Max’s vision swam, a loud ringing noise echoing in his head. His temple throbbed where a ghoul had gotten lucky and hit him hard. They were weakened around me, but damn did they still throw a heavy punch. He thought he could hear someone shouting at him, drowned out by the noise in his head. Finally, his vision cleared, and he could see the ghoul he had pinned next to a rock, his blade sinking into its left eye. Max yanked the blade free as the ghoul began to disassemble. He looked down to his smashed buckler, the damn thing had ripped it off his arm and crushed it beneath his feet. Bastard.

  “Max!” Miranda screamed from his left as the ringing in his head ceased. Max whipped his head over to her. She was hunched over, her arms wrapped under Isabella's arms as she dragged the downed paladin back the way they had come. Isabella’s right arm was bleeding profusely where a ghoul had raked it with its long razor claws. She mumbled as she waved in and out of unconsciousness.

  So much for a dozen. What poured out of the tunnels just minutes before was closer to a swarm. Max lost count at twenty and just started hacking them apart the best he could with his little knife.

  “Max! We need to leave!” Miranda shouted again. She let Isabella drop to the floor of the cave as she pulled her dagger, igniting its magic, and turned to defend their downed companion from an advancing ghoul. Shit.

  Max began making his way back towards the two women. He fought off another ghoul as he walked backwards. He cut it down and turned to join Miranda, her eyes shot open wide, looking over his shoulder. Max whirled around to find another ghoul right behind him, lashing out with its claws. He was too slow to respond with his knife and raised his left arm instead.

  The beast's claws raked along his arm. However, where flesh should have been rendered, instead the attack barely broke the skin. The claws' effectiveness was reduced to that of the rotting fingernails of a corpse. He winced in pain and pushed back against the ghoul; it staggered a pace. Miranda’s green blade came from behind Max as she lunged forward, striking its chest. Max followed up by planting his knife in the ghoul's temple and it dropped.

  He inspected his arm, a new addition to the several other slashes and bites that he had received. He looked like he was jumped by half a dozen alley cats. Miranda stared at him with envy, a heavy gash along her neck that was painfully being stitched back together by the magic embedded in her body.

  “You can take up the rear then,” Miranda said through heavy, panting breaths. She sheathed her dagger and placed her hands on her hips. “Healing from those cuts is just about as painful as the cut itself.”

  “Still hurts though,” Max said, inspecting one of his scratches as if it was a nasty cut.

  “Shut up,” she said with a roll of the eyes. Her gaze flicked past him, down the tunnel, where more growls and scuffling on the rocks signaled the presence of even more ghouls approaching fast. “How many are down here? That had to be at least thirty.”

  “I don't know, too many,” Max said, turning his attention to Isabella. “How is she?”

  “She seems to be doing ok. I stopped the bleeding so she will live. Damn radiant light, I think she killed like half of them before she was hit.”

  Max nodded in agreement to that assessment. She definitely already lived up to the paladin name even as an initiate. Isabella was carving ghouls in half like they were straw targets with her weapon's magic, whereas Miranda had to hack and slash just to get the necrotic energy to take hold. I wonder how deadly Isabella could be fully equipped like the knights.

  Miranda took a deep breath and picked Isabella back up, dragging her down the tunnel. “Watch our back.”

  “I got you,” Max declared as he turned to the sounds of ghouls scrambling up the tunnel. They had gone maybe another ten feet when Max suddenly tripped over something. He hit the ground hard, the air knocked from his lungs.

  “You ok?”

  “Yea, I'm good,” he said, shaking the daze from his head. The dust and dirt from the cave floor caused him to cough for a moment as he sat up on his knees.

  “Good, because more are coming. Look.”

  Max turned around and saw them, far down near the piles of dead miners and ghoul corpses. Three more ghouls came running up, making straight for Max. He went to stand, his hand catching on something heavy and long.

