Sorry for the wait folks, but it's exam time for me. I still have one to do, but I think I can afford to slip this one fic in. ;) As for the questions about the other character classes . . . wait and see. =) Keep those reviews coming, if you please. They really do make me want to write more.

 Disclaimer: Diablo 2 and Lord of Destruction are the property of Blizzard. Please don't sue since I am not making any money from this, and I am a poor poor university student ^_^;;

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 For Money or Honor

 Chapter Eight: Over Hill, Under Stone

  "There it is," I pointed forward. Ahead of us was a circle of monolithic sized stones. Five great pillars rose into the sky, their dark gray forms inspiring awe and respect. Each one had its own distinct symbol on it, but all of them gave off an aura of power, even though they were far away and dormant.

"The Cairn Stones are being guarded," Debi pointed out a large group of little men. Instead of being red though, they were blue. One was a darker color than the rest, and by the way the others treated him, he was definitely the leader.

"Well then, looks like we have to kill them," I said casually, rubbing my katar with a thumb. We had spent the entire day looking for the Cairn Stones and Underground Passage, but all we had found was the Waypoint. Although it was good and all, I wanted to get this over with and get some dinner.

"How should we do it?"

"Simple. I run in and kill their leader while you get any one of those demons who tries to stop me," I replied.

"All right," she frowned slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to lead them away from the Cairn Stones instead so I can pick each one off?"

"No way, my feet are killing me," I grimaced. "Okay, I'm going at the count of three. I just hope you can hit them at all with your arrows."

"I'm not that bad with the b-!" she replied indignantly.

"Three!" I interrupted her and jumped over the remnants of a brick wall we had been using as cover. Keeping my small shield in a ready position, I started my charge at the group of demons. They saw me instantly and started their own counterattack. All of them started coming towards me, their swords drawn and seeking blood.

*Fwoop*

One of Debi's arrows shot past me and instantly killed one. The rest were undeterred though as I ran sideways to try and get around them. My mercenary kept shooting as I made my way past the group towards the leader.

"Rakanishu!" one of them yelled, and the dark blue one started to come forward as well.

"Your name is Rakanishu, eh?" I snarled as I bore towards him. "Well then, now I know what to carve on your grave marker!"

I aimed my katar for his neck to try for an instant kill, but as soon as I made a cut on him, multiple bolts of small lightning charges erupted from his hands. They jumped to the ground where they flitted in random directions, but two or three of them made contact with me.

"Agh!" I shouted in pain and surprise, the energy running through my body. Agony soon followed as I almost sagged to the ground.

"Traveler, get up!" Debi yelled, still shooting arrows at the approaching minions. The group had now split up, some heading for the Rogue, the other intent on finishing me off.

"Rakanishu!" the leader waved his scimitar in the air before dropping his gaze to me. Smiling wickedly, he raised the sword to chop my head off.

*Fwoop*

From the corner of my eye I saw an arrow strike Rakanishu in the shoulder, but the arrow was different. It gave off a blue glow that quickly emanated a fierce cold upon impact. Instantly the demon's movements slowed down; I could see the slow arc the blade was making towards my head.

"Ugh!" I lunged forward with my arm, the sharp point slicing through his torso. More electricity shot forth, but I was ready for it this time and managed to deal with it better. One more final hit from my katar, and his body burst into a myriad of ice shards. There wasn't even blood or viscera; all of his body had been frozen.

After looking at his melting pieces, I quickly turned around to dispatch the rest of the demonic creatures. In a few minutes, the Cairn Stones were ours.

"Phew," I sat down beside Debi on the green grass. Closing my eyes, I let the last of the dying sunlight fall on my face. Leaning against me, the Rogue let her arms and bow rest.

"Umm, thanks for saving me back there. I thought he was going to hit me," I began awkwardly.

"No problem," she said cheerfully, not a note of smugness in her tones.

"So what do you want? Gold pieces, a jewel …" I felt Debi turn around and look at me. "What?"

"Traveler, I am your mercenary! I don't do things for gold!"

