“It sorta looks like a lion,” Quinny said as the beast stalked into the room.

It had the body of a lion with powerful arms and claws. However, it had the tail of a scorpion and the wings a dragon. Its head was large and fanged with the thick mane of a lion. However, its face resembled that of a man.

“What is that called?” Heather asked.

“How should I know,” Frank said as they all crouched down on the skull pile.

“Can we fight it?”

Frank looked over the creature as it began to prowl into the room.

“I don't know. I don't even know what it is. It doesn't look low level, though.”

“I vote we don’t fight it,” Grettah said. “We have the thing we came for, let’s sneak out.”

“How?” Frank asked. “That thing is between us and the exit.”

Heather listened to them try to think of a way out as the beast came closer and closer. She realized they were either going to have to fight it or find a way to lure it someplace else. She looked behind them to the ramp, but her eyes caught on the goatrah bodies.

“I have an idea!” Heather said.

“What?” Frank asked.

“I will turn two of those bodies into the zombies I can make and order them to run to the back of the cave. Maybe that thing will chase them, and we can sneak out.”

Frank nodded his consent, and they crept back to the pile. As loudly as she dared, she worked the spell bringing two of the dead bodies back to life and quickly gave them basic instructions. They would both run to the back of the cave but would run along the wall opposite one another. Heather hoped it would take the beast longer to chase them both down.

As the strange monster approached the skull pile, it sniffed the air.

“I know you're here,” it said in a growling voice. “I can smell your taint. Did you think you could hide in my lair?”

Heather looked at Frank in alarm. “Is that a player?”

“It can’t be,” he said.

“You can come out now. If you make me smell you out, I will make your death painful.”

“It can smell us?” Quinny asked.

“It can probably track us by scent,” Grettah replied.

Heather chewed on a lip and then had another idea. “Get close together.”

“What why?” Quinny asked.

“Just do it,” she whispered as she huddled with them. “Close your eyes,” she said just before she doused them all with her perfume.

“Yukk!” Grettah said as quietly as she could. “That’s perfume?”

“It’s a lovely scent,” Heather scolded.

“We can argue about the scent later,” Frank said. “Let’s get the plan rolling.”

Heather nodded and turned to her zombies. “Now, run!”

The creatures took off running down the ramp and then off in two directions.

“Aha!” the beast roared. “Did you think you could escape me?”

They watched as it raced after the first zombie like a cat chasing a mouse.

“Now,” Frank encouraged as they slid down the skull mound to the ground and ran in the other direction.

None of them looked back as the beast let out a roar. “Two of you!” it bellowed. “Neither of you will escape.”

“I can’t believe this is working,” Quinny said as they reached the ledge out.

“Just climb up,” Frank said as he practically shoved her onto the ledge.

Grettah jumped up, and Frank pulled himself up and then yanked Heather up behind them. Another roar filled the cave, causing them all to jump.

“Blah! You taste like dead meat!”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t figure this out too soon,” Frank said as they dashed down the hall. He carried the strange object as they ran recklessly down the tunnel.

“Those goat people lied to us!” Heather snapped. “That isn’t a lion!”

“They said it was a crag lion,” Quinny reminded.

“I expected that to mean a lion who lives in crags,” Heather replied. “That name does nothing to paint a picture like that.”

“I suspect they didn’t want us to return,” Frank said as they rounded a tunnel.

“What?” Heather gasped.

He glanced back at her. “I think they sent us here to die.”

“But they need that black thing,” she said.

“Do they?” he asked. “Or did they use this as bait to lure us to our deaths?”

“If they wanted us dead, they could have killed us on the road,” Heather argued.

Frank shook his head. “No, they couldn't. None of them was very high level. I bet that sheriff was level three or four. The rest of them were one or two. In a full-on battle, we would have slowly overpowered them.”

“So, they used this as a way to dispose of us?” Heather asked.

“I can’t be sure of it,” Frank said. “Let’s see what they have to say when we come back.”

“It had better be thank you, and we will take you to the gate now,” Heather growled.

They rounded another corner and slid to a stop as they startled a small group of stony skin creatures.

“Yay, more meezels,” Quinny said as the little creatures started to shriek.

“There are only six of them this time,” Heather said as she raised her scythe. “And I am tired of the way they howl.” She ran ahead and sliced one clean in half with a full swing. Frank tackled another as Quinny and Grettah joined in. Just as the last creature fell, they heard another howl from deep in the cave.

“You can not deceive me!”

“I think our distraction has run out,” Frank said

“Good, I needed more levels in the running skill anyway,” Heather said as she dashed down the tunnel.

