Chapter One

The earth shook with the impact of what had just happened.  From the site of the catastrophe, dust rose.  It filled the air, creating a haze which made it near impossible for Brandis to see.
The young man stood on a hilltop, overlooking what was left of the town.  His friends were still in there, Brandis knew.  Yet he was sure they were alive.
When Brandis had met Lia and Zen’dik, he’d been given a stone which glowed as long as both of his friends were alive.  It lay in the palm of his hand now, glowing faintly, but still, glowing.
Brandis pocketed the stone and began surveying his surroundings.  A path ran down into the town, but the explosion had scattered debris all over it.  He’d have to climb over it to get down there.  But the only other alternative was to jump down there, and he’d already expended the featherfall scroll that Zen’dik had given him weeks ago.
“Damn it all,” he muttered, and, holding the slightly glowing lifestone tightly in his left hand, he ran as quickly as he could down the hill and onto the path.
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Far below, Zen’dik was surrounded by flames.  The fire seemed to taunt him, tongues of the flame forming indistinctly humanoid shapes.
The tiefling wasn’t about to surrender, though.  He held out his hand, calling on the power of the infernal bargain his ancestors had made many centuries ago.  The flame slowly began to recede, but Zen’drik was still surrounded, and the smoke which was rising was beginning to make it difficult to breath.
Nearby, Lia was not faring any better.  The elf had no means of controlling this fire, so her only chance was to escape.
She looked up; there was a collumn of flame so high that not even she could jump over it.  Lia was wordless, backed into a corner, with no means of survival.
Unless...
Lia reached down into her pack, and began rummaging through for scrolls and other magic items.  She found several scrolls which couldn’t help, and would in fact hurt.  Her hand fell against an amulet.  She  slowly drew it out.
“Impossible,” she whispered.  It was the amulet she had thought she had lost years ago, before she had even left her riverside home.  Obviously she had been wrong.
She drew it out.  The sapphire of its end glinted slightly in the firelight.  She drew up the amulet and pulled its silver chain over her neck.
The elf closed her eyes and walked forward, through the fire.  She felt the flame against her skin, and cried out in pain; but she knew that the amulet was working, for she was still alive.
Lia pushed forward through the flame, but the agony soon left her writhing on the ground.  The amulet would only protect her for so long...it had all been for nothing.
But Lia was incorrect.  The flame receded, and standing over her was Zen’dik.  “Good job getting to the edge without dying; I can’t make the flames move away any more.”
“Let’s get out of here!” Lia cried, reaching for her spellbook.  “I can prepare a spell of haste for both of us.”
“What about Brandis?” Zen’dik asked.  “Are we just going to let him die here?”
“Don’t be a fool, Zen.  He’s up there.  We can pick him up on our way out.”
“Got it.  But please call me by my real name, would you, Lianastha?” said Zen’dik, using Lia’s full name.  He knew that she hated being called by her full name, after forsaking her family when they had begun to work secretly with a group of dark elves.
Lia grunted, finally found the right page in her spell book, and said, “Time to go.”  She grabbed Zen’dik’s arm and summoned up her spell; the two of them went rocketing out of hte village andonto the path on which Brandis waswalking.
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Brandis pushed aside anotherpiece of rubble, then suddenly felt a powerful force take hold of him.  For a split second, he could not see anything; then a blurred pair of forms appeared.
“Lia?” asked Brandis in amazement.  “How did you survive?”
“Easy,” said Lia.  “In case you don’t remember, we are in the company of a tiefling; and I do have that amulet from back home.”
“Right,” responded Brandis, now understanding. “So where we headed, huh?”
“I’m working that out right now.  Just give me a moment.”  She had already decided, though.  She just didn’t want Brandis to panic.
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“This isn’t right,” whispered Brandis as soon as the trio came to a stop.  He hadn’t yet realized where they were; all he knew was that he didn’t like it at all.”
“Well,” responded Lia, “That’s why we’re here.”
