After the completion of the fourth, a surveillance bat I had circle the perimeter of my territory came to report of some intruders. I turned my gaze towards the forests and scanned the area. After a few moments of looking, I found the intruders.

They were foot soldiers wielding iron spears and shields and wearing simple chainmail armor. Leading them was a man clad in pure silver, whose core shone with a light radiance. It was the lone surviving paladin; he had come back with a party of ten people. As they hiked across the dense forest, they stopped and set up camp just before dusk came to pass.

Sending Herald and a retinue of surveillance bats to spy on them, I began to listen in on their conversations. A foot soldier, a newly recruited one, it seemed, with his skin untouched, his demeanor overwhelmingly positive, and his hands uncalloused, spoke to the paladin.

"Umm, sir Ronn, is the lich still out there?"

The paladin looked up at the young recruit and spoke,

"Who knows? That's why we are here to assess whether or not the lich still roams the land and find Sir Lumous if he still lives..."

The paladin held a sorrowful look in his eye. Trying to cheer the depressed paladin up, the recruit spoke,

"I'm sure he is still out there, sir... Waiting for us. Heck, maybe he has even slain the vile lich."

The paladin looked at the young and naive recruit and smiled,

"Of course, let's hope for the best for now, shall we. Now stop dilly-dallying around, young man, and man your station; you will be taking up night watch."

The young recruit, flabbergasted was speechless and watched as the paladin went to his tent to sleep through the cold frigid night.

"...No fair."

After a long night, the sun rose, and the footsoldiers took their equipment and supplies with them and started hiking further north towards the Orusan Mountains. The men looked apprehensive, their teeth rattling, fearing what lurked up in those dreadful mountains. However, the sound was overshadowed by the rattling of their chainmail. They hiked through the unassailable, silent mountains, weapons at the ready. However, the silence was broken by the young recruit

"Um, sir, isn't hiking through the Orusan mountains a bad idea? The place is a death trap; not even the dwarves live there anymore"

The paladin sighed

"It is, but we don't have a choice after all; this is where we last caught sight of the lich and Lumous. Now enough questions keep marching; we will be at our destination in a few hours."

As high noon rose, the men finally found themselves at the foot of a Tenebrous cave. The paladin ordered the men,

"Light your torches; we will begin our search here."

As he marched his men through the caves, he came across a large cavern different from the one that housed the fortress; it was dark, too dark. Once they entered the cavern, their torches emitted less radiance; it was as though the cave itself was gnawing away at the light. The paladin, wary of any unforeseen threats hiding within the cavern's dark confines, drew his blade and ordered his men to ready their spears. Silence, an eerie silence, encompassed the men for a moment, then something moved. A regular footsoldier spoke,

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"Sir, the darkness... It's moving.. Ahhh!!!"

As the soldier let out a scream, a swarm of bats rushed through the caves towards the intruders. The paladin slashed and hacked through the swarm, not letting it get too close. Yet there was only so much one slash or stroke could do, and they were quickly being overwhelmed. Panicked, the paladin ordered,

"Close your eyes and Retreat!"

As he spoke, his sword shimmered with the radiance of a thousand suns and stunned the bats, leaving them with a few precious moments to run. While running, the young soldier panted and spoke,

"Sir, what the fuck was that?!"

While running, Ronn spoke,

"Bats... A swarm. Quick, we must find shelter anywhere; it doesn't matter where or how, just find something!"

Running from the stunned swarm, the cohort of footsoldiers ran through cavern after cavern, but the swarm was fast approaching. The young recruit exclaimed as he pointed,

"There! Shelter!"

Ronn then shouted,

"You heard the boy run!"

The cohort made a mad dash towards the fortress. But the swarm was quickly catching up. Some men faltered, succumbing to the ravenous swarm of bats. Five men made it to the gates, yet not all of them were as quick as the others. One of the slower soldiers, panting from exhaustion, spoke under a fearful breath,

"Wait! Wait! I'm coming!"

But the paladin gave him a pitiful look and spoke with a clenched fist.

"Close it..."

The young recruit, not hearing the order, spoke,

"What did you say, sir?"

Ronn shouted,

"I said close the damn gates!"

Hearing the order, the running soldier was stunned, and his face sank into despair.

"No, please, don't leave m- AHhgg!"

The figure was quickly swallowed by the swarm. As the battered gates closed, the swarm met the rotting wood and started to gnaw away at it.

"This gate won't hold for long we must delve deeper"

a scared soldier spoke

"But sir how will we get out of the cave"

Ronn spoke

"I don't know but dying later is better than dying now. Plus look at where we are right now. This is our destination we can both run from impending death and complete our search at the same time aren't we lucky?"

The young recruit spoke

"Sir umm so what your saying is that the lich might be here?"

Ronn glanced at the recruit and said

"Yes of course what did you expect? Our mission was to ascertain the lich's status. Oh yeah, I didn't catch your name boy what is it?"

The young recruit suddenly stood straight and said

"Peter sir."

Ronn chuckled

"Well then Peter let's go"

lighting their torches and marching through the labyrinthian corridors and passageways a soldier tripped. The chainmail rattled, and he dropped his shield, making a loud metallic ring sound through the entire fortress. Ronn held his hand out to the soldier and said,

"Here, get up-"

The eerie silence encompassing the fortress was broken as loud thuds became heard.

"Take formation and ready your spears; it seems we aren't alone here..."

The cohort spoke in unison,

"Yes sir."

From the shadows emerged a reptile so large its tail could scrape the ceiling. A soldier shivered.

"What the f-"

Before he could utter the word, a tail swiped at him. Decapitating him through his helmet instantly. The paladin ran towards the dreadful reptile and sang a prayer

"Lord of Light. The Brilliant Enlightener. The Radiant Sun. I pray for your blessings, for your mercy, and for your might."

The prayer had no effect, but he slashed at the beast anyway. The basilisk stood strong and lashed out at the paladin, clawing away at his silver sword and armor. The paladin bobbed and weaved through the savage attacks from the basilisk and struck at the beast's neck. Yet the sword simply slid on top of its translucent scales. Seizing the opportunity, the beast clawed at the unguarded left arm of the paladin, leaving a nasty wound.

Yet the paladin powered through the pain and redirected its attack at the basilisk's eternally closed eye. Sticking his sword in there, he channeled his light mana into the blade, making it glow. And stuck it in deeper and deeper until it reached the basilisk's brain. And then it died. tearing fabric from his shirt and tying it on top of his wound, the paladin barked,

"Quick, we must move; there are more of them."

Marching away from the grunts, thuds, and snarls of the beasts that lay dormant in the desolate fortress. They marched and marched, this time discarding their chainmail as it would make too much noise. Each step was taken with caution and care. After a few moments, they entered a large room. In the only room within the winding set of hallways and corridors that made up the fortress, they beheld a great beast; its eyes looked to be stitched shut, its scales pale and translucent, and its claws and teeth sharp as a razor. Ronn said under a whispered breath,

"Back, go back slowly."

They slowly backed away from the beast, but one man, scared, accidentally hit his shield into the brick wall, awakening the reptilian beast.