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I could feel the mud squelching under my boots as we struggled through the foul smelling swamp. The trees around us hung down from the weight of moss and clinging vines and sunlight filtered through them occasionally. I grumbled to myself as my formerly pristine, white tabard caught on some of the branches and I had to pull it loose. My mace swung at my hip and I carried my large shield on my back. The plate armor I wore showed many signs of battle, but I had done my best to repair it. Only a few, small dents remained. I had a pouch on my belt that contained various components for divine spells and a silver Saint Cuthbert holy symbol swinging from my neck on a length of twine. I stood at six feet three inches, which required me to stoop under much of the canopy. At times I wished I was shorter. My nose wrinkled from the fetid stench around us and I cursed my keen sense of smell. Also at times I wished I was not a gnoll. I winced as a branch tore a tuft of fur from my cheek and growled at it, annoyed.

Shim Darker, an athletic human was in the lead, trying to cut through the thick vines with one of his longswords. The blade was wreathed in crackling electricity that made it hum softly with each swing. Shim was normal size for a human, standing around five foot seven inches tall, which meant I had to duck under the vines he couldn't reach. His hair was golden blonde and he wore it tied back into a pony tail. A new addition was his goatee that he had grown since last I saw him. I supposed he thought it made him look more rugged. He had lines of age on his face, which was understandable considering how long he had been adventuring. He also had a char black bow strapped to his back as well as a brown quiver of arrows lined in silver that was angled to the right for easier access. The feathers on the ends of the arrows were all differently colored and it made me wonder how he knew which arrows to reach for, but I supposed it came with the ranger's training. His other blade swung idly at his hip in a black sheath covered with gold designs. Maritza, the educated one of our group, had called them "old world runes." I didn't much care as long as the blade did its job. Shim was wearing mostly black for this occasion. He liked to blend in. The cloak on his back changed color every time the dappled sunlight struck it through the trees as it tried to blend in with our surroundings. I knew the ranger's armor was enchanted as well, but I didn't care enough to know how. The human also had a bag slung over his shoulder from which he had produced enough rations in the past for all four of us.

"How much further must we travel in this disgusting place?" Maritza Kaelin asked.

She was an elf and not as accustomed to the grime of adventuring even though she had accompanied us on many a journey. I couldn't believe the three of them had pulled me out of retirement for "one last shot at fame and glory" as Aldo had put it. Maritza was following behind me, bringing up the rear of our trek as usual. She had been wearing white robes that were now stained with greenish, brown mud on the bottom. I imagined her boots underneath the robe were getting as mud-filled as my own. She carried a large book at her side in a leather pouch on her belt as well as several vials of liquid each a different color. Around her neck sat a pearl necklace, but each pearl glowed orange from within. I imagined it was some sort of weapon seeing as the mage only had her staff to defend herself with otherwise. Like Shim, Maritza also carried a bag at her side, but this bag was meant for carrying her scrolls and components for flinging spells. The elf had black hair that flowed down over her shoulders and to the center of her back and a gaunt face that had an unnatural beauty. There was also a small green stone hovering around her head.

"Until we get to the ruins that Aldo told us about." Shim answered.

"We have been walking for hours and it will be dusk shortly. Are you certain we are traveling in the correct direction?"

Shim stopped suddenly, making me almost bump into him. He turned to face us both with a glare that would have made a dragon back down. I stepped to the side to avoid it.

"Of course I'm certain. Aldo was very clear in his instructions as always and I am a ranger after all and not some cooped up librarian."

Maritza had been taken aback by the glare, but now her eyes practically ignited.

"How dare you! I am no mere librarian, poacher. I wield the second highest rank in Lumia Tower and the rank just und-"

"Just under lord Crestus Azellus himself. Yes we know." Shim interrupted.

"Enough!" I exclaimed. "Save the arguing for another time! My boots are filling with this foul swamp water and I would like to get to somewhere dry before sundown."

They both looked up at me and I folded my furry arms over my plate mail covered chest. I gestured in the direction that we had been traveling and Shim begrudgingly went back to hacking through the vines ahead. Before long, we passed the remnants of a stone wall and further, several broken columns with intricate carvings that swirled around the base and spiraled upwards. Each column was tilted in different ways, the swamp slowly swallowing them one by one. Beyond the broken columns was the gaping maw of a cave. A stone archway lay in ruins around the cave's entrance and must have housed a door at one point before the swamp had invaded. Shim pulled a torch from the bag at his side and some flint as well to light it.

"These carvings are elven." Maritza said to no one in particular. "From the second age if I am reading them correctly."

"What do they say?" I asked. I didn't really want to know, but it was something to talk about while the ranger struggled to light his torch.