Brandis groaned.  “Must we stay here?  Don’t you remember what happened the last time...what happend to Nicholas?”
Lia remembered.  Nicholas had been a friend of Brandis’s, and he’d gone with Lia and her comrades to this place, long ago.  He had been killed by the dragon that inhabited it.  “Yes,” she said.  “I remember.  But we defeated the dragon, remember?”
Brandis nodded, as though it were obvious.  “Of course I do.”  Brandis had been the one to kill the dragon.  He remembered every detail; the sweat on his brow as he struck the final blow, and the spurt of blood signaling the dragon’s demise.  He also still had a scar on his shoulder from the dragon’s razor-sharp claws.
Zen’dik turned to Brandis.  “We’re here for a reason,” he said.  “It was my idea.  The fact is, these caves may be the key to what...or who...caused the village to explode.  You see, as the town exploded, Lia told me that a strong rift had just opened, from this very place.  I suggested that we come and investigate.
“You see,” continued Zen’dik, “The discovery of the culprit behind this event is vital to lifting the curse placed upon my family.  Destroy him, and perhaps I can be human once more.”
Brandis nodded.  “But, I want to be out of here in as short a time as possible.  This place is utterly terrifying, I tell you.  And it’s much too dangerous.”
Lia had already set off.  “Are you coming?” she asked.  Zen’dik instantly ran to catch up with her, while Brandis slowly tagged behind, his sword scraping against the stone floor.  “All right,” he said, “I’m coming.  But I still say that this is a bad idea.”
Brandis walked forward, and with his first step his foot landed in a puddle or blood.  The man recoiled, drawing out his sword.  “It’s fresh,” he said.
“What is?” Lia asked absentmindedly.
“The blood, you fool!” yelled Brandis.  Lia ran over to take a look.  She placed her finger in the puddle of blood and brought it up toward her face.  For a moment, Brandis thought the elf was going to drink it.  But all she did was smell it.  Then, she said,
“Indeed.  Zen’dik, Brandis, you need to be standing within one meter of me while I cast this spell.”  Zen’dik and Brandis both moved to less than a meter away from Lia.  The elf held her hands up into the air and began chanting an indistinct incantation.
Suddenly, Brandis felt a calming sensation.  For a moment, he thought that he was going to fall asleep.
But then, he heard snoring coming from a nearby chamber.  He ran towards the sound.  “Zen’dik, stay here with Lia!” he said.
“In case you don’t remember, I’m the one who gives orders around here,” retorted Lia, her eyes reflecting annoyance.
Brandis entered the chamber to see, in front of him, a creature lying on the ground.  It appeared to be some sort of humanoid, except that this humanoid had four arms and four legs.  Each of the hands had a sword lying next to it.
“Sleeping spell,” said Lia, who had come up behind Brandis.  “That’s why you had to stand within one meter of me, otherwise you would have fallen straight to sleep.  And last time you were unconscious in a cave, I had to carry you.  You’re damn heavy.”
“Thanks,” muttered Brandis, a tone or sarcasm in his voice.
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The group explored the caves for the next few hours, occasionally finding some sort of opening in the rock.  At one point, Brandis attempted to exit through a dangerous gateway; Lia had to force him back with another of her spells.
Zen’dik was scouting ahead, dagger held in front of him, walking down a seemingly endless tunnel.  He felt a rumbling in the ground.
“What was that?” Zen’dik asked, as Lia and Brandis came up behind him.
Lia seemed horrorstruck.  “Cave-in.  We have to get out of here, now!” she yelled, grabbing onto her companions.  “Do not struggle, or you’ll be stuck in here.”
Brandis allowed Lia to shove him into a wall, and then he stayed there.  Lia began casting her spell, and Brandis felt himself moving rapidly.  He was flying out of the caves.
“Finally,” he said quietly.  “I’ve had it with this place.”  Zen’dik and Lia were zooming through the air next to him, Zen’dik looking downcast.  He was convinced that now he would never lift the curse placed on his family.
Brandis felt something rubbing against him.  He turned around, and there was nothing there.
