The night went by without any issues for the adventurers. There was an abandoned feast fall next to the dungeon that they chose to sleep in, allowing whoever was keeping watch to call out for help in case the prisoners escaped. There were also stairs that led to the top floor of Thistletop, allowing the group to confirm that the sun had set while they went through the final fights. They had done well during the day, and with Nualia and her allies apprehended, they didn't have to worry about Malfeshnekor being freed while they were unprepared. The goblins outside would eventually want to return to Thistletop but the adventurers still had time to make sure that Malfeshnekor was destroyed.

Draul slept easily until Razvan woke him up for his shift. After reciting a short prayer to Sarenrae, he made his way to the dungeon to keep watch over the prisoners. Earlier in the night, he had overheard them regaining consciousness and heard them scream taunts towards their captors. Nualia was the loudest, still unable to get over her defeat, but as the hours passed by, she and her allies fell asleep. Draul was tempted to wake Orik up and see if he was willing to face Malfeshnekor, but for now, he thought it best to let all of the prisoners sleep. It was a quiet shift but he was fine being left alone with his thoughts.

After a couple of hours, Draul's shift came to an end when Corita and Kennick (in his coldborn form) stepped into the room. Corita had gathered some rations to share with the prisoners for breakfast while Kennick intended to stand guard in case they tried anything. Draul nodded in approval with the idea and made his way back to the feast hall to find that both Razvan and Mariel were awake. Razvan nodded toward the paladin while Mariel studied from Nualia's journal. She had to take a break from reading before making a breakthrough and was hoping to find more information on Malfeshnekor before the adventurers continued their exploration of Thistletop. Draul searched his backpack and pulled out a bag of dried berries and a bread roll for his breakfast to eat quickly.

Once Draul finished his meal, Mariel snapped the journal shut and placed the book in her backpack.

"I'm afraid that there isn't a lot on Malfeshnekor," Mariel admitted with a sigh. "Nualia was more focused on working out a ritual to control him than exploring the rest of the complex. The rooms we went through were the only ones that they explored."

"So we're going in blind," Razvan frowned. "I'm not expecting a lot of monsters but there'll probably be traps."

"Have either of you thought of any advantages we can use against Malfeshnekor?" Draul asked.

"My magic has been restored and I've studied a few new spells before falling asleep but nothing that tips the odds in our favor," Mariel answered.

"I think you both know where I stand on what we could do," Draul said. "I think I can convince Orik to help us for the fight in exchange for some leniency."

"Which we don't have the authority to give," Mariel pointed out.

"I say we go for it," Razvan said, stepping away from the wall. "If Malfeshnekor kills us all, there's nothing stopping him from doing the same to the prisoners. At least if Orik joins us, we give him a fighting chance against Malfeshnekor."

"Do you know what Corita and Kennick think of my idea?" Draul asked.

"Kennick's been quiet and I think he just wants to get back to Sandpoint," Razvan explained. "Corita should be fine if we do offer Orik a chance to fight though."

"I suppose having one extra warrior means there's one more person Malfeshnekor has to get through to kill me," Mariel said and slowly nodded. "Let's make the offer and see what happens next."

Draul nodded in agreement and led the way back into the prison. Corita waved toward the trio while Kennick kept his attention on the prisoners. Orik and Lyrie had finished eating the rations Corita provided while Nualia and Tsuto remained seated in their respective cells, their food still on a plate. Nualia glared at the adventurers while Tsuto looked down at the ground with a frown. Orik stood up and approached the cell door, waiting to see what his captors had to say, while Lyrie paced around in her cell along with her familiar. Draul looked over each of the prisoners for a few moments before speaking up.

"I feel that all of you should know that we're getting ready to release Malfeshnekor so that we can kill him," Draul announced and clasped his hands behind his back. "We feel this is the only way to ensure that no one can release his evil upon the world. Once we've succeeded, we'll take all of you back to Sandpoint."

"You won't make it that far," Nualia shook her head and chuckled. "Malfeshnekor will tear you all apart when you release him."

"Maybe, but between the goblins and the freed monster, I would think that you would want to support us," Razvan said with a smirk. "We're your best chance of getting all of you out alive."

