Alice Reed stood before Konrad. To most, she had always been the red-haired daughter of Daniel Reed, who owned Konrad’s village and all of the land the eye could see from the Long Hill in Fallow Vale. But to him, she was his friend and the girl who had agreed to marry Franklin Tate so that Konrad could be free to leave the Clod village.

The first time Konrad had seen her, he had already been working in the Fallow Vale fishery for a year. She had snuck in dressed in her fine clothes and instructed Konrad to teach her how to gut fish. When her father arrived to find his daughter up to her elbows in fish scales, their argument had nearly torn the roof off of the building.

She didn’t seem to be in much better condition now, but as then, her radiant smile shone through the dirt and grime, and she gave a bark of laughter. "You look like you've been slapped with a wet fish, Kon."

"Alice? You’re the Grand Archavist?" Konrad stammered.

"You two know each other?" Edward interrupted, looking at each of them, his eyes narrowing.

"How? What are you doing here?" Konrad asked.

Alice opened her mouth to speak, but Edward stuffed the thick cloth hood back on her head.

"Enough of this; I got what I came for; if you want a reunion with your girlfriend, then come join me."

There was an awkward silence in which Konrad’s ears burned, and he fervently hoped that the material on the hood was thick enough that Alice couldn’t see his face.

"Edward, we won; Rhendra’s gone, along with the darkness. You don’t need Alice; I mean, the Grand Archavist, the dwarfs will shower you with gold!" Konrad said.

"Pah, who wants gold? She knows about magical artifacts; a couple of them will make us as powerful as any king. Come on, you and me, champion, there’s a tunnel under here that should be clear now that the darkness has faded." Edward grasped the chains that bound Alice and wrenched them towards the stairs, only to stop stock still when he noticed Spirit blocking his way, flanked by her two shadow hounds. Her black eyes flashed, and she let out a low growl that made the hairs on the back of Konrad’s neck stand up.

"Spirit!" Alice cried, her voice muffled by the thick hood.

"Call off your animal, champion," Edward growled.

"I couldn't if I wanted to, Spirit won't let you take Alice anywhere," Konrad stated.

"Then I hope they can both swim," Edward countered.

The bulky adventurer pushed Alice roughly, and she stumbled, her feet still held fast by the heavy manacles on her ankles. She tottered right up to the edge of the crashing flow of water, and just as she looked as if she would topple over, Spirit snapped her waistband in her teeth and pulled her back to safety.

Edward used the distraction to pull the heavy mace from the loop on his belt, the wicked blades flickering with the sickly green light. "Why don’t people ever want to cooperate?" he asked, hefting the weapon.

"That’s just what I was thinking," Konrad replied under his breath.

Spirit had removed the hood and was standing guard over Alice. "I wouldn’t mess with him; he’s a champion of the gods," Alice called.

Konrad knew his powers were exhausted, the armor would not be summoned, and the Cold Bite was a small bundle at the back of his head. He tried to give Alice a surreptitious shake of his head, but Edward saw it and gave him a mean little smile.

"Magic has its limits, and I think you’ve reached yours," Edward snarled.

Konrad drew the short sword that Athir had given him so many months ago in Tajar. Against the mace; he might as well have been holding a fly swatter, but that worked in his favor; he had to make it look like it was his last resort.

Edward attacked, and the mace crashed down onto Konrad’s sword like a battering ram. There was a crack, and a searing jolt of pain seared up from Konrad's elbow. Edward leaned in, breathing hard, his face inches from Konrad’s. "We can still work together, champion. What is she to you?"

Konrad glanced at Alice and knew that it was not a question that he wanted to answer in front of her; even thinking about it made his ears burn slightly.

Konrad healed his arm and managed to push the larger man off, then Edward attacked again, swinging the mace that glowed green. Konrad parried well, but had miscalculated the force of the blow. His own sword was forced down, slicing deeply into his thigh.

Konrad healed the wound and then stared at his sword, dumbfounded. Where the mace had touched the sword, the metal was rusting.

"It’s the mace of Bolag Maul; it's enchanted to decay anything that touches it," Alice cried.

So Edward was no stranger to enchanted items, and Konrad knew he didn’t have any defenses for that type of weapon. Would his healing even be effective? He threw himself to one side as Edward attacked again, a one-handed swing of the mace aimed at his head that just missed him.

"Stand and fight!" Edward snarled.

