Belle had taken her sweet time saying farewell to Captain Nalene, but Rumple had moved things along by using magic to take Svad off the ship and glaring at her until she'd taken the hint. She'd taken quite the shine to Emmerich Nalene and, though Rumple saw it for the friendship it was, he couldn't shake the feeling of jealousy that coursed through him. He had no right to be jealous though so he buried it as far down as it would go.

As soon as they'd mounted Svadilfari, Rumple put the Copper Cat behind them and headed into Dunnmere; a much sleepier port town than Quailwyn that sloped upwards towards the market district somewhat lazily. Nowhere in Dunnmere was a hive of activity, instead there were little pockets of goings-on here and there and a few people inviting possible customers closer to their stalls. Shopping was certainly not the reason Belle and Rumple had voyaged to Dunnmere though, so stalls and incitements were ignored in favor of heading directly to the City Watch building; easily spotted thanks to the large sign outside that could be seen all over town.

Rumple made quick work of stabling Svad once they'd arrived by simply waving his hand and sending the horse back to Calvin at Ranga's Guild stable. Of course a large horse vanishing into a puff of smoke drew more than one raised eyebrow, but Rumple hardly seemed to notice. The scent of salt permeated the entire town and inside the Watch house was no different; looked like they'd just have to get used to it.

No frivolity nor mark of bravado coated the building's walls unlike other Watch houses they'd seen in their travels, instead the place seemed more geared to practicality than showmanship and Rumple found he respected that. However, it did suggest the commander they were there to see didn't mince his words or suffer fools lightly. Rumple's brown eyes soon spotted the quartermaster hunched over his desk staring angrily down at his records. As soon as the pair approached him to explain who they were and who they'd come to see, he let out a deep sight and tilted his head up.

"Commander ain't gonna like this." The quartermaster grumbled. "He's convinced Guild interference is just makin' things worse and makin' him look stupid."

"He doesn't need any help from me, dearie." Rumple chuckled much to Belle's dismay.

"I'll take ya to his office, I got my own shit to deal with."

So they followed the disgruntled man through the building, upstairs and down a long hallway to the Watch Commander's office. A few Watchers noticed Belle's collar but she'd gotten used to that at some point – wasn't as if she could hide it, unless she wrapped herself in a massive scarf. Quite frankly, Belle feared being spotted as Avonlea's princess much more than what a few locals thought of her being a demon's slave. As if fate wished to alarm her further, Belle ground to a halt when she spotted one of the wanted posters Gordana had done her best to keep from circulating. Rumple noticed as well and casually wrapped a comforting arm around her waist to keep her moving, then leaned in to whisper quietly.

"No need to worry, Belle. To these people we're just adventure sent by the guildmaster."

"Word of advice." The quartermaster came to a halt outside a rather unassuming wooden door and folded his arms across his broad chest. "Don't ask about the oilharo." With that odd nugget of information, he knocked loudly on the door. "Commander Skane, the adventurers are here as ordered."

A gruff 'bring them in' came from beyond the door which had the quartermaster push the door open and usher Belle and Rumple inside with Azzy padding behind them.

As they entered Rumple asked Belle in a hushed tone: "What's an oilharo?"

"A fat bird," was her quick and equally hushed reply.

The second Azzy's white tail was far enough into the office, the quartermaster slammed the door closed and vanished back to his work. Practical would have been the best word to describe Commander Skane's office; a room that lacked puffery as did the rest of the Watch House. A window on their right looking out towards the docks with two smaller ones adjacent to it, a few sparsely populated bookshelves were littered here and there, and a desk of dark wood behind which sat the Commander himself. The aforementioned bird perched on a shadowy shelf behind the desk though, that was what had their attention instantly; to Rumple it looked like an exceedingly fat pigeon.

"So you're the ones Chief Commander Aalto insisted on sending." Said Skane as he eyed them suspiciously. "Hasn't she lost enough people? Thinks a demon and a little girl carting her pooch around are going to make a difference?"

Selwyn Skane was probably only somewhere in his thirties but his resting scowl made him look older, the blue in his armor brought out his eyes and his long hair was so golden that Rumple suspected he'd make many a princess jealous.