"And to make sure that we can defeat Thistletop, I would like to ask for help," Draul said and turned to Orik. "Nualia may have hired you for protection but I believe that job is over. Instead, I would like to ask for you to help defeat Malfeshnekor."

"Really?" Orik blinked several times in surprise.

"This is your chance to make amends," Draul told Orik with a reassuring smile. "If you help us, I'll be sure to put in a good word with the authorities on how you helped us."

"It's not gold but it's better than nothing," Orik commented, and after a few seconds, nodded. "Alright. I'll help."

"Seriously?" Lyrie turned to Orik's direction and crossed her arms. "Way to stab us in the back."

"Seeing as how you're all plotting to destroy Sandpoint, I think Orik changing sides is a good thing," Corita pointed out. "I look forward to fighting with you, Orik."

"You'll die with them," Nualia stated quietly.

Orik shrugged. "Probably, but if I'm going to die, I'd rather die with my sword in hand than being devoured by a monster because I'm trapped in this cell."

"We'll let you get your armor and gear back on before we head back down," Draul said and took out the keys to the cells. "Razvan, can you scout ahead and disable that trap?"

"Sure thing," Razvan nodded quickly and walked off, heading to the lowest level of Thistletop.

Draul released Orik out of his cage as the group, and even though his old companions glared at him, the mercenary sighed in relief. Corita led him to one of the rooms in the feast hall where they kept the prisoner's equipment with Draul and Kennick following behind them as guards. Mariel went off on her own, heading off in the direction Razvan went to catch up with him. The adventurers gave Orik space in an adjacent room so that he could get his armor on. Draul couldn't help but smile, believing that this was the first step in helping someone find redemption. It was a matter of convincing the other prisoners to listen to him.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kennick questioned and crossed his arms. "Do you really think we can trust Orik?"

"I believe so, yes," Draul nodded. "Orik was our enemy only because he was paid to fight against us."

"And now that we've beaten him, he's looking into how best to survive," Kennick pointed out with a frown. "The first chance he gets, he'll try to escape on his own."

"Or he could stand his ground with us," Draul said. "I tried to talk him into surrendering to you and the others when we found out you were coming to save us and he insisted on fulfilling his job. Defeating Malfeshnekor is his new job so I think he'll fight alongside us until then."

"And I don't think he's going to find a chance to escape on his own," Corita added, nodding along with Draul's explanation. "There's five of us to stop him from running, and with how we've handled some of our recent fights, Malfeshnekor won't get a chance to strike any of us down."

Kennick grunted. "We'll see, but if Orik does try to run away, I'm not going to let him escape."

The conversation came to an end when they heard the clanking of armor that let the adventurers know Orik was leaving the room. Kennick checked the room to make sure that the mercenary didn't take anything that belonged to him but nothing was out of place aside from Orik wielding Nualia's magical blade, which was an exception Draul allowed to help fight against Malfeshnekor. Orik raised the sword up in salute towards the paladin, who nodded in approval. Kennick may have been suspicious of Orik's motives but Draul felt that they could trust their former enemy. After his search, Kennick closed the door to the prisoners' belongings and went down to the lower levels without a word with the others following behind him.

The group made it to the lower levels to find that the lanterns from before had been relit. Draul saw Razvan and Mariel ahead with the rogue standing up from the floor tile while the wizard looked back at her remaining companions, holding one of the lanterns in her hands. With the rest of the dungeon remaining unexplored, they would need the lantern's light to see what dangers awaited them. With the floor trap disarmed for the time, the group made it to the end of the hallway and turned to their right, away from the chamber they fought Nualia in. Draul took the lead and took a deep breath as he braced himself for danger. With the others nodding, the paladin opened the door and led the way through a short hallway to the next chamber.

There were no threats to be found and Draul quickly realized that they were in another hallway. The hallway turned around a corner to his left and led to a dead end to his right. The wall on the dead end held a circular carving of stacks of gold from the floor to the ceiling. There were easily thousands of carved coins on the wall, each holding tiny and spiky runes on their edge. Draul shook his head and went left around the corner with the other adventurers following behind him. Stone doors led further into a complex with two skeletons reaching for a single skull between them carved into the doors.

Draul pushed the stone doors open, revealing a large chamber with a domed ceiling that was supported by four pillars. There were six alcoves in the walls, three on each side, holding sarcophagi. Toward the end of the chamber was a large stone statue. The statue depicted a man in robes with a stern expression that held a glaive in one hand and a tome in the other. Mariel's lantern lit the way as the group circled around the statue.

