Pallas crouched down low to the ground, carefully walking toward the direction of the sound ahead of the group. Of the group, not only was he the most quiet when it came to sneaking, but if he was spotted, he was also the quickest to run away in case of trouble. With something strange ahead, Arannis decided that they would investigate before charging in in case there were any problems. Pallas volunteered for the task and his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. With Cassyt and her lantern staying behind, Pallas could make out different shades of gray throughout the catacombs, allowing him to find any threats while hidden in the shadows.
Carefully, Pallas looked around the hallway of the corridor into the next room. The room was littered with rubble and chunks of earth as four corpses stood up against the walls. Pallas figured that they were undead, and even though he couldn't make out a lot of details about them, he saw they had flesh but no sharp claws. He figured that they must have been zombies meant to serve as guards. The scraping sound came from the hallway on the other side of the room and the half-elf took notice of something sitting down by a barrel by the exit of the chamber in that direction. He squinted his eyes for a moment before they went wide when he recognized that there was a kobold by the barrel.
It came as a surprise for Pallas to spot a kobold and he could tell that it was alive instead of undead by the way it snored quietly. He frowned to himself, thinking that it wasn't a good sign there was a kobold in the catacombs. The monk had fought against kobolds only a week ago when a group of them working for the Cult of the Dragon posed as a ghost ship that pillaged settlements across the Moonsea's coast. If there was a kobold in the catacombs it likely meant that the Cult of the Dragon was behind the undead. Arannis would be interested in hearing about the development and Pallas made his way back to the adventurers as quietly as he came.
Arannis, Nalos, Camilla, and Cassyt were waiting by the steps leading into the necropolis. Camilla and Arannis stood guard by the stairs in case of more undead, and when they noticed that Pallas had returned, the dark elf motioned for the rest of the group to join up. When he relayed his report to the others, he was sure to stay quiet. He wasn't too worried about the zombies overhearing them and the kobold was quiet but it was best to be cautious given who they were up against.
"I couldn't find out what the noise was since there were four zombies standing guard but I also found a kobold sleeping by a barrel leading deeper into the catacombs."
"A kobold?!" Nalos gasped. "What's one doing here?!"
"Likely working for the Cult of the Dragon," Pallas said nonchalantly.
"That's quite the accusation," Camilla frowned. "I haven't heard anything about the Cult of the Dragon being active in the area."
"They are," Arannis told Camilla. "We've fought against them once before when they were posing as raiders attacking people across the Moonsea. Hana was looking into the purpose of the attacks but I haven't heard back from her for that."
"I really wish we had her and Nordak with us now," Nalos said with a sigh. "We barely managed to defeat the Cult of the Dragon the last time we fought."
"In our defense, there were also devils thrown into that fight," Pallas pointed out. "If anything, I think this fight is more in our favor than last time."
"And why do you think that?" Camilla asked.
"The Cult of the Dragon were more active when they were attacking other settlements, even if they had to hide their attacks behind a story of a ghost ship," Pallas explained. "As of right now, the Cult of the Dragon has been discreet with their work in the catacombs. Whatever it is they're planning, it's something they're still working on. It might be that they're trying to dig something up for all we know."
"They might not have found whatever it is they're digging for," Arannis nodded in agreement.
"We have to do something," Cassyt said firmly. "We can't let them continue to desecrate the dead."
"But if we attack now, whoever is digging will hear the sounds of combat, giving our enemy time to prepare," Arannis said. "Pallas, do you think we could sneak past the guards?"
"Not likely," Pallas shook his head. "You and Camilla are wearing clunky armor. That'll definitely wake the kobold up, and knowing them, it'll likely try to sound the alarm. We could try killing the kobold first but the zombies are going to get in the way."
"Leave the undead to me," Camilla told the group. "I can drive them back with my divine power and give everyone the chance to deal with the kobold."
"I'll do what I can to help with my magic as well," Cassyt added. "We're close to our enemy and I won't let them escape after their crimes."
"Then we'll strike now," Arannis said with a nod. "Camilla, lead the way. We'll be right behind you."
