thurg served as his own personal bodyguard. The Missionary swung his bladed staff in a low arc, slicing the legs out from under three charging humanoid things. Two more came right behind them. Malyk made another slash, but the second creature... either on purpose or purely by accident... stumbled away from the blow, ending up standing behind the first.

"AHA!" Thonia grunted. She pointed her spring-loaded harpoon at the things and activated the mechanism. The barbed point shot out of the shaft and impaled both creatures. The projectile's momentum carried them back into the darkness, where they collided with several newly-arriving reinforcements. They all went down in a jumble of pale limbs, and when they tried to rise, the two impaled creatures literally tore themselves in half.

"FORWARD!" the Amazon shouted. The maneuver had cleared a temporary path through the madness. She charged without looking back. The others were right behind her. Something large lunged out of the darkness ahead of them... another faux-insect. Malyk ran the pointed end of his staff through its chest, lifted it up, and hurled it to the side. As he did, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

"THERE!" he pointed. "THE WAY OUT!"

"Is it the same way we came in?" said Slick.

"Who cares!" Princeton blurted. "We have to get OUT OF HERE!"

Being the bold man of bravery and action that he was, Princeton broke formation and bolted for the exit like a frightened schoolchild. Several unidentifiable things reached out of the darkness for him, but the man was simply too fast. Or perhaps his loud, high-pitched screaming confused them long enough for him to slip past unmolested. But just as Park reached the exit, a gang of fungus creatures stepped into the chamber, cutting off the party's only means of escape. Park skidded to a halt mere inches away from the first of them. He opened his mouth to scream, and poison-tipped fingers reached for his throat. Park's foot slipped on a small puddle of goo and he fell away from the thing just as it was about to grab him. Then-

SHLUCK!

Thonia's boomerang removed both of the creature's arms at the elbows. The weapon soared off into the shadows... then curved and returned, slicing the same creature's head in half as it came back to Thonia's hand. Park got up on his hands and knees and scurried away. The other creatures moved to follow, but Thonia and Malyk slammed into them with weapons slicing and slashing in a frenzy of destruction. They went through the creatures like twin scythes through dry wheat

"YAAAAHHH!!" Thonia carved a deep furrow down one creature's torso, causing it to fall apart when it took its next step toward her. Malyk swung his staff and cleared a momentary path to the exit. Slick and Princeton squeezed through. Then Thurg, Red and Zackery joined the attack, hacking and smashing the pale creatures until the things were no more than quivering lumps of foul-smelling pulp on the floor.

"EVERYONE OUT!" Dokan commanded. He and Lara were the next ones through the exit. Then came Sutton, Rester, Manth, and Thonia's slaves. Drayn, Krycek and Borris brought up the rear. They held the attack, allowing Thurg, Red, and Zackery to join the others in the passage way.

"YOU GO!" Drayn shouted to Thonia. "We'll hold them- HEEEY!"

The Amazon grabbed Drayn and unceremoniously tossed him out of the chamber. Krycek and Borris followed voluntarily, then Thonia and Malyk stood shoulder to shoulder and backed out, fighting fungus-creatures with every step.

The passage beyond was another fungus and slime-coated tunnel, but it wasn't the same one through which they'd entered. The cave was narrow enough that the creatures chasing after them had no chance to surround them... they had to come singly or in pairs, which allowed Thonia and Malyk to cut them down much more efficiently.

"FIGHTERS TO THE FRONT!" Thonia ordered. "We will cover our rear! Lara and the archer... clear any poison-throwers we encounter along the way! Keep silent and MOVE!"

Everyone fell in line, more from fear and logic than any particular obedience to Thonia. They used the cave to their advantage... with skilled fighters in the front and the rear, the group was protected from attack from either side. What followed was a silent, running combat. Most of the fungus-creatures were behind them, held at bay by Thonia and Malyk. Drayn, Zackery and Borris dealt with the few creatures that dared stand in the way of the frantically retreating party. They quickly passed out of the fungus-covered passage and emerged into the an area of normal-seeming rock, where dart-throwing mushrooms puffed up at their approach. Arrows, swords and spinning disks cleared the way, and the party moved on unimpeded.

Though the fungus-creatures were strong and plentiful, they were not all that fast. The party outpaced them after only a few minutes. The passage behind them became ominously empty, and no more new dangers emerged from the front. Not long afterward, the party saw its last mushroom. The slime and ooze coating the walls thinned and vanished. They slowed their run to a brisk jog. When there were no signs of pursuit, they finally relaxed.