"Kingdom of Fallen Warriors; may all entombed here suffer for all eternity."

"Charming." Shim said as the flint finally sparked and the torch flickered to life. "Why does Aldo always find the most macabre places to go spelunking?"

I chuckled.

"Because he associates with the less savory-"

I sucked in a breath as I felt the something pointed poke me in the back, through a chink in my armor.

"I can hear all of you, you know."

The Halfling was standing on a rock to reach the chink in my plate and I stepped away from him instinctively. I glared at the little man, straightening my mostly white tabard as I did.

"I wish you wouldn't do that." I told him, but he ignored me.

"What took you guys so long to get here? I've been waiting for ages!" Aldo Firek said as he sheathed his dagger and hopped down from the rock.

The Halfling was wearing camouflaged, leather armor as well as a black cloak that had silvery spider designs etched into it. He also carried a short sword at his hip as well as the curved dagger he had pretended to threaten me with. Across the small man's chest were strapped two leather bands that housed a multitude of silver throwing knives. The Halfling grinned at us, proud that he had been the first to the cave entrance as he folded his short arms over his chest. A wooden pendant with the holy symbol of Olidammara, patron god of rogues and mischief, on it hung around Aldo's neck on a thin cord. Aldo's face looked older than I remembered, but his brown eyes still sparkled with that same gleam of playfulness. His red hair was hidden underneath the hood of his cloak, but strands of it fell around his face, loose and unkempt.

"Well since you arrived first, you can lead us into this place." Shim said, gesturing to the entrance with his torch.

Aldo smirked.

"Well considering I'm the only one of us who can find traps, I was going to lead anyway."

The Halfling bounded into the entrance on silent feet and the rest of us trudged after him. I envied Aldo's ability to travel in silence. My plate armor echoed clinking noises as we entered the rocky passage. Bits of the former building lay strewn about and embedded into the wall of the cave. I had no idea how old the place was. As long as there was treasure to be had and evil creatures to bring to justice, I didn't care. The telltale sound of dripping could be heard all around us and it made me wonder just how stable this passage was.

"Oh this place is just lovely." Maritza said sarcastically.

The smell of the swamp was even worse under the ground. I hoped that the rocky walls would keep the swamp water at bay long enough for us to get out of here. We passed a rotting corpse leaned up against the slanted wall, a sprung spear trap piercing the boney ribcage. The head of the corpse was practically falling off and both eyes had been eaten away by rot and whatever scavengers lived here. The corpse was barely more than a skeleton at this point. It smelled disgusting and I covered my nose. I heard Maritza gag behind me as we passed. The cavern eventually flattened out after the initial descent and the walls became less rock and more carved stone with the same intricacies as the entrance. The smell abated slightly, returning to the same level as above. A metal portcullis blocked our path. I assumed it was made of iron. Aldo was examining a lever next to the door that had similar writing as the arch outside etched into the stone above it. He reached out his hand to grab the lever, but Maritza rushed forward into the torch light.

"Wait!" she said, reading the text. "It says, 'the pain you who open this door suffer is brought upon yourselves.'"

"I know what it says." Aldo replied.

"And you were going to open it anyway?" The elf balked.

"Well yeah... the treasure is on the other side."

"Presumably." I said. "What if this is just a tomb?"

"Uh, I'm counting on that." Aldo said. "People are buried with stuff. Hopefully that stuff is valuable. Come on, guys why are you all so jumpy now? Did your short retirement really make you soft or something?"

"I'm up for it." Shim said. "Let's crack this door and get the goods."

Maritza fumed and looked to me for help. I just shrugged.

"Fine," she said. "But if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you, Aldo."

"When have you ever not blamed me for things going wrong?"

The Halfling pulled the lever down and there was a grating sound of metal on metal as the portcullis slowly slid upwards. I clenched my teeth against the aggravating noise, ears laying back on my head to block it out. Aldo looked up at the portcullis and waved a hand under it when it finally stopped.

"It looks secure. Come on, let's go."

He hopped through the archway and we followed. The passage became a staircase shortly after and spiraled downward. Aldo, still in the lead, was moving more slowly now. Shim kept his torch held high above him as we descended. Alcoves began appearing in the stone walls and eventually I could see the remains of statues that had been placed in each alcove. The statues became more complete the further down we went. The statues became elven figures, only they were missing the flesh on their torsos, leaving only the ribcage exposed. Each statue was missing their left hand and had a hole where their left eye should be. Cloth was carved around them as well; making them look like wraiths.

"Maritza, what do you make of these?" Shim asked.

"I can't say. I've never seen this type of symbolism in elven history before." She replied.

"It's Vecna," I said. "God of secrets. Being here could be very, very bad if he doesn't want us to be."