Rumple waved Skane's grumblings off, he had little time for them. "Yes, yes, you don't want us treading on your toes, we're aware. If you could just get on with this so we can get out of your hair and the fat bird's feathers-"

Suddenly Skane slammed a hand down on his desk causing Belle to jump and Azzy to growl in warning.

"She's not fat! Gloria is perfectly healthy."

Maybe Rumple had misinterpreted what sort of person Skane was after all, he did make a mental note not to mention the bird again though. Belle, however, she jumped right in being kind and trying to make everybody her friend as usual; heroes like Snow White back in his realm would have adored her.

"Gloria is a lovely name." She smiled in an attempt to ease tensions. "I'm sorry if we're intruding, but we all want to stop the deaths, right? So surely the more people on this, the better."

Skane raked a hand down his clean-shaven face and fell back in his chair; it squeaked. "I suppose so," he relented and looked to Rumple. "You're girl is a good talker."

Out from the right side of his desk, the blond man took a rolled page and tossed it onto his desk for Rumple to look at. Once unfurled, he found it to be a record of names in two columns: the leftmost was marked 'Missing' while the right had been marked as 'Dead', the amount of overlapping names was startling. When Gordana had given them the quest, they'd thought roughly a dozen people had been killed or gone missing, but Skane's list showed the number to be closer to thirty.

"I'll tell you what I told the last party Aalto sent: There wasn't any warning to this and victims seem random. People from the villages on the Limestone were vanishing for almost two months before the City Watch was notified. Ulthar lost their shit when one of their cats was killed – weird fucking village it is, obsessed with cats. Few days after my men calmed that down the first body was found. A hunter missing his bow and knife… and his arms."

Rumple's head tilted to the side questioningly. "Removed with tools, claws or teeth?"

"We couldn't tell," Skane shrugged. "If I were forced to guess, I'd say claws but the physicians seemed to think the limbs had been ripped from his torso."

Belle paled. "Ripped? What's strong enough to do that?"

"Goblin could if it pulled really hard, I suppose. You can never trust those fuckers." Skane remarked having become desensitized to this sort of thing decades ago.

While Belle did her best to get that mental image out of her head by petting Azzy's fluffy ears, Rumple jabbed a claw at the list. Gloria squawked. Some days Belle envied Rumple's ability to just totally ignore those around him and what they thought of him, to simply carry on unfazed, but somebody had to continue to be outraged by these monstrosities.

"These wounds are consistent for all the dead you've found?"

"Yes," the blond nodded. "All are missing at least one limb, a few men were headless. The children though, all of them have been exsanguinated. Public opinion is divided between blaming everything on crixx or a mad man butchering people and living in the woods. Either way, it's getting out of fucking hand. I've got stories coming out of hunters about ghosts and the ground shaking in localized areas, folk taking those crackpot future sight potions and scaring kids by saying Nynio is going to sink the Limestone. I can't even keep up with the rumors any longer and I've lost countless scouts down in the caves."

It had been fairly obvious quite early on that Selwyn Skane was damn good at his job, he valued lives and didn't seek attention for the Watchers or himself personally for their work. In all honesty, the realms could have probably done with more like Skane, but he was overworked, sleep deprived and clearly at a loss for what else to do. He might not have liked the idea of more adventurers heading into the Osgar Hall Caverns, but he just didn't have the manpower to protect the whole Limestone and figure out what was happening down in the tunnels.

"I know you have to keep strong for the families of those still missing," began Belle with that comforting smile of hers. "But Rumpelstiltskin is the most powerful mage in all Dreymyr, that's why Gordana sent him."

Skane eyed Rumple suspiciously just as he had when they'd first entered the office. Rumple knew he wasn't the tallest of men, the insult 'imp' hadn't come from nowhere, but his claws were sharp and Dreymyr's magic laws had started to bend to his will.

"Take it you're a gold-ranked?"

Rumple fished out his guild chain; something he'd grown increasingly fond of doing since it got such an amazed reaction. "Double."

