The tiny cooking fire he'd made to fry a bit of venison from his day's successful hunt cast dancing shadows over the grove. Though his head was tilted forward and his expression seemed to infer he was completely consumed with the task at hand, he never let his companions sitting across the fire from him out of his sight for long.

The half-elf wasn't particularly tall, but he was gaunt, with hollow cheeks and a pale complexion that gave him very nearly the visage of a ghoul. His blood-red robes – which the mutt was adamant were nothing but wine-colored – hung from bony shoulders and slender limbs that belied astonishing strength. A stiff wind could've knocked him down.

Just off to the side were a brother and sister, huddled together despite the warmth of the late summer night. They'd been like that every night of this expedition, though it had taken David some time to realize why: this was their first time out of the city, and the vast, powerful wilderness frightened them. In the day it wasn't so bad, but at night all their secret terrors rose to the forefront.

The sister – Genevieve – was a pretty, petite thing, smaller in build even than the half-elf. She wore a sensible royal blue dress and powder blue blouse that really weren't particularly sensible for traipsing about in the wild. After the first day of stumbling and complaining of dirt in her shoes, David made her wear a pair of Riko's sturdy boots, layered with extra socks to make them fit snugly. She'd grumbled about how they were aesthetically displeasing, but not very loudly nor for long.

For Riko's part, he hadn't complained, though he had directed a scornful look at the woman.

The brother – Eric Ramothos "the Third," as he had introduced himself at the time – was much better prepared, though only because he'd asked David what was required. Evidently, he hadn't communicated the same to his sister. He was only a little taller than the half-elf, but his muscle made him at least twice as heavy, if not more. Throughout the entire expedition he'd refused to remove his armor for anything other than bathing and sleeping, which – while wise for a dangerous area – made for a rather suspicious countenance.

The siblings shared the same features, though: dark blond hair, pale blue eyes, and square bone structures.

Sitting with his back to a tree, apparently dozing, was a human male a few years David's junior, perhaps no older than his mid-teens. Something crawled about underneath the lad's tunic, and a bat stuck her head out. She chirruped and crawled out enough to take flight, revealing a somewhat quilted appearance. Patches of fur looked like they'd been transplanted from different species, but the boy had laughed when David pointed it out. He claimed that the bat's coloration was a combination of mutation and his own personalization of the creature. It was much like the bird.

David spat into the fire, causing a hiss and a pop as his saliva instantly evaporated. His companion looked up at him in curiosity, though after a moment of his master not saying anything the wolf Dirian put his head back down and went back to paying attention to the borders of the camp. David's attention was drawn when the half-elf – Riko Knight – idly scratched at his familiar's head. A beautiful specimen of a red-tailed hawk, a normal animal of its kind would have started and flown off even despite the darkness.

"So when do you suppose the meat will be finished?" Riko asked, turning his nails to some of the hard-to-scratch places of his hawk.

"In a few minutes," David replied, using a flat wooden spoon to flip the meat over. It sizzled loudly for a few seconds before settling. He watched as Riko took up a small, covered bowl from the edge of the fire with slender hands unconcerned with the heat it had absorbed.

The half-elf placed the lid off to the side and began feeding his hawk chunks of bloody, warmed meat. His bird daintily took each piece and held it long enough for Riko to withdraw his fingers, then tossed its head back and swallowed the morsel. This process was repeated until the bird had cleaned out the dish and puffed out its feathers, and by then the venison was finished.

Early in this journey David had learned that Riko had a small appetite, so rather than waste good meat preparing equal portions, he simply cooked a larger chunk for himself and divided it as necessary. Though Riko had said nothing about the change in menu, the druid assumed the half-elf was thankful…or at least not opposed to the change.

"How much longer will it take you to lead us to the site?"

"We can be there early tomorrow morning," David answered. "We would have been there this afternoon had you not insisted on stopping every time you thought you saw an ancient monument."

"The majority of trees in this forest bear a striking resemblance to stone pillars carved with runes of an arcane civilization from long ago. I cannot help that."

"No, but one would think you would have realized stone pillars do not sprout branches nor roots, and regardless of how long the forces of nature have had to bear arms against such man-made-" David paused a moment before actually saying "atrocities," and changed his choice of words. "-artifacts, nature could not have turned stone to trees."

Riko was taken aback momentarily, and silence reigned save for a muted "Thank you" when David handed him a small chunk of meat and some raw roots and vegetables lumped together on a plate. The siblings thanked him as well, though Genevieve stared at her meal a moment before starting on it.