"I didn't know you studied other gods in your order, Rex." Aldo said. He was such a smartass.

"Learning of other deities, particularly the evil ones, is a requirement in any religious order." I replied.

The passage opened up as we reached the bottom of the stair. A large cavernous room stretched out before us, nearly untouched by the swamp above. Stone columns, similar to the ones at the entrance, towered upwards to the barely visible ceiling. Torches in iron sconces adorned the statues all around the room. The statues ran the length of the room on the walls and a large stone dais sat in the center. There was also a stone cask on that dais and a sense of dread filled me suddenly, as if something very evil was nearby. Aldo darted over to the cask excitedly.

"Don't touch anything yet!" I said.

"I know, I know! I'm just checking for... unpleasantness." He replied. "God, you'd think a gnoll would be more headstrong."

I ignored his racist comment and walked the perimeter of the room. The floor was made of square, stone tiles. I guessed they were marble because of the way they glistened in the torch light. Shim was walking the room with me while Maritza stayed near Aldo, examining the writing on the cask. As we walked, Shim lit the torches on the statues. Bones littered the other side of the room just in front of a gaping pit in the floor. The stone had fallen away and the wall opposite the pit crumbled halfway down. The bones all had slight burn marks on them and I made sure to stay clear of that area lest I activate the same thing that killed them. There were two other exits to the room, one beyond the bone pit that looked collapsed and another in the center of the right-hand wall. The archway in the right wall was clear of any debris and led to a hallway that looked like it stretched the length of the room. Shim finished lighting the last of the torches and we returned to the center of the room where the dais sat. Aldo was sitting on the edge of the dais grinning happily, a bit of wire clutched in his hand.

"The writing on this cask says 'gurth cui' in elvish." Maritza said. "It means 'death alive.' We may need your turning abilities Rex."

"No doubt." I replied, smirking.

"The cask is all clear," Aldo chimed in. "It was a poison gas trap."

Shim scoffed. "If you're so sure of yourself, why don't you open it and we'll all stand back."

"Are you kidding? That thing is solid stone. There's no way I can move it."

Everyone in the group glanced at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. I'll open it."

I stepped up to the dais and Aldo scurried away to stand near Maritza and Shim. I stood in front of the cask and looked it over. It was marble just like the floor. I would need a bit of help to open it. Fishing around in the pouch at my side, I produced three bull hairs. My eyes closed and I clasped my hands under my chin around my silver holy symbol, head bowed.

"Vis taurus!" I mumbled.

The hairs in my hands glowed with silver light that enveloped my body and then vanished. I felt the strength of an ox flowing through me and I placed both hands on the top of the cask, shoving with all of my might. The top of the cask slid slowly from it and toppled onto the floor behind with a loud booming sound that echoed through the room. Aldo and the others rushed up to the dais to see what was inside. A corpse lay there, clutching a stone sword and shield. It was missing its left hand. There was nothing else.

"Of all the dirty tricks!" Aldo said unhappily.

I chuckled at the irony.

"That's what comes of trying to rob the dead." Maritza advised.

Shim poked the mage in the ribs playfully.

"You had no problem robbing corpses that weren't elven back when we did this thing for a living."

The mage made a rude face at him and he laughed.

Aldo was practically climbing into the cask, trying to find something I presumed.

"Aldo, leave it be." I said.

"But there has to be something here." He pleaded.

"Why? There is a whole other hallway we haven't explored yet." I pointed out.

"This is the only room that I-" The Halfling stopped himself

"That you what?" I narrowed my eyes as Aldo crawled from the cask like a dog who knew he had been bad. "Have you been here before?" I asked.

"No..." Aldo tapped his index fingers together. He was a terrible liar for a thief. "But let's keep exploring, I'm sure there's something here."

He raced through the archway on the right wall and we trudged towards it as well. The Halfling stopped on the other side of the door suddenly and dropped to the floor, pressing his ear against it.

"Stop!" He said.

We froze.

"What is it?" Shim asked, drawing his bow. I took his cue and removed my mace from my belt and my shield from my back.

Aldo stood slowly and turned to face us.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Maritza asked.

I saw what the Halfling was doing too late to stop him. Aldo reached out and pulled a lever by the arch and an iron portcullis clattered to the floor. I suddenly realized where the evil aura I had been sensing was coming from.

"Aldo what is the meaning of this?" Shim exclaimed.

"The treasure in this cavern is mine!" the Halfling shouted back. "I just needed you three to figure out the password for the final door. Gurth cui. Thank you Maritza."

Shim turned and bolted for the door we had come through. No doubt to see if we were trapped.

"You treacherous half-man! Open this gate at once!" The elf was furious.

"When did you fall, Aldo?" I asked, trying to keep my own rage at bay.