"Fuck, you might actually stand a chance." Skane rose to his feet seemingly amused by the rank Rumple had achieved, and went to tickle Gloria's feathery head. "All right, it's pretty obvious whatever is happening has something to do with the Osgar Hall Caverns. Nobody has been down there in at least four generations as far as we can tell, not since we closed off all the branch openings. I'll give you a map for what has been charted, but I can't say it's accurate. The main entrance is down the other end of the Limestone under guard."

"Then let's go."

Skane nodded in agreement. "I'll send Lieutenant Erling and Corporal Ektor with you."

"They'll slow us down."

Belle jumped in quickly. "He means thank you."

"No, I don't." Rumple muttered as he left the office knowing everybody would follow him; Belle had no choice and the City Watch Commander wanted them out of his luxurious hair.

Skane quickly spotted a young Watcher carrying a box and all but caught him by the scruff of his neck.

"Bengtsson, go find Erling and Ektor. Have them report to the main entrance ten minutes ago, they're taking these two into the Caverns. Have Erling sign out a communication crystal as well, I want regular updates. Get Quartermaster Fang to issue provisions for four days too." The Watcher nodded then quickly hurried off to obey his orders. Skane gave Belle and Rumple what he hoped was a reassuring expression. "Good luck, you're going to fucking need it." He crouched down before Azzy. "Keep this one safe."

Ah, Rumple had finally figured out exactly what kind of man Selwyn Skane was: one loving with animals and distant with people, Rumple saw a lot of himself in that realization.

Belle smiled brightly, a smile which lit up her cerulean eyes. "You love animals, don't you?"

"Can't help it," Skane shrugged while still petting Azzy. "Found Gloria when I was a kid on the mainland and had a soft spot for animals ever since. You know, if you take good care of them, oilharos can live for almost as long as a human."

He abruptly stood after that insightful comment and headed back towards his office, a second wish of luck was the only goodbye they got. At first, all of Skane's scrutinizing glances had worried Rumple, had made him think he'd be spotted as the so-called 'mutated demon' from the wanted poster, but the man had seemed remarkably more focused on the spate of mysterious deaths ravaging the Limestone to really acknowledge the odd hue of Rumple's skin. Almost as soon as Gordana had informed them of that damn poster he'd made attempts to glamor himself to no avail; toss that onto the pile of spells Dreymyr wouldn't let him use.

Before Rumple could lose himself inside his thoughts as he had aboard theCopper Cat, they headed back down to the building's main entrance where they found Corporal Ektor had already arrived. His beard had just fallen over the line which separated stubble from an actual beard and, like all Watchers save for Commander Skane, his armor was a golden-brown color accented with a navy gambeson.

"I'm Ektor." He nodded a greeting to them. The Watcher looked more irritated than anything else, though he had basically been assigned to escort duty and nobody enjoyed that game. "We'll gather provisions and depart within the hour."

"You have thirty minutes." Rumple had no intention of lingering around Dunnmere where any of Duke Gonzada's men could have spotted Belle or he could have been recognized from that poster a moment longer than needed. "We'll be outside."

Belle, being the kind young woman she was, flashed Ektor an apologetic smile as she followed the Dark One out and around the side of the building so he could summon Svadilfari back.

"There's no need to be so rude all the time, you know." She chastised lightly.

Rumple shrugged. "It's who I am."

"No, it isn't. You may have scales and sharp claws, and you frown too much, but you're a nice man really. I keep telling you that because I firmly believe it. There's good in you, so don't give me some witty put-down just to keep your demon lord reputation up." She rested a hand atop his forearm and Rumple froze, Svad's reins held deathly tight in his hand. "I know you, Rumpelstiltskin, I know your heart isn't as black as you think."