After a moment, the movement stopped.  Brandis looked around, and saw a man standing near the place where Lia had landed.  As the elven wizard pushed herself up, brushing the dust off of her robes, the man walked forward.
“Impressive effort, my lady, but that simply won’t work with me.”  Then he placed his hand on the hilt of a sword which was sheathed to his left hip.
The man had a look of determination in his features.  His blue eyes darted around, looking for his target.
He found that target.  Charging straight towards Zen’dik, he drew out his sword and held it high.
Zen’dik groaned audibly.  He drew out his dagger and short sword, then held up the smaller weapon to block.
The huge sword slammed into Zen’dik’s dagger, knocking the blade from the tiefling’s hand and continuing down towards his head.  The tiefling flattened himself to the ground, then rolled to the side.  The sword buried itself in the ground, causing a cloud of fine dirt to billow into the air.
Zen’dik planted the palm of his left hand on the ground and rotated around, grabbing his dagger with the same hand in which he was already holding his sword.  The tiefling rounded on his attacker, jumped up, and thrust forward the blade.
The sword struck true; it plunged into the man’s neck and came out the other side,  But then, the man just moved to the side, the sword doing nothing to him, laughing.
Somehow, he’d survived!  The man took off an amulet and presented it to Zen’dik.  “This,” he said, “Works perfectly.  While i have it on, you can’t harm me.”
Zen’dik nodded.  “Well, in that case, it was a stupid move for you to take it off.  Because I’m faster than you!”  The sword and dagger dove forward, and the man quickly placed the amulet over his neck, hoping it would be activated in time.
Zen’dik’s dagger was only an inch from the man’s chest, the amulet hadn’t activated yet... but then, something stopped the dagger.  And it was not the amulet.
Standing behind the man was a wizard holding a spellbook in his right hand and a sword in his left.  “Greetings, Tiefling and Human,” he hissed.  “I do not approve of this fight.”  His features changed, and then they were slightly draconic.
The man spoke up.  “You do not command me, dragon of the infernal pact.”
“No,” said the dragon in humanoid form, “But I command him.”
The tiefling turned to the dragon.  “I did not make the pact with you.  That was the mistake of my ancestors, and where I come from, something your anscestors did should not condemn you to servitude!”
The dragon laughed.  “Is that a challenge, scum?” it asked, spitting acid at Zen’dik’s feet.  The acidic substance began to dig into the ground, and also to creep towards Zen’dik’s boots.
“Yes,” said Zen’dik, “It is,”  He held his sword and dagger up high.  “Lia,” he whispered, “get ready.”  As the dragon, enraged, charged toward Zen’dik while reverting into its original form, the man who had tried to kill Zen’dik screamed and jumped aside.  The dragon smiled, grabbing him, digging its claws into his flesh, and then tossing him through the air.
Lia held her spellbook open and perpared to cast a spell upon the dragon that would kill it if things got out of hand.
Zen’dik ducked down, then dug his dagger in the ground, sending up billows of dust.  He then leapt up with dust-covered boots, dagger, and sword.  The dragon could not stop its charge quickly enough to prevent Zen’dik from landing nimbly on the dragon’s face.
The tiefling drew out his dagger and shook it, sending dirt flying through the air.  He closed his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded, but the dragon wasn’t quick enough.
The dirt landed in the dragon’s left eye, and it began to writhe in agony, blinking to get the dirt out.  It failed at that.  Dragons’ eyes were very sensetive.
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That night, Zen’dik, Lia, and Brandis set up camp and lay down to rest.
“Brandis,” Lia said, “Do you think that the dragon had anything to do with how we might manage to lift Zen’dik’s curse?”
Zen’dik spoke up.  “Of course it does.  That’s why I let it live; without it, we can’t turn my family human again.”
Brandis shook his head, confused.  “Honestly, if I had the choice between being some incredibly powerful humanoid creature that can control fire and being a human, I’d choose the former.”
