Tarl poked through the rubble, all that remained from what had been an enormous, animated stone statue, a golem, to assure himself it was truly dead… not that it was ever really alive. It was just the latest threat in what seemed like an endless series of near lethal encounters with ghouls, ghasts, magical constructions and gobliniods of all descriptions, from annoying goblins to brutal bugbears, which had plagued them since they entered this subterranean hell. Four days after leaving Silverymoon, they were in the tiny town of Rivermoot, where tales of unusual goblinoid activity led them north along the Surbrin river, into the area around Mithral Hall. They thought they’d gotten lucky catching the trail of a score of bugbears in the foothills near the dwarven stronghold, but quickly learned that they’d been lured into what turned out to be a seemingly endless maze of underground passages and chambers with their escape sealed off by a massive stone deadfall. Now, having spent an unknown toll of days in the hellish labyrinth they were running low on both supplies and hope. “I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being led somewhere,” Nykira observed as the companions took a moment to rest and determined their best option. They’d reach a yet another juncture of shadowy passages that seemed to lead off in every direction. “It’s almost like someone is testing us.” “That’s some cruel test lass,” Tarl grumbled with a heavy sigh. Even his usually jovial disposition was waning in the aftermath of so many battles. “You fail… you die!” “If we’re being tested… a don’t think I want to know why,” Galen observed, as he sank down heavily to the solid stone floor, his back against a wall. Casting spells drained his energy just as readily as combat tired the others, and his was rapidly becoming depleted. “I don’t know about being tested, but we’re definitely being led somewhere,” Aeron announced soberly, dropping to the floor close to Nykira. “At every possible turn we’ve been forced to go deeper into the mountain. Someone or something is directing these attacks and it clearly wants us somewhere specific… if we survive long enough to get there. I’m sure if we try any of the side passages, we’ll be forced back here to head that way,” he pointing to the passage nearly dead ahead. “Most likely under fire or being pursued by something worse than that thing,” motioning to the ruble remains of the golem. “Then there’s nothing for it,” Tarl snorted with a huff. “If we’re going to be forced straight ahead anyway, why not just face facts and meet whatever it is head on.” “Someone’s there,” Faeryl declared, moving closer to the passage Aeron had indicated, her darkvision allowing her to see into the abject blackness. Though dwarves also possessed the same sight, the figure was just reaching the edge of Tarl’s sight, while she could see twice as far. But this form of vision only showed them shades of black and white. Their attention drawn to the darkened opening, even Galen, who lacked any form of enhanced vision could make out movement in the shadows. While, as an elf, Nykira could naturally see twice as far in darkness as a human and Aeron’s enchanted belt gave him similar sight. As they all leapt to their feet and took defensive stances, a bright ruby light suddenly flashed into existence, causing them all to recoil and shade their eyes against its blood red glare. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Disclaimer: Some of the material presented here may be the property of Wizards of the Coast, LLC© taken from the Dungeons & Dragons® Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting authored by Ed Greenwood & Sean Renyolds, the Dungeons & Dragons® Forgotten Realms® Campaign Accessory Silver Marches® authored by Ed Greenwood and Jason Carl and/or other sourcebooks registered to Wizards of the Coast, LLC©. This is unofficial “Fan Content” permitted under Wizards of the Coast, LLC© Fan Content Policy, it is not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast, LLC©.