He wasn't entirely sure if he didn't want to say anything in reply or if he just didn't know what to say – in hindsight, it was probably both. Thankfully she removed her warm hand from his person to pet Svad's neck allowing Rumple to decompress a moment. They waited in silence for the next thirty minutes, Svad and Azzy were surprisingly affectionate creatures so monopolized Belle's attention when they got half a chance, and Rumple came to a startling realization: if it hadn't been for Bae, he'd have been perfectly content to remain in Dreymyr with Belle. Milah would have rather he'd died than come back a coward, Cora had just used him to obtain more power, Zelena was crazy and that was about the extent of his love history – no, maybe lust would have been a better word since none of those women had actually loved him, just lusted after his power. Belle though, she was much too good for the likes of him, too kind, beautiful and young, but she had gone out of her way to be his friend and not just because of the enslavement collar. A woman's love wasn't in the cards for Rumple, he'd long accepted that, but Belle happily gave him friendship and companionship despite knowing what he was. Yes, he'd have willingly abandoned the other realms if it meant he could stay with Belle. However, none of that was a viable option, Rumple had to find Baelfire and, as soon as he'd freed Avonlea and King Maurice, Belle would have more important things to do than spend time with him. 'Find Jefferson, find a way back to the Enchanted Forest, get Regina to enact the Dark Curse and find Bae' Rumple's mind announced firmly. 'That's the way it has to be. All of this is for my boy'.

Meanwhile, Belle had perched on an empty crate left pressed against the wall and pulled open the satchel she always carried with her, the one that held the potions Rumple had crafted. She'd amazed herself at how skilled she'd become at packing things into such a small bag, but apparently she'd not packed everything.

"Damn."

Rumple jolted, blinked rapidly, then turned to the Princess of Avonlea. "What is it?"

"Oh, it's okay." Mumbled Belle while rummaging through her bag. "I thought I'd hidden an apple in here as a snack but apparently it never made it in the bag."

Muscle memory had him try to conjure up an apple all red and juicy for her pleasure, but nothing happened – oh look, another thing for the pile. He could feel the magical energy but it couldn't solidify into the desired object and Rumple hated feeling so weak. His understanding of Dreymyr's magic had come on in leaps and bounds, he'd turned a man into a fish and been able to shrink Azzy for crying out loud and that was a forgotten spell! Providing a shining apple for a hungry eighteen-year-old princess wasn't off the table though, they still had to wait for Erling and Ektor to ready themselves so a quick trip to the market wouldn't be an issue.

"Let us go buy something," he began as though he'd not just had a full internal argument. "Who knows what these Watchers deem to be provisions." That got a smirk out of her. "Put your hood up though."

She did as asked then went to loop her arm with his after Rumple had hitched Svad to a post and used one of his newer skills to turn the reins to lead so nobody could try wandering off with him.

"Onward my demon lord master," she teased. "To the freshly baked bread and matured cheeses."

There was no denying that Rumple enjoyed seeing her happy; Belle du Marchand was a light amidst an ocean of darkness. Wonderful warmth drifted from her, through his clothes to his golden-green skin as they walked, an extra treat for him. She'd pulled up her hood to conceal her face, but Rumple could still see dazzling chestnut locks that he itched to touch, to loop around his fingers before he kissed her. 'That's never happening, you pathetic sap!' Oh, but he wanted it to so desperately. Pining, the Dark One was pining. A princess like no other was Belle, not spoilt or entitled, just caring and honest. On one distant day, after he'd found his son and repaired their relationship, he'd tell Bae about Belle, of the beauty who'd restored some of his humanity just by being near him.

Eventually they reached a stall selling fresh bread and baked sweets, Belle bought some of the bread just as she'd wanted and one of the bacon scones which was quickly given to Azzy much to his delight. Some months back they'd gotten Belle her own coin purse that Rumple quietly filled with coins, Belle had insisted that she'd hardly done enough on their quests to earn so much, but Rumple had picked up how to stretch a week's worth of money out to last almost a month back when he'd been a lowly spinner, and didn't see much point keeping the coin from her when he'd have just bought her what she asked for anyway: Rumple had only streamlined the process. So he watched her merrily wander the market stalls buying this and that, as well as a few apples since it was the whole reason they'd gone to the market, while Rumple did his best not to be reminded of the way Bae had joyfully hopped about markets seeking out a treat.

The intense scent of flowers bombarded the Dark One and he looked to his left to see an older half-pantherian selling roses, carnations, tulips and other floral delights.

"They're lovely." Belle commented as they passed and Rumple didn't even stop to think, just tossed a copper to the woman and helped himself to one of the red roses.

He rounded the teenage beauty and offered it to her like the sap he'd become. "If you'll have it."