Zen’dik stared straight into Brandis’ eyes.  “I respectfully disagree with you, because I’m no longer welcome anywhere.  And unlike you, I don’t wish to live a life of war.”
Brandis did not respond.  He’d fallen fast asleep.
Lia nudged Brandis with her elbow.  “Stop snoring,” she said, “Or none of us will get any sleep.”
Brandis snorted, rolled over, and stopped snoring.
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The next morning, light shone through the thin fabric of the tent like a lantern through a dark room.  Lia yawned, looked around to see if the others had awoken.  They hadn’t.  She grabbed her spellbook, left an arcane sigil upon her bedroll, and vanished into the early morning.
Lia had teleported herself to her secret tower, where she prepared for the coming day.  It was a distinct possiblility that the group would be caught by the guards trying to keep them out of the cave.
Lia opened her spellbook, finding a group of pages which contained the spells she would need in such a situation.  She drew her finger across the pages, letting the arcane energy flow through her.
Lia turned to the back of the book, finding what was always her final resort for escape.  With this spell, she’d be able to teleport herself and her friends into her tower.
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Brandis’s eyes opened slowly.  He could see the blurred image of Zen’dik stirring, but still asleep.  The mercenary blinked several times, clearing his eyes.  The first thing he noticed that on top of Lia’s bedroll was a strange symbol.  He also noticed that Lia wasn’t there.
Don’t worry about it, he thought to himself.  She does that every morning.  
But he did wonder what in the world Lia did while she was... wherever she was.  He guess that she prepared her spells for te day, but that would make less sense than some other, less appealing possibilities.
Brandis strapped on his scale armor, strapped the scabbard which held his sword onto his side, and left the tent.
Zen’dik woke a few moments later.  He had worn his leather armor throughout the night, and so he was already battle-ready.
Within moments, he had exited the tent.  Just as he did so, Lia reappeared behind him.  “Well,” she said, “It is time to go.  But you won’t like it.”
“Great,” responded Brandis, “We’re going back to the caves?”
“Brandis,” said Lia quickly, “Those caves are now the reason I’m paying you.”
“You must owe Zen’dik a really big favor.”
“Indeed, I do.”  Lia planted her staff in the earth and spun it nervously.  “He saved my life, years ago.
“Anyway,” continued Lia, “We’re going to have to take the back door into the caves.  Which, surprisingly, is the one that’s guarded.  We’ll have to get past a group of elementals in order to reach what lies in teh center of the caves.  It’s quite obvious that’s what we’re looking for, because I’ve had time to study these caves and they formed in an unusual way.
“Now, we’ll need ropes.”  Lia held out her hands, and in it, a thick, long cord of arcane energy was formed.  She lay it out on the ground, then drew a knife out and cut the cord into three equally sized sections.  “These will get us into the caves, and they’ll get us out as well.  Keep them safe.”
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“Are you really sure about this?” asked Brandis, lowering himself slowly into the caves.  He was almost at the bottom of his cord.
“Yes, I am sure!” yelled Zen’dik, who had to raise his voice becuase of the fact that Brandis was far down into the hold which led into the caves.
Brandis continued complaining until he reached the cave floor.  His boots caused the water which lay puddled down there to splash around the area, and he drew out his sword.
Zen’dik and Lia were much quicker to come down; they had less to worry about if they fell.  They were also less likely to fall.  “It’s high time someone lit a torch,” Zen’dik commented, half-angrily.
“No need,” muttered Lia, holding up her fist.  It instantly became illuminated, shedding light upon the cave walls.  Guards stood at every exit from the plain chamber, not attacking yet but showing that if the trio attempted to pass them, they would attack.
Lia pointed a finger toward one guard and said, “That, my friend, is a very bad idea.”  A missile of arcane energy flashed through the air, hitting the guard in the chest and knocking him back.  Though it did not hurt him badly, his mace was knocked out of his hand and, as he rushed to get it, Zen’dik reached down and grabbed a stone off of the ground.  He tossed it with perfect aim, and the guard yelped as the stone crushed his skull.