I started to laugh at her. "You're my mercenary but you DON'T do things for money? Hoo, that's funny! That's all that mercenaries do! They hire themselves out to get paid. And even if they didn't, who would want to work for free?"

She suddenly shot up then which caused me to fall on my back.

"I didn't volunteer for this mission to get paid!" Debi said crossly as I looked up at her. "There are more important things than gold in this world."

"Name one," I said from the ground.

"Family."

"Heh, family can leave you; they can die or they can just one day kick you out of your home. Then where are you? You're left in the cold, that's what. But with gold, well, gold can never leave you by itself. It can buy you friends, food, a home of your own, and anything your heart desires."

"That's not true," she frowned as she sat back down beside me.

"Then, my dear, you have either never been out to the real world, or someone has lied to you," I sat back up and leaned against her. "It's not a pretty picture, I know, but that's reality."

Debi was silent.

"Never mind," I got up now, and stretched. "Come on, let's check out the Stones." Without waiting for her, I started walking towards the structure. I was feeling a little guilty at my tactless speech, but it was true. Better that she hear it from me and prepare herself for the inevitable rather than experience it firsthand while not ready. I knew how hard that was on a person.

Crouching down at the puddle that was formerly Rakanishu, I started collecting the gold, potions, and equipment he dropped. One was a rather strange helm. It had been manipulated to make it look like a wolf's head. The mouth bared sharp metal teeth, and its empty eyes stared back at me.

"I wonder how much you're worth," I gave the nose a little kiss before stuffing it into my sack. Also on the ground was hard leather armor. Running my hands over it, I could tell that it was still in good condition. I myself now wore studded leather armor, but Debi could probably do with some better protection. Adding that to my sack, I got up and approached one of the Cairn Stones.

It was amazing, standing before such an awesome magical structure such as this. The hairs on my arms were standing up just at the feel of it. Tentatively I touched the surface, but no shock came. More boldly I rubbed the cool stone. It felt good somehow, and I watched my fingers run over the multi-hued surface. The material's color was actually composed of many shades of gray, and some flecks of white as well. Tiny bits of obsidian, I think, were also embedded into the stone, making it sparkle. There was no mistaking that there was something mystical about this place.

"Traveler, I have an idea on where the Underground Passage is," Debi said from behind. I hadn't even heard her walk up towards me.

"Oh?" I glided my fingertips over the stone. "What is it?"

"We've checked the entire Stony Field for it, but to no avail. However we haven't really looked at the rock face bordering the fields. The opening to the passageway must be there."

"If you say so," I nodded, breaking contact with the stone. A part of me felt sad at the loss of touch. "Let's get to it then."

Leaving the Cairn Stones (but committing to memory its location), we headed north towards the rock face Debi spoke about. Looking back at the cairn, I saw that the long shadows made by the stones pointed in the direction we were going. Was this an omen that the passageway was there? We would soon see.

Debi was uncharacteristically quiet, but I didn't mind her. The sun was almost set now, and I could hear thunder in the distance. I was unwilling to continue the search in the darkness, so if we didn't find it soon, we would use a portal to spend the night in the camp. It turned out though that the rock face was close by to the Cairn Stones. Pressing my hand against the rough rock, I started following it.

The sun set and dipped the world into night. The sky was starless; instead it contained roiling black clouds that promised rain. Once in a while it lit up and rumbled, shaking the ground before becoming silent again.

'I have Seen it; his evil is like a great storm in the horizon. I am afraid that if that storm bursts, then all of Sanctuary will be drowned in fire,' I heard Akara's words again. I looked up at the heavens. It spat right in my face.

"Okay, I think we should call it a night," I said loudly as a torrential rain started. "We'll continue the search tomorrow- ah!"

The wall had suddenly given way from my fingers, and I stumbled. I had not noticed in the darkness, but now we stood in front of a large cave. Purplish rock lined the entranceway, and a stale smell wafted to out noses.

"Think this is it?" I asked Debi.

"Yes," the Sister nodded at once. "This must be the Underground Passage."