  Max picked it up, curiosity getting the better of him. It was hard to see in the dim torchlight, but he had a pretty good idea what it was. A long iron rod, tapered at one end. A miner's chisel, broken at the end. He tested the weight in his hand and looked up at the ghouls rapidly approaching. Would be nice to have some range.

  He got a chance to test it out immediately. One ghoul led the pack nearly ten feet in front of the others. It reached the same spot most of the ghouls did before they lunged, roughly five feet away from Max. Predictable. The beast opened its nasty jaw mid-air, racing toward Max. He set his feet firm on the cave floor and raised the chisel, bracing himself.

  The ghoul didn't even react or try to move as the iron spike drove into its mouth and out the back of its skull. Max almost fell from the weight of the ghoul as it went limp, hanging from his new weapon. Quickly, before the other two arrived, he tossed the ghoul to the ground, freeing the chisel.

  He felt something changing inside him; confidence swarmed into his bones. They can barely hurt me, yet I kill them easily. He smiled to himself, charging toward the creatures. He fell into a groove and let his instincts take over. Blocking a bite with the iron chisel, stabbing the beast in the heart. Dead.

  Smack!

  One clawed at his face, barely leaving a scratch. He stabbed it in the gut with his knife, then thwak! He bashed it over its head with the iron chisel, leaving a sizable dent in its skull as it collapsed. Dead.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  He was catching his breath and admiring the efficiency of his handiwork when he heard Miranda call out.

  “Max, let's go! Before more come.”

  He turned and ran to catch up with the two women who hadn't made it far. Isabella was in one of her conscious moments, looking at him with a scrunched face.

  “Ok… I know… that one's not silver,” she said as she swayed, barely able to get the words out. Max picked her up by her feet and together he and Miranda carried the initiate down the tunnel. They burst from the cave into the afternoon light. Max half expected a sleeping Rossen to yell at them for disturbing a nap or something else that ridiculous. Instead, what he saw left him in shock. He’s gone!

  “Where the blazes is the carriage!” Miranda yelled, setting Isabella onto the ground. Max set her up against a stump near the camp they set up and joined Miranda in peering down the dirt trail. Nothing.

  “What’s going on over… there guys?” Isabella moaned from the camp. Miranda cursed and walked back to the camp, kicking dirt along the way. Max stayed at the head of the road just staring down it. The long dirt road, swaying trees with branches budding fresh leaves as new growth began. Looks like home. Max sat for another moment closing his eyes, letting the adrenaline of the cave dissipate. He felt the wave of tension leave his head, down his arms, and release from his hands.

  Max sighed and turned to join the others. Isabella was sleeping now, curled up on her bedroll, Miranda sitting on top of the stump glaring into the cave. Max sat opposite her, waiting for her to say something. When she didn't, he cleared his throat.

  “So that was something.”

  “That was bullshit.”

  “Yes, that too,” Max said with a dry chuckle. Miranda turned to him with an expression that told him she wasn't joking.

  “Seriously Max. What the hell is going on here.” She looked to the sleeping paladin to make sure she wasn't listening, then continued. “This whole little 'kill the ghouls' quest feels a bit convenient, doesn't it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We get to town to look for my contact, who we haven't even started looking for, and instead find out the Conclave is planning something in the mines.” Miranda said, becoming more animated the more she talked. “Then we were essentially arrested by the local law for existing, and sent to clear out a cave of ghouls and dead miners.”

  “You think the ghouls are part of what the Conclave is planning? Like a sacrifice?”

  “No… I don't know. I didn't sense any necrotic spells being cast other than the energy coming off of me and the ghouls themselves. I… I don't have enough information.”

  Max could see the problem getting to Miranda. She bit her fingernails staring into the cave entrance like she was hoping an answer would just walk forth. A thought occurred to Max.

  “Do you think we have to worry about ghouls coming out and attacking us?”

  “Hmm? No, not during the day,” Miranda said with a distracted look. “Most undead hate direct sunlight, with only a few exceptions. Ghouls are one of those that actively get hurt by the sun, like vampires.”

  “So we need to leave by the time it gets dark?”

