“And you’re sure the Prince is in there? This tunnel looks all dark and empty,” Ervir said from behind after Scarface had led them into a tunnel.

During the night, the wind carried snow clouds away, leaving the clear sky with countless stars and twin moons. Scarface used their light to find a big boulder on the Eastern mountainside, inside the pine tree forest.

Behind the bolder was a big pine branch Scarface had moved out of the way, revealing a dark hole going into the mountain.

They had ducked their heads and crawled inside it, but suddenly the hole became bigger and wider, turning into a tunnel big enough for two people to walk abreast with their heads held high.

“Are you sure-”

“Quiet,” Scarface whispered out. “The sounds travel far through these tunnels. And if they hear us, thirty of them will charge down upon us. And I don’t plan to fight thirty of the soldiers in these tunnels, do you? Even if we get the upper hand on them, and the Prince sees that they will lose, he’ll just run out on the other end.”

“So, there is another end?”

“Of course there is.”

“Should we not have split our forces then.”

“No. There is not enough of us. We have so little time and so much work to do. It will be light soon, and we have to be ready if they decide to run by then. So, be quiet, and do as I say.”

“Are you sure we can trust this man?” one of the assassins asked Ervir.

“Be quiet and bring more wood,” Scarface said. “We need all you can find. It has to be a lot for this to work.”

“So, what is the idea here then, Scarface?”

“Shhh! No more talk. Just carry the wood, branches, and leaves. They smoke so well. All we can get. Pile it up to the top, ten, twenty steps inside. So they can’t go out this way. I’ve already checked, and you can too. The draft is coming from the entrance toward the inside of the caves. It will carry all the smoke to them. We light up the fire here, and if the smoke does not kill them first in their sleep, they’ll run out on the other end. They’ll be all groggy and dazed, easy to kill then. They’ll probably panic and run out one by one. Easy pickings. Eleven of us can kill them all then. Doesn’t matter if there are thirty or three hundred of them. Because I don’t plan to leave any witnesses. Do you?”

“Smart, that’s pretty smart,” Ervir said, nodding his head.

“That’s why I said you’d never find them. They masked their trails in the snow, you’d never find them inside the caves. And even if you did, what chances would you have against thirty of them? No. This is the best way. The only way. Or stay outside the caves and freeze your ass for days on end till they decide to leave.”

“But this wood… a lot of it is wet, frozen. It will not burn so good.”

“Don’t you worry about that. That’s why I have a goatskin bag full of oil. That will light the wood really well.”

“What did I tell you, boys? Listen and learn, from the best. There is no better assassin than Scarface. Everyone knows that,” Ervir said with a sudden smirk on his face and padded Scarface on the back.

“Shhh! No more talk. Just bring in all the wood. Further inside. I’ll go and get the oil bag.”

Scarface made them carry in broken branches and leaves, even rotting wood trunks till the pile of the wood was not reaching the top of the tunnel.

He let them pile it up till the darkness outside started to dissipate and the light from the East lighted the clear sky over snowy mountain tops.

So, just as dawn arrived, he turned to one of the assassins and said, “Now bring in all your blankets. Don’t look at me like that! They’re dry, soaked with oil, they will light up like a bail of hay. The fire has to be dramatic. A little one won’t do us any good, you fools. So, all the blankets here. Besides you won’t need them any more. We finish this here and now, and tonight, you sleep in Twin Oaks, in some nice tavern with ale in your belly and gold coins in your pocket. Come on, all the dry blankets here.”

Ervir saw the wisdom in his words and soon, Scarface soaked all the blankets in oil and pushed them with a stick inside and underneath the wooden pile they created.

“Now when I light up, we have to run to the main cave opening, you understand?”

“And where is that?”

“It’s on the other side, out of the forest, up the clearance, on top of the hill, to the right of us. We have but minutes to get there, so, you all ride fast. Do you understand?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ervir nodded his head, and Scarface moved toward the cave entrance, making sure they were all out before he lit up the torch and carefully threw it into the wooden pile, watching how the oil burst into the flames almost instantly before leaving the cave behind.

By the time he got out of the cave, all of them had already saddled up on their horses.

“Take his horse with us,” Ervin suddenly said to an assassin who held the reins of Scarface’s horse. “I don’t need you no more, Scarface. Killing some brat of a prince I can on my own.”

“You dick!” Scarface barked at him.

Ervir chuckled seeing him so upset. “That’s for slapping me. So, have a nice walk back to town. If you ever make it, with no oil, horse, or a blanket to keep you warm” Ervir laughed as he spoke.

“I will freeze!” Scarface said.

“Maybe if you feel cold, you can slap yourself a few times, I know that will get your blood flowing really good again,” Ervir said as he continued to laugh.