"Are you tired yet?" I asked. "If you are, we can quit now. I don't want you shooting me in the back by accident since your eyes are sleepy."

"I wouldn't do that, even by accident!" she snapped. "But you are sorely tempting me to shoot you right now!"

"Fine, fine, then I take it you want to go on," I grinned. So she was tough underneath. Good, that made me feel better somehow.

"Yes, we'll explore the passageway until we both want some rest," Debi nodded. "Come on." Brushing past me, she entered into the gloom.

"Sure thing," I smiled.

The Underground Passage looked a lot like the Den of Evil. It was dark, it was home to bats and mice, and it was full of monsters. After going into the passageway a little bit, we came face to face to a troop of re-animated skeletons. Debi had wordlessly started shooting, and to my mild surprise, I only had to deal with one of them. The items they dropped should have gone to the Rogue, but she insisted that I keep them instead. I didn't put up a fight about that.

I didn't know how long we spent in the passage, but eventually we came upon a natural well. It was a shallow hole in the ground where water that dripped down from hanging stalagmites collected. Peering into its crystal clear depths, I could see that the monsters hadn't bothered to pollute it.

"Ah, water," I sighed. "You want some?"

"No thank you," Debi shook her head. "I'll stand watch."

"Suit yourself," I shrugged, bending over and scooping water into my mouth with a hand. I heard her walk off a little before scanning the area.

*Fwoop*

At the familiar sound I let the water fall back into the well. "Debi, is there an enemy close by?"

I took a better look. She wasn't shooting at anyone – someone was shooting at her. Standing a few feet away from the Rogue was one of her Sisters, but this one was bald and had horns growing from her head. In the limited light, I could see large red veins covering most of her limbs. With a seemingly permanent maniacal smile on her face, the corrupted Rogue quickly notched another arrow and let it fly.

"Damn it!" I shouted, jumping towards my mercenary. We collided with a great thud, and fell to the ground. Fumbling around a little, I managed to extract a throwing knife from my belt and hurled it at the enemy. It had been a haphazard toss, which resulted in the knife harmlessly hitting the stone floor. But it was enough to spook the demon away. With a mocking laugh she left us, but I didn't want to press our luck. For all I knew, she had gone off to gather more monsters to attack.

"Come on, get up," I grabbed Debi underneath her arm and hauled her up. Without wasting any time, I dragged her a fair distance away from the well. I only stopped when we were hidden behind a large slab of stone in the middle of the passage. Opening a town portal, I pushed her inside.

Instantly we found ourselves back at the Rogue camp. It had been Debi's first portal ride, so she ended up eating dirt like I had. Almost tripping on her again, I helped her up and once more proceeded to drag her to the storage tent I still used to sleep in. No one was in sight, but then again, I didn't think anyone wanted to be caught in this downpour.

"We're safe," I sighed in relief, closing the tent flaps behind us. Letting her go, I went over to the crate and lit the lamp. Soon the room was filled with a cheery orange light.

"Disgusting," I made a face as I peeled off my wet studded leather armor. It was starting to smell bad, and I didn't want to think about what made it do that. Drying myself off as best I could, I hung my wet garments on the crates. I was pleased to see that someone had left us some wine and hard bread on one of the boxes. Breaking off a huge chunk, I started to eat with gusto.

"Here," I offered Debi some. To my joy, two cots had also been moved into the tent. She didn't seem to notice the food in front of her though; the Rogue just sat on a cot motionless.

"Hello," I waved the bread under her nose. "I know it doesn't taste the best, but you should still eat something."

That seemed to break her out of her spell. Blinking once, she turned to look at me.

"You're right."

"Yeah, then here," I pressed the bread into her hand.

"No, not about that," she said, setting it down on a crate. "What you said in the Stony Field … you're right."

"Huh?" I asked, swallowing my bread while yanking my boots off my feet.

"You said that family could die, and you'd be left out in the cold. I thought you were being mean, but I see now that you're correct. All this time I've … I've just been a fool!"

