There were no more attacks during the night. What’s more Mark could sense that the energies that he could only really call evil had reduced dramatically from the cave. All but the night watch had a good night’s sleep and so by the morning they were all fairly rested.
As they ate their morning breakfast, which was a version of porridge made from a grain they had found that was similar to oats, Mark coughed to attract everyone’s attention.
“I got to thinking during the night that we could kill off what’s in that cave with a few fire balls and it ought to be safe, especially if Kajal stands outside.”
“What stand in the way of your fireballs? No thank you!” Kajal stated indignantly.
“I was thinking more you standing to the side, rather directly in line! I was getting reasonable directional control yesterday so you should be perfectly safe.
Kajal continued to look doubtful.
“Does Kajal even need to be in front of you?” Jo asked. “Nothing has ever emerged in the daytime anyway and presumably if he stood behind you, you’d be just as safe.”
“Okay, let’s try it.” Mark was excited to try out his new power.
He started by building a large fire right next to the cave. He could hear the sounds of insects moving around inside. From his location he could see what looked like white sticks inside and something reflected what little sunlight made it through the cave entrance.
When he was ready to start he called for Kajal and everyone came over.
Mark focussed on the heat energies around him and was able to build a fireball larger than the previous ones. He fired it into the cave and was able to light up more of the entrance. He could clearly see a large pile of bones, some of which had clothing around them.
The insect sounds increased, although Mark could tell that the amount of energy in the cave had decreased. He quickly created another fireball and sent it further into the cave. He could hear a hiss as the fire sizzled the creatures inside.
Getting braver he moved much closer to the cave entrance. He started to build as large a fireball as he could right inside the cave. As he did this he felt the insects rush toward the cave entrance. Mark just concentrated on making the ball of heat and flame hotter and larger. He expected that he would have to run away shortly but nothing came close to the entrance. When he released the fireball. He sent it further into the cave and then almost collapsed as he felt a wave of weakness overcome him. His sense for the energies around him faded and he stumbled away from the cave. Mike grabbed him to stop him from falling.
“What’s up with you man, you alright?”
“I just feel really weak. Probably over did it.”
“Did you kill everything?”
“No idea, I can’t sense anything, what about anyone else?”
Mike admitted that he could no longer sense anything and Emily was equally unable to pick out any creatures in the cave.
“Kajal” Mike said. “Time to look inside.”
The small man looked terrified at the idea but Emily grabbed a stick from the fire in one hand and Kajal with the other. Julius followed them as they entered the cave and disappeared from view.
They could hear noises from inside the cave but nothing else and so they just waited until the three reappeared. It took a little while and the others were wondering what they were doing. Eventually they did and the others were amazed by what the others were carrying.
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They both had a selection of different weapons and tools. They were all covered in soot
“There’s loads more stuff in there.” Emily said. “Lots of bones as well. I think we killed off every insect that had survived. At least we didn’t see anything moving. If anyone wants to sort through the bones there might even be gold in there. We just grabbed what was near the sides.”
Before she’d finished speaking Charlie was moving towards the cave and Mike and Jo approached it more slowly. Emily and Kajal walked down to the stream and dumped the things they were carrying into it. Mark just sat on a stone, too weary to move.
Mark suddenly heard a cheer from the cave and shortly afterwards Charlie appeared with a leather pouch held in front of them. “Look what I found!”
“What?” Mark asked.
Charlie opened the pouch and tipped it out. A small pile of leather bags fell out as well as some gold coins. Charlie opened one of the bags and it contained gold dust. “All the bags feel about the same weight. I think we are rich or at least reasonably well off.”
Just then Mike also emerged from the cave. He held a smaller pouch, which when opened contained a couple of rings as well as some gold but he also held a longsword. It was elegantly engraved with fine filigree and looked suitable for an extremely wealthy person. He also had a delicately engraved sheath for the sword.
“I found these right near the back of the cave. If I were to guess, I’d say that the bones of the people around him were all one party and the rest of the bones were people who came later. Maybe they were all hunting for him if he were some noble.”
“It seems unlikely that they were all searching for the first party given this pouch I found.” Responded Charlie.
“It wouldn’t be hard for more than one party to seek shelter in that cave and then get killed before they saw the other bones. Or even to see the bones and try to grab the treasures they could see and then be caught.” Mark said.
“Well we might never know for sure. “ Charlie acknowledged “but we can at least leave this area now and go find some new clothes.”
Nobody wanted to argue with that.
Kajal and Emily joined the group and placed their contribution in front of the others. Kajal had found an iron-bound staff the same size as himself as well as various knives and a cudgel. Emily had various knives, a short sword and a curious staff that was about 5 foot long, one end iron bound but with the other end having a hand sculpted out of some metal and grasping a clear crystal. “That’s clearly meant for a wizard.” She said, handing it to Mark with a smile.
“Thank you.” Was the only reply Mark could give. He had no idea what use the staff could be but he felt that it was important.
Lastly Jo emerged from the cave, covered in soot and dragging something dark. She didn’t stop to talk to the others before rushing down to the stream and throwing herself in. With a lot of splashing and scrubbing she eventually emerged carrying a cloak that she hung in front of the fire. It was long enough that if she were to wear it, it would be dragging on the floor. As it dried it became clear that the cloak was not just black but was a mix of black, white and grey but with no apparent pattern.
“Is it worth me going into the cave as well?” Mark asked.
“I think between everybody else we’ve got everything of value.” Jo replied. “There might be some tools and some damaged gear but I didn’t see anything I wanted and I was lucky to find that cloak. In fact I only found it by falling over and landing on it.”
“So are we all prepared to move from here now?” Mark enquired.
There was agreement all round.
“Let’s spend the rest of the day sorting out food and packing and set out early tomorrow.” Mark continued.
Again there was total agreement and they spent a leisurely day doing that. They sorted through the weapons and tried to ensure that they were able to wear them comfortably. Kajal and Mark could use their weapons as walking sticks. Mike however now had a sword as well as an axe and the sword wasn’t going to fit comfortably at his waist or be easy to use if he tied it to his back. In fact as a weapon for someone who was walking it was pretty useless. He still tied it to his pack in case he needed it but also with the expectation that he could sell it if necessary.
Charlie on the other hand had a rapier-like sword which they hung from their belt but then found it constantly bashed against their leg. Charlie spent a lot of the day trying to make a sheath that would hold the blade and yet would still allow a quick draw plus controlling the sword from constantly bashing their leg. They were only partly successful.
After eating, drinking and basically sitting around for an hour Mark regained his strength and was no longer feeling tired. He was tempted to explore the cave to see if their were more treasures to find but didn’t as he didn’t want to be crawling through old bones nor did he want to be covered in soot. Instead he made sure he was packed and then sat and studied his staff, which was thicker than you would expect and ornately carved but still reasonably light to carry. He looked forward to the next day. It felt like they were about to leave the starting area.