Frankly, Belle appeared surprised by the gesture – he didn't look like the sort of man to do public romantic displays after all. However, Belle couldn't keep the smile off her pink lips and quickly accepted the rose and lifted it to her nose.

"Thank you, Rumple, it's beautiful."

Nothing, nothing, would ever overshadow Belle's beauty, but the rose did complement it nicely.

They continued to walk the market, Belle's arm looped with his as had become normal while Azzy trailed alongside them. There was a lot more locally made merchandise for sale on the Limestone than in the other places they'd travelled, but that was to be expected when the whole island consisted of one town, a handful of villages and a smaller demand for outside goods than on the mainland.

That salty sea air still drifted through Dunnmere, but they'd become accustom to it and hardly noticed any longer. To anybody who glanced their way, the pair probably looked like a couple out for a stroll, especially once Belle had the rose; Rumple envied them for that, they could think it without having the truth destroying the illusion.

All good things came to an end eventually, and soon they'd bought what they needed and returned to the Watch house where they found the Watchers loaded and ready to go. Rumple restored Svad's reins, helped Belle onto the horse while Lieutenant Erling tried to make himself sound in charge, then headed off for the Osgar Hall Cavern's entrance. Roughly four hours the journey would take if they pushed the horses and took the shortcut – they would, Skane had insisted – but getting to the entrance was only the first leg of their journey.

~X~

Arriving at the Caverns pleased Belle greatly because of the simple fact that four hours on a horse with next to no breaks was remarkably unkind to one's lower back and spine. The Osgar Hall Caverns might have been extensive but, after they'd hitched Svad up with the other horses, Rumple found the entrance to be little more than a giant hole in the ground. It was guarded like Commander Skane had said, but the camp had done little more than stake a few poles into the ground to hang lanterns on at night. If this was the state of things, Rumple nor Belle had any desire to see the other so-called openings.

Maybe fifteen Watchers had been stationed at the camp and none of them seemed particularly happy to see the arrival of more adventurers. The one in charge, if his confident swagger was anything to go by, approached Lieutenant Erling and glared expectantly.

"Captain Underwood, we have orders from Commander Skane to take these two adventurers down into the Caverns."

"Do you now?" Underwood thrust out his hand demandingly. "Orders." Erling quickly handed them over while Belle rubbed subtly at her back and Rumple stepped closer to the entrance for a better look. "Fine, but on your heads be it."

Fortunately for convenience's sake, Rumple could see the floor at the bottom of the shaft – littered with debris and soggy from condensation, but he could see it.

Belle pulled down her hood then and stretched while Azzy took the chance to curl up at her feet and rest; she might have ridden Svad all the way, but the poor waheela had been forced to jog alongside them. Captain Underwood took the opportunity to flagrantly ogle Belle; his grin actually had her creep a little closer to Rumple while Azzy, who'd picked up on Belle's sudden change in mood via the taming bond they shared, pushed passed his fatigue to growl warningly at the Watcher.

"You sure you want to go down there, darlin'?"

"I go with my master." She told him without hesitation.

Azzy growled again and Captain Underwood thankfully took the hint because he sighed and pointed vaguely towards the perilous entrance.

"I'll have the climbing equipment readied for you."

A flurry of activity erupted then as Watchers went this way and that preparing gear. Ektor helped with the ropes and Erling muttered quietly with Underwood in what Rumple assumed was a joint effort to appear important, all while Belle and Rumple gathered what they required from Svad's saddle bags. They needed to get into the tunnel network soon or they'd lose the light.

"I've never been in a cave before." She disclosed as though such a thing were unusual for a princess. "Still no idea what is down there?"

Rumple shrugged. "None whatsoever."

"Good job I have the First Demon Lord to protect me then."

Quietly, his mind uttered the words 'odd princess' as they headed over to the entrance with their things. The Watchers seemed ready for an arduous trek what with their heavy equipment and repeated checking that the ropes were secured.

"We'll go first, then you and the girl can follow us down." Announced Erling as he adjusted his helmet. "Be careful though, it's a long way to the bottom."

Rumple waved the false concern off. "No need for ropes, dearie."

With that Belle rested one hand on his forearm and the other on Azzy's head, while Rumple grabbed Erling and Ektor by the shoulder, then swiftly teleported them down to the bottom gracefully as though it were nothing. Up top the Watchers stared, some were even open-mouthed.

