It was dark in the substructure of the ruin, but Loghain had found and lit a torch. That didn't help Maric and Githa much, for he had ranged far ahead of them, but eventually they picked their way through the darkness with the aid of a few fire spells and found him. He heard them coming and waited up.
"Found anything?" Githa asked, and as she came up next to him she "accidentally" brushed his hand with hers.
"A few rats; nothing more," Loghain said. He twitched at the contact but made no comment on it.
"How deep do you think these dungeons go?"
"Pretty damned. Can you use your spells?"
"I've been. Nothing so far."
"Well, let's keep looking. We've got a ways yet to go."
They continued on into the substructure, deep into the mountain. The further they went the closer the darkness pressed in around them. And in the darkness beyond the flickering circle of torchlight monsters lurked. Mostly it was rats, some of them quite large and bold, but there were also undead creatures, demonically-possessed dead flesh. When they reached the lowest portion of the ruin, the undead began to outnumber the living severely. They were in a catacomb, a depository of the dead.
"Why didn't they bloody burn them?" Maric asked, as he slashed at a walking skeleton with his sword. "Yes! Pile dead bodies in the cellar. Nothing bad ever happens when you do something like that!"
"It wasn't until Andrastianism became prevalent that people began to burn their dead regularly," Githa said. "In Nevarra they still practice the interment of full corpses. Very elaborate burials, too."
"The Dalish don't burn their dead, either," Loghain said. "Bury the body and plant a tree on the grave."
"Well that doesn't sound quite so dangerous," Maric said. "If all the dirt doesn't keep the body down, the roots of the tree will."
"That may be the practical reason underlying why they do it that way," Loghain said.
"I'm swiftly running out of like for this place," Maric said, as he re-killed another skeleton. "Githa; if you don't find anything now I say we call it a loss and get out of here."
"Keep the monsters off me and I'll cast my spells," Githa said. She went through a number of castings while the men hacked away at the undead. "There's nothing. Unless these dungeons go very much deeper yet, there's no mirror here."
"They don't go deeper," Loghain said. "Not unless there's a secret passage here somewhere."
"I would have found it if so," Githa said.
"Then let's get out of here," Maric said.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Loghain said, and began fighting his way back to the stairs. Together they hacked, bashed, slashed, and spellcasted their way out of the dungeons and back into the fading light of day again.
"Oh, fresh air," Githa said in a reverent sigh. "I don't care if I never set foot indoors again."
"Well, you'll not set foot indoors tonight." Loghain rebuilt the fire and then traded his sword for his bow. "I'm going to see if I can't find us something to eat on this mountain."
He walked down from the bare peak to the tree line and disappeared into the woods. Maric and Githa waited patiently by the fireside for an hour until he came trooping back up the mountain, carrying a wild turkey by the feet. He dressed the animal out and spitted it over the fire. It was a long time in roasting, but at least there was plenty of meat to sate their ravenous appetites once it was done.
Githa stretched and yawned. "I'm sleepy," she said.
"Go to bed," Loghain said, around a mouthful of drumstick.
"I'm not going to bed until you two do," she said, and cozied up beside him. She put her head on his arm and closed her eyes.
"Don't fall asleep here; I'll move and let you drop," he said.
They walked down the mountain in the morning, after a bite of cold leftover turkey. On the way, they passed the young boy and his puppy, both of whom ran out into the road after them, the boy laughing and waving, the puppy yapping and wriggling.
"You made a fan, Your Majesty," Githa said.
"That's what I do, Githa," Maric said, and threw out his chest. Loghain socked him and he blew out breath in a rush. "Ouch."
"Don't start your strutting and preening, Maric," Loghain said.
"Well, we can mark one ruin off our agenda," Maric said, after he caught his breath. "Only about an even dozen to go."
"Five," Loghain said.
"Close enough. And seven pending assassinations."
"I beg your pardon?" Githa asked.
"Six," Loghain said.
"Six? What happened to seven?" Maric said.
"I took care of it."
"Took care of what? Or whom?" Githa asked.
"We're kind of in hock to the Antivan Crows," Maric said. "Long story: we sort of accidentally killed a bunch of them and now their guildmaster is making us work to pay off the blood. If we don't, we're as good as dead."
"Oh dear Maker."
"What do you mean you 'took care' of number seven, Loghain?" Maric asked.
"Just what it sounds like. The contract came in shortly before we went to the Circle. I took care of it that night."
"So you just went out and killed somebody?" Githa said.
"I do a lot of that. Sorry if it upsets you."
"It worries me. Do you really trust this guildmaster not to turn on you when all is said and done?"
"No. But if he does, I'll kill him."
"Is it that easy?"
"There's no other solution. It's kill or be killed."
"Well, I hope it doesn't bite you in the ass. I hope it doesn't bite me in the ass."