“And I made him think he was smart,” Scarface heard Ervir say to the closest assassin as they turned their horses and started to nudge them to the right. “Did you see how I handled him?”

“Yes, boss. That’s why you’re the best.”

Scarface watched them ride out of the forest toward the clearance, riding out of the snow and into the stony ground as they probably thought that way they could make a better speed.

“Yeah, you’re really smart Ervir. Bravo. If the dungeon does not kill you, I’ll wait for you outside,” Scarface said and then he started to run through the forest toward the other side of the mountain, picking the dear trail that ran through, free of deep snow that would slow him down.

El made it out of the tree lines while it was still dark outside, making one small step at a time. Squeezing the snow in front of him, he started to make his way toward the dungeon entrance.

“Walk behind me,” he told Alice who, seeing him walk so slowly, had decided to move to his side. “Let’s see if we can make a little trail. This snow is knee-deep in places.”

Slouching over, suddenly looking ten years older, fragile, and weak, leaning on his long staff, he made it to the line that was free of snow, stood there, and then lifted his head up to stare at the cave opening, hundreds of yards up.

“Oh, dungeon, the most powerful of them all, I came here to pray to you!” he said loud enough to be heard.

“Came here to beg you!” he said, his voice raising even more. “Would you not have a word with a feeble old man?”

“Come closer and we’ll talk,” a distant voice came from the cave.

“I’d love to. But… you seem hungry. And old bones of mine might cause you nothing more than indigestion.” El answered.

The dungeon laughed. “You worry about my indigestion? Did you not see how I consumed everything in my possession? Not a leave is out unconsumed. Not a bird dropping on my stones!”

“Yes… it seems you’re very powerful. Very powerful indeed. It was crazy of us to try and fight you. What can an old man like myself who lost everything, his family, his home… all gone, what can I do but beg for mercy? What can I do but beg of someone so powerful as you, to hear me out?”

“So, then, old man, beg! What do you want?”

“You captured two little children from the village below. If you have not killed them, we’d like to make a trade for their lives.”

“Huh. They are good little screamers. Their cries and sobbing feed me with so much energy. I am not ready to let them go.”

“Can we not agree on a trade? We can give you a hundred sheep for each of them.”

“What would I do with the sheep? I’d slaughter them and their energy would be absorbed and then what…? But the suffering of children? It’s so much more potent.”

“But hundreds of sheep can feed your goblin army for a long time. And they can produce wool and milk and…”

“I do not need any of that. And I rather my goblin army feed on human flesh. But I tell you, there is one thing I would not mind having.”

“What is that?”

“I hear there is a Paladin among you. I would not mind trading his life for that of those children.”

“Easy, El,” Alice said, feeling El twitch and tense up.

“Show me the children. Let me see them, and then maybe I’ll show you a Paladin.”

“Fine. I’ll show you the children. And then, you’ll show me your Paladin.”

A moment later, two large figures, fully covered in dark mail came out of the cave carrying torches, each with their free hand holding a child by their shoulder.

El felt the strongest urge overcome all his senses, the urge to take off his robe, pull out his sword light it up, and rush up to show the dungeon what he thought about it. He probably would have done just that, but the voice of Tarra’s words from last night still rang inside his head, numbing him, and he took a second to gasp for air.

Seeing his struggle, Alice put a hand on his back and said, “Relax, we’ve got this.”

“And what is it that I see? You are here talking to me while your servants are lighting up tunnels to my dungeon? Where is that smoke coming from?? You can’t kill me like that, you stupid old fool?! And who is that I see racing on horses toward me??”

The night was not so dark anymore, and El could see better now.

Beyond the slope, he saw the plume of smoke rising in the distance, and on the slope to his right, there were dark figures of riders racing up.

“You will not trick me!” the dungeon roared at him. “You will suffer now! There, there goes your fire, you fool!!!”

El and Alice looked toward the smoke and suddenly a geyser of water shot out of the mountain there, rising high up and overcoming all the smoke.

“It flooded that tunnel,” El muttered.

“If we were there, we would have not survived that” Alice whispered back.

The next second, El heard a whooshing sound flying high over his head and a second later, he saw two long shafts nailing two dungeon guards right through their helmets, sending them down into the cave.

“Children run!!!” Tarra yelled from behind. “Down, run down!! Now!!” she urged them and they ran toward them, free from their captors.

The dungeon's grotesque laughter suddenly came to a stop.

As the children ran down the hill, its voice came as a roar, full of anger. “You testing me?! You want to kill my guards?!? You want to play a trick on me?!?”

El and Alice stepped toward the dungeon soil, but suddenly they stopped as they felt Tarra’s hand squeezing their shoulders, pulling them back.

“Now you will feel my wrath!!!” the dungeon voice returned louder than ever, with the whole mountain suddenly starting to tremble.