"What was that? Was that – was that spacial magic?" Ektor stuttered. "I thought only demon lords could do that."

"Gordana sent us for a reason, dearie." Rumple sighed as he skilfully sidestepped the comment. "Just give me that map Skane spoke of."

"That's Commander Skane to you." Erling insisted and for the first time Rumple actually looked at him.

The two Watchers were about the same height, both had dark hair and short beards, but Erling seemed glued to his helmet despite most of his kin not bothering with them. His right eye was missing and scarring ran down his cheek which probably had something to do with it: if he feared being stared at or that whatever took the right eye would return for the left, remained unknown.

To be perfectly honest, it didn't matter one iota what the two Watchers looked like, Rumple would surely forget them as soon as he departed the Limestone like the background characters they were. These men almost certainly had families and friends, things they were proud of and the odd interesting story or two, but to Rumple they were just there to slow him down. That had always been a trait of Rumple – actually, it was a trait of all Dark Ones, that a person remained firmly in the realm of unimportance until a use for them suddenly presented itself. Had he bothered to ask, Rumple would have learned that Ektor was the youngest of seven sons and actually Skane's cousin, he'd have also discovered that Erling never removed his helmet not because he was a stickler, but because he'd once seen an arrow embed itself in his best friend's skull on the one day he'd not bothered to put his helmet on. Sadly, those stories, nor the fact that the two Watchers actually shared the same first name, wouldn't ever make it to Rumple or Belle

Rumple snatched the map from Erling once he'd fished it out and leaned towards the sunlight for a proper look. It was crudely drawn, clearly by a Watcher rather than an actual cartographer, and there were multiple sections which simply ended. Skane had mentioned the Caverns went on forever and not all of it had been mapped, but Rumple had hoped for more than dead ends and mysteries. A couple of sections had been given rather unimaginable names such as the 'Loops' and the 'Pit' but at least they knew there had been a City Watch camp down there at one point – long abandoned, but it did suggest that the upper level of the Osgar Hall Caverns would be fairly safe. Annoyingly the tunnels all seemed to circle back on each other meaning that Rumple would likely utilize his spacial magic several times before the night was through. At least nothing looked narrow, but that didn't automatically mean easy terrain. If anything showed itself to be too strenuous he'd just have to see how far his understanding of earth magic had come.

"This City Watch camp, why was it abandoned?"

"We aren't entirely sure," admitted Erling while Ektor lit a torch. "It was a very long time ago. Probably had something to do with crixx or a collapsing tunnel."

Belle peered over Rumple's shoulder at the underwhelming map. "There are six unmapped tunnels, at least one of them must lead deeper down."

If the section with the abandoned camp might have been unstable, they'd ignore the unexplored tunnel by the Loops until last.

"Systematic is best, Belle. We map the first one after the Cathedral and see what happens."

Ektor squinted at them. "Do all adventurers act so death-or-glory?"

Was that what it looked like? Sure he could be flamboyant and dramatic at times for his own amusement or to irritate some do-gooder but, as an immortal, he couldn't die and he certainly had no desire for glory.

Rumple rolled up the map. "I prefer to think of myself as getting on with it."

Then he was off with Azzy and Belle who did her best to hide her giggle; she really was the only one who laughed at his quips and deadpan comments. The two Watchers shared a glance then shouldered their stuff and followed. Exactly what they'd done to get dumped with this job, they'd likely never know.

The tunnel leading to Osgar's Cathedral – whoever the hell Osgar was – turned out to be fairly level and dry, but by the gods did it get cold fast. Rumple was grateful for the coat Una Quartermaine had made for him and Belle was soon forced to pull the woollen coat they'd purchased at the same time as his spinning wheel out of her satchel.

