William was dismissed and led away into a side passage by Lucius. The spirit halted here and looked at him through the cowl it wore. The spirit looked apologetic somehow, despite not having facial expressions. "I would go with you to the other side, but I fear I have other matters to attend to, far from here."

"Do you have any advice?" asked William.

"Advice? Well, if I were you, I should not exhaust myself running," said Lucius. "You'll run yourself ragged, and you'll have to confront someone at some point.

"As for the path you ought to take, I should take that one." And he motioned to a dark passage leading downward. It smelled of carrion.

William looked to another from which he could smell clean air. Then he looked to Lucius. "Why not the other? The air isn't as bad from there."

"That way leads out faster," conceded Lucius. "But it also doesn't have many offshoots, so your hunters will know where to find you. Einheroth, don't tire while you do. You'll be overtaken for sure unless you can run faster than anyone else in such armor. Even if you do get out, you'll end up in the mountains above the Iron Kingdom.

"That is giant country. They'd love nothing more than to devour you. And some of them are smart enough to hang out by the exits.

"The road I have suggested is longer, but there are beings along it who may help you. Or, at the very least, may not at once try to eat you. It will also lead you out into the heartlands of the Iron Kingdom. Those are safe. Or as safe as anywhere can be. All the less violent races are being killed or fleeing to the shore."

"I understand," said William. "Goodbye. And thank you for your help."

"It is no trouble," said Lucius.

William walked on by.

"Oh, and William," said Lucius suddenly. "Keep your helmet on."

William turned back. "Why?" But Lucius was gone. "Anything else I should know that you won't explain?"

There was no answer.

He sighed and began his journey into the passage that smelled of carrion. Sure enough, he soon found himself walking upon bones. Yet these bones were fresh. Sometimes he even saw an occasional fresh corpse. The stench was horrific.

He pulled his scarf over his nose and walked as quickly as he could manage. He tried to keep his eyes away from them. He'd seen death before in the wars. But nothing like these fly-ridden bodies which became more and more common. Soon whole piles were lying around before feasted on by rats.

He tried not to throw up. He had no time.

Time? What did it matter how much time he had? The Withering King had only been toying with him before. He was likely only toying with William now. No doubt, the Einheroth were waiting at the entrance to catch him unawares.

It was all futile.

His footsteps slowed. What did it matter how fast or how slow he walked? He would die here beneath the mountains. Nobody would ever find out where he had gone. What madness had possessed him to enter these cursed mountains in the first place?

William nearly turned around and went back. He had to flee. Going back the way he had come would be the last thing anybody would expect. No, no, that was madness! There was nothing to do but die!

No, not die. Nothing to do but press on. He knew he was being influenced by magic to give up. But he would not let it control him. He put one foot in front of the other with difficulty. Then he did the same. Again and again.

Every step was a strain. He could hardly continue.

But he would not give up. He had to get out of here. Nothing would stand in his way.

The spell was broken.

It was like the chains that had been binding him were shattered. Or if a gate that had stood locked and forlorn was suddenly broken in. He was free and could go where he willed.

On his path led him, and he felt a bit better for a while. He saw passages leading to the right and the left. But he did not like the looks of them. So he kept straight, not liking the idea of getting lost in a maze.

Then he came to more suits of armor. Yet these were chained to the wall and lifeless.

"Help..." said a low whisper.

William paused. "Who is there?"

"Help... us..." gasped the same voice.

William went through the armor and finally came to one at the center. A spirit inhabited it. No, many spirits. He could sense their energies within.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"We are... the spirits of the dead..." said the voice. "The damned... those who wandered within..." The voice changed to become lower and harsher. "We are... fools who made a deal with the Withering. In hubris, we thought we would become the Withering King. But all... all failed..." The voice became high-pitched and screeching. "Now we are Einheroth... puppets of steel and soul... Our spirits are spread throughout this armor. We kill for him and fall in battle. Then we are revived and sent to kill again...

"Help... us..."

"How could I help you?" asked William, feeling a surge of pity.

"Break... my chains..." said the Einheroth.

"Will the Withering King know if I do this?" asked William.

"He... will... not..." gasped the Einheroth.

William narrowed his eyes. "You're lying, aren't you?"

