Dockma Nimnor, the gnome mapmaker, stood in the doorway. Flanor, her halfling soldier companion, was beside her, one hand wrapped around Alice’s arm and a shortsword in his other hand. Their height difference would have been comical in a different setting.

“You’re too late to join the fun,” said Lund.

“I’m not sure that wasn’t the point,” Mery said to him.

“Who’s this?” Dulrak tucked his hands in his belt.

Isa pushed herself to her feet, careful to avoid touching the mummy. “Babe,” she kept her eyes on Alice, “why don’t you come over here?”

As Alice tried to move, Flanor gripped her arm more tightly. “Ouch,” she said to him. “You’re hurting me.”

Flanor dropped his eyes. “Not my intention, girl. It’s a bad situation all ‘round.”

“Flanor, let the woman go.” Dockma smiled at the group. “We’re all friends here.” She shrugged off her backpack and tossed it to the halfling, who had sheathed his blade. Dockma said, “Retrieve the crown, will you? Careful! Don’t touch it, remember?”

“I remember. I’m not an idiot.” Flanor dropped the bag over the crown and scooped it up, cinching the bag. He scurried back to Dockma’s side. Meanwhile Alice had joined Isa.

“We only caught the end of the fight,” said Dockma. “But well done! Well done, with the flaming sword,” she said to Dulrak. “ Like an avenging angel marching to battle! But you don’t look like a paladin. Well, maybe a poor paladin. Speaking of that, this is all we wanted.” She patted the bag. “The rest of the treasure, whatever there may be, is yours. You might want to get that belt off him before he really catches fire, though.” She flicked a hand lazily at the smoking mummy.

Lund bent down and touched the ornate metal belt buckle. “Oooch!” He pulled back his hand and jammed his finger in his mouth.

“Remember this,” said Dockma. She tipped a bit of water from her canteen into her hand, and it expanded into a water ball, resting on her palm, wobbling slightly in the air. When it was about 3 feet across, Dockma gently blew on it. It shifted slowly through the air and then hovered over the mummy king’s body. She snapped her fingers, and the ball of water dropped suddenly, drenching the mummy and Lund.

“There,” she said. “One no longer flammable mummy.”

Mery’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a wizard then? Shoulda known. You wizards and your books.”

“Sorcerer, actually. Books are a pleasure, not a requirement.” Dockma smiled at the group. “This is just business. I hope you know that. We didn’t expect you to be here.” She pulled a stone from her bag and held it up. “Yes, this is about right, I think.” She pointed at Isa. “It’s a good map, by the way. I wouldn’t give you less than my best.”

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“Thanks, I guess.” Isa frowned at the gnome. “But I don’t—”

“Ah na,” Dulrak rushed toward the door as Dockma and Flanor stepped back over the threshold. Dockma threw down the stone, and a wall rose up in its place. Dulrak stopped just in time to avoid smashing into the wall that now replaced the door of the chamber.

His shoulders dropped, and he turned around slowly. “I can tell that you’re as surprised as me, so I don’t think this was planned.”

“It wasn’t,” Mery said. “But I should have expected it.” She turned to Lund. “You didn’t hear them behind us?” He shook his head.

Isa stepped to the middle of the room. “Everyone is being awfully calm about the fact that we’re walled up inside a burial chamber. What are we going to do about that?”

“These two can bang us out,” Mery gestured at Lund and Durak. “Don’t doubt it.”

“I’ll help,” said Alice. “Give me one of your axes. I’ll use the head.”

Dulrak held up a hand and put his ear to the wall. A moment later they heard a shriek and a thump.

“Was that—” Alice started to ask, but Dulrak held out his finger as if to signal for another moment of quiet.

“We’ve got company,” he said as he turned to address the group. “At least 3 creatures out there. One, at least, sounds too heavy to be a skeleton. Perhaps it’s another mummy.” He surveyed the group for a moment. “Odd as it sounds, I think we should rest here. Rest and restore and then we smash the stone and make our escape.”

Everyone began to talk at once. Isa realized that she and Mery were the only 2 shaking their heads – Mery vigorously – against the idea. The other 3 were discussing the logistics of camping in the chamber: airflow, lighting a fire, sleeping arrangements.

“I’d want a full 12 hours’ rest,” Dulrak was saying. “Your lass, she took a beating from the king, didn’t she? We need her at full health.”

Alice nodded. “So we do two watches?”

“Aye, 6 hours’ sleeping and 2 for watch. Then we rotate. We let Isa sleep as much as she wants, no watch. We have enough.”

“Not that I agree with this plan, at all,” said Isa, “but I can take watch just like everyone else.”

Mery strode over to the stone wall covering the doorway. “No, we’re leaving now. We’ll lose air; we’ll be poisoned by the mummy. Or maybe he wakes up? Eh, think of that? Maybe he wakes up!” She rapped her knuckles on the wall first high and then low. “Not too thick, probably. We can smash it in an hour or two. Then we make a run for it. Isa in the middle. We smashed the skeletons before. We can do it again.”

No one spoke until Alice said, “Do we vote? How else do we decide?”

“Vote’s fine by me.” Mery raised her hand. “All in favor of leaving this tomb? Isa? Lund? Come now.”

Isa started to raise her hand, but Alice held up her notebook. “The quest. Don’t you care about the quest?”

“We completed it,” said Isa. “We killed the king. Brought him the ‘true death.’” She looked at the charred mummy. “Right?”

“We haven’t destroyed the tomb, though,” Lund said quietly.

Mery put her hands on her head. “Since when do you care about the fine print, Lund Subash? Don’t you want to live? Don’t you want to make it home alive?”

“What’s wrong with you?” he countered. “What about the treasures? There’s treasure in this very room, but you don’t seem to care.”

Mery paused, dropped her head, and said, “I don’t like small spaces.”

“Who does?” said Isa. “My God, who does? Wasn’t I the one— weren’t you— Preston, the Tinker!”

Alice put her hand on Isa’s arm. “It’s a bad situation, Mery; no one disputes that, but Dockma, maybe she did us a favor. I’ve used up spells; you’ve used up spells; Isa almost died. We have a chance to rest up and face the, the horrors of the hallway fresh. All our spells, all our hit points and abilities. What do you say?”

After a moment Mery sighed. “I lost the vote, huh?” She looked around the room. “I get first call on treasure? My sword was for shit against that mummy. Maybe he’s got a better one.”

The others looked at each other and shrugged. Then Dulrak said, “Who wants first watch?”