“Don’t you think we’ve put enough distance between ourselves and the thieves?” asked Marina, looking over her shoulder and down the slope.

“No,” said Friedrich, as the pair marched up the mountain path. “There’s no reason to think that Muriance and his lackeys don’t have horses.”

“Then they would have caught us already! If you’re that worried, we should ignore the Crypt of Balzak—”

“Belziah.”

“—and find somewhere else to hunt for treasure. Somewhere they couldn’t possibly find us.”

“We don’t have any other leads right now,” said Friedrich, touching the mask which now rested under his tunic.

“Can’t we stop at another town and find a lead? You’ve hidden the mask now, so no one there will know you’ve got it.”

Friedrich had secured the mask with a thin rope that hung around his neck. Anyone who looked too closely would have seen the glowing aura, but it was subtle enough for the time being. He couldn’t let it fall into someone else’s hands. He knew now that it was valuable, but its greatest value had yet to be tested.

“That seems like a waste of time when we know somewhere that already has kupons ripe for the picking.”

Marina cocked her head to the side. “We know somewhere that you’ve heard has kupons for the picking,” she said. “I’m just fearful that greed will be the end of us.”

“What do you think a treasure hunter does for a living?”

Marina didn’t answer, but continued to follow Friedrich quietly. He had been in a foul mood ever since he had almost lost his mask two days ago. He hadn’t appeared all that attached to it before, but now he couldn’t go two minutes without checking he still had it tied around his neck and it was staring to concern Marina.

It had been a long and arduous trek through yet more dense woodland and up the mountain where they would eventually find the crypt they sought. At the very least, it was a clear and sunny day, something Marina had missed over the dreary and misty past week.

“I don’t like this,” said Friedrich, looking to the sky. “It’s too bright…our enemies could get the jump on us.”

“Will you cheer up?” groaned Marina. “You have your mask, we’re going to the crypt and we haven’t been mugged on the road. Everything is going your way and you’re still miserable.”

Friedrich stopped dead and turned to her as Marina braced herself for an argument. “I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re…what?” she asked, caught off guard.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be so down. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy being around me the last couple of days.”

“Oh,” said Marina, still taken aback. She brushed her hair over her ear and smiled at him. “It’s fine,” she said. “I’m worried about you, that’s all. Nothing is worth you getting yourself hurt.”

Friedrich smiled back and nodded. “It’s nice to have someone looking out for me,” he said. “I’m not used to it. Everything I do, I tend to do alone so…well, I’m not sure what else to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything else,” said Marina. “I’m watching your back and you’re watching mine. As long as we both know that, then everything is going to be just fine.”

The two started walking again, only stopping every so often for Friedrich to check the map he had picked up in Eagle’s Crest. The loose clusters of trees along the path thinned as the two Mercians passed through tunnels and caves. Only the most stubborn of bushes remained, determined to add some greenery to the grey and brown of the stone.

After a while, Friedrich stopped at a fork in the path. He looked left and right, trying to work out the way ahead. He examined the map again, his brow furrowed.

“It’s this way,” he said, nodding to the left while sounding uncertain.

“Are you sure?” asked Marina.

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“No,” he replied, looking back down at the map, “but some of the landmarks don’t match up. Left is my best guess.”

“Should we stop somewhere and see if we can work it out together?”

“Do you have any experience reading maps?”

“Nope,” she said brightly, “but I’m sure I can work it out. Or better yet, you can teach me how to read one.”

Friedrich looked at her incredulously. “But I’m the one who got us lost.”

“Ah…yes, there is that,” admitted Marina, but she smiled again. “No matter, we’ll work something out. Let’s take some time and go over it properly.”

“Sure,” said Friedrich, looking around, “but we won’t stop out in the open. We’ll head into one of the caves.”

The two young treasure hunters turned around, walking back the way they came, seeking somewhere to rest until they could get their bearings. They found a cave they had glanced over on the way through and headed inside.

Marina placed her meagre belongings on the stone floor and moved some rocks together to make seats for the pair of them. Friedrich grabbed whatever dry sticks he could find along the almost barren path, giving him just enough to start a small fire.