"Help us... In dark, we have been... for so long..." gasped the creature "In dark we will be... until freed... Please..."

"If I help you, the Withering King will send his minions after me sooner rather than later," said William. "I... I can't help you. I do not want to become like you."

"Please..." gasped the creature.

William turned to walk away, but he stopped. He thought about being trapped here in the darkness for all eternity, with nothing but bones and rotting flesh. He thought about being chained, bound to the will of dark powers beyond all hope of salvation.

It was horrible.

Could he really leave them here? No, no, he could not, not in good conscience.

"I can't do anything," he said to himself. "I'm under the hospitality of the Withering King. A guest who frees his host's prisoners and sets them loose around the house was no guest at all."

"What are you babbling about, William Gabriel?" said a different part of him, the part always trying to be a hero. "You aren't any more a guest here than a hunted deer is the guest of the wolves. Or a mouse with a cat who has decided to play with its food. You've no obligation to abide by this monster's rules.

"And you do have an obligation to help the less fortunate. That's part of what being a paladin is."

"Easy to say," he shot back. "But there was no certainty I could even break the chains. And whether I succeed or fail, the Withering King would surely know."

"And why should it matter if you might fail?" replied his sense of heroism. "You think you're the only person who's faced bad odds in our history? Anoa the Bright faced bad odds his whole life. But he never let that stop him from doing what needed to be done.

"What about Erik the Voyager? He stood alone against an army of giants to protect the eggs of a dragon he'd never met. But he didn't give way.

"If you were an ordinary person, you could ignore these poor creatures. But you aren't. You're a paladin. And part of being a paladin is doing the right thing even when it may get you killed or worse."

"Besides, we don't know these tunnels," said a third, pragmatic part. "This creature might. Perhaps it knows a faster way Lucius didn't tell us about."

That settled it. William turned back to the creature. "You know these tunnels, do you not?"

"I... do..." gasped the Einheroth.

"You know all the secret ways," said William.

"I... do..." said the Einheroth.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I will free you," said William. "But in exchange, you must lead me out of here."

"We... will..." gasped the Einheroth.

"Very well," said William, drawing out his sword. "I will break the chains."

He struck the chains once, and sparks flew. They rattled but did not break. He summoned the power of Elranor and struck again, and this time notched them. Yet a force hit him so hard that he nearly fell from his feet. His head hurt, and his hands were aching.

Raising his sword one final time, he struck. The chains broke.

"Release!" screamed the Einheroth as he stepped out. "I am free! I can walk in my own power at last!"

There was a low laugh. "You disappoint me, Gabriel, though I suspected this would be your mind," said the Withering King. William looked around in fear but saw nothing, though his voice was everywhere. "No matter; I don't mind starting the chase a bit early."

William felt a twinge of fear. "Lead me out. Now!"

"Follow me quickly," said the Einheroth.

The creature led William into a passage, and they ran for a time William could not recall. His guide led them on a zigzagging, erratic path. It led further and further downwards. The smell of carrion faded to be replaced by a dank smell of water. He could hear the drip of water somewhere in the caves.

Yes, caves. The tunnels had gone from mortal made to natural. And still, the Einheroth led William on. He ran until his legs were aching, and he could hardly keep up. Finally, the creature slowed, and he approached from behind.

"Where are we going?" gasped William. "Why are we going down?"

"The Einheroth will overtake us if we take the main way," said the Einheroth. "We must go by a winding path. This way is home to the goblins. The Withering King will not follow us at once."

"Goblins?" asked William. "I thought Anoa the Bright wiped them out long ago."

"He tried," said the Einheroth.

"You seem different from before," noted William.

"Our spirit was being subverted to the will of the Withering King," said the Einheroth. "Now, once more, our will is our own."

"Well, that is good to know," said William. "Can we rest for a time?"

"Yes, we remember now," murmured the Einheroth. "Mortals get tired. Their feet falter. We shall have to remember that." Then suddenly, the Einheroth broke into a sprint.

"Wait!" called William, running and trying to keep up. "Come back!"

"We will not be captured again by waiting for you," hissed the Einheroth's voice as it passed from sight.

"Bastard. I can't keep up with him," hissed William to himself.

"Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into," snapped his self-preservation. "Now the hunt is on, and we're no better off than before. Much worse because we're off the path and trapped."