At the opening the walls had been a yellowy-brown color, but the further they went the grayer everything became and the Limestone proved just how it had gotten its name. At the first fork there was a disturbing looking crack leading deep down into the darkness that they all stepped around carefully as they continued to the right, the second fork had startled the Watchers into almost drawing their swords until Rumple had pointed a clawed finger upwards to the intermittent drips which kept splatting onto the cold ground. When they reached the Cathedral, the group came to an abrupt stop and Belle actually gasped because she couldn't quite believe just how big the room was. The word cathedral had not been an overstatement. Three large pillars in various sizes held up the cavernous room and stalactites hung precariously all over the ceiling. Most of the right side seemed unstable thanks to the numerous stalagmites and watery cracks in the rock, not to mention the rubble in the far corner, so they awkwardly began their trek through the sloped room in single file. With the natural light totally gone, and Ektor's torch impractical, Rumple made a fireball and shot it up over their heads to float with them.

"Is a big ball of fire wise?"

"It gives us light and it'll dim if the oxygen level gets low."

Belle seemed proud of him, and why did that stroke his ego? "Light and an early warning system in one. Very smart."

Yes, there was a subsection of fire magic which had a spell called 'ball light' for just such a situation, but Rumple hadn't quite got the hang of light magic yet or any of the spells in its arsenal. Of course, he'd not go telling anybody that if he could help it.

Traversing the Cathedral and the narrowing tunnel which followed had taken much longer than they'd hoped and little conversation occurred during that time. Erling and Ektor thought they were on babysitting duty and clearly didn't trust Rumple after he'd shown he could use spacial magic; Belle wearing a slave collar hadn't helped either. While Rumple had gone unimaginably long periods of time without talking so didn't feel the compulsion. To be perfectly honest, the only one who'd broken the quietude had been Belle when she'd sporadically asked questions or when she'd thanked Rumple for catching her after her foot had slipped.

Towards Spider's Nexus the path had levelled out allowing them to pick up speed. It was a straight tunnel with nowhere for monsters to jump out or dripping water to scare the Watchers, so making it to the end had been a breeze. Unlike Osgar's Cathedral, the path to Spider's Nexus had rather low ceilings – Erling and Ektor probably would have been able to easily touch it with their hands. As long as they didn't have to crawl, nobody cared. Rumple pulled the map back out while Erling dropped his pack to the floor.

"Okay, we rest now. Ektor, you're on watch."

Belle nor Azzy needed telling twice, they slumped down for a well deserved rest while Ektor kept an eye out and Rumple studied his map. Had he been on his own, Rumple would have kept moving, but he wasn't on his own.

"Want to share the apple I brought?"

Gods, could Belle be any more angelic? Her sweet smile and kindness – he shook his head both to quieten his mind and answer Belle. He wanted to hurry up and get this quest Gordana had forced upon them over with because, if there was one thing he wouldn't stand for, it was the savage murder and mutilation of children. Still, Rumple was fully aware Belle and the two other men weren't like him, they needed breaks to eat and sleep. To be honest, he needed sleep no matter how much he pretended he didn't. After scrabbling their way around boulders through the Cathedral, Rumple supposed they'd earned a rest – a short one.

After fifteen minutes Rumple insisted that they continue on and, though he honestly didn't like the demon, Erling agreed. Belle hadn't been a pampered princess even before Gaston had shown up with his primeval ideas to ruin her life and kingdom, so she had no complaint when Rumple helped her to her feet. The bath she'd take once everything was over and they'd returned to the Teapot Inn gave her feet the will to keep moving.

An hour, it took an hour for them to figure out that the northern unmapped tunnel between the Cathedral and Nexus just came to an anticlimactic dead end with a precarious hole.

"Total waste of time." Rumple grumbled as he scribbled the path they'd taken down on the map.

"It's another damn pit." Ektor commented, so Rumple labelled this newly explored section as 'Other Pit', then, just like at the entrance, teleported them back to where they'd taken a break earlier. "Good Drazva! You have to stop doing that."

Rumple just smirked, he didn't care if the Corporal felt unwell, not when he'd just saved them an hour walk. Belle, meanwhile, knew how long it had taken her to get used to the First Demon Lord's powers and took pity on Ektor by offering him some water.

The Spider's Nexus turned out to have a rather domed shape to it and all of the unexplored tunnels were up on ledges which explained why they'd not been traversed sooner. There were so many places to be ambushed though, so much so that Belle could feel the Watchers go onto high alert. They might not have seen so much as a mouse so far but anything could have been lurking anywhere.