Corita snapped her fingers. "Oh! I know who this is. It's one of the Runelords, Karzoug, I think."

"That's… that's right," Mariel nodded, turning to the bard in surprise. "But you're not an expert on Thassilon. How did you know?"

"I've read a lot of books back home and I remembered what he looked like from a depiction in one of them," Corita explained with a nod. "I didn't really care much for what was written but the illustrations were fantastic."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Mariel muttered quietly.

Razvan chuckled. "At the very least, we know for sure that we're in another Thassilonian ruin."

"Indeed," Draul said. "Mariel, is there anything you can tell us about Runelord Karzoug?"

"Not much," Mariel admitted. "He was the final runelord of greed before Earthfall. Karzoug was cruel and-"

"Hold on," Orik interrupted Mariel and took up a defensive stance. "There's something moving in the darkness!"

Orik pointed towards a sarcophagus and Draul could see flickers of movement in the darkness that remained unlit by Mariel's lantern. The paladin blinked several times, and after remembering that they were in a crypt, realized that they were dealing with shadows. The others started to notice the strange abominations as they surrounded the group. Draul counted three shadows but wouldn't be surprised if he had missed more. Shadows were dangerous, able to drain the strength of others while being able to endure most weapons.

Draul's greatclub normally wouldn't be able to strike a shadow, but when the paladin pulled his weapon out, he called for Sarenrae to aid him in battle. A gold-and-red light enveloped his greatclub as he singled out one of the shadows. Draul charged at the shadow, slamming his greatclub down across it. The shadow wailed out once before a bolt of arcane power struck it, dissipating the creature. The light from his weapon faded away and Draul looked over his shoulder, nodding toward Mariel out of thanks for her support.

Kennick singled out one of the other shadows, but his claws moved through the creature as if it wasn't there. The coldborn blinked in surprise and stepped back as the shadow lashed out with its arm. After Kennick avoided the attack, Corita advanced toward the shadow and her magical sword slashed away at it. The third shadow tried to advance on Mariel only for Orik to step in its way. He stabbed at the shadow but it pressed on, grabbing the mercenary. Orik yelped out in pain and his sword fell to the ground as he struggled to lift it. Fortunately, Razvan was quick to come to Orik's aid and stabbed his sword through the shadow's neck, destroying it.

With only one shadow remaining, Draul clutched the holy symbol hanging from his neck to channel a warming wave across the group. The holy attack drove the shadow back into the darkness but Corita was quick to follow it, slashing at the creature with her sword. Mariel finished off the shadow with a single magical missile and silence fell over the crypt. Draul expected more shadows to emerge and sighed in relief after several seconds, deciding that the fight was over.

"Is everyone okay?!" Draul called out.

"I didn't get hit," Razvan answered quickly. "Mariel, let's check the rest of the room to make sure there aren't any more threats."

"I'm not in pain but I feel drained," Orik told Draul with a frown. "I can hardly lift up my sword and shield now."

"So you're useless to us," Kennick grunted, his arms crossed.

"Shadows can drain the strength of even the mightiest of warriors," Draul explained and stepped toward Orik. "Fortunately, my magic should be powerful enough to help you recover."

"Really?" Orik asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"I believe so," Draul nodded and placed a hand on Orik's shoulder, channeling divine magic to the warrior. "The Dawnflower has granted me more power after everything yesterday. I take this as a good omen of what's to come."

"Right," Orik nodded and lifted up his sword from the ground. "I feel a lot better. Thank you, Draul."

"It's not a problem," Draul assured the mercenary.

"So, what now?" Corita asked, watching Razvan and Mariel explore the room. "We haven't found Malfeshnekor yet and I don't think he's in here."

"There might be a secret door somewhere," Razvan said, pressing his hands to the floor as Mariel held her lantern up for him to see. "I'm keeping an eye out for one since it doesn't seem like there are any more monsters here."

Draul waited along with his companions to see if there was a secret door in the crypt. After a few minutes of searching, Razvan pushed on a stone hard enough, pushing open a hidden door. Mariel's lantern showed that it led into another hallway with stairs leading down. Once again, Draul took the lead and headed deeper into the complex. He felt that the stairs were a good sign that they were getting closer to Malfeshnekor, and when he came across the door, he prepared himself to face the barghest. After looking over his shoulder to see that his companions were ready, Draul opened the door and stepped into the room.