  “Again, probably not. It sounds cruel but… we thinned the herd and there's plenty of… food left over.”

  Max felt queasy for a moment; the thought of being dead, laying on a cave floor just waiting for some monstrosity to eat you sounded grotesque. Guess I wouldn't know either way. They sat for a while in silence before Isabella woke in pain. Miranda and Max helped her get some food and water in her, changed her bandage, and laid her back down for rest.

  “I don't think she'll be able to move until tomorrow,” Miranda said with concern, “and I don't think I can carry her all the way to town.”

  “Agreed. I think we need to get comfortable,” Max said, gesturing to their own bedrolls and rations. Miranda nodded, locking eyes with Max, then he smirked. “Guess we're lucky we have this camp all nice and set up, huh?”

  Miranda rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving Max feeling very proud of himself. He walked over to his bedroll, ate and drank for a moment, then sat down. He pulled a simple whetstone from his pack and began sharpening his knife. It's not too bad really. The steel Gerald had it forged in was beautiful and hard. Max knew it had to be rare and expensive with the way its color shifted from dark, almost black, to a light blue. There appeared to be intricate wave-like patterns in the metal itself.

  When he was finished with the knife and satisfied with its edge he moved on to the iron chisel. That ‘weapon’ had been battered and beaten thoroughly. It's not even worth the effort. He knew the soft iron would just break down in the next fight anyhow. He instead focused on maintaining its effective tapered edge and stowed it back onto his belt. Maybe if I like it, I'll have a smith forge a steel one.

  Miranda returned to the camp with a small handful of stones. She began the delicate process of inspecting each stone to determine if it had any major flaws. Most did, only leaving her with five to engrave. She set to work immediately, drawing the same sigil each time. After an hour of carving her eyes started to droop and she began flicking her hand between each line as if it pained her wrist.

  “Why the same sigil?” Max asked with genuine curiosity.

  “Hmm? Oh, well it's the symbol for light, like what I used against Verik the...” She said, glancing up from her work. “The ghouls hate bright light so if we do run into any more I can be more prepared.”

  “Right, but like, why not a bigger light, or one that lasts longer?”

  “Complexity increases the chance of the stone shattering. 'Big' and 'Light' are two separate concepts to bind to one small stone. I don't have enough room on these small river rocks. And before you ask, I stick to small rocks because there's less chance for a major flaw.”

  Max clamped his mouth shut as that was exactly his next question. Then he looked to Isabella, injured and sleeping.

  “What about healing?”

  Miranda looked up from the last stone she was carving with surprise. “What about it?”

  “Well is there a word for it?”

  “Yes.. there is. Max I.. I don't know all the words. I only have so many memorized and healing hasn't really been a problem for me so far.”

  “Ok I see, I was just curious.”

  The two sat in silence for another hour. Miranda stowed her new stones and sat back against the stump. Max watched the sun slowly drift towards the horizon, reminiscing about home. Eventually, Miranda stood again and walked off, just mumbling under her breath that she needed to divine. It was only ten minutes before she returned looking confused. She approached the cave entrance and peered inside.

  “What are you looking for, what did you see?”

  “I can't tell… something about us returning to the cave. I'll.. I'll be right back.”

  “What? Are you insane? Don't go in there by yourself,” Max said, standing abruptly.

  Miranda just shook her head. “No seriously Max, something is wrong… I can feel it. Keep an eye on Isabella.”

  Max wanted to protest further but Miranda disappeared into the black of the cave. Damn, what is she thinking? He waited for ten minutes… twenty. At thirty he wanted to cover Isabella with a branch and dive into the cave himself when finally he heard the scuffle of rocks on stone. His eyes shot to the cave as Miranda exited, looking far more disturbed than when she entered.

  “What is it? Are you ok? What happened?”

  “There… there were no ghouls,” she said, her eyes darting around like she was deep in thought.

  “Well that's good, maybe we killed them all.”

  “No Max, there were no ghouls in that cave, and no miners either. All the bodies are gone.”