There was a minimum of seasoning – mostly herbs gathered throughout the day – but through careful questioning David had learned the blonde woman greatly preferred strongly spiced foods.

Sometimes, the druid thought idly as he disguised his interest in his companion's "cloak" behind a mask of introspective chewing. SometimesIwonderifRikowon'tturntodustoneofthesedays.Heeatsanddrinkssolittle.Whatanoddclasp The device in question was formed like the thumb-talons of a bat's wings hooked about each other. It was incredibly detailed work, drawing to mind the thought that it might even be organic in nature. PerhapsI'llinquireastothecraftsmanbehindthatcloakworksuchasrecallslifewouldcertainlybepleasantto-

His thoughts were interrupted by a distant rumbling from the mountains.

The boy – Trey Hillson – started to full wakefulness, and the Ramothos siblings were upon their feet in an instant.

Up high a brilliant light suddenly began to shine, rotating across the spectrum of colors and back. Its sudden appearance silenced the creatures of the forest that had still been awake or were just awakening to their nocturnal activities. David stood up straight, not quite aware of when he'd taken up his scimitar. For a long minute he squinted at the mountains, his weapon held in a white-knuckled grip.

When at last the light faded, David turned to the fire and made a few quick gestures accompanied by hastily barked words in the druidic tongue. A small volume of water appeared above the campfire and splashed down on it, sending steam billowing upward but extinguishing the already diminished flames. Kicking dirt over what remained of the fire, David glared in the half-elf's direction.

"That flash came from the ruins you purchased my services as a guide for. I thought you'd want to inspect it with plenty of daylight, but it would seem something else is going on."

"It would be best to leave now, I agree," Riko nodded, standing up slowly. His hawk had hopped up to his shoulder a moment previous, and David winced inwardly as its talons dug into the half-elf's shoulder, though Riko didn't react. "Should someone else be there, I would not like for them – in their ignorance – to destroy any of the knowledge those ruins may contain."

With Selune hanging full-bellied in the sky, the night may as well have been dawn or dusk. Her cool light illuminated the border of the forest they'd made camp in, and made it relatively easy for David to find a goat trail up into the rocks. Riko kept close behind, his elven blood contributing to his ability to see the rocks. Trey followed on the half-elf's heels, his natural ungainliness very evident…though it seemed as though he threw himself up the mountain farther than he slid back.

Genevieve and Eric, however, seemed to be unaccustomed to climbing mountains at night. Several times David found himself having to backtrack to assist them, which didn't help his temper much.

Less than an hour later they found themselves standing at the entrance to an old, decrepit stone building. It seemed as though part of the mountain had fallen on it, so David couldn't really guess how much of the structure might remain intact. He glanced over at Riko, who pursed his lips and withdrew a copper coin from his purse. The half-elf whispered a few words over it and the piece of metal immediately began glowing brightly and steadily.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Genevieve demanded loudly, a hand on her brother's arm for support as she caught her breath.

"The duration is limited," Riko answered with surprising calmness, and in a much quieter voice. "And I do not possess so much magical energy that I can squander it needlessly. Please, try to keep your voice low. It would not help in the least if your shouting were to bring hordes of who-knows-what down upon us."

The blonde woman looked like she was about to berate him, but took a deep breath and let it out slowly instead. After several of these exercises she said in a calm, quiet voice, "You're right. I really should know better. I'm just frustrated after all those rocks."

"Understandable," Riko murmured, drawing from beneath his cloak a wicked-looking whip with twisted pieces of sharp metal woven into it. "You're inexperienced. You'll learn the more time you spend out here."

David raised an eyebrow at Riko as though to ask if he were ready, and the half-elf nodded. The druid held out his hand for the coin. Dirian maintained his rearguard position as David took the lead, finding a decision almost immediately upon entry to the building: after a fifteen foot entrance hall it opened into a room half twice as long as it was across, and there they found a narrow corridor to the immediate left and a partially collapsed corridor leading into the far room directly ahead. There were no footprints leading down the left-hand hall beyond that of small rodents, but David chose to check it despite the humanoid footprints leading from the entrance to the far hall.

It took a less than a minute to get to the end and back, but they encountered only locked doors and a completely collapsed hall. Part of the rockslide had collapsed into half of a room…less a room than a closet, really, but there were only a few antiquated vases lying shattered around the room and regular geometric patterns of raised horizontal lines.