"What does it matter? The treasure is mine now and if I read the texts correctly, then you three are in for a very painful death." The Halfling cackled as Shim slammed his shoulder against the other portcullis we had passed under to enter the room.

"You had better hope we die in here, Halfling." I growled. "Because I will hunt you down and kill you myself if we survive."

"Aw, is the little puppy angry?" Aldo jeered.

"Ixen *valignat!*" Maritza shouted as a pinpoint ball of flame sailed from her outstretched palm and through the grate of the portcullis.

I recognized the fireball spell in an instant and took a step back, raising my shield defensively. Aldo looked surprised for only a moment, but then jumped away down the hall as the pinpoint exploded in the hallway near where the Halfling's head had been. I lowered my shield after the fire dissipated and grimaced in Maritza's direction. Aldo's laughter could be heard echoing through the room as he ran away down the hallway beyond. Shim returned to where we stood, frowning.

"What now?" he asked. "We're trapped in here."

"Maybe not," I said.

I grabbed the bottom of the portcullis and lifted upwards; straining with all of my might, magical and non. The gate wouldn't budge, though, no matter how hard I tugged.

"Rex, don't strain yourself." Maritza sighed. "That little bastard got away, but he must have to come back here, right?"

"There could be another exit he knows about." Shim suggested. "I can't believe he did this to us. What happened to him?"

"Who knows?" I retorted. "But evil must be brought to justice. Aldo made a bad decision and I will make sure to punish him for it when we escape this cursed place."

"If we escape this place." Maritza said.

A loud clanking sound began suddenly and we looked toward the door we had entered through, but the portcullis was staying firmly shut.

"I do not like the sound of that." I mumbled.

From the edge of the bone pit, the floor began to crumble away, the tile falling into the blackness below and taking the bones with it. The three of us dashed for the door we had originally come through and I tried lifting the portcullis there, but it held fast just like the one before.

"This is so not fair!" Shim shouted over the noise of the crumbling floor.

I turned from the portcullis and pressed my back up against it. I watched the tiles as they vanished steadily, passing by the first columns. I noticed that the columns extended below the false floor and into the deep black below. It gave me an idea.

"The dais!" I shouted. "Get to the dais!"

We sprinted. It felt like the entire room was going to collapse around us as we clambered onto the stone podium next to the cask. I held my breath as the tiles fell away around the dais, leaving us stranded in the middle of the room, but at least we weren't falling into the abyss. I sighed in relief. But it was short lived. As I turned back towards Shim and Maritza, I saw the corpse rising from the cask and looking very angry. I clutched my holy symbol and thrust it towards the waking undead as it raised the stone sword above its head.

"Rex!" Maritza shouted as she fumbled for a spell component in her bag.

Shim fired two arrows at the skeleton as well, but I was seconds too late. The stone blade connected with my armor and the strength of the creature surprised me. It sent me off balance, but as I teetered on the edge of the dias I managed to holler a blessing.

"Be gone, creature!"

The skeleton shrieked and I saw the thing's bones begin to crumble. Maritza reached out for my outstretched hand, but I was already too far gone. My weight carried me over the edge of the dais, missing her fingers by centimeters, and down into the pitch black of the pit. I could feel the air whistling passed my ears and ruffling the fur on my face. My stomach lurched to the back of my throat as I watched the torches of the room above grow smaller and smaller. My left arm struck a piece of the wall and it spun me in the air. My gnoll vision could see for about sixty feet in front of me, but I didn't want to be looking down. I closed my eyes as another part of the wall slammed into me, denting my armor. I tried to grab it, but the impact took the strength from me. My claws slipped free and I was falling once again. Several more times I attempted to slow myself on the wall, but each time sapped more of my strength until I was little more than a ragdoll bouncing off of the stone around me.

It was a painful impact, the final one. I landed on my back on top of the bones that had been in the room before the floor crumbled. I couldn't move and I coughed up what I knew was blood from the rusty taste. My vision blurred and darkness began to creep in from the edges. I fought it off as best I could. The only sound I could hear around me was the telltale crumbling of the rock walls and the settling dust from the cloud my entrance had kicked up. My whole body stung and ached from most likely shattered bones and pierced organs. I coughed again and tried to lift my arms. I pulled my right one up to rest on my dented chest plate, but that was as far as it would go without being excruciating. The left one wouldn't budge. I whimpered.

They say that one's life passes before their eyes just before the end. But mine flooded back as memories as I lay there in the darkness. It was as if Saint Cuthbert himself were asking me if I was proud and satisfied with my life. I couldn't say that I was, honestly. My vision blurred further and I could no longer keep the darkness at bay. My willpower finally ebbed and my mind fell into blackness.