Vakdragnar had a frustrating time convincing Braid to return to camp and sleep. Success only came after finally convincing him the goblins were running scared and trapped. For the remainder of the night, Braid stood at the mouth of the caves ensuring nothing got back out. Vak could only hope that Krum would keep the rest away until after Shattershade ventured inside.

He slept well for the remainder of the evening and awoke to a particularly terrible smell. It was like rotting food left out on a hot day. Vak opened his eyes to find Dam’s face unnecessarily close, his mouth wide open. He stared back at Vak with that slack-jawed expression. The vile stench come from his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Vak asked both nauseated and confounded.

Dam held a knife between them threateningly. “You’d better watch yourself.”

“Dam, put that away,” Vak said unamused. He moved to stand, but Dam pressed the knife closer, unyielding.

“My friends call me Dam; you ain’t one of ‘em. You abandoned us during your watch.” Dam said spitting.

“I heard a noise and went to check on it,” Vak told him truthfully. “It is a good thing I did, or we would have died in our sleep.”

“Goblins ain’t killin me in my sleep. I don’t like you Rag, Don’t trust you neither. I’m gonna make sure you don’t hurt my friends.” With that declaration, Dam stood, sheathed his knife and began walking away.

“What in four of the hells?” Vak said, shaking his head. They are mad, every one of them!

“Oh, don’t mind Dam,” Anka said from beside Vak. He had been so focused on Dam that he had not heard her approach and the sudden intrusion made him jump. “He’s always been a bit protective. He needs a little time to get used to you is all.”

“What is wrong with him?” Vak said, frustrated.

“Hmm? Oh, I’m not one hundred percent sure, to be honest. Braid and I pulled him out of a jail cell, not unlike the one we found you in. He’s been loyal to us ever since. Maybe when he looks at you, he’s reminded of all the things he did before joining Shattershade.”

“Oh,” Vak said, feeling a touch of sympathy.

“Or maybe he’s just intimidated cause you’re like two feet taller than him and way more muscular. How should I know? Go ask him.” She said, rolling her eyes as she walked toward the goblin village.

Vak looked after them both and shook his head. He finished collecting their belongings and stuffing them into the gargantuan pack. He counted slowly as the indignation of having to carry it began to wear on him.

He checked on his tiny grue worm which seemed to be content. Vak added some fresh dirt into his satchel, having no idea if that was necessary or not. He figured if he were the one who ate dirt, he would appreciate some new options.

Vak found Shattershade standing in front of the cave he had shown them the previous night. They were inspecting the all-too human head of the Rezishust.

“What is this?” Cassie said, staring at it’s split face.

“Something killed it last night,” Braid told them. “I bet it is what spooked our goblins.”

“It’s a forest spirit,” Anka told them. “A monster that guards the forest, and it preys upon lost travelers.”

“It’s dead now,” Dam said bluntly, kicking it with his foot.

“Well? Are we all ready?” Braid said, standing and turning back toward the cavern. He looked to everyone who each nodded in turn. Without a word, he strolled into the mouth of the cave, followed by Dam, Cassie, Anka, and Vak bringing up the rear.

There was no light inside the cave, but as soon as darkness fell around them, a brilliant light shone from Braid’s hammer. He looked back toward Cassie and mumbled a “thanks,” and she bowed her head slightly in response.

The caves were much more expansive than Vak had thought. The area just inside the entrance was vast, with two twisting paths along either wall. In the center of the room was a chasm that was deeper than what Vak could see in the dim lighting. Dam kicked a small stone down into its expanse. The sound of it rolling down the chasm walls slowly faded and Vak did not hear it strike the bottom.

Beside the cave entrance were some strange symbols and markings a few feet off the ground. Vak stooped to look down on them, but they were not in any language he’d ever seen.

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“Braid,” Vak called out. “Look at this.” He said, pointing to the symbols.

“Anka?” Braid asked.

“Let me check.” She said, walking over. “Hmm, it’s in the goblin tongue.”

“What does it say?” Vak asked her.

“Stay out. Turn around. Death this way. Your classic warning signs.” She said completely unimpressed.

“Alright, let’s not get distracted,” Braid told them, turning and leading the way.

They walked around the right-most ledge in a single file; slowly moving while trying to avoid looking down into the abyss. The shallow ledge combined with the large pack left Vak a bit off balance. If he wasn’t so sure-footed, he thought he would have seen just how deep the chasm was first hand.

The path led around in a sloping downward trajectory. As it curved with the opening, it drove Shattershade around, and eventually, they found a corridor leading away. Braid turned down the new path. The path opened into another room, this one smaller than the first. It was probably not much larger than the hall of the Flame’s Fondness.