Camilla stepped forward, leading the way toward the direction Pallas scouted ahead. The adventurers followed behind the paladin, ready for battle. He wasn't sure what Camilla had in mind but Pallas knew that they would need to move quickly if they were going to go after the area the kobold guarded. Once combat started, each second would give the Cult of the Dragon time to react to their attack. Pallas had to admit that Camilla was a powerful fighter, especially when it came to killing undead, but knew that she wouldn't be able to kill four zombies on her own before they could fight back and stall the adventurers.
The zombies broke off from the walls when they saw the light from Cassyt's lantern while the kobold woke up with gasp. However, before the undead could make a move, Camilla held her maul up in the air and channeled a bright light. The magic burst out through her weapon in a golden shockwave, and while Pallas felt nothing when it crossed over him, the same couldn't be said of the undead. They screeched loudly and ran past the adventurers, heading back into the catacombs and away from the sound of digging. Arannis charged forward before the kobold could fall back and impaled it through the chest with both of his swords.
The group quickly ran past the fallen kobold into the next chamber, where the scraping sound had died out. There were a number of straw pallets and scraps of food across the floor, indicating that the Cult of the Dragon have been living in the catacombs for some time. Two more zombies blocked the way deeper into the chamber but past them Pallas could make out two kobolds, a robed man with a scimitar, and a knight in dark armor wielding a sword. The leader of the group, a man with a shaved and tattooed head in red robes, called out to his companions.
"Kill them!"
With the command issued, the bald cultist made his way to the furthest point of the chamber, clearly not ready to fight. Camilla and Nalos charged against the zombies with Cassyt chanting a spell incantation while Pallas and Arannis ran past the undead to pursue the leader. The dark-armored knight stood in Arannis' way and the dark elf raised his swords to block the knight's blade. The two kobolds stood in Pallas' way but they were outmatched. His drinking horn struck one of the kobolds to crack its skull while a sharp kick snapped the neck of the other kobold. Unfortunately, before Pallas could make it further, the red robed leader disappeared in a bright light.
Pallas cursed under his breath when he realized that the leader had escaped with magic. To track him down was likely going to be impossible now. His thoughts were interrupted when the robed man with the scimitar came at him, slashing his curved blade. The monk deflected the blow with his drinking horn and felt magic pushing him past his limits. Pallas tried to jab his drinking horn toward his new foe only for the man to parry the attack with his scimitar. However, this left the cultist open for two punches aimed directly at his chest. The force of the blows, enhanced by the magic, were devastating to the man, who fell down to the ground and went still.
With his foe killed, Pallas turned to look at the rest of his companions. The knight in dark armor was able to match Arannis' skill but found himself on the defensive when Camilla and Nalos charged to join the dark elf, having finished off the undead they fought. Nalos held his hand out, conjuring a beam of moonlight that covered the knight with Camilla battering him across the side with her divine-infused maul. Pallas ran to join the fight against their final foe, but before he could make it, Arannis had battered the knight's sword aside for Nalos to land the final blow, cutting the man's head off with his scimitar.
The group silently looked for where the leader could have fled to with combat over. Although Arannis was quick to notice a tunnel that their enemy had dug up, Pallas pointed out that there was a runic circle where the leader stood when he disappeared. He figured it must have been a teleportation circle, and if that was the case, there wasn't anything they could do to follow him. Hana was the only one of the group that studied arcane magic, and even then, teleportation was beyond her powers. Instead, they would have to search through the documents left behind at a desk.
"You were right, Pallas," Nalos said with a wide smile. "The Cult of the Dragon didn't stand a chance against us!"
"While I agree that the battle went well for us, this wasn't the work of the Cult of the Dragon," Camilla said with everyone turning to face her.
"What do you mean?" Pallas asked, gesturing towards the fallen kobolds. "There were kobolds working for them."
"Be that as it may, notice the armor of the warrior we killed and remember that the man who escaped wore red robes with a shaved head," Camilla pointed out with a frown. "We weren't against a cultist from the Cult of the Dragon, but rather, one of the Red Wizards of Thay."
Cassyt gasped. "You're right! It didn't cross my mind when I first saw them but you're right. That was a Red Wizard that escaped from us."