Once the two had settled themselves into the surprisingly cozy cave—well away from the entrance to avoid being seen—Friedrich lit the fire using the sticks, a couple of dry leaves and the flint and steel he always carried with him. Marina sat close to the fire as Friedrich skewered some of the dried meat he had bought in town and heated it up over the fire.

“I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again,” said Marina, “this is much tastier than pheasant.”

“Are you not feeling nostalgic about the trip to Eagle’s Crest when we were filled with hopes and dreams? Back in the days before we were plagued by a gang of thieves?”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” laughed Marina, nudging Friedrich, who also laughed. “Muriance is a pest, but we dealt with him and his crew swiftly.”

“You did take out one of his men with a well-placed lightning bolt,” chuckled Friedrich. He was the cheeriest he had been in two days, which was most welcome. “I’m excited to see what we can find in the crypt.”

“You still haven’t told me what we’re looking for in the Crypt of Belbath—”

“Belziah.”

“—only that there’s treasure to find.”

“As far as I’ve been told, it was once the resting place of an old general and his soldiers, but it was then taken over by necromancers who raised the dead. The necromancers are supposedly long-dead, generations ago at least, and all that’s left there is the remnants of their magic.”

“And kupons?”

“Yes,” said Friedrich, “and plenty of kupons. That’s the best part about necromancers, isn’t it? Their work is cheap, so they save a lot of money.”

“Is that true or is that just one of your theories?” asked Marina, looking at the young man oddly.

“It’s a reasonable assumption, isn’t it?”

“Wait just a minute,” said Marina incredulously. “We’re going all the way to this crypt in search of treasure based on your assumption that necromancers are rich?”

Friedrich thought about how to answer diplomatically, but he drew a blank. “Yes,” he said, eventually.

Marina put two fingers to each of temples and started massaging them in circles. She said nothing while Friedrich sat there staring at her. He wanted to break the silence, but he thought it best to give her a moment to calm down or she might explode.

“All this time,” she said. “I keep thinking you’re much smarter than I am, but no. You’re stumbling through the darkness and getting lucky, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes I am,” chuckled Friedrich. “But if we hadn’t been forced to leave town, I would have done some more digging about the crypt. At the minute, I’m just playing the hand I’m dealt.”

Marina couldn’t believe her ears. “And if there’s nothing there, my idea to go to another town and find another lead will seem like it came from the mind of a genius.”

“My hunches always lead to great things,” said Friedrich, pulling the mask out from underneath his tunic. “I didn’t know this would be in the castle, yet here it is. I thought I would only find some kupons. Even without the mask, the kupons were my biggest haul to date.”

“Maybe we’ll find another mask in the crypt?” joked Marina.

“If we do, then I’ll be quite the force to be reckoned with.”

“Who says you get to keep this one?”

“Do you want one?”

“No!” squealed Marina abruptly. “I quite like being in my own body and being able to use my magic. Now that I know you’re possessing a corpse, I like the idea of trying out the mask even less.”

“I’m not possessing a corpse,” said Friedrich, thinking back to what Muriance had said. “If anything, I’m taking on a new body in the image of a dead creature whose soul is trapped in the mask.”

“Do you hear how that sounds?”

“Now that I’ve said it aloud, yes, I see your point. Even still, that doesn’t mean I’m possessing a corpse. It’s a facsimile.”

As Friedrich and Marina started eating, Friedrich took to re-examining the map. He tried to recall each of the major landmarks as they had worked their way up the mountain. He spotted the jagged rock that looked like a sword, he followed that along on the map with his finger to the circle of trees that were clustered oddly along the side of the road, he continued until—

“I know where I’ve made my mistake,” said Friedrich. “It was just before the trees started thinning. Do you see here?”

Friedrich pointed to a fork in the road and Marina nodded.

“I brought us along the left, when we should have gone hard right.”

“And where are we now? Can you remember the way back to that fork?”

“Of course! That shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

“Shouldn’t be?”

“Won’t be. That won’t be a problem at all.”

“I hope you’re right this time,” said Marina before perking up. “At least if you’re not, that’s more time going on a pleasant walk in the sun.”

“See? There’s always a bright side, isn’t there?”

“Yes,” giggled Marina.

Friedrich snuffed out the fire and the pair packed up what little they had, then headed back out onto the mountain path, more determined than ever to reach the Crypt of Belziah.