The adventurers fanned out into the room and were surprised to find that the left-most half of the chamber had collapsed into a large tidepool with the water sloshing around. There were numerous gold coins glinting in the water along with a gold helmet fit for a giant. Corita ran over to the edge of the pool, her eyes in awe at the treasure, while the group looked around at the walls, which depicted treasures of all kinds. The closest wall to the group differed from the rest of the carvings, showing a towering mountain with the peak carved with the face of a man. Below the mountain was an immense city with temples and spires alike.

"Mariel, do you have any idea what this is?" Draul asked, gesturing towards the depiction of the city on the wall.

"I'm afraid not," Mariel shook her head. "If I had to take a guess, it's likely a city that Karzoug ruled. It must have truly been grand back in its day."

"Do you think that's where we're at?" Orik asked.

"I don't think so since there aren't any mountains but who knows what changed with Earthfall," Razvan answered with a shrug. "What about the tidepool? It feels weird that there's treasure underwater."

"We're on an island," Kennick noted. "There could be a tunnel that leads out to water."

Before the group could discuss the matter further, Corita screamed out loudly as a large wave of water burst from the tidepool. The water wasn't enough to knock anyone down but the adventurers were in shock at the cause of the wave. The helmet rose up with the giant hermit crab inside of it darting towards Corita. The young bard slashed at the claw it lunged at, and while the attack drew blood, it wasn't enough to stop the hermit crab from striking her. Corita let out a terrified scream as the giant hermit crab lifted her up from the ground in its claws, threatening to crush her.

Kennick was the first to act at the monster's ambush, launching at the legs and underside of the hermit crab to tear into it with teeth and claws. The coldborn jumped back when the crab tried to slam its other claw on him. Mariel blasted the crab with a dart of magical energy while Draul and Orik charged at the beast. With a swing of his sword, Orik severed the giant crab's claw that held Corita, freeing her from the beast's grasps. Draul swung his greatclub down on the crab's face with enough force to crunch through the tough shell and end the creature's life. The corpse of the crab fell back into the water, staining the pool with its blood.

"Corita!" Razvan gasped. "Are you alright?!"

"It didn't draw blood but I'll be sore for a few days," Corita sighed in relief and struggled to her feet.

"That was a close call," Orik said, setting his sword aside to help Corita up.

"Thank you," Corita said, smiling weakly. "I guess I'll be able to search the pool for treasure with that giant crab dead now/"

"We won't stop to search for any treasure yet," Mariel sharply told Corita. "I don't think Malfeshnekor was imprisoned in this chamber and we haven't found anywhere else he could be."

"There must have been something we've missed," Draul said, looking around. "The rest of the floor should be clear at least. Razvan, do you think that you can look for any hidden doors we may have missed."

"I'll give it my best," Razvan nodded.

"I can help too," Corita offered.

"Good thinking," Draul tapped his chin in thought quickly. "Mariel, you stick with them. Maybe you'll be able to find something out with what you know about Thassilonian history."

"A wise idea," Mariel said and stepped to join Razvan and Corita.

"What about us?" Orik asked, motioning to himself and then to Kennick, who frowned at the mercenary.

"The three of us will make our way back upstairs and check in on the others," Draul told Orik and Kennick. "I don't think Nualia and the others have escaped in the short amount of time we've been gone but we should check in on them just to be sure."

"Right," Kennick said, and without waiting, made his way to the exit.

Draul made his way after Kennick with Orik following after him, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He was worried that they hadn't found Malfeshnekor but he had a feeling that there were plenty of secrets waiting for them in the complex. Draul was confident that Razvan, Corita, and Mariel would be able to discover a way to find where Malfeshnekor was while he made sure that Kennick didn't get into trouble with Orik. They were fortunate enough that they hadn't sustained major injuries and that they had plenty of strength left to fight. Whenever they did find Malfeshnekor, they would be ready to put the barghest down.

A/N: With this chapter, Burnt Offerings is officially over two hundred pages. It's a milestone I feel is worth pointing out as we near the finale.

Until next time.