Paige scanned the vicinity from atop the ruined tower she was perched on. It had taken all of her considerable climbing skills to find a way up the crumbling stones and creeping vines, but it was worth it. From up here, she could see leagues away, and she needed a good vantage point to try and spot the other scouts. The tower was their rendezvous point, yet she was the only to have returned from her patrol. They couldn't be far, she reasoned; she had gone the furthest afield, and she had expected to be the last one in.

An unbidden sense of dread crept up on her, and she suddenly felt very alone under the grey skies. She immediately dismissed it as paranoia. She had seen few enough enemies about on her patrol, and she had dealt with them from a safe distance; even if some of her sisters had been less lucky, they couldn't all have run into trouble. Perhaps she had simply been less cautious and methodical, and the others were still out there on the prowl.

In any case she was quite safe hidden in this decrepit stronghold; it was the first location they had scouted to make sure it was clear of demons. The locals called it the Forgotten Tower and all sorts of crazy legends surrounded it, yet all they found was an overgrown ruin. The tower was the only part of the castle that wasn't rubble, the rest of it marked by a mere stony hedge where the battlements used to be. The clouds were low and heavy, and it felt like it would soon rain.

Great, she thought to herself, as if the Black Marsh weren't wet enough. She hoped the weather wouldn't force her to abandon her perch; she felt much more in control up here, where she could see anyone coming a mile away, friend or foe.

- "Speaking of which," she muttered as she spied moving figures on the main road that wound its way close to the castle.

As if on cue, the sun peeked from behind the clouds, giving her a better look at the newcomers. She could make out four of them: in the van was a man in brown and blue armor, a shield of the same blue strapped to his back. She wasn't sure who it was until she saw the bear of a man just behind him; there was no mistaking the huge barbarian. It was the band of heroes she and the others were waiting for.

Her eyes briefly glanced over the smaller woman in the middle, whose mess of curly brown hair fell upon strangely exotic teal and yellow robes, to alight upon the tall one bringing up the rear: golden scale mail over brown leather armor; dark blonde hair braided on top and tied into a ponytail; strong features set in a noble face.

She would recognize them anywhere. There was no shortage of beautiful women in the Sisterhood, yet Paige thought the amazon was the most breathtaking example of womanhood she had ever seen. The day she showed up in the rogue camp was like sunrise after a long night, her golden locks and armor a promise of the sun. The mood among the sisters had been dire, yet the Askari's arrival had rekindled hope. Paige had seen the two in action as they cleared the Blood Moor of foes, and her infatuation with Dana only grew. She had yearned for nothing more than to follow her into battle, even against Andariel herself.

Perhaps today was the day she'd finally get the opportunity.

Plucking a signal arrow from her quiver, she aimed just ahead of the party and loosed. The missile arced upwards into the sky, whistling loudly enough to draw the attention of anyone within a mile. The four travelers looked up, tracking the sound until they saw the arrow thud into the gravel a few feet ahead of them. Retracing its path, they turned towards her, and she waved at them to join her.

Satisfied that they had seen her and were making their way over, she carefully climbed her way back down the inside of the tower, doing her best to keep her excitement in check lest she meet the ground sooner than anticipated.

She was halfway to the bottom when she noticed something she had not before. Looking down, her eyes were drawn to a flash in the rubble; something was catching the sunlight filtering in. Once on the ground, she walked over to the object, bending down to examine it. It was a necklace, its pendant bent and splattered with blood. At first, she couldn't make out what it represented, but there was something terribly familiar about it.

Then she recognized it, and a chill went down her spine: it was in the shape of an eye, with a hole where the pupil should be; the symbol of the Sisterhood.

Panic gripped her heart, her senses suddenly on alert for hidden dangers. She heard the sound of footsteps and shifting rubble behind her, and in one fluid motion she turned on her heels and knocked an arrow to her bow, ready to shoot whatever had snuck up on her. Her wild stare fell on Dana, who eyed her strangely.

- "That's no way to welcome the reinforcements", the amazon quipped.

- "I'm…I'm sorry," Paige replied, lowering her bow. "I was…I don't...the others…"

The bewildered look on the rogue's face told Dana enough: something was wrong. She held her spear at the ready, scanning the ruin for threats as her companions joined her.

- "What happened?" she asked in the voice of a captain demanding a report, at once commanding and reassuring.

- "The other scouts. We…we were to meet back here after our patrol, yet none of them came back. I thought maybe they were simply late, but I just found this," she said, presenting the necklace to the amazon as the rest of the band wondered at the strange tension in the room. They had not been expecting trouble.

Dana turned the pendant this way and that, and her eyes betrayed her alarm.

- "This blood is fresh. Something happened to one of your sisters, maybe even all of them. Did you not secure this perimeter?"