They ran carelessly through the tunnels until, at last, they saw the light of the cave mouth. Behind them, another roar echoed from the cave walls.

“It’s getting closer,” Grettah said.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“We’re almost out!” Heather replied.

A moment later, they ran out of the cave tunnel into the open air and didn't waste a second before for the trail.

“Wait,” Heather said. “If that thing is smart, it will assume we ran down the trail,” she said.

“So, where do we go?” Frank asked.

“We hide in the trees around the side of the hill,” she said as she ran to the edge of the trail. She sprayed the path with perfume and then ran back. “Let's hurry.”

They dashed away from the trail and into the trees a good fifty feet from the cave entrance. From here, they hid and waited as the creature appeared in the tunnel opening.

“Fled like frightened rats,” the beast said. It wasted no time in dashing to the trail entrance where it paused to sniff the air.

“Ahhhg! What a foul scent!” it cried.

“I told you,” Grettah whispered. “What scent is that anyway?”

“I don't know. I picked a flower scent,” Heather.

“Was it called skunk weed?” Quinny asked.

Heather had to fight the urge to spray them both. As she considered it, the beast spread its wings and flew over the trail.

“It worked,” Quinny said.

“You were right,” Frank added. “It immediately followed the trail. If we had run up it, we would have been caught.”

“You’re sure that wasn’t a player?” Heather asked.

Frank scratched at his head. “I am never sure in this world, but I would bet money it wasn’t.”

“It certainly wasn’t any race I saw,” grettah said. “And I spent days looking through them.”

“And you didn’t pick the succubus?” Heather asked as she glanced at Quinny.

Grettah shrugged. “That was my second choice.”

“Ha!” Quinny laughed and glared right back at Heather.

Heather went to say something back when she jumped in fright.

Ding! - [Running skill level 2]

Ding! - [Necromancer level 5]

Ding! - [Recluse level 4]

Ding! - [Flower Singer level 3]

Heather clutched her head panting at the jarring sounds.

“I leveled!” Grettah said.

“I did too,” Quinny added.

“So did I,” Frank said.

“Ha, I did get skill in running,” Quinny laughed.

“Why must that ding be so jarring?” Heather said. “It's such an out of place sound. It shocks you every time you hear it.”

Frank shook his head at the banter and pointed to where they hid the basket. “Let’s get the basket and see if we can work our way back up through the trees here.”

He ran out of hiding and snatched it from behind the rocks where they left it. Once he was back, they began to pick their way through the trees, searching for a way up.

An hour later and they found a steep ledge that wound it’s way up the hills and climbed to a second trail.

“This might lead back to the road,” Frank said.

“Good, I want to hear that liars explanation,” Heather said.

“Why? It will probably be another lie?” Quinny said.

“Then I won’t feel guilty when I scythe him!”

“He promised to take us to the gates,” Grettah said.

“Yeah, but that does nothing for me,” Frank said. “We still don't have any quicksilver.”

Heather heard the regret in his voice and started to think of a plan. If this object was so important to the sheriff, maybe he knew another way into the dwarven lands. Of course, if the object turned out to be pointless, she was going to kill him and reanimate his corpse.

The trail did eventually return to the road, and they had to backtrack a little to find the tunnel entrance. Their sitting on a rock with five other goatrah was Kesivel.

“You lied to us!” Heather shouted as they rounded the bend from the fenced ledge.

The sheriff looked up in alarm with his eyes wide. “You’re alive?”

“I knew it,” Frank said.

“We should kill him,” Quinny added as she folded her arms.

Heather stomped right up to the pack and glared down at them. “That wasn’t a lion!” she snapped.

Kesivel smiled a cheery smile and held out his hands. “I never said it was a lion.”

“You most certainly did!” Heather yelled. “You said it was a crag lion!”

“You misunderstood,” he said with a shocked look. “I said there was a crahlioon.”

Heather stood straight and glanced back to Frank and the others.

“I heard crag lion,” Quinny said. “He mispronounced it to trick us.”

“I agree with Quinny,” Frank added.

Heather held her scythe out and waved it in his face. “We got your stupid item and had to fight the meezels and then this craglioon!”

“By the goat's beard, you beat it?” Kesivel said.

Heather smiled. “You don't want to test us, Kesivel. We got your stupid black rock.” She turned and pointed to Frank, who held it up. With a wicked smiled, she turned back to him. “Now, you're going to help us get into the dwarven lands.”

“I told you I would take you to the gate,” he said.