Her face crumpled up in sorrow, and she began to cry. Now it wasn't one of those juvenile wailing type cries. It was the more mature silent ones punctuated here and there with a grief filled sob. Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes as I heard her weep. Sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut and leave my thoughts to myself.

Sighing deeply and hoping I wouldn't regret it, I sat myself down beside Debi. The cot creaked noisily at the added weight, and I wondered if we would end up on the ground again.

"Look Debi … what I said … well," I started off unsurely. "I didn't really mean it. I was being stupid, and cranky. So don't take it too seriously, hmm?"

Her crying lessened somewhat, but it didn't stop.

"Debi, Debi," I repeated her name while grabbing her shoulders. "Stop crying and tell me what this is all about." It took me a few more tries before she did, but even then she was still sniffling.

"I … I was an orphan," she started, her eyes red and puffy, "and Akara took me in. The Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye has taken care of me for as long as I can remember! To me … they are my real sisters. But now, to see them like that … thing in the passageway. I knew … I knew it was a demon, but I couldn't kill it. That monster was still my sister …" With that, Debi's crying began anew.

'Ah, so that's the problem,' I thought to myself. Breaking through her sobs, I made her look me in the eyes once more.

"Debi, I want you to listen to me carefully. You are not murdering your Sisters. Andariel did that a long time ago. You are their savior, their only hope of freedom from their Hell born servitude. If you can't go through with this – they will be doomed to serve the Lady of Anguish forever."

My mercenary hugged herself as she thought about it. Outside the storm was raging, but thankfully no wind managed to get into the tent. Lightning flashed, and I saw the outlines of the wooden blockade.

"Is that all I can do?" she whispered. I leaned in closer, almost missing the words she spoke. "Is killing all the Rogues the only way to save the Sisterhood?"

"Only the corrupted ones," I corrected her. "You've still got untainted Sisters. They're the ones you're fighting for."

"But they can die too," she seemed to shrink into herself. "And I'll be left in the cold, alone."

"If you let them die," I frowned. "Self-pity and fear won't help them."

"I know," she sighed, letting herself fall over so she could stretch out on the cot. "But the enemy seems so numerous, and the road we must travel is so long … what if all we do is in vain? We don't even know if this Cain person is alive."

"He is," I said briskly. "Akara said so."

"What if she's wrong?"

"What if? We'll have to find out for ourselves, won't we?" I got up and lay down on my own cot. "Don't worry, we'll get through this. If we encounter any more undead Rogues, leave them to me."

"Maybe you should ask Kashya for another Rogue," Debi suggested hesitantly, "one that won't freeze up on you in battle."

"I said not to worry, didn't I?" I snapped. "Just go to sleep; we have to find the exit of that tunnel tomorrow."

Shuffling noises could be heard as Debi got up and started taking off her own wet clothes. I turned myself around and watched the dancing flames in the oil lamp.

"Besides," I added, "if any of the other Rogues are like Kashya, they would have shot me in the back a long time ago."

I was strangely satisfied when I heard Debi giggle. She padded over to the lamp and lowered the light enough for us to fall asleep.

"I have one more request," she turned to gaze at me. "What is your name?"

Burying my head underneath the thin blanket, I asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well I can't keep calling you Traveler, can I?" she put her hands on her hips. "Please tell me? Pretty please?"

I was about to tell her a fake name, but then stopped. The soft light from the lamp had cast Debi's face with a pale glow. I had seen the fresh tear tracks on her cheeks, like a silver stream running through a meadow. Grimacing at the internal debate raging within me, I finally managed to mumble out, "Meznari. But just call me Mez."

"Mez," she tried out my name. "Thank you, Mez, for talking to me. You know, deep down inside you really are a nice person."

"Go to sleep, Debi," I said flatly and didn't move until she had lain down on her cot again. When I heard light snoring coming from her, I pulled the blanket down from off my head and rested it on a folded up cloak that acted as my pillow. I had never said my real name aloud for almost six years. I had promised myself never to say it again after I had been banished from my clan, and I had used several aliases when dealing with others before. So why did I change my ways now? Then it hit me.

"Oh by the Light," I groaned. "I'm getting soft."