Kura tugged him off to the right, away from the unseen horror. She'd misjudged the path. There was a loop and they now had to go around it while being chased.

"Someone there?" shouted the distant Kobold.

They rounded the loop, caught sight of that pair of bruise-blue eyes in the dark, and detoured under a stone bridge. In the clinging, chilly fog where they crouched, Kura signed, "Guy you know?"

She must have some kind of enhanced sign-language power, thought Vonn.

That Kobold could be the prisoner Vonn was looking for, but the voice reminded him of the local Baron's man, a Necromancer. Vonn tried to convey, "Probably not."

Now, if they were lucky, the people here would pass them by. Vonn and Kura waited. Vonn imagined the mist was coiling around him to attack, but it scattered when he flicked his tail.

There was only the sound of the floor's wandering creatures now. Vonn kept their weapons charged. Kura used her mirror again, then beckoned to Vonn. They had to haul themselves up to the bridge's level. No threats in sight, but the Kobold kept wary. They made it to the stairs leading back to the first floor.

Sounds of struggle came from above. Vonn silently muttered something about "rush hour". So they were being followed from below and now a second group was coming in! He and Kura ducked to either side of the stairs, where shadows hid them. Before he was out of sight, Vonn glimpsed a man being forced into the dungeon by someone behind, while struggling with rope around his wrists. The captive had pointy ears. Elf. Not who he was looking for. Unless he was mistaken and it was a certain Human man. Vonn hated the fact that he was judging the value of this person's life by whether this was one of his group.

The secret world-travelers from Earth. The people who had the knowledge and perspective of being from a land completely outside of the System.

But, horribly, he knew he couldn't stop to interfere with the apparent sacrifice in progress. Several good arguments flooded his mind to support what he'd already decided, but he was still sick to his stomach. Mission first, he told himself.

The man came to the base of the steps, calling out for help and making Vonn wince. Behind him came a hooded Kobold, and a burly Human man with a sword. And shuffling along behind them were two leathery, shriveled husks that had been Human. A ripple in the air connected them to the hooded one like leashes.

Stolen novel; please report.

From behind, that first group had come up toward the stairs to greet them. "Good," said a dimly lit Kobold from that direction, waving to the newcomers. "Come. Careful now; the beasts are active tonight."

Vonn's claws dug into his palms as the parade passed by, deeper into the dungeon, toward the altar room. He had a shot at the backs of any of them. But his gun couldn't kill a man in one hit unless the System was feeling unusually biased. He let them pass. Finally Kura poked out from cover and led him on, her eyes narrow and her tail twitching. They headed up the stairs toward freedom.

Another damn skeleton got in their way. Kura leaned back and delivered another spring-loaded kangaroo kick that sent it flying, then ran along without trying to finish it off. Vonn agreed.

Then they were back outside to the warm summer night. Kura crouched, looked around, caught her breath, and swore. "Our only chance to stop the killing is to get back. Can't take those guys on."

Vonn nodded, panting. Green light tinged his vision, the System's way of noting low Fatigue. They started walking east while instinct told him to run like a man's life was on the line. Even with his slightly enchanted boots, meant to channel the amazing hiking powers of a Human, he couldn't run several miles right now. Kura was pacing herself too but struggling.

They paused for breath somewhere down in the grassland beyond the slopes of the mining area. Vonn panted and murmured, "I once saw a Kobold Necromancer here, Baron Kolm's man. It could have been either of those Kobolds just now. I don't think their prisoner there is the special target we talked about, but who?"

"There'd been talk of bandit attacks in Kolm's turf. People disappearing. And the miners had been shut out of certain areas, told not to stick their snouts in the Baron's personal business."

"Then I think it's not a crime for me to say, that Kolm's going to pay for this."

"If we get back."

"What was that symbol?" he asked.

She hissed.

"Something against the Dragons?" Her people officially followed the state religion of the Triad gods, but their real beliefs -- some of them -- were no secret.

"Yes."

They hiked faster now. They'd passed the airplane wreck without seeing it. Vonn had left a unique collection of machinery there. An engine, along with wings and struts and rods that he'd cobbled into a barely functional flying machine. There was no time for more salvage work. Somewhere ahead, they'd reach a magical ward stretching across a good part of the land border, and they'd set off an alarm. Couldn't be helped.

Wait... they'd drifted off course, and now crested a hill. Below, they made out a signal lantern on a pole. Vonn pointed it out, then took out his bright magicite shards and waved them overhead while approaching. His arms trembled. His friends were down there, mostly keeping hidden in the dark.

Kura told him, "The plan was for me to warn them and wait for them to prepare, before I crossed the alarm ward. I can't see the exact spot; can you?"

He kept waving, and the lantern bobbed in answer. "No. Let's go."

They ran now. He gradually saw a group by the signal light, with more people lurking in the distance.

He got ferociously hugged by his sister Tazo, who trembled in his arms. "By the gods, what happened?" Her golden eyes shined in the dark and all her rust-red fur stood on end.