"We are a paladin," replied his sense of heroism. "We are supposed to help people whether there is a benefit or not."

"Both of you be silent," said William, speaking the part of his pragmatism. "They might decide to follow him over me. We'll take a branching path and hope to split them up." He looked at the available paths and took the one which led downwards. As he did, he cursed himself and sheathed his sword. "Damn it all, I'm lost again. Still, there is nothing to do but try my best."

Then he heard footfalls. Heavy iron booted feet were slamming against the stone further up. A chant of war could be heard. And a terrible presence was coming toward him. William ran and ran, but it continued to get closer.

He would surely be caught unless he could find a way to slip out of sight.

Suddenly the left side of the passage fell away into a dark cliff. It was wet and slick. But it might be his only chance. William began to scale down it as quickly as he could. He nearly slipped on the rocks but managed to make it far enough down so that no one could see him, only if they were looking right at him anyway.

Unfortunately, clad in armor as he was, he could scarcely keep his grip. All he could do was stop from plunging into the abyss below. "Damn this armor," he hissed. "And damn that Einheroth. And damn me."

"He should be just ahead!" cried a voice like a cyclone. "Press on! We'll kill him yet!"

William clung to the rock as he heard many footfalls. They tramped past his hiding space. Above, he could see an Einheroth standing just above him. If it looked down, then he would be spotted for sure. The creature shifted, looked around, and then passed over him.

William breathed in relief when they were gone. "That is the last time I make a deal with unholy powers. You'd think I'd have learned by now. Then again, Father came out of his contract very well, indeed. Though he more or less did so by breaking it off and following his conscience. Which I did.

"Does that help or hurt my case?

"Damn it. What now? They are gone, but there will probably be more. I don't want to get caught between the two of them. I suppose I ought to climb down and see if I can find any way out through there. Either way, I've got no idea where I am."

He began scaling down with pained limbs. He got about ten feet down. Then he slipped and fell backward into the dark. He snatched a handhold and managed to take hold of the wall. It wrenched his arm, and he slid downwards before hitting the floor hard and rolling downward.

He felt a cracking noise on his wrist, and it was all he could do not to scream. Bringing up the twisted limb, he channeled the power of Elranor. It mended, little by little, but something seemed to be sapping his strength. Finally, it was healed.

He stood, feeling tender still, unslung his shield, and looked around. He was in a very dark place, and his light hardly reached for than a few feet. Something was dimming it as well. Then he realized he'd never doused his light when the Einheroth had come.

How had they not seen him?

Then again, they didn't have eyes. Perhaps they tracked things through other means. With a sigh, he walked forward into the darkness. Soon he found tiny stones that emitted small beads of light on either side of him. He doused his light thoroughly this time. He didn't want to be seen first.

William traveled by these lights until he came to the edge of a curved stair. And far below him, he could see a vast natural cavern. It was like something one might see on the surface, yet different. There were fields of crops, but they were of red moss and mushrooms instead of wheat. They were being tended to by small, thin-limbed froglike creatures. They had huge eyes and sharp teeth. Watching over there, farmers were ones with spears.

And further on, he could see something like a smithy. The creatures there were forging weapons and armor. Their design was very similar to that of the armor the Einheroth wore.

William remembered every tale and poem he could about ancient races. Then remembered what Lucius had said. These were goblins and thousands of them.

How many more thousands were in these vast mountains? Waiting to swarm out and kill without pity or mercy. He had to stay out of sight. And that meant getting off this cliff.

He scaled down the stair as quickly as he is good. He found it unguarded and wondered why. He guessed, as well as he could, that these creatures served the Withering King. If that was the case, they probably did not fear any attack from this direction at all.

How many could have even gotten this far without an Einherorth to guide them?

William reached the bottom of the stair and spotted some rocks. He could find cover there. He quickly scaled up among them and realized they had overlooked a mining operation. He had missed it before.

"Alright," he said to himself, "alright, William, so you don't know this place, and your guide has abandoned you. If you're going to get out of here, you'll need a new one. I could probably grab a goblin by force and make it serve me by the threat of death."

"Very heroic," said his heroism.

"We've had enough problems from you already," replied William.

