Nightfall was slowly stretching over the mountains and valleys across the land. For the young heroes, the night would be comforting. Night meant rest, night meant coolness, night meant no more sweating through the boiling day. Although nightfall was right around the corner, the sky was painted with dazzling pinks and vivid purples and stunning oranges off in the distance. On the horizon, Lindsay caught a glimpse of a strange golden hue radiating from a point just barely in her view.

"Torches?" She said.

"Where?" Ray asked.

"Over there." She pointed and the team looked.

"Must be another town." said Andrew.

"Medafead, judging by how far we've come." said Dylon.

"Medafead?" Ray exclaimed, remembering the paper had found. "Shouldn't we maybe... ya know... stay the night there?"

"Sounds good to me. I'm dying to get off my feet. Maybe I can charm the innkeeper into getting us free rooms." said Barbara with a wink.

"We'll let's go then. We don't have all night." Ray urged as he sped to the head of the pack while everyone shot him a quizzical look at his eagerness.

As time went on, the sky's pinks and purples and oranges faded into one enormous, black mass, blanketing the land. The team had gone a fair distance, but were still not very close to their destination. Lit only by a floating, luminous orb that Dylon had conjured up, they passed the time by telling stories of comical interactions between themselves and Boxton locals. They talked and laughed for so long that they weren't even focused on their destination anymore.

Soon, everything grew brighter. They had reached Medafead. The large wooden gates creaked as they were pushed open and the team shuffled through. Following a sign on the corner of one of the streets, the group made their way to the inn. On their way, everyone looked around them at the aging, wood buildings and the winding paths leading up the hill toward the more extravagant homes. They felt the rocky cobblestone beneath their feet and gave a few nods and waves to the few locals who were out at this hour. The orange light emanating from the abundant torches gave the whole town a warm and inviting atmosphere. At the end of their tour, they reached the inn. Kerry pushed in the door and everyone piled in.

Across the room stood a long bar made of fine mahogany, at which several scraggly, old men sat and drank. On the opposite side of the bar, stood a bald man with a thick, greying, black beard, wearing a collared shirt and an apron. When the group had walked in, he had been talking with one of the patrons sitting across from him, but when he looked and saw everyone at the door, he stopped and greeted them with a friendly hello.

Barbara stopped the group and meandered over to the bar, alone. She leaned up against it and began speaking with the bartender. The group couldn't hear her, but suddenly everyone but Lindsay felt a warm, calming sensation. It was warm, but they were freezing. They felt calm, but their hair stood on end. There was a feeling in the air that made them all light-headed, as if they could faint at any moment and no matter what hurt as they hit the floor, it would be okay. They became sleepier and sleepier and were at the tipping point of passing out when they were all snapped to alertness.

Barbara stood in front of them, "Ok, that's six free rooms. You're welcome." she said with a smile.

Everyone shuffled into their rooms, quickly. They were all dying to get some sleep. They disrobed and laid in their beds, falling out of consciousness almost immediately. In the dead of night, a noise stirred Kerry. In his groggy state, he peered through the door, which he had left ajar, and saw the bartender speaking with a cloaked figure. He handed the bartender a piece of paper, the bartender looked at it, handed it back to the hooded man and began speaking and pointing like he was giving directions. Kerry found it odd for people to be awake at this hour, but he needed his sleep, so he let his head flop back down and was back out in a moment.

The next morning rolled around and inside the bar was bustling with people. Kerry seemed to be the last one of his group to wake up. He stumbled out of his room to the sound of yelling.

"What do you mean, 'He's gone'?!" Michael was screaming at the bartender.

"I mean he got up in the middle of the night and left. He said he was gonna collect some bounty." The bartender handed Michael a copy of the poster Ray had found. "If you wanna go after him, he's headed off to Hellman's Dungeon. It's just outside of town and down the road a ways."

"Fine. Everyone, get your shit." Michael turned to Kerry's door. "Oh, Kerry, you're up. Good. Grab your shit, we gotta go find Ray."

The crew grabbed all their gear and set off out the door.

"Not bad for free." Dylon casually mentioned.

"I even managed to force the guy into making us pancakes. Chow down, motherfuckers." Barbara said, handing everyone three pancakes each.