To Vak's surprise, the room was well furnished. A large tapestry hung on the wall with a sinister-looking symbol. Vak could not read it, but he could tell just from its complexity that it was not the same as the goblin language he’d seen at the entrance. There were worn down candles in braziers lined around the room, and a large amount of dried blood stained the rug at the center. The place looked to be a sacrificial chamber of some kind.

“No goblin did this,” Anka said, walking over to the tapestry. “That is a demonic circle, used in some dark rite.”

“Careful!” Dam shouted, stopping her in her tracks, her foot in the air. He bounded over to her and carefully eased her foot away from where she was going to step. It took Vak a few moments, but he spotted the trip line soon after. Dam got down on all fours and slowly followed the line to where it fastened on the wall.

Vak couldn’t easily see what he was doing at the wall, but after a few moments, he let the wire fall to the ground. He turned back around and nodded to Anka that it was safe to approach. She walked over and ran her hand over the fabric.

“It’s warm,” she said, surprised.

“Why would the tapestry be warm?” Braid asked, concerned.

“The demonic magic in the circle is releasing heat, whatever this sigil does, it is still doing it.” She said perturbed. “I would like to take a few moments to try and safely seal its dark energies.”

“Fine,” Braid said going to the entrance of the room and looking around like he expected an attack at any moment.

Anka clutched her small spinning pennant and said a prayer at the foot of the symbol. She looked like she might be awhile. Vak inspected the room. Cassie sat on a small bench near the corner, and she beckoned for Vak to join her. Vak turned and walked over to Dam instead.

Dam was still on all fours in front of a large chest slowly inspecting it for traps. He ran his hand across it a few times before he shrugged his shoulders and moved around to the front. The chest had a keyhole, securing the lid in place. He took out a small set of metal picks and began to manipulate the lock with them slowly.

“I am sorry we got off on the wrong foot,” Vak said. Dam jerked his hand surprised, and the small metal pick snapped.

“Why in two of the hells did you do that for?” He demanded.

“I apologize. I did not mean to startle you.” Vak told him.

“I wasn’t ‘tartled.’ I knew perfectly well where my tart was, thank you. But now the pick is broke. Do you have any idea what treasures were inside?”

“No, what?”

“I don’t know! I’m out here, aren’t I?”

“Of course, I am sorry.”

“And another thing.” Dam said, standing up to face Vak. “Stop ‘pologizin.’ It’s assaulting!”

“Do you mean insulting?”

“That’s it!” he said, kicking the chest. To both their surprise, a small sound clicked from inside the chest, and the lid sprang open. Vak saw the dart shoot out and he moved on instinct. He leapt in front of Dam as it sunk into Vak’s shin. He looked down at the needle and slowly removed it.

A rather poor trap.

“Get off of me.” Dam said, ducking under Vak’s reach. He walked over to the chest, and his eyes went wide. Vak joined him. It was full of expensive-looking junk: golden candlesticks, gems, and coins. It was a treasure trove. “Gods above.” Dam swore. “There has to be a thousand gold worth in there.

Vak’s head reeled at the number. “I’ve never seen such a large bounty.” He said transfixed.

“This ain’t urs.” Dam said, standing up suddenly.

“Of course, I did not mean to imply otherwise. It is just impressive.”

“Okay, then.” Dam said, letting his guard down. Then he turned to start counting out the treasure.

“You do not trust me, do you?” Vak said, breaking the silence.

“Nope.” Dam said without further explanation.

After an awkward pause, Vak pushed. “Why?”

“Ain’t your fault. My father beat it into me, literally.”

“That is horrible.”

“Yeah, bastard.” Dam said, punching the chest. “He had all sorts of unreasonable expectations, and when I didn’t meet them, well…” he struck the treasure chest again as a way of finishing the sentence.

“What did you do?”

“I left, what do you expect? He was big on law and rules, and so I struck out and broke every one I could. Fell in with a bad crowd, did some unseemly things. Eventually, I got caught. That’s when I met the three of them.” He said glancing over to the rest of Shattershade.

“They stuck their neck out for me. Saved my maramph mmrrrsas…”

Vak shook his head. Dam was still talking, but suddenly his voice got really far-away sounding. The words were unclear, and Vak’s head felt like it was swimming. He looked over to the dart lying on the ground.

“Plarck,” he said. His words came out slowly and entirely wrong. He stumbled over and hit the ground. The light in the cave began to fade. The world felt like it floated away as Vak slowly fell into the darkness.