Konrad glanced at Alice to see her still lying on the floor, with Spirit standing over her, nuzzling her face. Alice seemed to murmur intently to her, and Spirit bounded off down the staircase to the dungeons.

"Where is she going? We have to get out of here!" Konrad yelled.

Edward raised the mace high over his head, smashing it down, and Konrad caught the blow on his sword, staggering backwards. The last few months, Konrad’s body had grown stronger and harder as he completed his quests, but he was exhausted from the fight with Rhendra and his numerous attempts at the cavern.

His sword wasn't faring much better than he was. Whatever enchantment was on Edward's mace caused it to disintegrate, with great flakes of rust falling off. Pääbo had called it a Melancalf sword, and he had said that the word meant useful. Of all of Konrad's gifts, this was the one he treasured the most, given to him by a real champion, Athir, who had tried to warn him about the gods from the beginning. Athir had abandoned him in Portia to pursue her own agenda, but it seemed her gift would protect him one last time.

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The sword cracked in half, and Edward gave a howl of triumph, catching Konrad by the scruff of his jacket and pulling him in close.

"We could have avoided this," Konrad said breathlessly.

"You put your faith in tricks of the gods; I told you all you needed was good steel and a strong arm."

"Actually, I put my faith in the brothers Poulter and Horace, traveling merchants extraordinaire."

"Extra what?"

Konrad punched the large adventurer in the ribs. The punch wasn’t hard, but there was a small crack of breaking glass, and a fleeing look of uncertainty flickered across Edward’s face as a small stain appeared on his tunic.

A putrid smell emanated from the large adventurer and filled the cavern. Edward released Konrad, and he staggered backward, his eyes streaming.

"What’s this? You poisoned me," Edward growled.

"It’s not poison, but I wouldn’t hang around here if I were you," Konrad supplied.

Edward roared with frustration and began making his way towards Alice just as the first heavy thud rocked the walls of the pyramid. The sound was followed by a dozen other heavy thumps and a furious grinding sound. Then the floor began to shake, and small golden rocks fell from the ceiling.

"What have you done, you fool?" Edward yelled.

The first of the cave lice fell from the ceiling in a shower of rocks. It had burrowed right through the top of the pyramid, and it got to its feet, its mandibles tasting the air, before turning to face Edward.

Konrad hadn’t planned for this to happen, but he had prepared for it. The first four times he had entered the caverns, his powers had been depleted too quickly, and he knew that at some point he might be left defenseless. He had wandered the valley for two days with the brothers Pouler and Horace, putting up with their constant bickering, until deep in a ravine they found a cave louse nest. Konrad had to close his ears as the brothers explained the finer details of their process to extract a secretion from the mother, but when that was done, they had distilled it down so that its potency would attract any male cave louse in the area.

The moment that Spirit had given her judgment on Edward outside the pyramid, Konrad had planted the precious glass vial in the adventurer's pocket.

"Back, stay back!" Edward shouted, waving his mace threateningly.

More heavy crashes shook the pyramid, then the floor erupted in a shower of rock as a cave louse the size of a small house emerged. It scuttled around in a half circle, seeming to get its bearings, then it turned to Edward.

"Konrad, a little help here!" Alice cried.

The rock floor around the waterfall had been shattered by the cave louse, and huge chunks of it were falling away. Alice was several feet from the edge now, but in moments the floor could be gone and she would be swept down into the depths.

Konrad sprinted and slid, grabbing the chain that held her as she fell, and Alice let out a small cry of pain as she was caught fast by the manacles on her wrists.

"I’m going to pull you up," Konrad called.

Behind him Edward was bellowing, and the cave lice were emitting mad chittering noises as they fought him.

Alice's manacled wrists appeared over the rock, and then her dirty red hair came into view. Konrad grabbed her and hauled her the rest of the way.

"Where’s Spirit?" Alice asked.

"She went back down the stairs; what did you say to her?"

"She needs to find your friend, Rolo. I hid him down there; he’s the whole reason I’m here!"

"Rolo’s here, how?"

A piece of rock the size of a wagon crashed down next to them, ripping away a section of the floor.

"Whatever Spirit has to do, she’ll make it; we have to get out of here. Let’s get these off," Konrad said.

Alice’s wrists were red and sore from the chafing metal, and she hissed in pain. Without thinking, Konrad froze the metal solid with what little power he could muster, and the manacles snapped off easily. He couldn’t deny that he enjoyed the way Alice stared at him open mouthed as he healed her.