They didn't STOP... they just allowed themselves to catch their breaths as they kept moving.

"A-Are they following?" Princeton stammered.

"I don't hear anything," said Dokan. "I do believe we are clear."

"Thank the gods... I though they would NEVER be an end to them!"

"They did seem intent on following us," said Dokan. "Perhaps something else drew their attention..."

"Hell, that's the best fun I've had so far!" Red chuckled. "I liked the crackling sound they made when ya chopped 'em up. I say we go back for another whack at 'em!"

"You, sir, are a very sick man," said Princeton. "VERY sick."

---

"Ahhhh," Krycek sighed with satisfaction. "It's good to be back in business."

Krycek was happily re-creating the floating balls of light that had been denied him for the past two days. Whatever had been blocking his magic had began to fade shortly after the party's dramatic escape from the lair. Six hours later, his magic was back at full strength. They finally made camp when the majority of the party was simply too tired to stand. Some eagerly volunteered to crawl for another hour or two just to get them further away from the fungus creatures, but they were voted down... by a slim margin.

With Krycek's magic providing light, the group appointed TWO watchers. One to watch the camp as a whole, and another to make rounds among the individuals to make sure no one was being eaten alive in their sleep. Not that there was going to be much sleeping going on.

"Has your magic returned as well, strong one?" Thonia asked of Malyk. She stood beside him at the edge of the camp.

"You belittle my faith," he replied. "It is no mere magic."

"Whatever it is, you fought well without it."

"I do what I must to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is the service of my god."

"Those who cannot protect themselves should be given a merciful death. To do otherwise goes against nature."

"There are things greater than nature."

"A foolish sentiment that many males share. All is nature. There is nothing apart from it... thus there can be nothing greater than it."

Malyk contemplated the Amazon's bizarre philosophy. How could one without faith be so strong and fearless in battle? It was very disturbing.

"I thought that my Lord had abandoned me," he said finally. He didn't know why he said it. Perhaps he wanted to know what the Amazon thought. Or perhaps he merely wanted to admit his weakness to someone.

"And now?" she said.

"I... do not know. I have not tried."

"You are a strange one. Strong. But not very wise."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Thonia grabbed a torch and lit it. "Though it is not your fault. Perhaps wisdom is not valued among your faith." She took her spear and started walking away from the camp. "I go to scout the passage ahead."

"What do you mean?"

"How will the lame slave know that he is whole unless his mistress steals his crutches from him?" Thonia said as she walked away. Malyk could see the light from her torch for a while, but soon that too was gone. He fingered the pouch of runes on his belt and thought about what she had said. Then he released the pouch, letting its contents remain unused.

On the other side of the camp, another conversation was taking place.

"How many of them WERE there," said Manth. "We must have killed hundreds-"

"We killed hundred thirty seven," Lara corrected. "That I saw."

"And they were all copies of Jeris!"

"Not all of them," said Dokan.

"Yeah, I saw a couple of Vithors in there. One or two."

"There were more than that, Mr. Sutton. There were copies of the insects we fought not long ago. A few worms as well..."

"Like the one that got whatsisname. Not that I ever liked him anyway."

"Creatures I did not recognize. But most importantly, there were other people."

"People?"

"The humanoids were not all copies of Jeris and Vithor. There were others... people who were not members of this party."

"How can that be?"

"Simple, Mr. Sutton... we are not the first people to have made it this far. Someone has been here before us."

"But we've seen no signs of anyone," said Krycek.

"So... what happened to them? Did they make it to the city or not?"

"You assume they were journeying TO the city," said Dokan. "They may have been trying to get AWAY from it."

"Interesting," said Krycek. "Legends say that the Cthrain sometimes took people from the surface. Entire villages. Cities. Vanished overnight. Some of those people may have escaped, and wandered into these caves."

"Where they were eaten alive," said Dokan. "An interesting deterrent to escape attempts, no?"

"That would imply that we're close to the Cthrain city."

"Yes it would," said Dokan. "The question is... how close. And what OTHER deterrents will we encounter before we arrive?"

"No, the REAL question..." said the shadowy cloaked figure that stepped out of the shadows. Rath marched toward the camp, glowing eyes flickered as he approached. "Is which one of you thieving bastards stole my spectacles!"

[To Be Continued]