"But we'll need a goblin who knows their way around," noted his pragmatic half. "Not all of them will know the way to the surface if any of them do. And in any case, we can't speak goblin."

"We can't afford to be picky," noted William. "Every moment we wait makes us more likely to be caught." He eyed a passage where he noted some goblins walking inward in a large group. It was cobbled, like a road. It didn't look guarded.

"We might go there," noted his heroism. "Roads generally lead someone. And the goblins might have settlements outside of the mountains.

"We wouldn't have to threaten anyone with death."

"And if they don't," mused his pragmatism, "we could go back to the first plan and waylay one of the travelers."

It seemed the best plan William had so far. And he put his hand to his sword. He was about to make a break for it when the ground shook. The wall the goblins were chipping away at suddenly fell down with a crash. They turned and fled, screeching, and the rubble caught several.

To his surprise, goblins came from all over to see what it was about. Within a few moments, they began cooperating to move the rubble. They were trying to save anyone they could. Those that they freed were taken aside and tended to by healers. This needed to be clarified for William. The accounts by Anoa the Bright said the race was evil and killed each other for fun and to eat the corpses. Perhaps this was a different kind of goblin. It had been a long time.

At that moment, there was a cry. "Einheroth! Einheroth!"

William looked up to see a goblin pointing at him. The thing had snuck up behind. Now he was exposed, and hundreds of creatures were coming from all over to surround him. They chattered and chattered in their tongue.

Why did they think he was an Einheroth?

Then William realized that his scarf was still covering his mouth. That, combined with his armor, made him look very much like one of the suits of armor. Gradually as he listened, he found that he could discern their speech.

"No, no, it has eyes like a human!" one was saying.

"Humans do not wear armor like that. Withering Lord not allow it," said another.

Why did he understand them? He had never learned goblin, to be sure. He spoke. "I mean, you and your people no harm."

Some scurried away at the sound of his voice. It was very menacing.

"Kill it, Mazabel," said the first one he'd heard. "Kill it dead! It will bring ruin and destruction!"

William thought quickly. "I am here to aid you. I will heal your wounded."

"Heal?" asked the first one. "Einheroth not heal."

"I do," said William, "Watch."

But as he turned to the wounded, a crowd of goblins barred his path. He couldn't get close enough to touch them. They would kill him for sure. He could do it from a distance. Raising a hand, he sent forth his will to the goblins. It hurt a lot. Many of their wounds were, and his grip was loose. It was all he could do to keep fixing the flesh and bone.

Sweat dripped from his brow. His hand was shaking. William knew he couldn't keep this up. "Look!" cried a goblin. "Marzel walks away."

Sure enough, a short goblin with bigger eyes than most had stood up and was walking. Others soon followed.

"The others are walking! They all salvaged!" cried a goblin. "The Einheroth heal them! Withering Lord send blessings!"

Something occurred to William. If the Withering Lord finds out I helped them; they may be punished. It would be best if he left quickly.. "I would speak with your leader," he said."A big goblin with a staff topped with a goblin skull came forward. "I Mazabel. I lead the goblins."

"Mazabel, the Withering Lord wishes to test your knowledge," said William.

"Test? How does he wish to test?" asked Mazabel, eyes narrowed.

"He desires that you show me the fastest and most secretive way into the Iron Kingdom," said William, feeling bad for lying. "Bring me your best scout and have him show me the way."

"Marzel is best scout," said Mazabel. "But why are you going to Iron Kingdom? Is time of vengeance at hand?"

"The Withering Lord's plan must remain secret," said William. "The time of vengeance will come when it will come."

"You liar!" said a goblin. "Withering Lord always tell plan before he give order!"

"Wonderful," thought William. "I've done something which seems out of character. They seemed awed by my using magic. Let's see what we can do with that."

"You dare?!" snarled William in a fury. "I am Einheroth!" He drew his sword and muttered incantations. The blade burst into bright light, though it took a lot more energy than normal. The goblins reeled back in horror. William dimmed the light. "Do not mistake me. The Withering Lord desires that you play your part. However, if you knew his true design in this matter, you would act contrary to what he desires of you. Now, bring forth Marzel."

Marzel came forward. "I Marzel. I take you by all the secret ways."

"Excellent," said William.

Now to get out of here.