They finished their pancakes as they walked toward the front gates of Medafead and began running to Hellman's Dungeon. They had broken through the gates, hooked right, and followed the stone walls of the town toward the dungeon.

Soon, they came across a structure in the middle of a brown field of dead wheat, laid flat against the earth. It was a large circle, six feet in diameter, and comprised of large stone bricks, standing three feet high.

"I guess this is it." Barbara commented.

Everyone gathered around the circle and looked in the center. The inside seemed to sink down forever, to the point that sunlight couldn't even reach the end. They noticed a rope hanging over the edge that was secured by a wooden stake in the dirt next to the hole.

"So who's going first?" Dylon asked.

"Thanks for volunteering, Dylon. In ya go!" Andrew replied.

"Fuck that! You go."

"You guys are pussies. I'll go first." Michael interrupted. "Dylon, gimme a light on my way down."

Dylon spawned another floating orb.

"I don't want anyone going till I'm down." Michael ordered, picking up the rope. "This rope doesn't look too sturdy, so be careful."

With that, he swung his legs over the edge and descended into the pit. As the team peered over the edge, Dylon's light became dimmer and dimmer till it was lost to the blackness. The group waited anxiously for several minutes till, at last, they heard a distant yell.

"Hey, we're good! Send the light back up!"

The light orb came whizzing up from the abyss and lingered above the pit. Lindsay, then, grabbed the rope and began her climb down into the darkness as well. Other way down, Andrew commented, "You better not be banging when I get down there."

Several minutes passed, the light shot up again, and the next person rappelled down. Once everyone had reached the frigid, dark bottom, they set off through a wooden door to the right. Michael pushed on the door, but it seemed to be blocked. He then, stood back and kicked it, cracking it pretty severely, nearly off the hinges. As they walked in, Michael looked to see the obstruction.

Behind the door, sat a charred corpse, blackened from head to toe. In fact, littering the corridor ahead of them, laid more singed corpses, top halves, bottom halves, heads, and headless bodies. As they warily stepped through the hallway, Dylon picked up a head by its thin hair, stretching its saggy, grey skin upward.

"So, what do you think? Ray busted in and just obliterated everything?" He asked.

"Sure as hell looks that way. But if he had killed everything, wouldn't he have come back?" Andrew wondered.

"Well let's keep going and see where the bodies stop." Kerry suggested.

The group continued onward through the dungeon, passing pile after pile of corpses. In some areas, the floor was smothered in a thick layer of blood, coating the aging bricks that made up the entirety of the underground labyrinth. Everyone had been walking for about an hour before passing through a set of enormous double doors and heading down a steep staircase where Ray laid, motionless, soaked in blood.

"Oh, shit..." Michael said, horrified. "No..." He ran to Ray and knelt next to him. Lindsay was close behind. She knelt with Michael, her hand on his bare back.

"I'm sorry... This is what I saw earlier in my vision. I just thought we could have at least been able to do something." She said, placing her other hand on Ray.

Suddenly a scream ripped through the air. Ray grabbed at his sword and sprang up, ready to strike. Everyone looked at him, shocked.

The room was silent for a minute.

"You son of a bitch!" Michael yelled, punching Ray in the shoulder. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Ow... I was sleeping, dude! Why were you like on top of me?"

"We thought you were dead, asshole! And... Wait... You were sleeping? Why are you covered in blood then?"

"Um... Hello? Did you not see the strawberry milkshake I made of this place? I just needed to sleep before I kill off this last guy. I tried taking shots from the doorway, but he was too strong, so I figured I'd rest."

"Jesus! You scared the fuck out of me, dickhead." Michael said.

"All right, sorry. So are ya gonna help me out so we can go get Mike or...?"

"Fine... Everyone, get ready. I want this done quick. The sooner we get outta here, the sooner we get Mike back."

Everyone surrounded the door, ready to attack. Lindsay unsheathed her sword, Andrew readied his mace, Barbara had an arrow ready to draw, Ray's hands sparked into flame, Kerry held a small bomb in each hand, Dylon led the group, preparing a shielding spell, Michael, whose axes were at his sides, counted down...

3...

2...

1...

To be continued...