“I never found a bath,” Anna said. “I think my hair still smells,” she added.

“Aye, it does,” Thokri said. She groaned.

“How could a city not have a bath anywhere?” she asked.

“With everything that happened I don’t think the baths were a priority,” Barika said.

“Well they should have been,” Anna replied.

They traveled west. The road would lead back to Oldforge eventually and there were several ruins along the way.

“Next site is about three weeks away. There is nothing on the map in between. Let’s hope we don’t run into any more nobles along the way,” Voekeer said.

The trip to the ruins was uneventful. They set up camp on a hill that overlooked the site.

“This one is bigger than Endertown,” Anna said.

“It looks like a settlement. The other two reminded me of temples,” Lyreen said.

“They seemed more like sacrificial altars to me,” Barika said.

“Why would you need that many?” Lyreen asked.

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I want too,” Barika replied.

The site was massive and would take weeks to explore. Because of this, they decided to setup a more permanent camp. They built three rough cabins over the next several days. It would be two to a cabin.

Of course, the elves would share one. Elaine had refused to bunk with Anna ever again after her week in Endertown, and no one wanted Anna to spend any more time with Thokri, so Elaine stayed with the dwarf and Anna with Barika.

“What are you doing?” Anna asked. Barika was grinding plants in a mortar.

“I’m making balm for Elaine. She has soft feet,” Barika replied. She had begun to mix the plants in with some tallow.

“How will that help?” Anna asked, pointing at the plant mixture.

“It will sooth the pain and promote healing. The tallow holds it in place and stops moisture from getting to the wound,” Barika explained.

“Oh,” Anna answered.

“Have you ever heard of alchemy?” Barika asked.

Anna could recall something about potions and Ted complaining of scoundrel alchemists. “Does it have to do with potions and scoundrel alchemists?” Anna asked.

Barika laughed. “Oh, child. Alchemy is the art of making potions and elixirs. There are a few scoundrels, but that is true of most professions,” Barika said.

“Could you teach me?” Anna asked. Barika thought about it for a moment.

“Yes, child, but I only know a few balms and such. I never needed to learn more. I can heal with the goddesses blessing, and I have no need for most other potions,” she replied. “I’ll teach you about the herbs while we explore the ruins,” she continued.

Anna leaned back, spreading her legs so she could kick her feet. Barika watched her intently.

“I like having her as a roommate. She doesn’t seem to mind when I’m naked,” Anna thought and smiled. Barika smiled back and then went back to work.

They decided to map the ruins before exploring inside any of the buildings, many which remained intact. The party had split up into groups of two again. With the addition of Elaine, they were even again.

“We will be getting a late start. I’m running low on herb. I’ll take Anna with me. She wants to learn about alchemy and identifying plants is the first step,” Barika said.

Elaine looked sheepish. “Sorry about having to ask you for so much balm. I’m just not used to walking this much,” she said.

“It’s no problem. We picked up the pace after Endertown to make up some time,” Barika replied.

“It’s our fault really. I think we all got so used to Anna, we forgot that the average person can’t keep up with adventurers,” Voekeer added.

They all looked at said woman.

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Anna said. The rest of the group just laughed.

“Tell me, how much of your potion do you have left?” Barika asked Lyreen.

“Umm, I think I may need more soon,” she replied with a blush.

“We will keep an eye out for those ingredients as well. Looks like I’ll be teaching you how to make simple potions as well,” she said to Anna.

“Thank you,” Lyreen said.

“For a woman who has as much sex as you, your awfully shy talking about,” Elaine said with a smirk.

“How would you know how often I have sex?” Lyreen said shocked.

“Lass, everyone can hear you. I think I need to started stuffing socks in my ears at night,” Thokri said.

Lyreen turned bright red and hid her face.

“Maybe you should start stuffing in them in your nose. I think you’ll knock the cabin over with your snoring soon,” Elaine said. “Can we switch?” she asked Barika.

“No, I enjoy my current arrangements,” Barika replied.

“Lass, you can always stay with the elves,” Thokri said, waving in their direction.

“NO!” all three said in unison.

The party split for the day, the others heading toward the ruins. They headed into the forest.

“This is the fire moss we have been looking for. You need to harvest it like this,” Barika said while gently cutting into the moss and peeling a small part of it from the tree it was growing on. “It’s quite delicate, so make sure you don’t crush it,” she continued.

They had walked deep into the forest, Barika pointing out various plants and fungi that had medicinal qualities. They found all the herbs necessary for the healing balm early on, but the moss remained elusive until now.

“Do you have enough tallow?” Anna asked, remembering it was a major part of the balm.

“Yes, for a few more batches, but we will have to get some after we are done here,” Barika answered.

After returning to camp, Barika deposited the herbs in their cabin to keep them safe. It was afternoon by the time the made it to the ruin.

“It’s so big,” Anna said.

It wasn’t necessarily the total size of the place, but the scale. The roads were wider and the buildings larger as if they were built for people the size of horses.