The other guards from all around the room moved to attack, laughing wickedly, their maces poised to strike.  Zen’dik drew out his sword and dagger, tossing it up into the air, then catching the tip with two of his fingers.  He tossed it towards one of the guards.  The dagger thudded into the guard’s chest, and as he fell to the ground, the dagger disappeared, and re-formed sheathed to Zen’dik’s side.
“You never told me that your dagger could do that!” exclaimed Brandis.
“It wasn’t important at the time,” replied Zen’dik cooly, drawing his dagger out again.
Lia, with a fireball burning in each hand though she did not feel the heat, charged toward a guard and slammed her fists into his stomach.  He jumped back in shock, but then came forward and swung his mace at Lia’s head.
The weapon struck; Lia’s head moved rapidly to the side, and she collapsed to the ground without a sound.  The burning guard fell to the ground as well and died beside his victim.
Zen’dik cried out in horror, for Lia was his only hope of lifting the curse on his family.  He ran to her side, drew out something she’d given him that would most likely save her.
The thing that Zen’dik took out of his pack was a small gemstone with magical healing properties.  He placed it onto the unconscious wizard’s forehead, and it began to glow.
Another guard came by and grabbed the gemstone.  Zen’dik knew that he shouldn’t use it until the guards had been defeated.  The tiefling drew his dagger out of its scabbard once more, threw it through the air.
A bloody spray emphasized his determination as the guard fell to the ground.
Zen’dik and Brandis stood back-to-back, swords in hand.  Brandis held his sword to block a blow from a guard’s mace, but the mace found its way past the sword.  The heavy pounded metal bludgeoned into Brandis’s thick steel armor, knocking the man back.
Zen’dik turned around and cut down the guard that was harrassing Brandis.  As he turned around, another guard took the opportunity and hit him in the back.  Theleather armor he wore prevented the mace from cracking his spine, but the tiefling still was knocked to the ground.
Brandis sliced off that guard’s head.
Only one more guard remained.  He hefted his mace and advanced toward Brandis, confident that he could defeat an isolated foe.
The guard charged forward, drawing out a sword in addition to his mace.  He swung the sword at Brandis’s head, and the mercenary blocked the blow.  The guard then brought his mace towards Brandis’s chest while pushing forward with his sword in order to keep Brandis from being able to block.
But Brandis ducked, releasing the pressure he was applying with his sword.  The guard spun around, not able to stop himself quite quickly enough.  Brandis took a blow from the mace, but it simply caused him to stumble.  Neither the guard nor Brandis could hurt the other... for the moment.
Brandis stared at the guard in absolute fury.  The guard returned his fury, unexpectedly slashing with his sword towards Brandis.
Brandis was thrown against the cave wall, his sword fell from his hand and clattered to the ground.  He fell forward onto his face and groaned, reaching out to grab his sword.
It was beyond his reach, and before he could move forward, the guard had planted his foot on Brandis’s back, preventing him from grabbing it.  Brandis still tried to move, and felt himself moving, but very slowly.  The guard fingered his sword, slowly drew it out.  He placed it pointed towards a rather obvious weak point in Brandis’s armor.
But just as the guard was about to stab Brandis in the back, the mercenary placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword.  He pulled it back slightly, then held it comfortably and swung it over him, towards the guard’s leg planted on his back.
The guard’s left leg parted from his body.  He cried out in pain, hopping backwards on the leg that he had left.  His sword fell from his hand, the flat of the blade hitting Brandis on the head.
He yelped, and his head slammed against the ground.
Zen’dik slowly pushed himself up, then realized what was happening and ran towards the guard he had killed.  He flipped over their body and pulled the gemstone out of their hand, then ran over to Lia’s side and placed it on her forehead.
The gem glowed faintly, and Lia’s eyes opened.  “You remembered,” she murmured.  “You are more useful than I thought.”  She smiled weakly.
“Then you have obviously underestimated my worth,” responded Zen’dik, smiling also.  “Let’s go.”