Heather waived her scythe at him. “You tricked us, so now I want something better. I want you to show us how to sneak in.”

“Are you daft?” he exclaimed. “I'm the bloody sheriff. I don't help people sneak into places. I keep them out!”

“Frank throw that thing over the ledge,” Heather said.

“Wait!” Kesivel said.

“So, it is important to you?” Heather asked.

“Of course it is,” he replied. He stood up and shook his head as he paced the rock. “Listen, that thing is part of our cities defense system. Without it, we can't seal the outer doors.”

“It’s just a black rock,” Heather said.

Kesivel sighed and started to tap a foot. “It's a part of a magical lock for the outer gates. We had the parts crafted by the gnomes and shipped to us. It was my job to see to it the shipments arrived safely, but one of them was attacked. I tracked the part to the cave and sent in any adventurer stupid enough to go in, but the crahlioon killed all of them.”

“Why didn’t you go get it yourself?” Heather asked.

He smiled at her and blushed. “And risk dying?”

“Some sheriff he is,” Quinny said.

“That's why he stopped us on the road,” Frank said. “He didn't really want to drive us away. He wanted to get us to bargain with him so he could send us to the cave.”

“Truth be told, I didn't think you would survive,” Kesivel said. “But we do need that part. The king thinks the gate is fully functional and ready. I have assured him it is all the while trying to find some way to get the part before he finds out.”

Heather smiled smugly. “I think your secret is worth you helping us sneak in.”

Kesivel glared at her with firm eyes and then threw up his hands. “Fine, but you never speak a word of this!”

“Of course not,” Heather said. “You can trust us.” She added the last comment with a bat of her eyes and smile.

Kesivel shook his head. “Sure’n I am going to be boiled in oil for this,” he mumbled. He turned to look at Frank and then snapped to his companions. “Go and get that part back to the city.”

“Uh, uh!” Heather said. “I don't trust you anymore. You get the part when you show us how to sneak in.”

“But we're all friends now,” Kesivel said shyly.

“Those are my friends,” Heather said, pointing to Frank and the others. “You're a swindler on the street trying to get me to bet on his card game.”

Kesivel sighed and hopped down. “Whatever, follow me. Let’s get you out of my hair.”

Heather smiled triumphantly as they followed the group of Goatrah down the road.

They worked their way through hills and valleys until he finally took them up a narrow trail into a densely wooded hilltop.

“They don't bother protecting this section of the walls,” he said. “Nobody knows this trail is here, and the Dwarves only watch the roads. They assume we are watching the back hills.”

“See,” Heather said. “We're nearly to the pizza.”

Frank shook his head. “Not until we find some quicksilver,” he reminded her.

“Quicksilver?” Kesivel said with a twist of his head. “What do you want that for?”

“I am an herbalist,” Grettah said. “I need it for a potion.”

Kesivel nodded as he stroked the wisp of hair on his chin. “You want to be going to speak to Devlina.”

“Who is Devlina?” Heather asked.

Kesivel glanced back at her. “She's a dwarf alchemist. She has a workshop in the hills where she makes the flaming bombs for their siege engines. If anybody is likely to have quicksilver, she will.”

“Oh!” Heather exclaimed. “Where can we find her?”

Kesivel smiled and stroked his chin hair. “So now you need a favor from me?”

“I need you to stop playing games with me!” Heather snapped. “You lied to us on the road and sent us to die. The least you can do is help us get to pizza.”

“I suppose my charitable heart could be persuaded,” he said with a wide smile.

They crested a hill and looked down into a valley full of extremely tall pines.

“Everything down there is Dwarven land,” he said.

“And where is Devlina?” Heather asked.

Kesivel pointed. “You see that stream there?”

They all looked, and Heather nodded.

“You follow that until it turns into a waterfall. Her workshop is on the shore of the lake at the base of the falls. Now I got you here and gave you some free help. Can I please have the gate piece?”

Heather nodded to Frank, and he held the item out. Just as Kesivel went to take it, Frank accidentally dropped it, and the object started rolling down the hill.

“By the goat's beard, stop it!” Kesivel yelled to his companions as they all ran after it.

“That was cruel,” Quinny laughed as they watched the little creatures go.

“He deserved it,” Frank said.

Heather smiled as the goatrah ran out of sight and turned back to the valley before them. They were almost there, and they knew where to get the quicksilver they needed. She could practically taste the cheese and the sauce as her stomach growled in agreement.

“For pizza,” she said and led the way.

Quinny laughed and echoed the battle cry as they set off to find Devlina, and the last thing they needed before they could eat.