They were returning down the hall when a chance meeting occurred. As David took his first step into the room from the hall, two strangers appeared from the collapsed hall to his left, which was the unexplored egress to and from which the footprints led. Both were human and…unusual. The brown-haired one in the lead wore a dark, high-collared coat just shy of floor-length that fastened tightly about his chest and abdomen, but hung loose and moved freely – like opaque gauze – from his waist down. His pants seemed to be of the same material as the coat, but David couldn't be entirely certain because they were hidden by the coat's lower part drifting forward. Four buttons on his chest of differing materials and design seemed intended to convey information of some form, but none of them were recognizable for either nation or religion.

By contrast, the red-headed man a step back and to the side of the long-coated one wore a shirt of fine chain mail and pants the color of wet sand. The undershirt he wore beneath the chain and the trousers appeared to be similar materials as the brunet's coat. His only evident concession to decoration was a necklace bearing a disc, but the stylized device it bore was as alien as the other stranger's buttons. Perhaps badges?

They were one part of the meeting, David's group was another, and the third component came from the goblins momentarily frozen in shock at the entrance. It didn't last long, and the goblins began streaming in with their weapons at the ready and their ugly voices crying bloody murder.

The red-head was the first to react, drawing a blade from behind his back and stepping in front of his companion. Something was wrong with the weapon, though…it possessed a faint luminescent quality, and seemed translucent.

Cursing at the ludicrous nature of the situation David rushed in to battle the pesky little critters with a barked order to attack them directed at Dirian. The half-elf was shouldered to the side as the large wolf joined the fray, and the goblins cried out at the sight of the animal taking the first kill.

Riko snapped a single word in some arcane language that rang with power as it sent a goblin in the back to its knees, clutching its head and screeching its pain for all the world to hear.

The goblins decided that the two strangers who'd done nothing as yet were the easiest, though David quickly learned that was quite untrue. As the first goblin got in range to strike the brunet with its pitted sword, the human narrowed his eyes, which flashed with released power and an almost palpable wave of something burst away from him. The four closest goblins fell to the ground, cowering before him and clutching their bodies as though mortally wounded, though David couldn't see any such injuries. All the other little humanoids stared at him hesitantly. Even Dirian stopped.

The brunet glanced at his companion, and the redhead moved swiftly to disarm the cowering goblins. Another look once the subservient possessed their swords made him stand up straight and clear his throat.

"My lord wishes it known that he advises against conflict. This structure is not stable, and so any conflict may result in all of us paying a heavy price for a few moments of hot blood."

David and his companions looked at one another, before cautiously pulling back their weapons. The goblins did the same, pulling back into a group, dragging the fallen bodies of their comrades with them.

The brunet stepped forward quickly and laid a hand on the one Dirian had attacked. Brilliant blue-white light flared from its injuries, signatory of healing magic.

Hemustbepowerfultonolongerrequirewordsorgesturesforhisspells, David thought to himself, his eyes narrowed at the brunet. Ifhe'sanyolderthanI,I'llgnawonbarkforaweek,though.

The human reached for the goblin that had succumbed to Riko's word of power, but after checking for a pulse he shook his head sorrowfully. As he stood up David caught a glimpse of something glistening beneath his hair, grown shoulder-length and swept back. He backed away swiftly, watching the goblins carefully while his companion watched David's group. His expression was one of curiosity, as though he'd never seen goblins before.

After a few moments of silence one of the goblins stepped forward.

"You okay," the beast declared at last. "You save Blackthumb tribe with words."

"My lord gives thanks for your kind words," the redhead stated calmly. "We wish no conflict with you or your people. We thank you for your willingness toward peaceful relations." After the goblin stared at him in confusion, the armored man amended his words. "Your desire to be nice, I mean. My lord sometimes uses words too fancy for others who haven't spent such a large amount of time in school as he has." The redhead gave the brunet man a quick, amused glance, but dropped his gaze quickly.

Whoarethesepeople? David frowned, easing his scimitar into its sheath. Whatbetterwaytofindoutthantoask?"Who are you?"

"Alex Moreydor," the redhead answered, eyeing David. "Your name is…?"

"David Vixni," the druid replied. "Your friend – your 'lord' – his name is what?"

"Liam Faren, of House Daerlin." This time it was the brunet who had answered. The accent Alex possessed was far thicker in his voice, and his words were much more hesitant. It was almost as though he gave each one a moment of consideration before uttering it. "I am unfamiliar with this mode of communication. Forgiveness is requested forward of time in due case that I may offend."