- "We did," Paige assured her. "We chose this ruin as our base of operations because it's the only landmark for miles, and it was completely abandoned when we found it. No demons, no corrupted rogues. Unless they were somehow hiding beneath the rubble there was no foe here when we left to scout the surrounding marshes. Maybe the legends are true; this place is cursed. We should never have come here," she concluded, a trembling in her voice.

- "Legends?" the smaller woman at the back asked aloud in her peculiar accent. "What legends?"

- "It's said that a long time ago," the rogue began, "back when the land was ruled by Rakkis, the lady of the castle sought to extend her life by bathing in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins. For her crimes, the murderous countess was besieged by Rakkis and buried alive with her retinue as her stronghold crumbled around her; this tower is all that's left of it. The locals whisper that the countess still haunts this place, ready to abduct unwary maidens. I never believed it until now."

- "Rakkis lived two centuries ago," the paladin interjected. "Your countess, if she ever existed, is long dead and buried. This is most likely the work of corrupted rogues; demons would've left more of a mess. That means there might yet be a chance to save your sisters." He turned to Dana. "Can you track them?"

The amazon set about searching the inside of the ruined tower, kneeling here and there to look for clues. She slowly made her way to the thickest part of the mass of vines that snaked their way across the stonework, and stopped. She reached a hand into it, then the arm, then her entire body, and just like that she disappeared from view.

The others exchanged worried glances before her hand reappeared from among the vines, beckoning them to join her. Galen took the lead and parted the foliage to find the Askari standing in a small, half collapsed stairway leading down. Her spear tip was already ignited to light the way. They both moved forward to allow the others to file into the passage.

- "It looks like these ruins aren't so abandoned after all," Dana remarked. "Whatever took your sisters came from here."

Paige stared into the darkness ahead, the sense of dread she felt, the one that had been building up ever since she came back to find no one, coming to a climax. Rogues were not made to fight in tight spaces. Grabbing her bow as steadily as her nerves allowed, she summoned up her courage and stood beside her role model. She would prove herself to the amazon as a battle sister.

- "Then lead the way." She wished her voice sounded as fearless as her words.

- "I'll bring up the rear," the paladin offered. "Talia, stay close to Aan."

The barbarian sighed in resignation and followed the leading pair as the sorceress fell into step behind him. She was no more pleased than he was; she had been trapped underground for many weeks and had regained her freedom only yesterday. She did not look forward to this subterranean trek.

Galen summoned his silver aura of protection to envelop his allies, and the party was illuminated by the two poles of light, one in the front, the other at the back.

The stairway went on for some time, but when they cleared it, they found themselves in a winding, labyrinthine corridor; in every direction stood barred doors leading to small cells or unseen rooms in the darkness. Dana led the way as if she knew the place intimately, and the others just followed.

- "These must be the dungeons," Galen remarked. "I've never seen anything this extensive though. Whoever built this must have been a tyrant."

- "Perhaps the tales of the blood-bathing, virgin-snatching countess are true," Talia suggested nervously.

- "Stay close, holy man," Aan taunted. "We wouldn't want you to get snatched."

The paladin stared daggers at the northman's back, but a mischievous smile soon replaced his glower.

- "So Talia, I assume you're a storm mage?" he asked as if to make small talk.

- "I'm an elementalist," came the response. "All the women of my clan learn to bend the most destructive of nature's elements to their will. Lightning is indeed one of them, but there's also fire and frost. To be honest though, only the brightest manage to master all three. I happen to be one of those prodigies," she finished with a note of pride.

- "Well if we should happen upon any enemies," he offered, "perhaps you should focus on your lightning spells. In such close quarters, blasts of flame and ice may prove…perilous to the rest of us."

- "As you say," the sorceress replied.

A small smirk bent the corner of Galen's lips as the barbarian's mood sobered visibly. The band slowly moved deeper into the dark maze, wary of a potential ambush. As they went down another flight of stairs, the air grew even more stale.

- "This place reeks of death," the paladin noted apprehensively.

A grim sight awaited them at the entrance to the second level of the dungeon: the desiccated corpse of a rogue impaled on a spike, left as a warning to intruders. Before Dana could react, Paige pushed past her towards the gruesome totem. She stared at it unmoving, until a single name escaped her lips.

- "Flavie."

Dana placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

- "I'm sorry. Was she one of yours?"

- "No," the rogue replied mournfully. "She was one of the first scouts Kashya sent out to keep track of the enemy's movements after we lost the monastery. She was also one of the first to disappear."

- "Then there might yet be time to avert this fate from befalling your other sisters." The paladin injected some poise in his voice despite the horror he felt. "We must press on."

They began moving forward again, Talia sticking even closer to the barbarian to his great annoyance.

It wasn't long before they ran into signs of life; they were towards the end of a long hallway when the sound of marching hooves drew closer from around the corner. Dana held up her hand to signal a halt, and Galen joined her to form a frontline while the sorceress poked her head from her hiding place behind the northman's broad back.

A patrol of goatmen soon appeared, their furry bodies covered in blood-red warpaint.

