“Sotorum Intorok!” The mage said and a wall of stone covered the doorway. Going to one knee, the young man caught his breath and stuck his hand out. “Hey, the name is Shenza din’Hooba, former court magician of the Kingdom of Rhukayeen, but all my friends call me Lefty.”

“Calista, delver extraordinaire.” She shook the hand. “Look, I just straight up saved your life so we’re not doing any fifty-fifty crap, okay? Eighty-twenty or I leave you behind the next door I find that has a lock on it.”

The mage named Lefty smiled. “Seventy-thirty and you got a deal.”

“Plus that ten percent you promised,” she added.

“Agreed,” said Lefty.

Calista frowned, thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. She had partnered with worse. At least he wasn’t trying to hit on her.

Lefty leaned toward her. “So … what’s a pretty little thing like you doing down in a place like this?”

Oh boy. She rolled her eyes at him. “This game isn’t exactly a dating app for me, okay?”

He held up his hands in apology. “Whoa, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t know you were actually a woman. I just make jokes like that to break the ice.”

She gave him a dark look.

“With guys,” he said. “I was assuming you were a guy.”

“You’re not helping yourself.”

“Okay, yeah …” the mage stammered, “… forget about it.”

She shook her head and then looked around the room. It had a high ceiling and walls that looked to have been carved straight out of the cave rock. At the center of the room was a dais decorated with the head of a red dragon. With the wall of stone directly behind them, there now remained three doors in the room. Calista turned to the one on her left.

“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?” Lefty asked.

She gave him a dry look. “I’m trying to figure out where we should go next. Is that alright with you?”

“I … I guess … I … ”

She pulled open the door. Inside was a gaping pit of darkness flanked by four altars with strange symbols. Not this again. Steam was rising from the pit and from deep in its depths she could hear the faint echo of infernal voices. She quietly shut the door.

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“Not that one, I think.” She said.

The next door was just an opening. Here the smooth, carved walls ended and the rough rock of the caves resumed. Calista took a half dozen steps down the corridor before she stopped and listened, allowing her passive [Perception] skill to work. After a moment, her H.U.D lit up with a [smell] notification. She skipped through its description and activated her [Knowledge: Monsters] skill. It was dragon smelt. She wondered now about the dragon she had seen.

“What’s that way look like?” Lefty asked.

“Dragon.”

“Yeah, how about we skip that one.”

“Let's.”

There was only one door remaining and it led to another long corridor lit with torches. Calista waved the mage through and then shut the door behind her.

“So, just out of curiosity, how long have you been down here?” asked Lefty.

“About an hour now,” she replied.

“And just what brought you down here?”

“Treasure.”

“Ah. Me too. I came with a party but the party wiped and I think they ditched me.”

She did her best to look sympathetic. “Sorry to hear that. Was it your guild?”

“Nah.” He waved his hand. “Just a bunch of randoms. I think they bit off more than they could chew. A few of them were pretty new.”

“I see. I can’t say that I’ve had that problem recently.”

Lefty nodded knowingly. “Well, that’s probably because, you know, you’re a girl and all.”

“Excuse me?” She gave him a look. “For your information, I happen to solo most dungeons.”

The mage gave her a weak smile. “Okay, sorry. I just say that because of how most guys are in this game. Most of them are pretty lonely, depressed, and aren’t exactly flush with female attention. So any time they get to talk to a girl, they kinda get weird, you know?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You mean like now?”

“Ah …” Lefty stammered, “ I-I’m just trying to make conversation.”

Calista continued to glare. “Well, maybe you should stop.”

Lefty shook his head. “Maybe I should.”

They had come to an intersection. A narrow hallway to their left and a wide one to their right. Calista checked her mini-map. She could see the right hallway connected to the room with the bottomless chasm, while the left hallway likely looped them back toward the bar where she had met the imp. She inspected the empty spaces as she considered which way was more likely to yield something useful. Unsure, she took a few steps to the left and glanced down the narrow hallway. It was empty but for a few unlit torches. She motioned Lefty to follow. However, as they neared the end of the corridor, they were met by a pair of familiar voices.

“Gronkdor up on the second level said they had already cleared every room. Twice. So if the intruder is still here, he’s somewhere here or down in the cellar.”

“If he’s gotten to the cellar I hope he’s not drinking too much of the wine.”

“Or stealing it.”

“True that.”

Right it is. With a quick gesture, she sent Lefty back in the other direction. They hurried now, walking at a quick pace to keep ahead of the trolls. Passing through the intersection, they continued straight on to the wide corridor where they found a doorway to their left, a door to their right, and a darkened opening straight on. Calista stepped first to the opening and found it led to a steep drop-off where down below she could hear rushing water. Not that way. At least not yet. Opening the door to her right, she was again confronted with a room with four altars and a bottomless pit. Nope. That leaves the left. She checked the door. It was unlocked.

The echo of voices came again from behind them.

“Shall we?” whispered Lefty.

It doesn’t look trapped. At least not from this side. With a shrug, Calista opened the door.