"He apologizes in advance if anything he says is offensive," Alex translated at the first sign of puzzled expressions. Liam turned to the lead goblin, who'd been getting a little agitated at supposedly being ignored.

"What is your name being that I may request?"

"Ficktar Blackthumb. This my tribe!" The goblin leader declared proudly, gesturing at his party. David permitted a sigh.

"Surely not all or the reproduction of which is in future to be stunted." David's eyes widened at the audacity of the newcomer, aforementioned apology or not. Such concepts were not to be inferred. "Therefore it is a correction that this perhaps is the scout aspect of your tribe, and females and offspring are elsewhere. I do not wish to know where, for in knowing you are separate I determine that it is a secret you do not wish to share for chance I may be dishonest."

"He means that he knows this isn't your entire tribe," Alex interjected before the goblin could get any more confused. "And he doesn't want to know where the rest is, because he knows that you would not trust the reasons he gives."

"So you are a peacemaker, then?" Genevieve asked, stepping forward. She had removed from beneath her blouse a necklace upon which hung the symbol of Lathander: a sun breaking over the horizon. She toyed with it idly, as though it were of no consequence. Evidently she'd arrived at the same conclusion David was just coming to.

These people were not from the area…or if they were, they were even more cloistered than the Ramothos siblings had been.

"In the perspective of mine is peace much better than conflict," Liam paused for a moment. "Is this linguistic example proper or overmuch filled with extraneous data?" The redhead looked at his lord for a brief moment, after which Liam nodded. "I will try." He looked at Genevieve. "I prefer peace. It is the least waste of resources." The brunet's eyes flicked to Eric and Riko. "I have not heard your names as yet. May I hear them?"

"I am Riko Knight, of the House of Knight," the half-elf bowed with a flourish. "Something of an irony, considering my arcane talents."

"I am Eric Ramothos the Third," the blond man declared, inclining his head ever so slightly. "This is my sister, Genevieve." He placed a hand on the petite woman's shoulder. She gave him a withering look, and Eric flinched back.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," the blonde woman stated diplomatically, curtsying slightly. Liam bowed in return, then turned his attention back to Ficktar.

"Would you mind if we explored a bit?" He asked, polite as anything. He still spoke as though each word was a separate paragraph unto itself, though. The goblin leader rolled the idea around in his head – to David's eyes, seeming at times to literally be trying to watch it – before finally answering.

"Fine. But you no take nothin' that be ours."

"I assure you," Alex said smoothly. "We will take nothing that is yours."

"Good enough." Ficktar spat out a couple phrases in the goblin language, and one of his stronger-seeming warriors stepped up. "Riglath volunteer to watch you. He ugliest goblin today."

"I would like to accompany you," Riko stepped up to Liam, though Alex moved quickly to stand between them. The half-elf noted this and dismissed the action, but did take a half-step back. "I was on my way here to study these ruins. There is much lore that could be recovered."

"Or it may be rumor." Liam allowed his lips to curve into a smile before smoothing his face back into what David was quickly coming to realize was a carefully composed mask. "I would be interested in learning the source of this theory." The three humanoids and the goblin walked off down the dead-end corridor, stopping at the first locked door they'd originally come across.

David and Ficktar watched each other carefully as they listened to the exchange. They recognized each other quite well, having consistent contact uncommon between humans and goblins. What relationship there was tended to be expressed in pranks, such as the goblins would tie each bone of a recent kill to a different tree, and in return David would tie the same bones to the goblins while they slept. Occasionally, David felt they were closer to being true friends than actual enemies, though it was hard to tell with Ficktar.

"I have it on very good authority that the last person to explore these ruins returned a gibbering madman, babbling about a code he couldn't decipher."

"That's not surprising," Alex commented. "The script was probably trapped, though it was likely so old that it failed after it was sprung the one time."

"Supposedly there have been others, but they are lost to the mists of time."

"Poor records reveal a willingness to let pass that which is unattractive to recollection," Liam murmured. "This was a storage facility. The door is non-responsive. It will not open without severe damage to its structure, which I do not recommend, given the poor integrity of the building's structure. It is a surprise it has held up this long."

"He's certainly a quick study," Genevieve whispered in a voice almost bereft of sound. "I suppose we're doing nothing until they return?"