- "Blood clan khazra!" the sorceress exclaimed. "The foul spawn of Bartuc," she spat the name like a curse.

Paige and Dana were already drawing their bows, the rogue's expression a mask of grim determination and controlled rage. In response, the goatmen began bleating their war cries and charged furiously down the hallway. The first two instantly fell to the dual archers, but the ones behind simply trampled their fallen comrades in their bloodlust.

Aan heard a crackling sound behind him and turned just in time to see lightning arc past him to strike the lead demon, then jump to another, then another, snaking its way among the confused vanguard.

- "Mind where you cast, witch!" the barbarian shouted angrily. Ignoring Talia's offended demeanor, he moved forward to catch up to the paladin and amazon who were already charging into the fray.

The disorganized goatmen quickly fell before the trio's furious onslaught, their cumbersome polearms no match for the skilled sword, axe and spear.

The eerie quiet that permeated the dungeons returned as the sounds of battle died down. Paige was not so sure that was a good thing. She felt an overwhelming urge to run back towards the entrance and leave this place behind forever, but Dana turned back to her expectantly, and she found her courage again. Taking up her position beside the amazon at the fore of the party, she kept her eyes fixed on the darkness ahead, ready to stick a shaft between the eyes of the first thing that dared show itself.

But the first thing that showed itself did not come from ahead, or even from behind; it came from the walls.

The rogue screamed as a wraith-like being sprang from the wall to her left and sank its ectoplasmic tendrils into her. It was like death itself had touched her, draining the life from her body, and a cold like she had never felt before seeped into her bones. She tried to struggle, but to no avail, her limbs moving as if underwater. All around her, her companions were similarly beset, and no help was forthcoming from them. The northman was trying to cleave his foe with big swings of his axe but the blade could find little purchase in the ghost's ethereal form. The paladin wasn't having any more luck, his sword passing through the specters like an oar disturbing a lake.

Darkness closed in around Paige, and the thought that this is what drowning must feel like drifted across her waning consciousness.

She was about to succumb completely when Dana's blazing spear pierced the wraith attacking her and it recoiled with a shriek, its ectoplasm burning away. Nearby, Talia's staff spit a stream of fire at the ghosts closing in on her, incinerating them before they could touch her. The amazon helped Paige back to her feet.

- "Grab your bow, and use fire arrows." the amazon commanded. "More are coming!"

More specters were indeed edging closer, floating with a lazy nonchalance that belied their deadly intent. At the same time, she heard vicious bleating from down the hall as more goatmen rushed towards them. The rogue rallied her flagging strength and took aim, trying to decide which foe presented the most immediate threat.

That decision was made for her when the silver aura that enveloped her turned to a pristine white that suddenly lit the passage. Every ghost around immediately screeched in pain and began to dissipate, their undead energies burned away by the holy light. What's more, she felt her strength returning, fueled by a sudden influx of life.

Galen was by her side then, his shield a wall to ward off the missiles from the goatmen archers who had just arrived. Her mind focused again, she found her marks and loosed arrow after arrow, silencing the khazra backline before they could threaten her allies who moved forward to engage the rest.

The battle was short-lived, and Paige relished in the feeling of still being alive.

Something strange had happened. She should have been shaken by how close she came to death, yet instead she felt profound calm and relief, as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders. Something awoke in her that had not been there before: a confidence she had not felt since the demons took over her home. She felt invincible with these formidable warriors by her side, and it eclipsed her fear. In that moment she vowed to herself that she would fight by their side no matter where their journey took them.

- "Are you alright?" the paladin asked her with concern in his eyes.

She offered him the brightest, most confident smile she had, and she meant every tooth of it.

- "Never better," she answered.

Reassured, he returned her smile.

- "It seems the rumors about this place being haunted were more than mere folk tales," he mused. "I'm starting to wonder if the legends are real after all."

- "Don't worry," Dana said as she patted him on the back. "I'll keep you safe."

- "With what?" he quipped, "I'm the one with the shield."

- "This is true," the barbarian joined in. "You make a poor shieldmaiden."

- "Who said I was a shieldmaiden?" she replied.

- "Women fight with shields," Aan insisted. "That is how it is back home."

- "None of your men do?"

- "No, shields are for women."

- "I carry a shield," Galen protested.

- "And you're prettier than most of the women in my tribe," the northman retorted.

- "…Dana, remind me to sleep on your side of the tent tonight."

- "What makes you think you'd be safer with me?" the amazon asked suggestively.

To the rogue's amazement, the trio continued their banter as the party began moving again, as though they were taking a pleasant stroll through the woods. It only reinforced the infectious courage she felt in their presence.

But their chatter was eventually interrupted by muffled crying that echoed against the surrounding stonework. It sounded like a woman and came from further ahead. Paige's heart leaped in her chest, hoping she had already found one of her missing sisters still alive. Before Dana could stop her, she rushed ahead into the darkness.