“Yes, they must have been a large race,” Barika replied.

“I wonder what they looked like,” Anna said.

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“We don’t know. No one has ever found a depiction of them,” Barika answered.

They had been mapping out the roads for over a week now. The ruined city had been much larger than they had initially thought. Because of this, they had shifted to having one group go out, one foraging, and one resting at the camp. It had been Elaine and Thokri’s turn to explore the city, so Anna and Barika had gone out foraging.

“You’re getting good at this,” Barika said.

Anna had learned most of the edible plants in the area along with medicinal ones. None of them had a bow, so they had to trap game. Barika had showed her how set traps and find game trails as well as how to clean wild game. She had used the eye to find all the game trails and set traps. The elves had collected the game and brought it back during their time spent in the woods.

“This is the best I’ve eaten on the road,” Thokri said.

“I’ve never seen traps this successful,” Voekeer said.

“I used the eye to find all of the game trails,” Anna replied.

“That explains it,” Lyreen said.

“Anna, we would like you to check something out,” Elaine said.

“What is it?” Anna replied.

“We found another tablet, lass, and you’re the only one who can safely check it out,” Thokri said.

“We were done mapping the roads. We needed to move onto the inside of the intact buildings anyway,” Voekeer said. “I think we should all go tomorrow. There is no telling what else she will find along with that tablet,” Voekeer said. They all agreed.

They headed to the building the tablet was spotted in. The layout of the city was circular instead of the usual square grid that human, dwarven, and elven settlements were laid out in. The roads themselves were a single piece of stone. None of them were sure how this had been accomplished.

The building they were headed to was a massive tower. There were four others around the city, but those had fallen over in the untold centuries since this place’s abandonment.

Anna entered the passage leading into the main room of the building. The tablet was just a head. The pile of animal carcasses in various states of decomposition was the only hint of the danger that lay beyond. The pile was the reason Elaine and Thokri had noticed the tablet in the first place. Its stench was wafting out of the building.

She made her way past the pile and into the room. None of the animals had made it past the entrance. The tablet was identical to the first one she had seen. She started to sketch the symbols, walking around the tablet to get a copy of both sides.

She used the eye after she was finished to get a better look. The tablet was glowing brightly with thousands of tiny lines crisscrossing its insides. She copied this down as well as she could and left the building, making sure to avoid the carcasses on the way out.

“This looks like a mana collector, but I don’t know what this and this are doing,” Elaine said, pointing at several symbols and parts of the inner network. “It’s some kind of collector, but I don’t know what it’s collecting,” she continued.

“Life,” Anna said.

“What? That shouldn’t be possible,” Elaine said shocked. “No, that’s not possible, but even if it was, why, why would anyone want it?” she continued, her voice on the edge of panic.

“Don’t necromancers steal life?” Lyreen asked.

“No, that’s a rumor. We just use mana to animate the dead,” she replied, calming down some.

“What about spirits? How do you call them?” Barika asked.

“You need death mana and a personal item from the departed. Life isn’t even mana. I don’t even know what you can use it for,” Elaine said.

“What is death mana?” Anna asked.

“It’s the mana that’s still inside a person after they die. It leaks out as bodies decompose and collects around them. Usually it just dissipates, but in places like cemeteries, it builds up,” Elaine answered.

“Why does the goddess hate death mana if it’s just part of bodies rotting?” Anna asked Barika.

“It’s not the mana itself. It’s how it’s being used. Death mana is used to create abominations, twisted creatures that are a mockery of life, or to pull the souls of the departed from their resting place. The goddess cannot abide this,” Barika said, becoming angry the more she spoke.

“The souls are willing,” Elaine said softly, not willing to look Barika in the eyes.

“That doesn’t matter. It upsets the balance,” Barika was nearly yelling at this point.

“Alright lass, that will be enough of that. No sense getting worked up,” Thokri said. Barika took and deep breath.

“My apologizes. I know necromancy is a valid profession. It just goes against my beliefs,” Barika said.

“I understand. It’s a common enough reaction to my practices. You should hear that they say about men that become necromancers,” Elaine said with a shudder.

“What do they say?” Anna asked. Elaine explained the rumors. “EWWWWW, please tell me that’s not true,” Anna replied shocked, a look of disgust and horror on her face.

“I hope not,” Elaine replied.

Anna took several more trips into the room just to make sure. Not finding anything else of value, they decided to leave the tablet alone, writing a warning on the entrance to the building so that others wouldn’t meet the same fate as the animals.

They searched the city for weeks. The buildings, while ruined from age, were empty, devoid of possessions as if its occupants had simply left as opposed to being forced out from war or disaster.

“This place is starting to give me the creeps. Who would just abandon a city like this?” Elaine said.

“Says the woman we found staying in a crypt surrounded by zombies, trying to talk to the dearly departed,” Lyreen replied.

“Exactly,” Elaine said.