"Red Wizard? Thay?" Nalos questioned, scratching his head. "I haven't heard of them before."
"Thay is a powerful nation of wizards," Arannis explained. "The Red Wizards are necromancers that operate out of Thay. If they're operating out of the Moonsea, it can't be for anything good. The tunnel must be something important for their plans."
"What about the kobolds?" Pallas asked. "I don't think that kobolds worked for the Red Wizards of Thay."
"They don't but perhaps they were coerced into service," Camilla suggested. "The kobolds could have been afraid of the wizard's necromancy and the undead that they commanded."
"Speaking of, aren't there now more zombies running around the catacombs without anyone to stop them?" Pallas reminded the paladin.
Camilla went pale. "I hadn't considered that the zombies would flee from where we came from when I turned them away from battle. It's my fault so I'll hunt them down myself."
"I'm coming too," Nalos said with Cassyt nodding behind him. "We all came here to kill the undead and I'm not going to stop because some of them got away."
"You go on ahead without me," Arannis said, taking one of the pieces of parchment the Red Wizard was forced to abandon. "I'm going to find out what our enemy was up to."
"I'll stick around as well," Pallas said with a shrug. "If that Red Wizard thinks about coming back, he'll be in for a surprise."
Camilla, Nalos, and Cassyt ran back into the catacombs, hunting down the undead that escaped during the fight. Pallas wasn't concerned with the undead escaping since the wooden stairs leading to the upper catacombs collapsed and figured that between Camilla and Nalos, they would be able to kill the remaining undead without any issues. Pallas looked over Arannis' shoulders to look at the documents and frowned when he didn't recognize the language they were written in. Arannis moved on quickly from several of the documents, also not understanding what was written down, until they came across a detailed map. The map was marked with the same words they couldn't read, but even without being able to translate the words, Arannis was able to figure out what the map covered.
"It looks like our enemy was able to map out the catacombs," Arannis explained. "I'm sure that if Yovir can translate the Draconic words, he'll be able to put the map to good use."
"Draconic?" Pallas asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.
"That's what the words are, or at least I think so," Arannis explained. "I wish Hana was with us. She would be able to translate the documents and figure out what's going on."
Pallas shrugged. "Hey, Arannis, I've been thinking, but isn't it odd that both the Cult of the Dragon and the Red Wizards of Thay are up to no good in the area?"
"It is strange," Arannis nodded in agreement and set the map back down. "Are you going anywhere with this?"
"What if the kobolds weren't working for that Red Wizard because they were afraid but because they were told to?" Pallas continued. "What if our enemies are working together?"
"That would be concerning," Arannis admitted with a frown. "If that is the case, we're going to need as much help as we can get. Perhaps we should consider…"
When Arannis trailed off, Pallas spoke up to finish his thought. "...we should consider asking Camilla for help."
Arannis nodded. "She has proven herself to be capable, and without her, we wouldn't have considered this was the work of the Red Wizards. I know you and her don't get along but-"
"Don't worry about it," Pallas interrupted Arannis and waved his hand dismissively. "I can't stand her that much but you're right. We're going to need as much help as we can get against the Red Wizards and the Cult of the Dragon. Camilla's no slouch when it comes to combat, and even if we're going to keep arguing, at least she isn't one of the Black Fist."
"Truth be told, I'm surprised that you've come along to the idea," Arannis said.
"It'll be good for the kid if he can get back to seeing Jerica too," Pallas added quietly. "If that means having to work with Camilla, then that's a sacrifice I can make."
"I'll see what kind of deal I can negotiate with her when we're out of the catacombs."
"Right." Pallas nodded and frowned. "Nordak's not coming back until sunrise, right?"
"That is what I told him," Arannis answered.
Pallas groaned loudly. Even if they took over the straw pellets the Red Wizard used for sleep, resting in the catacombs wasn't something he was comfortable with. At least it was for one night only and they wouldn't have to worry about the undead coming after them now that they were dealt with.
A/N: We'll wrap up Dues for the Dead next chapter. This story may have been short compared to Secrets of Sokol Keep and Shadows over the Moonsea but I think that Dues for the Dead is where the characters start to understand the threat they face, making it an important step in the journey.
Until next time.