They had to find somewhere to camp for the night, they'd packed provisions for four days and Belle's entire satchel smelt of fresh bread, so there wasn't any big hurry to head back up to the surface. This time when Rumple teleported them it was up to one of the ledges which led to the far west tunnel. If they didn't find somewhere suitable to camp then he could always just use the spot he'd spied just before the Cathedral.

With determination, Rumple marched froward with hope of finding some kind of convenient staircase that would guide them to the exact place the needed to be, but that didn't happen and soon the tunnel narrowed so much they'd got no hope of squeezing any further. Defeated Rumple moved the group back to a more open section, walled up the tunnel with magic to prevent any pesky spiders or other such monsters grabbing them in the night, and finally gave his companions the respite they needed.

These dark passageways weren't safe by any definition of the word, any of Dreymyr's strange beasts could have jumped out snarling or hissing, so Rumple set to work building a barrier just as he had when they'd been travelling with Callum and Ian. Erling and Ektor appeared to share his concerns because they quickly started talking about a watch rotation that Rumple ignored. Were anything drastic to happen, he could always teleport them back outside.

How long rainwater had taken to dig out such an extensive karst cave was almost incomprehensible; it seemed like less than one percent of the Osgar Hall Caverns had actually been explored and Rumple had no desire to navigate the whole place before he found out exactly what was causing all those deaths.

Erling pulled his bedroll out from his pack while Ektor focused on making a fire for them to warm themselves by. Neither Belle nor Rumple had packed bedrolls, just food and smaller items; not because they'd forgotten, but because Rumple simply snapped his fingers to summon the bedrolls from his vault back in Ranga. The Watchers might have had to cart their stuff around like pack mules, but Rumple certainly didn't.

Soon a campfire roared to life bouncing a soothing orange glow off of the sad cave walls and causing kindling to crackle. There hadn't been any striking of flint, no, Ektor had instead created the smallest fireball ever seen and set it amongst the tinder. Belle helped him in preparing a simple soup for their meal, a skill she'd picked up from Callum, while Rumple finished making his barrier and Erling used the communication crystal – which looked far more like a hand mirror than expected – to make his report to Skane. Once he had finished, the man ever glued to his helmet stared towards the single opening to their camp.

"I have first watch."

"No, you don't. I'll do it."

Rumple didn't wait a single second for a response, simply moved away from the fire to slip into the inky darkness with his map. Belle watched him go; he only ever seemed to be nice to her – irritating because it left her constantly apologizing for his attitude, but also something which made Belle feel special. Erling slumped down opposite her, the crackling fire between them.

"Okay, seriously, what is with that demon?" He gestured loosely behind him with a jolt of his head. "I don't know if I should be protecting him from monsters or me from him."

Ektor breathed out a laugh. "You can say that again, sir. What was Commander Skane thinking sending only four of us down here? This is suicide."

"Rumpelstiltskin may be a demon but he's not a monster. He just isn't very good with people." There she went apologizing for him again and providing reassurance. "I fully understand his magic can be intimidating and even scary, but he truly does want to put a stop to whatever is doing those horrible things to people. He is here to help."

"Not to sound rude," began Ektor as he leaned towards her. "You're his slave, so don't you have to say nice things about him?"

"I may have a collar but he didn't enslave me."

Realization dawned on Erling and Ektor, a realization she'd seen dawn on a few people since Gaston's idiocy had gotten her accidentally enthralled to the Dark One. As soon as folk learned Rumple hadn't put that collar on her for his benefit, there was only one other reason people thought of.

"Ah," Erling nodded. "You're one of those who chose it."

A slight accusation crept into his deep voice though Belle opted to pretend she'd not noticed. While she could have started an argument over the reason she had that collar around her neck, point out what Rumple had told her about magic bouncing back and all, it honestly wasn't worth it and would have given away who she truly was.

Belle decided to nod and go along with their assumption. "Yes."

Telling them what they'd already concluded for themselves got her strange looks, like they couldn't comprehend why a woman would willingly bind herself to Rumple, but Belle didn't care. The topic had been dealt with and Belle – well, she found the idea of being bound to Rumple had started to sound slightly pleasant.