Mazzy leaned back. Her lower lip tightened, and she ran a hand through her mass of red hair. "At the beginning, then. My group and I hail from Trademeet; we came out here when Minister Lloyd hired us to discover the evil that had befallen this place and the rash of killings that had plagued Imnesvale. We met Valygar by chance while we were questing."

She glanced over to the ranger.

"I'd been looking into the killings as well. Figured it was the least I could do for using the valley as a hideout," Valygar said. "Mazzy thought it would be best if we joined forces. We managed to get pretty far into the temple."

He gestured towards two large stone doors on the wall opposite from where Gorion's Company had entered the antechamber. "If you take those doors and follow it down this hallway," he said, "it leads to what's probably the main altar. We made it almost all the way there, but Mazzy and her group did some mighty work in between. The whole place was infested with those shadow-creatures and wolves."

"You did more than your fair share of fighting, Valygar," Mazzy said. "These…things are a perversion of everything natural, and it was just work ending them."

"They're undead, I think, but what are they, exactly?" Lidia asked.

"The shadow wolves are corrupted from the wolf packs that roamed here mere weeks ago. As for the shadows…they are unfortunate souls of living victims who fell into the grasp of the Shade Lord. This fell being is here to dominate and conquer. If he's not stopped, he will continue to thrive in this unholy darkness and grow his army."

And with the Sythillisians on the horizon, Lidia realized, the Shade Lord could swell his ranks even further, growing fat on both sides of the war.
Mazzy pulled out the third-circle that she'd used to open the door. "We think there are others and that they make up a key. But we never found more than the first."

"What happened?" Lidia asked.

Mazzy sighed. "We prepared as well as we could — we had investigated local legends and Merella's cabin before embarking on this journey. But we were tested from the moment we descended to the temple. Ridcully lost an arm to those strange black barriers, the shadows drained spells from Setenay, and we were all constantly battling the Shade Lord's creatures. Finally, when we had cleared a path through the dungeon, we took a moment to rest in this place."

Mazzy stared at one of the lanterns, tightening her lower lip again."Valygar and Wallag left us suddenly. I took the first watch, letting my companions rest with their lights burning. But, then, even these were snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Thick darkness covered everything. And then…one of his creatures struck. It was a shadow dragon, a most deadly foe that could cloak itself in darkness. It was small and stealthy enough to writhe from its lair, and before we could react, it had slain my friends. The Shade Lord took my friends' lives and turned them into members of his cursed army."

"I ought to have been there," Valygar said. "I knew something was up with Wallag. He was nervous throughout the whole thing—"

"Of course he was!" Mazzy said. "This was only his third job with us."

"It was more than just a green picklock's jitters. Wallag pulled me aside as we were making camp and insisted I come with him."

Mazzy drew her brows together. "I thought as much, but why?"

"He wouldn't tell me," Valygar said, "except to say that it was important. We went nearly to the old front entrance, then he was off like a shot, disappearing into the shadows. It takes a skilled man to lose me, but lose me he did, which leads me to wonder if he meant to."

Lidia thought back to the man who had died near their camp in the woods. "I think I might have seen him about a mile from here," she said. "Unless it was some unlucky villager who'd wandered too far instead."

Mazzy straightened upright where she sat. "Tell me what you remember of this man."

Lidia related everything about him that she could remember. When she repeated what the man had said—"we are the flame, and darkness fears us"—Mazzy sadly shook her head.

"That was Wallag," the halfling said. "At least he did not die alone. Gods rest his spirit."

"And the Shade Lord wanted you as a 'consort' afterward?" Valygar said. "I don't think I want to know, and I'm sure you'd rather not speak of it."

If this conversation was upsetting Mazzy, she wasn't showing it. "I must tell the truth of it. I would have sold my life with my friends, but the Shade Lord would not allow his dragon to kill me. The Shade Lord is not a creature of this plane and must possess a body, feeding upon its life. He inhabits Merella, now, and planned to use my own body once Merella grows weak, I suspect."

"Well, Lidia," Valygar said, "your guess was closer than mine."

"We saw Merella in the woods, and I guess the Shade Lord was wearing her body then," Lidia said to Mazzy. "If he's as strong as you say, then Azuredge — this axe I'm carrying — shouldn't have just driven him off. Does he need to draw power from this place?"

"I cannot say for certain," Mazzy said, "but I have come to believe that the altar that the shadow dragon guards is the secret of this place. A way must be found to pass his dragon, for we cannot kill it. And then we must destroy the Shade Lord and his altar."

Lidia leaned forward. "Tell me more about this dragon. As much as you can remember, or care to."

Mazzy thought back, then said, "There is little to tell, truthfully. The fight was over within minutes, my companions' lives spent. The dragon disappeared, wreathed itself in darkness, then breathed its black breath. It drank from my party's life force as we would drink water, leaving their souls open for the taking. My duty was to aim my arrows for any weak points I could find, but the fight ended before I could find one."

"A strange creature, certainly. How big was it?"

"It was difficult to say. Larger than a house, smaller than the sanctuary where it lives." Mazzy glanced at Lidia, then held up a hand. "Before I answer further, I recognize that look in your eye. This dragon was an impossible foe for my group, and I should not wish to see yet another company throw their lives away."

A long silence passed between them all, and then Lidia finally said, "I think we can defeat it, and I believe we should try."