Edward and the cave lice were still fighting at the far end of the pyramid, and their battle had left Rhendra’s glorious golden pyramid a ruin, with the whole structure wobbling dangerously.

"Let’s get out of here," Konrad said.

"Wait, she's here!" Alice shouted.

Spirit exploded from the staircase that led down to the lower levels, almost seeming to sprint on a churning cloud of shadows, which propelled her straight towards the thundering waterfall.

"What's that in her mouth?" Konrad asked. It looked like the tiny figure of a man, its arms flopping about.

"That’s Rolo," Alice said, biting her bottom lip.

Spirit leapt out across the open chasm, soaring twenty feet through the air, trailed by shadows. She hit the waterfall and smashed right through it, and Konrad stared open-mouthed as two shapes emerged from the other side, smashing down onto the flagstones in front of him: a wet grey dog and a drenched and bewildered-looking northman.

"Rolo!" Konrad shouted, pulling his friend to his feet.

"W-where am I? Who're you?" The northman replied, his brows knitted together.

The pyramid around them groaned and then collapsed, sending out a wave of choking dust. Konrad grasped Rolo by the arm and ran as hard as he could, following Alice and Spirit, who were only dark shapes ahead of him.

Their group only stopped when they had safely regained the high ledge that overlooked what was left of Rhendra’s falls. Water still continued to fall from the cavern roof, but it had lost its golden hue, and the crunching sounds of stone suggested that the cave lice were busy constructing a new nest out of the wreckage.

Alice gazed out over the cavern and sighed. "Rhendra’s falls, Konrad, can you believe it? We were so lucky to see it before you destroyed it."

Konrad's indignant response floundered in the face of Alice's mischevious smile. "Alice, what were you even doing here?"

"You didn’t really think I would stay in Fallow Vale and marry Franklin Tate while you were off having all the fun, did you?"

Konrad was momentarily lost for words as a pinprick of guilt derailed his thoughts. He had always planned to return to Fallow Vale to pay back the debt, and help Alice, but the quests and adventuring had swept him further away from her.

Alice put a hand on his shoulder and held his gaze. "Relax, Konrad; I got myself into that situation, and as you see, I was more than capable of getting myself out. Do you really think I’m the type to need rescuing? Although I should thank you, Spirit, you were so brave!"

Spirit padded up to Alice’s side and wagged her tail as Alice embraced her.

Konrad didn’t feel that it would be very diplomatic to point out that he too had just rescued Alice and was as derserving of a hug. "I should have come back, but I’m glad you’re safe, Alice, or should I call you Grand Archavist?"

Alice’s cheeks flushed red. "When I arrived here, the dwarfs weren’t letting anyone in, so I lied and said I was an Archavist. I filled them in with what I knew about Rhendra and the falls and persuaded them to let me see their relics. You wouldn’t believe what powerful enchanted items they have hidden away; some of them must have been used to carve away the mountain. After I identified some of the items and figured out how some of them worked, the name Grand Archavist stuck. They were so scared of the abyssal blight that they let me in here to try to fight it. I was so close to getting Rolo back, then Rhendra woke up."

"That doesn’t explain why you were here in the first place. How do you even know Rolo? What’s wrong with him?"

The big northman was on his knees several feet away, peering into a shallow pool to examine his own reflection, gently tugging his beard with a bemused expression.

Alice bit her lip. "After he left Fallow Vale he went looking for a witch. But he met the wrong one and was turned into a puppet; the falls should have completely reversed the transformation."

Konrad could only stare. "What was he even doing there? Last time I saw him he was in the north."

"He came to look for you, he said you were in danger. That’s why we both came, but in the end it looks like you ended up saving us. Those things you did, those are your gifts from the gods?"

Konrad couldn’t deny his pleasure as he filled Alice in on some of his adventures since he left Fallow Vale. Her eyes were wide, and she gasped and laughed as he told her about the Coldest Mountain, Mir, and his stay in Portia on the Lost Coast.

In turn, Alice shared the tales of her battles with witches and her journey alone to the north-east to become a trusted advisor to the dwarven Wrights.

Konrad hadn’t had many close friends before he had become a champion, and in his heart he had feared that he had changed, and that the people he loved wouldn’t recognize him anymore. But he and Alice were quickly talking, joking, and laughing, as they always had. The only difference was that Alice said he was taller, and that comment alone made him feel like more of a champion than all of his adventures so far.