"I imagine so," David commented. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to see for myself how badly the building is damaged." He left the building at a brisk walk without waiting for either sibling's answer, though he did leave them the lit coin. Trey took it, and began to circle around the room.

As he'd known, Ficktar waited outside, having taken a rear entrance.

"You're being particularly sneaky today," David stated, leaning against the wall. "You're also much farther north than you're supposed to be. Are you up to something I should be aware of?"

"We are having issues," Ficktar replied, his formerly idiotic manner of speaking giving way to one significantly more educated. He stood up straighter and settled a pair of spectacles on his face, sighing with relief when he could see David clearly. "We've been pushed north by human and half-orc bandits. The irony of this is not lost on me, nor even on some of my constituents, though I believe they think the exact term has to do with metal."

"It's not hard to see why. Your kind is not generally given the opportunity to focus their attention on their mental faculties. What are you asking me to do about the bandits?"

"I would appreciate you putting the fear of Silvanus into them, but barring that I would rather see them all dead, their leader especially."

"Oh? Did you happen to catch his name in all the fleeing?"

"Torrus, though he also answers to Kiren." Ficktar stopped, eyeing David's stiffened expression. "You know him, then?"

"We've met. I'd have thought the last warning I'd given him would have sufficed."

"The ear?"

"The ear." David confirmed. "I caught him poaching. I don't mind wise hunting, as your tribe engages in. What becomes distasteful is the wholesale slaughter of animals for a single component of their bodies." He grinned savagely as he recalled the encounter. "I told him that if he came into my territory again causing trouble, there would be hell to pay. Do you know where he was last holed up?"

"Our caves, and it looked like he was settling last I saw."

"How long ago would you put it at?"

"Three weeks, or however it is you humans measure twenty-one days."

"Two tendays and one," David replied absently, staring to the south. There wasn't much to see, being as his view was blocked with a mountain, but that didn't stop his memory from detailing the landscape. "What do you want as proof of his death? Literally, his head?"

"That'll do. As payment you may keep whatever you find amongst them. I don't particularly care for anything they've had their hands on, but it will bring me great satisfaction to mount his head on my wall that I may see it every time I wake."

"I don't recommend it. The thing would rot and the stench would be worse than anything you could concoct on your own."

"True, but permit me a few moments of gleeful exaggeration, would you?" Ficktar scowled. "He took my wife. I would avenge her myself but I must keep the good of the tribe ever at the forefront of my mind."

"A week there, a week back, and a few days in between," David estimated, using the goblin's terminology. "Would that suffice?"

"For speed of service? You could take a month if you wished. I want his head before the season is out, otherwise I may need to make funeral arrangements."

"I'm a druid, Ficktar. We don't do funerals."

"Yes, yes, then at the least we can bring you back here where you can rot in peace. I'll take my people and go now. Tell them they can have the ruins and all the associated dust. Be careful of that Liam person. His magic is of the mind, and as such he requires neither motion nor words, so be very wary of dealing with him. He may manipulate you and you'd never know. Good day, David."

"Night, Ficktar. The sun has set several hours hence." The goblin leader didn't answer, merely stepping back into the shadows and whatever hidden door he'd used to exit the building in the first place. David waited a few moments to be safe, then spoke in a moderately louder voice than the one he'd used to converse with Ficktar. "Genevieve, you step lightly for a woman of limited experience."

"All novices learned to move quietly when committing their pranks. Lathanderian priests possess a sense of humor, but they are swift to punish when things begin to get out of hand." The small woman stepped around the corner, continuing to toy with her sunrise symbol. "I won't insult your intelligence or mine by wondering aloud how you managed to detect me, and will instead simply decline to wear perfume in the future." She planted her hands on her hips and glared at David. "I was under the impression that you were our guide."

"Riko paid me to guide you here and back, and that is what I will do."

"Then I will alter the terms of that agreement. As soon as he's finished here you're going to guide us to these caves. You will not take on those interlopers alone. Goblins or no, what these bandits have done is despicable."

"What makes you so certain that Riko and Eric are going to agree to this?" David paused a moment. "And what evidence is there to support your assumption that Riko's going to be done in so short a time?"

"Eric goes where I go, and you can just leave the half-elf to me." Genevieve turned and began to walk off. "That Liam character is translating the symbols and Riko's writing it down in a hodgepodge of perhaps a dozen different languages. He claims that the script is called 'Qualith,' and says it's the written form of illithid communication."

A shiver ran up David's spine as the woman turned and left, making no effort to be silent.

Just who are these people?