“We will be off soon enough, just a few more days searching the building interiors. I found an entrance. It leads under the city. It’s not a sewer. I’m not sure what it is,” Thokri said, pointing at a smaller building.

“There had better not be another ring,” Lyreen said.

“I’m more worried about the smell. I just got it out of my hair,” Anna replied.

They entered the underground. It was complete darkness. Lyreen and Barika created light. Only Thokri and Anna could see without it. Elves had good night vision, but even they needed some light.

“The wall is marked with symbols and channels, but it’s all dead,” Anna said as she looked through the eye.

“This could take months to map all of it. I think we need to call it soon,” Voekeer said.

“Aye, but let’s map out under the city center if we can. Most races put important things near the center,” Thokri replied.

The tunnels under the city lead into large open spaces.

“So many,” Anna said.

Looking out of the room, there was a sea of scattered bones. There were shreds of clothing and broken pottery as well. The cloth seemed to have been preserved in the dry cool air deep below the city.

“I’ve never seen a skull like this,” Barika said.

The skull was about the size of a horse with two enormous tusks protruding out of the jaw. The lower was filled with both sharp teeth in the front and wide molars in the rear portion. It had four eye sockets on the front of the skull.

“Make some sketches. We will add this to the report. I’m sure the crown will send an expedition here first,” Voekeer said.

“Whoever they were, they met a violent end. Look at the claw marks and teeth holes in these bones,” Barika said, pointing out the injuries.

“What could have killed so many so fast?” Lyreen asked.

“I don’t know lass, but whatever it was, it’s long gone. These bones are almost dust,” Thokri said, poking a femur. It broke apart at the touch.

They moved on, finding more of the rooms the closer they got to the center of the city. They spent days in the tunnels and camped in the dark, having retrieved their belongings from the hilltop camp site once they realized the importance of the discovery. This was the first time the builders of the ancient ruins had ever been found.

“The fighting was worse this way,” Voekeer said, signs of the ancient battle becoming more apparent. The walls were scratched and chipped. Broken bones were scattered around.

“I can’t image what could have done that,” Lyreen said, pointing at the walls.

“They didn’t stand a chance,” Thokri said while inspecting one of the deep gouges.

The entrance to the city center was massive.

“Gods, what could have torn those doors off?” Elaine asked. The doors were thick and made of the same kind of stone as the walls. They looked as if a great force had ripped them from the wall and tossed them aside.

The interior of the central room was cavernous. The party stopped and stared. The lights did not reach the other side, so the others couldn’t make out the scale of the tragic event. Thokri couldn’t make out all of the scene, but Anna could. She saw it all.

There was a sea of skeletons torn and broken. Everything these poor beings owned was destroyed and scattered about. She felt a deep sadness when she thought of the loss of life. Thokri put his hand on her shoulder.

“You alright lass?” he asked.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said, starting to tremble.

“Aye, I've never seen the like,” Thokri replied.

“Makes all the old tales of great battles sound less heroic if this is the result,” Voekeer said.

“Aye lad. This is what all wars lead to in the end,” Thokri replied.

Anna took a breath. “Nothing I can do about this now,” she thought, calming down.

Barika knelt to pray. A warm glow radiated from her. She soon rose, not having said a word aloud, but all present could feel its meaning.

They quietly mapped the space, despite this being the final resting place of so many who had most of their worldly possessions with them. Nothing of value was found because of the great age of the items.

They decided to leave the next day. Nothing more could be learned from this place.

“Gods, I could use a strong drink,” Elaine said.

They left early the next day. Everyone was still in a dour mood. Thokri handed her his flask. She sniffed at it a moment, making a face, and then took a drink, and then started coughing.

“What...the...fuck...is...that,” she asked, still coughing.

“Dwarven black ale. You took it like a dwarf lass,” Thokri replied, patting her back.

Voekeer grabbed the flask next, taking a deep drink and turning slightly red. Lyreen was next. She coughed hard like Elaine. After her sip, she handed the flask to Barika who drank deeply, simply letting out her breath slowly afterwards.

Anna took a drink. Nothing ever affected her, but she did like the taste. She then handed it back to Thokri who took a sip and passed it back to Elaine. They passed around the flask, each drinking enough to relax, although Elaine was staggering a bit now.

“Well, I’m not cut out for adventuring,” she said with a bit of a slur.

“First time I’ve seen anything like that lass, and I’ve been at this for fifty years,” Thokri replied. “But I see your point,” he continued.

“Don’t you sleep in graveyards?” Lyreen asked.

“Yes, but that feels different somehow. I can’t explain it,” Elaine answered.

They walked on in relative silence for several more hours.

“I really want a cupcake right now,” Anna said. Everyone started to laugh.

“You know what? So do I,” Elaine replied.

“Me too,” Lyreen said.

“Looks like we are stopping at the first bakery we find,” Voekeer said.

“Aye lad. That would be a wise choice,” Thokri said.